I met up with Janet from New Zealand in Penticton this morning at 7 AM. It was another beautiful sunny and warm Okanagan day. We headed straight down to the White Lake area, stopping along Saddlehorn Drive along the way. Here, we enjoyed a nice variety of birds, including our first Say’s Phoebes, Western Wood-Pewees, Western Bluebirds and Mourning Doves of the tour. Along the edge of a small pond, a Belted Kingfisher dove into the water repeatedly, and a couple of Spotted Sandpipers foraged along the waters’ edge. A stop alongside a berry-filled draw near the White Lake Observatory, was also very productive. There were many birds feasting on the choke cherries here, including Western Tanagers, Cedar Waxwings, Bullock’s Orioles, Cassin’s Finch, Lazuli Bunting, Swainson’s Thrush, Gray Catbird and Downy Woodpecker. A couple of piles of bear poop reminded us that we were probably not the only mammals in the vicinity.
We popped in to look at some re-introduced Burrowing Owls this morning, and we saw three of them. Other birds in the area included Lark Sparrow, American Kestrel, Eastern and Western kingbirds, and Western Meadowlarks.
Mahoney Lake proved to be quite good as well. On the water were Mallards, a female Redhead, two Pied-billed Grebes, and perhaps Janet’s bird of the day, Ruddy Ducks! I heard a noise in the leaflitter behind us, and discovered it to be a Ruffed Grouse! Score. Since Janet hadn’t birded in this part of the world, many of the birds we saw were lifers for her. There was Mountain Chickadee, House Wren, Chipping Sparrow and a rather elusive White-breasted Nuthatch in the pine trees around Mahoney Lake.
We descended into the valley bottom at Okanagan Falls and made a quick ‘pit stop’, before exploring Allendale Road. Here, we had some sensational birding experiences, as a Lewis’s Woodpecker was feeding noisy young in a cavity in a Ponderosa Pine next to the road. Our first Pygmy Nuthatches of the day were spotted in amongst the pine needles here as well. On some cliffs we had a Rock Wren, but couldn’t track down a Canyon Wren, unfortunately.
At the north end of Vaseux Lake, we walked the boardwalk to the viewing tower, spotting close to 30 species along the way. On the lake were many Canada Geese and Mallards, with a few other species mixed in. We had distant looks at a Hooded Merganser and a couple of Pied-billed Grebes. Sandbars at the north end had Least, Semipalmated and Spotted sandpipers, as well as Lesser Yellowlegs, Ring-billed Gull and California Gull. Four Bald Eagles of various ages were resting on the sandbars, and bathing and drinking. Over the water were a few swallows such as Northern Rough-winged, Tree, Violet-green and Bank swallow. Birds in the scrubby vegetation included Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Gray Catbird, Bullock’s Oriole, Yellow Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak and an elusive Yellow-breasted Chat. It had been a fantastic morning of birding, and the temperatures were nearing the 30 degree Celsius mark, so we called it a day.
Birds Species on Tour: Canada Goose; Trumpeter Swan; Mallard; Redhead; Hooded Merganser; Ruddy Duck; California Quail; Ruffed Grouse; Pied-billed Grebe; Rock Pigeon; Eurasian Collared-Dove; Mourning Dove; Vaux’s Swift; hummingbird sp; American Coot; Killdeer; Least Sandpiper; Semipalmated Sandpiper; Spotted Sandpiper; Ring-billed Gull; California Gull; Great Blue Heron; Turkey Vulture; Osprey; Bald Eagle; Red-tailed Hawk; Burrowing Owl; Belted Kingfisher; Lewis’s Woodpecker; Downy Woodpecker; Northern Flicker; American Kestrel; Western Kingbird; Eastern Kingbird; Western Wood-Pewee; Willow Flycatcher; Say’s Phoebe; Black-billed Magpie; American Crow; Common Raven; Tree Swallow; Violet-green Swallow; N. Rough-winged Swallow; Barn Swallow; Black-capped Chickadee; Mountain Chickadee; White-breasted Nuthatch; Pygmy Nuthatch; Rock Wren; Western Bluebird; Swainson’s Thrush; American Robin; Gray Catbird; European Starling; Cedar Waxwing; House Sparrow; Cassin’s Finch; Spotted Towhee; Chipping Sparrow; Lark Sparrow; Vesper Sparrow; Yellow-breasted Chat; Western Meadowlark; Bullock’s Oriole; Red-winged Blackbird; Brewer’s Blackbird; Yellow Warbler; Western Tanager; Black-headed Grosbeak; Lazuli Bunting.
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