Post by Chris on Jun 11, 2010 16:23:50 GMT -8
Yesterday, I decided that in order to get out of this rain, I had to head into the interior. I wanted to check out a few places around Princeton and Keremeos. I have not been east of Princeton in about 6-7 years, so it was nice to see this area. When I started off it was raining here, so I was beginning to question if this was a good decision. However, near Hope Slide it began to stop raining. I did not see any deer until after Manning Park which I thought was weird.
My first stop was Old Hedley road which runs along the highway on the other side of the Similkameen River starting near Princeton. There wasn't a lot of areas to stop but I spent about an hour along here. I was looking for Rock Wren but didn't see any. The one place I stopped, I did mange to pick up a few warbler species. I watched two Red-naped Sapsuckers feeding as well. As I was driving I saw a Western Kingbird on the wire. I took a picture but it's not the greatest.
I found some good habitat for White-breasted Nuthatch but I didn't see/hear any. This was the last place I stopped along this road, and as I was walking back to my car, I noticed a lot of ants. Here is the reason for that. It's a huge ant hill.
It'a always fun to explore areas that you haven't been to. Here's the list of birds I saw along Old Hedley road.
1 Osprey
2 Spotted Sandpiper
3 Mourning Dove
2 Red-naped Sapsucker
1 Northern Flicker
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
2 Dusky Flycatcher
1 Western Kingbird
2 Black-billed Magpie
3 American Crow
12 Common Raven
6 Tree Swallow
2 Barn Swallow
4 Cliff Swallow
4 Mountain Chickadee
2 Mountain Bluebird
4 Cedar Waxwing
2 Nashville Warbler
3 Yellow Warbler
2 Wilson's Warbler
1 Spotted Towhee
6 Chipping Sparrow
4 Dark-eyed Junco
2 Western Tanager
12 Red-winged Blackbird
8 Brewer's Blackbird
10 Brown-headed Cowbird
4 Bullock's Oriole
8 Cassin's Finch
17 Red Crossbill
My next stop was the Keremeos area. There is a road (Barcelo road) that goes along the mountains and it was not busy at all which was great. The weather was overcast as well so it wasn't too hot out. I saw two Bank Swallows sitting on the wire. As I was driving along I saw three California Quail. I have seen them in Washington state but not in B.C. They are such a cool bird. I took a few pictures of them so hopefully there aren't too many.
I continued to drive along the road where I saw a few Western Kingbirds, American Kestrels, more California Quail, Western Meadowlarks and Black-billed Magpies. Here is a picture of one of them.
and another picture of a quail.
Here is a picture of the region.
That is looking west into Keremeos. As I was nearing the end of the road I saw a bird sitting on a fence. I first thought it was a Yellow-headed Blackbird but there was no water around. I stopped, put the car in reverse, and it turned out to be a Bobolink! A new bird for me. I got out of my car and couldn't relocate it at first. It then flew to the other side of the road. I manged a few pictures of it. Here's one of them. I was surprised to see one there.
Here is the list of birds on the Barcelo road.
16 California Quail
2 Turkey Vulture
4 American Kestrel
6 Killdeer
2 Mourning Dove
2 Northern Flicker
9 Western Kingbird
3 Eastern Kingbird
4 Black-billed Magpie
6 American Crow
8 Common Raven
10 Tree Swallow
2 Bank Swallow
6 Barn Swallow
14 American Robin
10 European Starling
4 Cedar Waxwing
1 Bobolink
8 Western Meadowlark
4 Brewer's Blackbird
4 American Goldfinch
8 House Sparrow
My next stop was Ginty's Pond in Cawston. While driving through Cawston managed to see this Meadowlark. The first one isn't a great picture but I love him standing only one on foot.
Here is another one. The bugs in his mouth are huge! I was lucky to get a lot of pictures of it.
Further down was a California Quail sitting on a fence post. I managed to get close to him as well.
Ginty's Pond was quiet. There was a helicopter going back and forth. I did mange to see two Catbirds and I heard another one. Yellow-headed Blackbirds called as well. A mother Wood Duck had several babies with her but that is about it for birds.
Coming home I stopped in at Manning. I wanted to throw my garbage out and I wanted to take a drive up to Strawberry Flats to look for Pine Grosbeaks. There wasn't any but I did see a few Clark's Nutcrackers, a Common Loon and Barrow's Goldeneye were on the lake. The snow is gone except for deep in the bush at the top of Starwberry Flats.
