Well, I really thought I had given a more recent update, but it looks like I’ve been silent since March.
Spring migration is so long ago, so I will focus mostly on the summer. But first a few spring birds:
On my nocturnal owl survey in the Interlakes area, I saw one Short-eared Owl fly overhead just before the first stop. It’s the same location I had a Long-eared last year. On the survey proper the only owl was one calling Saw-whet.
The April Bonaparte’s Gull influx was something at Horse Lake and Walker Valley.
I captured this Rough-legged Hawk mid-business at the excellent Mission Road in 150 Mile House.
A Brewer’s Blackbird from the same location.
On an early May trip to Dog Creek near the Fraser, I came across a Prairie Falcon, my BC and Cariboo first. I also found the expected-but-still-great White-throated Swifts.
At Walker Valley, the local hotspot, I found my first flyover Black Tern for the location in May. Later in the month a Lazuli Bunting spent a few days hanging out. Usually they tend to breed in warmer, lower areas.
I’ve been trying to bird more east in the Canim-Mahood-Hendrix lakes area, and I haven’t been disappointed with what I’ve found. At the end of May I stopped at the relatively low-elevation Mahood Lake to find a good number of Harlequin Ducks at the Canim River. I found Black and Vaux’s Swifts (Vaux’s are less common here usually), and my first Cariboo Black-headed Grosbeaks.
A White-throated Sparrow at Mahood Lake. These seem to be increasing in the Cariboo.
While hoping for a Bittern at a local wooded pond, I found a Three-toed Woodpecker nest. Here’s momma.
June is bird survey month for me now. I ran my Lac la Hache route early in the month, and the highlight was a family of baby coyotes. And a good number of warblers and White-throated Sparrows.
I was also able to help with a BBS training program mid-month at Dog Creek and Meldrum Creek. That gave me opportunities to find nice birds after the surveys, including House Wren and Flammulated Owl.
In late June I had a contract to survey conservation lands around the Cariboo. A couple of the sites were hot, dry patches—the most Thompson/Okanagan-like we get other than Dog Creek. One was in Hanceville, along the Chilcotin River. The highlight was a Lark Sparrow, rare in the Cariboo. And I enjoyed watching Say’s Phoebes at their nest and loads of hummingbirds at some friendly ranchers’ feeder.
I also surveyed an area near Moon Road along the Fraser (the Flammulated Owl spot). Highlights were a couple of Swainson’s Hawks, a Common Poorwill, a singing Rock Wren, a possibly nesting Peregrine Falcon, and an unexpected small Bobolink colony in a hay field.
My last stop was Dale Lake near Quesnel, a much wetter marshy lake surrounded by dense woods and brush. There were a few singing Magnolia Warblers around, a singing Swamp Sparrow, and both Red-naped and Red-breasted Sapsuckers, plus one hybrid of the two.
Back home while watching ducks and counting some surprising Eared Grebe nests at Walker Valley, I looked up to see another Lark Sparrow on the fence! It was way more unexpected here at this elevation that it was along the warm Chilcotin River.
Here’s a Savannah Sparrow at Watson Lake nearby. And a poor, nice caterpillar.
With Walker Valley so close by, and 108 Mile Lake and Watson Lake not too far, I have been building up a non-motorized transport list. When I found a couple of House Wrens in a burn area on a nearby forest road, I biked there the next morning to check one off my list.
The 2017 burn area around Helena Lake and Gustafson North forest roads has been pretty fruitful bird-wise, with regular White-throated Sparrows and Black-backed Woodpeckers. Just today I also found a family of Sharp-tailed Grouse. It’s great to confirm that they breed nearby.
A Black-backed Woodpecker on Gustafson North FSR
Last week I took a long-planned trip to Mahood Lake and north to Hendrix, Bosk and Crooked lakes at the edge of the Cariboo Mountains. I camped at Crooked Lake. Hoping for some of the eastern warblers, I was not disappointed. I found upwards of 20 Magnolia Warblers (closer to home than I ever suspected) and two locations with breeding Blackpoll Warblers carrying food.
There were Spruce Grouse families everywhere.
On my way back home, I drove up to Big Timothy Mountain, to the gate before an old mine. I was surprised to hear two singing Tennessee Warblers and see a third male. I had been looking for them, but I didn’t really expect them at the high elevation.
I am up to 211 species for the year in the Cariboo, including three new Cariboo life birds (Harlequin, Black-headed Grosbeak, Peregrine Falcon). At the Canim-Hendrix patch I am focusing on this year, I’m up to 166 species.
I’ve also enjoyed doing a lot of local hotspot birding, and I’m trying to bring Walker Valley closer to some of the top hotspots in the Cariboo. With the addition of the Lark Sparrow, the spot is currently tied for 6th at 175.
As I know some of you may pass through again to the Peace or elsewhere, feel free to ask about some good spots (or let me know and I can take you birding). I should add that this is one area where the Birdfinding in BC book is pretty bare-bones. We have Magnolia Warblers, Black Terns, White-throated Sparrow, the odd Alder Flycatcher, Bobolinks and Long-billed Curlews in 150 Mile, Avocets near 70 Mile. Plus the Black-backed Woodpeckers are just a few minutes away from the highway here.
I leave you with this Tree Swallow.
