British Colombia 7/05/ /05/2013

Transcription

1 British Colombia 7/05/ /05/2013 Practical information We booked a flight with Air Canada to get to British Colombia. We flew from Schiphol to Chicago and then to Vancouver. Everything went very fast in Chicago and within 30 minutes we were at the other gate, so time enough to have our first big hamburger. The return flight was with airtransat, a direct flight from Vancouver to Schiphol. A cheap flight, but the places on the plane were very small and the entertainment was absent. The food in Canada is good and very comparable to North-American standards, good hamburgers, a lot of meat for the non-vegetarians but only the seafood was a little bit disappointing. On the campsites we mostly cooked pasta with tomato sauce and pasta with tomato sauce. Sleeping was not a problem. There were motels and campsites everywhere and mostly we were almost on our own. The campsites are very big, so even when it s fully booked you will have a nice place at most sites. Certainly the national parks have terrific campsites. Concerning the washrooms, Canada is really an example with hygienic conditions. Even the most remote washrooms in the parks are absolutely clean. The climate was extremely rainy and misty during the days we were there. People told us that it s better in the summer, but anyway you need some luck probably with the weather. The west coast is a rainforest, so it s normal that it rains a lot. With mm of rainfall, that s almost five times the amount in Belgium. We luckily had good weather when we were driving the icefield parkway. Hiring a car is pretty cheap and the roads are very good. Getting lost is not really a problem because at most places you don t have other roads for more than 100 kilometers. The cruise control is probably one of the most used tools in your car and then you can start enjoying the endless scenes of pure nature. The vastness of these natural habitats is really impressive, I m not going to try to describe it but just believe me, it s huge. If you want more information, just contact me (Bram Vogels). (vogelwerkgroep@antwerpennoord.be) Day 1: arrival in Vancouver We arrived in the evening in Vancouver. This is a very nice airport with a lot of indian stuff and water in the hall. The border control is just a quick hello to the friendly staff and then you can go to the car hire. We hired our car at Alamo, and just as all the other times it was a nice and very new car. There were only 500 km on the odometer, three weeks later we returned it with more than km. We drove to Tsawassen in the evening, which is just minutes and slept in the Tsawassen Inn. The only bird today was a White-crowned sparrow on the parking lot. We had a good hamburger in the restaurant next to the hotel and went to sleep to get lost of the jetlag. Day 2: Tsawassen - Victoria We got out very early, also because off our jetlag, had breakfast in the hotel and went to the ferry terminal. From the hotel room I had my first lifer, glaucous-winged gull, the most common gull. On 1

2 the way to this terminal we already had some northern pintail. This actually is a nice place to bird. Park the car on the parking lot, you have to pay a very small amount but birds are everywhere. On the rocky shores the first ducks were some very nice Harlequin ducks, a species very high on my wishlist. Other birds here were Black oystercatcher, black brant, Canada goose, surf scoter, mew gull, pigeon guillemot, bald eagle, northwestern crow, white-crowned sparrow, brandt s cormorant, pelagic cormorant, common loon, bufflehead, black scoter, white-winged scoter, savannah sparrow, mallard, great blue heron, western gull and western grebe. On the rocky shore were a lot of harbor seal. We took the ferry at 1.00 PM to Swartz bay, so entered the gates around From this point it s possible to scan the sea between the two jetties at the seaside. A lot of scoters etc. were very close at this point. During the boat trip we added belted kingfisher, rhinoceros auklet and northern shoveler. We also had a group of pilot whales. On Vancouver Island we continued first to the airport, a good place for skylarks which were singing but we missed California Quail. Anyway no panic, that s a very common bird in the Okanagan area. It s a very busy place and we didn t spend a lot of time here so only had Barn swallow, American goldfinch and Turkey vulture. We continued to Victoria and stayed in the Admiral motel, which is very close to some nice birding areas. In the evening