When I was driving home between Gibson and Prest overpasses I noticed a different looking raptor. It was somewhat hovering and looked smaller than a Red-tailed Hawk. I did not get a great look at it and I wasn't going to stop so if you are in that area keep an eye out. It could have just been a Red-tailed though.
My first stop was Old Hedley road which runs along the highway on the other side of the Similkameen River starting near Princeton. There wasn't a lot of areas to stop but I spent about an hour along here. I was looking for Rock Wren but didn't see any. The one place I stopped, I did mange to pick up a few warbler species. I watched two Red-naped Sapsuckers feeding as well. As I was driving I saw a Western Kingbird on the wire. I took a picture but it's not the greatest.
I found some good habitat for White-breasted Nuthatch but I didn't see/hear any. This was the last place I stopped along this road, and as I was walking back to my car, I noticed a lot of ants. Here is the reason for that. It's a huge ant hill.
It'a always fun to explore areas that you haven't been to. Here's the list of birds I saw along Old Hedley road.
1 Osprey
2 Spotted Sandpiper
3 Mourning Dove
2 Red-naped Sapsucker
1 Northern Flicker
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
2 Dusky Flycatcher
1 Western Kingbird
2 Black-billed Magpie
3 American Crow
12 Common Raven
6 Tree Swallow
2 Barn Swallow
4 Cliff Swallow
4 Mountain Chickadee
2 Mountain Bluebird
4 Cedar Waxwing
2 Nashville Warbler
3 Yellow Warbler
2 Wilson's Warbler
1 Spotted Towhee
6 Chipping Sparrow
4 Dark-eyed Junco
2 Western Tanager
12 Red-winged Blackbird
8 Brewer's Blackbird
10 Brown-headed Cowbird
4 Bullock's Oriole
8 Cassin's Finch
17 Red Crossbill
My next stop was the Keremeos area. There is a road (Barcelo road) that goes along the mountains and it was not busy at all which was great. The weather was overcast as well so it wasn't too hot out. I saw two Bank Swallows sitting on the wire. As I was driving along I saw three California Quail. I have seen them in Washington state but not in B.C. They are such a cool bird. I took a few pictures of them so hopefully there aren't too many.
I continued to drive along the road where I saw a few Western Kingbirds, American Kestrels, more California Quail, Western Meadowlarks and Black-billed Magpies. Here is a picture of one of them.
and another picture of a quail.
Here is a picture of the region.
That is looking west into Keremeos. As I was nearing the end of the road I saw a bird sitting on a fence. I first thought it was a Yellow-headed Blackbird but there was no water around. I stopped, put the car in reverse, and it turned out to be a Bobolink! A new bird for me. I got out of my car and couldn't relocate it at first. It then flew to the other side of the road. I manged a few pictures of it. Here's one of them. I was surprised to see one there.
Here is the list of birds on the Barcelo road.
16 California Quail
2 Turkey Vulture
4 American Kestrel
6 Killdeer
2 Mourning Dove
2 Northern Flicker
9 Western Kingbird
3 Eastern Kingbird
4 Black-billed Magpie
6 American Crow
8 Common Raven
10 Tree Swallow
2 Bank Swallow
6 Barn Swallow
14 American Robin
10 European Starling
4 Cedar Waxwing
1 Bobolink
8 Western Meadowlark
4 Brewer's Blackbird
4 American Goldfinch
8 House Sparrow
My next stop was Ginty's Pond in Cawston. While driving through Cawston managed to see this Meadowlark. The first one isn't a great picture but I love him standing only one on foot.
Here is another one. The bugs in his mouth are huge! I was lucky to get a lot of pictures of it.
Further down was a California Quail sitting on a fence post. I managed to get close to him as well.
Ginty's Pond was quiet. There was a helicopter going back and forth. I did mange to see two Catbirds and I heard another one. Yellow-headed Blackbirds called as well. A mother Wood Duck had several babies with her but that is about it for birds.
Coming home I stopped in at Manning. I wanted to throw my garbage out and I wanted to take a drive up to Strawberry Flats to look for Pine Grosbeaks. There wasn't any but I did see a few Clark's Nutcrackers, a Common Loon and Barrow's Goldeneye were on the lake. The snow is gone except for deep in the bush at the top of Starwberry Flats.
When I was driving home between Gibson and Prest overpasses I noticed a different looking raptor. It was somewhat hovering and looked smaller than a Red-tailed Hawk. I did not get a great look at it and I wasn't going to stop so if you are in that area keep an eye out. It could have just been a Red-tailed though.