we walked around in Becaon Hill park and had some Anna s hummingbirds, American robins, our first and last golden-crowned sparrow, spotted towhee and some white-tailed dears. Day 3: Victoria goldstream provincial park We got up at 5 am and had a nice walk in beacon hill park with bushtit, northwestern corw, big flocks of crossbills, bewick s wren, wilsons warbler, spotted towhee, chestnut-backed chickadee, orangecrowned warbler, red-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, bald eagle, savannah sparrow, anna s hummingbird, purple finch, brown-headed cowbird, pine siskin, tufted puffin and rhinoceros auklet. We returned around 8 am to the hotel to have breakfast, checked out and went to the Ogden point. We hoped to get black turnstone here, but I m afraid we were already to late in the season. We could only find rhinoceros auklet, pigeon guillemot, marbled murrelet, sealion, violet-green swallow, great blue heron and western gull. I thin we also had thayers gull on this place, but I m not sure enough so we don t include it in the list. Clover point gave the same kind of birds. We then continued further north and had a quick stop at Esquimalt lagoon to have lunch. The lagoon was very quiet, also late in the season and a lot of people: brewers blackbird, Canada goose, mallard, great blue heron, glaucous-winged gull, anna s hummingbird, black oystercatcher, turkey vulture, rhinoceros auklet and pigeon guillemot. We then continued to goldstream provincial park, and this is the first place where you start to get the feeling of being in a nice nature area. Still pretty crowded compared to other parts of british Colombia, but for Belgian standards this was already a huge nature park. The road to the nature house and the area around the nature house and the parking lot is a very nice place for birding. We had dark-eyed junco, rufous hummingbird, American robin, blad eagle, turkey vulture, violet-green swallow, song sparrow, steller s jay, belted kingfisher, pacific-slope flycatcher, brown creeper, 2

3 goosander and on the campsite we heard our first varied thrush. This species was also very high on my most wanted list, but we couldn t track down the calling bird. Day 4: Goldstream provincial park Little qualicum falls The campsite of this provincial park is very nice, and has some interesting birds like hammonds flycatcher and varied thrush. We returnede early to the parking lot at the nature house and had American robin, varied thrush (one was foraging on the parking lot), pileated woodpeceker, hammond s flycatcher, red-breasted sapsucker, swainson s thrush and song sparrow. When the morning rush was over we decided to go to the top of Mount Finlayson, although it s indicated as a difficult walk it s just a nice stroll to the top. I have the impression that compared to the hikes I did in Europe, the way of indicating difficulty in Canada is very exaggerated. On this walk we had an enormous amount of singing townsends warblers, they were almost in every tree. Besides these warblers we had yellow-rumped warbler, chestnut-backed chickadee, anna s hummingbird, pine siskin, orange-crowned warbler, red-breasted sapsucker, willow flycatcher and probably a tame rabbit. Around noon we headed further north to Little Qualicum Falls. This is a nice provincial park, with a very nice campground in the neighborhood of some impressive falls. Anyway, the amount of parks in British Colombia is huge, so probably most of them are magnificent. But for some reason we chose this one. We had a nice walk with a beautiful scenery, but only a small amount of birds: American dipper, belted kingfisher, red-breasted sapsucker and varied thrush. Day 5: Little quailicum falls qualicum beach French creek rathrevor beach national park little qualicum brant viewing area Pacific Rim Nationl park We had breakfast on our campsite and drove to Qualicum beach. The sea was extremely flat and a lot of loons were swimming on the water. Besides some common loons, we had some bigger groups of pacific loons. Marbled murrelet, glaucous-winged gull, white-crowned sparrow, northwestern crow, ringd turtle dove and harbor seal were also present. Our next stop was French creek. Just a small harbor with some nice beach areas around it. We had some calling sealions on this spot, we supposed it were steller s sealion but learned later on the trip that it were California sealion. Concerning birds we noted semipalmated plover, goosander, killdeer, red-necked grebe, savannah sparrow, common loon and purple martin. We continued to Rathrevor national park, where we had our first rain. Although the weather was getting more and more rainy we noted black-bellied plover, black brant, dunlin, pacific loon, sealion, spotted towhee, wilson s warbler, black oystercatcher, bufflehead, pine siskin, northern flicker, brown-headed cowbird, fox sparrow, rufous hummingbird, western tanager, chipping sparrow and house finch. We had a quick stop at the little qualicum fish hatchery, which is a good place for American dipper. But continued immediately to Little qualicum brant viewing area. We had our last dry lunch here for more than 10 days to come We enjoyed the view of bald eagles, white-crowned sparrow, harbor seal, pigeon guillemot, common loon, pacific loon, white-winged scoter and marbled murrelet. 3

4 Then we started to drive west to Pacific Rim National park, into the rain, extremely hard rain. Because the rain was so heavy we decided to stay in a hotel in Ucluelet, instead of camping. We had some time in the evening and did the walking trails to Florencia bay. The view was terrible but we had two grey whales feeding pretty close to the shore. Besides this there were horned grebes, pacific loons, pigeon guillemot, marbled murrelet, common loon, red-necked grebe, black oystercatcher, golden-crowned kinglet and varied thrush. Completely wet we returned to our hotel (Pacific Rim Motel) and went to eat something. The people from the hotel are a little older, but extremely friendly. Day 6: Pacific Rim National park The morning was extremely misty, so misty that from long beach you couldn t see the sea at low tide. So we started walking in search for shorebirds, which are pretty tame so even in misty weather you get good views. We had sanderling, western sandpiper, least sandpiper, long-billed dowitcher, ruddy turnstone, semipalmated plover, whimbrel, black-bellied plover and dunlin. Because of the misty weather we did some walks in the forest, so we did rainforest A and B trail. Due to the rain they were probably more silent than normal. We only had raven, northwestern crow, pacific slope flycatcher, varied thrus, rufous humming bird, winter wren and townsends warbler. Anyway these are very nice tracks, certainly track A, in a nice and old pristine forest. We decided to go to the Pacific Rim Kwisitis visitor center to check the weather forecast, but rain for all the next days. There are some nice presentations in this visitor center and from inside you have a nice view on the bay. We had our first wandering tattlers on the rocks to the left of the building, besides pacific loon, red-necked grebe, semipalmated plover, western sandpiper, dunlin and spotted sandpiper. We drove to Tofino to see if we could do some whalewatching trips the next days, because walking in the rain was becoming extremely wet. So we got some information and decided to look for information the next day in Ucluelet. The next stop was radar Hill, pretty useless with mist but probably a nice view with clear weather. Rufous hummingbird was the only bird we had. The last stop of the day was Schooner cove, but again not that much due to the weather: townsends warbler, black oystercatcher and varied thrush. Day 7: Pacific Rim National park We started the day with the walking trails in Florencia bay, so we could return early to Ucluelet to get information for a whaling trip. In the bay were again two grey whales feeding and the other usual suspects: glaucous-winged gull, marbled murrelet, pigeon guillemot, white-winged scoter, surf scoter, rufous hummingbird, fox sparrow, bald eagle and a big group of migrating white-fronted geese. In ucluelet we only found a little whaling boat, but due to the waves we decided to rush back to Tofino where we got just in time to get on the boat of Jamie s whale watching. The boat is big enough to have good views on a wavy sea. The deck in the back is and outside deck, but covered with a roof. So even in rainy situations you can get out and don t get wet. On the trip you get around a breeding Island with puffins etc., but we were just to early for the puffins unfortunately. Anyway we had harbor porpoise, bald eagle, steller s sealion (different sound than California sealion), pigeon 4

5 guillemot, rhinoceros auklet, harlequin duck, marbled murrelet, pacific loon, common loon and very long and good views of a close grey whale. Most people were dressed to cold and most got seasick, but that gave us all the upperdeck for us and another couple. Something very interesting was also the movement of the pacific loons, we had big groups of more than 50 birds migrating north all the time. In the afternoon we stopped at incinator rock, this gave the same species as long beach which is next to it: dunlin, sanderling, western sandpiper and semipalmated polover. Next stop was Combers beach, where there is a rock in front of the beach with a lot of stellers sealion. On these rocks were some surfbirds. And then something very fascinating happened. Around 4 pm the wind turned and it stopped immediately with raining and there was the sun for some hours. Only the mountains inland stayed in the clouds. We went to South beach and had very big groups of hundreds of shearwaters, they were very distant so the bulk was sooty shearwater. I couldn t find any other species in these groups at this big distance. On the Nu-chah-nulth trail we also had a blue jay, which was strange in my opinion. Day 8: Pacific Rim National park Elk Falls We started early morning with breakfast in Grice bay, the promised mudflats were not that impressive and a lot of little annoying insects obliged us to keep walking. The only birds were fox sparrow and great blue heron. We decided to have a last look on Long beach and combers beach with spotted sandpiper, black oystercatcher, bald eagle and fox sparrow we left Pacific Rim National park. Had a quick look on Kennedy lake, which was pretty empty. The next stop was the big rest area on the road to the east. This was one of the only places where we had Vaux s swift, besides violetgreen swallow, dark-eyed junco and steller s jay. The next stop on the trip was Sproat lake with some hieroglyphs, and a small flock of birds consisting of common yellowthroat, wilson s warbler, darkeyed junco, yellow-rumped warbler and house finch. We had lunch on the viewing platform on the bay in comox, a small nature area. It was low tide, so the water was at a big distance. The nicest birds were big groups of cedar waxwings, a hunting merlin and again a migrating group of greater white-fronted geese. In the evening we arrived at Elk falls provincial park and found a nice spot on the campground. We did two small trails. The nicest one was beaver pond trail with a lot of orchids, common yellowthroat, northern rough-winged swallow, barn swallow, brown creeper, goosander and pacific slope flycatcher. During the night there was a lot of rain and apparently our tent was not water tight anymore, so got completely wet. Day 9: Elk falls Strathcona provincial park elk falls In the early morning we drove to the Elk falls trail in heavy rain. The falls were nice but no birds at all with this continuous rain. At 9 am we went to the local outdoor shop to buy a tarp to get an extra roof above our tent and dry our stuff in the car. An hour later we could drive up to Strathcona provincial park. The scenery was rainy and misty, but even then it was beautiful. We did some nice very small trails. Price creek trail: yellow-rumped warbler, pacific tree frog, spotted sandpiper, Canada goose, bufflehead, goosander, varied thrush, vaux s swift and violet-green swallow. We also found traces of black bear and Roosevelt Elk. The next were wild ginger trail and karst creek trail. This 5

6 last one is nice with the disappearing waterfall, not the appearing and disappearing river, there s actually nothing to see. On the snakehead trail we also had cliff swallow and orange-crowned warbler. But this turned out to be a completely rainy day, with very low bird activity. When we were back In the valley in Elk falls the weather became a little better in the evening and we did again the beaver pond trail. With the better weather the bird activity was much higher: chestnutbacked chickadee, winter wren, red-breasted sapsucker, townsends warbler, red crossbill, an unidentified snake, marsh wren, common yellowthroat, orange-crowned warbler, Virginia rail (aud.), white-tailed deer, varied thrush, swainson s thrush, spotted towhee and wilsons warbler. Day 10: Elk falls port Hardy Today we decided to drive to port Hardy to have a look around in this area, and maybe do some whalewatching. The time for whalewatching was not good, augustus-september is apparently better. We had a quick stop at Robert s lake where we had yellow-rumped warbler, American robin, varied thrush and splendid views of a very close red-breasted sapsucker. A little bit further we finally had our first black bear, a terrific start of the day. The road is long and we drove very slow, with a lot of stops next to the road with rave, varied thrush, red-eyed vireo, American robin, yellow-rumped warbler, ruffed grouse and band-tailed pigeon (only some groups flying over). In Port Hardy we first checked the ferry terminal with American mink and red-throated loon and then went to the Quatse river campground where a black bear was active on the campground. On the campground and the walk crossing the campground we had varied thrush, swainsons thrush, American robin and pacific slope flycatcher. Day 11: Port hardy We started with the port hardy estuary trail, which has a shelter. This was very usefull because the first hour it was raining non-stop. After the rain, it was just a little bit misty but we could start birding. The trail goes at the side of the bay which is very nice, just next to the city: Canada goose, spotted sandpiper, dunlin, goosander, bufflehead, song sparrow, American mink, violet-green swallow, northern shoveler, mew gull, whimbrel, great blue heron, western sandpiper, bald eagle, rhinoceros auklet, pigeon guillemot, marbled murrelet, red-necked grebe, white-winged scoter and our only glaucous gull. Next visit was Storey s beach. This is a very nice bay, with calm water and a lot of diving ducks. I actually enjoyed this area, and you can walk to the tip but we didn t had enough time. We had Great blue heron, greater yellowlegs, long-tailed duck, bonapartes gull, mew gull, marbled murrelet, whitewinged scoter, red-necked grebe, black-bellied plover, green-winged teal, spotted sandpiper and horned grebe. We ended the day in the center, there is a nice waterboard with some benches looking out over the bay and some stony flats with a lot of ducks and gulls: harlequin duck, red-throated loon, marbled murrelet, rhinoceros auklet, pigeon guillemot, mew gull, bald eagle, harbor porpoise, gadwall, pelagic cormorant. In the evening we got a tip that the port Hardy Coal Harbour road is a good road to look for bears and indeed we had a black bear in the evening. Day 12: Port Hardy Prince Rupert 6

7 We had an extremely bad night, a redneck family was camping next to our campsite. We had to get at 4 am, and at 2 am I was hoping for rain so they would stop with the loud music. And it started raining, but the party went on in the car and when we had to leave at 4 am they were drunk with loud music still playing. Actually not very friendly, but asocial people still exist, even here. The boat left early morning with dry weather, on the ocean we had rain until noon, then back sunshine for some hours and we ended again with rain and sun. During the trip you get a mixture of sea birds: common mure, rhinoceros auklet, marbled murrelet, cassin s auklet, glaucous-winged gull, pigeon guillemot, surf scoter, white-winged scoter, pacific loon, red-throated loon, pelagic cormorant and northern fulmar. We got in to have a second breakfast, and while my girlfriend went to order food suddenly a sea-otter was flooting next to the boat. So I was yelling in the restaurant for seaotter, and luckily we both had good looks at this funny animal. Although very close to the boat, he was floating on his back in a very relax way. The next hours were extremely rainy, but we had a big whale diving which was possibly a blue whale or a right whale according to the book. But not certain enough, and only a glimpse, so no tick. Funny enough three weeks later was big news that there was again a right whale in this area. Unfortunately, I ll never now which species it was. The following bird was also a lifer, a fork-tailed storm-petrel was flying around. Later on the boat trip we had a second one. The second time we got close to the ocean, a group of pacific white-sided dolphins came for some minutes to the boat. We also had a breaching humpback whale and again four sea-otters in a small group. Other birds of interest were harlequin ducks, western grebe and red-breasted merganser. But besides the birds and the mammals, I was extremely impressed with the views and the vastness of this area. The whole day you go through nice forested hills. Just impressive, you have to get there to see it. In the evening we stopped at one of the last motels before you leave prince Rupert and had a good sleep (parkside resort motel). Day 13: Prince Rupert Jasper This was a very long drive because Jasper is km to the east. After Terrace there was a black bear walking on the road and some kilometers after Topley we had two beautiful males American hen harrier flying around. In Fort fraser we saw ring-billed gull and red-tailed hawk. Just before prince George, two moose crossed the road pretty close to the city center. Just after Prince George when you start climbing in the first mountains we had a northern goshawk. Around nine we stopped at mount robson provincial park campground because too much animals (mule deer and white-tailed deer) were crossing the road. Day 14: Jasper The campsite had a very beautiful look on Mount Robson. We got up early, but had ruffed grouse at our tent, rufous and calliope humming bird at the feeders at the entrance and Hammond flycatcher. We drove in the direction of Jasper and had some lesser scaup and red-winged blackbirds. But one of the best moments of the trip was the grizzly foraging next to the road, even to close to get good digiscoping pictures. We first found a spot on the whistler campground and then went up whistler mountain, but our luck didn t cooperate. We didn t find white-tailed ptarmigan, nor gray-crowned rosy-finch. Instead we 7

8 had most of the other interesting species, but no lifers: horned lark, buff-bellied pipit, mountain goat, We decended again and drove to cottonwood slough. A very nice walk goes around these small lakes, with an abundance of orchids in the forest: ring-necked duck, barrow s goldeneye, northern shoveler, mallard, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, hooded merganser, mule deer, elk, ruffed grouse drumming on a tree, hammonds flycatcher, western tanager, bufflehead, gadwall, sand martin, barn swallow, lesser scaup, red-winged blackbird, violet-green swallow, leconte s sparrow, northern flicker, varied thrush and American wigeon. The road to Pocahontas was mostly interesting for some mammals like a lot of elk and some groups of bighorn sheep at the steep cliffs and black-billed magpies. At Pocahontas we found our first cinnamon teals. In the evening we returned to cottonwood slough, to add Virginia rail. Day 15: Jasper Banff We started the day at Maligne lake which was still partly frozen. On the way we had harlequin ducks on the river and gray jay. But the rest was pretty quiet. Next stop was medicine lake with townsend s solitaire, yellow-rumped warbler and chipping sparrow. We further decended to maligne canyon where we had least squirrel, raven, yellow-rumped warbler, chipping sparrow, golden-mantled ground-squirrel and black-billed magpie. This place is known for the black swifts, but I wanted to check them in Banff. That was not a good decision because the place in Banff is a little bit more difficult to get to and the weather in Banff turned out to be horrible. Luckily we already got this species in Panama. We then drove the icefield parkway, this really is a road where you get impressed by the beauty of the landscape. It s one of the nicest roads I ve ever driven and I think it s correct that this is unesco world heritage. Because we had a long drive and visited a lot of touristic spots like Sunwapta falls etc. the birding was less intense. But at the icefield centre we had our first clarks nutcrackers from the trip, besides brown headed cowbird and a bit further another black bear was foraging next to the road. In Banff we fist put up our tent on Tunnel mountain village 1 campground. Elk where here foraging between the tents, they are very common in this area. In the evening we did the Vermilion lakes drive, but it was very windy: elk, mallard, Canada goose, common loon, lesser yellowlegs, bufflehead, blue-winged teal, American wigeon and green-winged teal. We finished the day with the fenland trail in search for owls but without any luck, only elk and white-tailed deer were present. Day 16: Banff This day turned out to be rainy again, but also extremely windy so most small birds were quiet. We first stopped at muleshoe picnic area and walked the area searching for birds: American robin, Columbian ground-squirrel, warbling vireo, black-capped chickadee, orange-crowned warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, pine siskin, red-naped sapsucker, ruby-crowned kinglet, northern flicker, lincoln s sparrow, chipping sparrow, red-tailed hawk and dark-eyed junco. Our next stop was willow meadow in search for clay-colored sparrow, which wasn t a success: varied thrush, lincoln s sparrow, Columbian ground squirrel and American robin. Because the rain was coming in we went to Vermillion pass burn. Due to the wind the northern hawk owl was probably not in the top of the trees. We walked this area to Stanley glacier, but had to return due to the deep snow: townsend s solitaire, red-tailed hawk, rufous hummingbird, veery and white-crowned sparrow. The last trail we did was Boom lake, in the rain we only had varied thrush, pileated woodpecker and clark s 8

9 nutcracker. We returned in the evening to our tent, to try to sleep with the heavy rain and the wind blowing. Day 17: Banff Kelowna We heard the weather forecast with another 100 mm rain for today and got bored of the bad weather so drove south in the hope to find better weather. We had some touristic stops at a spiral tunnel etc, but it was so cold and so windy that almost nothing was moving. We even had a little snowstorm in glacier national park. Unfortunately we didn t see anything of the landscape here, but I guess this is also a fantastic scenery. Our last hope to find the ptarmigan was the meadows in the sky parkway at mount revelstoke, but this road was only open until halfway so no ptarmigan for this trip. In the mist we only had varied thrush, American robin and dark-eyed junco. We quickly drove further south and finally started seeing some sunshine. On the road we had American kestrel, rusty blackbird, osprey, Canada goose and band-tailed pigeon. In Winfield we started birding again on the Beaver lake road. This is a nice grassy area and further some forested areas. We didn t had that much time but found western kingbird, western meadowlark, say s phoebe, barn swallow, western bluebird, black-billed magpie, lazuli bunting, northern flicker, mountain bluebird, black-headed grosbeak, pine siskin, downy woodpecker and three-toed woodpecker. We got a place on the bear creek provincial park campground underneath some mourning doves and then went birding at Robert lake. This turned out to be a very nice lake with a lot of birds: yellowheaded blackbird, ruddy duck, wilson s phalarope (> 50), killdeer, American coot, northern shoveler, gadwall, eared grebe, bufflehead, cinnamon teal, American avocet, red-winged blackbird, brewer s blackbird, ring-billed gull, spotted sandpiper, semipalmated plover, California quail (> 40), semipalmated sandpiper, mallard, blue-winged teal, ring-necked duck, muskrat and wilson s snipe. We also met a nice lady (Ann Gibson) who had some birds in the garden we still needed, so we were invited the next day to go birding there. Day 18: Kelowna Vaseux lake During the night I heard a common nighthawk on the campground and the next morning some American crows were foraging next to our tent. We went back to Winfield for the garden with the promised birds and we quickly had the two we wanted to see: evening grosbeak and bullock s oriole were present. Other birds at the feeders were: pine siskin, brewer s blackbird, clarck s nutcracker, California quail, cedar waxwing, starling, house finch, American robin, rufous hummingbird, redwinged blackbird and calliope hummingbird. Ann told us a place for northern pygmy owl on beaver lake road, at the second cattle grid. So we returned and found pretty quickly this nice little owl, and the forest was good for a lot of small birds: eastern kingbird, Nashville warbler, mountain chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, chipping sparrow, cassin s vireo, American robin, red-naped sapsucker, osprey, bald eagle, hairy woodpecker, hammonds flycatcher, northern flicker, raven and yellow-bellied marmot. 9

10 We then continued to Vaseux lake, where we stayed at Vaseux lake campground. Black-billed magpie, white-throated swift, eastern kingbird, red-necked grebe, common loon and redhead were visible from our site. We continued further south to road 22 to search for the long-billed curlew. We found it on a flooded field just to the right a little bit before you cross the channel. Other birds in this area were hen harrier, red-winged blackbird, wilson s phalarope, blue-winged teal, sora, yellow-headed blackbird, cinnamon teal, American kestrel and northern flicker. We returned to Vaseux lake and birded around the vaseux lake wildlife centre, which is nothing more than an information plate: bighorn sheep, black-billed magpie, yellow warbler, American coot, muskrat, American goldfinch and an unidentified snake. A little bit back to the campground there is a road going to the cliffs. We walked this road, which was a nice birding area: spotted towhee, sand martin, canyon wren (2), black-billed magpie, peregrine falcon, western meadowlark, yellow-bellied marmot, bullock s oriole, mourning dove, brown-headed cowbird, California quail, lewis s woodpecker, western kingbird, golden eagle, osprey, northern flicker and northern rough-winged swallow. Day 19: Vaseux Vancouver During the night we heard from our tent a common poorwill calling. The next day we started back at road 22 with bobolink, bonapartes gull, cinnamon teal, yellow-headed blackbird, red-winged blackbird, bald eagle, savannah sparrow, ring-billed gull, wilson s phalarope, American wigeon and killdeer. We drove further south to Osoyoos on highway 3. There are some statues next to the road and you have to take wagon weel road to the left and after 1 km to the right there is a woodlot, which should have Williamson sapsucker. We searched for an hour, but only heard the Williamsons sapsucker, but didn t see it unfortunately. In this woodlot we also had northern flicker, rufous hummingbird, red-tailed hawk, ruby-crowned kinglet, chipping sparrow, mountain bluebird, snowshoe hare and brewer s blackbird. The rest of the day we drove to Vancouver, passing a lot of provincial parks etc. To see all these parks you probably need three months instead of three weeks. The best sighting was again a black bear foraging next to the road. We stopped and he came walking just next to our car. Nice view!! In the evening we had a stop at Burnaby lake park, although almost in the city center this is still a real good nature area. We decided to walk around the lake, but had to speed because it turned out to be 12 km and it was getting late. During this speedy hike we had red crossbill, Canada goose, westernpainted turtle, spotted towhee, black-capped chickadee, bewick s wren, pileated woodpecker, cedar waxwing, bushtit, northern flicker, yellow warbler, orange-crowned warbler, wood duck, rufous hummingbird and red-winged blackbird. Day 20: Mount Seymour provincial park We drove up mount Seymour, the visitor center was not open or we couldn t find it. So at the top we had something to eat. In the area were dark-eyed junco s, varied thrush, gray jay and we heard blue grouse calling. Everything was still under a thick snow cover so we tried to trace the blue grouse. In the end the sound carried very far and the walk was pretty long before we found the rocky and cliffy area where it was calling. It certainly took us more than an hour to find the bird in top of a tree, but 10

11 then we got very long and good views of a calling male with a yellow throat. Other birds were northern flicker, hermit thrush, townsend s warblerand spruce grouse. We walked also high up the mountain, but started to lose the track in the snow so had to return. Day 21: Deer lake park Museum of anthropology airport We started very early in deer lake park, our last hope to find hutton s vireo. We didn t find the vireo, nor did we find oak trees where this bird lives in according to the sibley s. So hutton s vireo lives in other trees in Canada, or the oak threes where he lives in are very well hidden. Although this is another city park, this would be a pure nature reserve in Belgium. I could only dream that hen harriers are breeding almost in the city center and we saw some nice displays with prey exchange etc. Other birds in the area were: wood duck, song sparrow, house finch, yellow warbler, spotted towhee, pine siskin, black-capped chickadee, American robin, great blue heron, northwestern crow, common yellowthroat, violet-green swallow and cedar waxwing. In the afternoon we did the museum of anthropology which has a nice exposition of indian stuff and after this visit we went to the airport. Just a little last notice, bear spray is not allowed on an airport. Even not if you ask it friendly Mammal list American pika Snowshoe hare Muskrat American beaver Hoary marmot Yellow-bellied marmot Red squirrel Golden-mantled ground Yellow-pine chipmunk squirrel Black bear Grizzly bear American mink Sea otter California Sea Lion Steller s Sea Lion Harbor seal Mountain goat Bighorn sheep Elk Moose Mule deer White-tailed deer Gray whale Short-finned Pilot whale Pacific white-sided dolphin Harbor porpoise Humpback Bird list Red-throated loon Pacific loon Common loon Red-necked grebe Horned grebe Eared grebe Western grebe Northern fulmar Sooty shearwater Fork-tailed storm-petrel Double-crested cormorant Pelagic cormorant Brandt s cormorant Great blue heron Canada goose Black brant Greater white-fronted goose Wood duck Mallard Gadwall Northern pintail American wigeon Northern shoveler Cinnamon teal Blue-winged teal Green-winged teal Redhead Ring-necked duck Greater scaup Lesser scaup Harlequin duck Long-tailed duck Surf scoter Black scoter White-winged scoter Barrow s goldeneye Bufflehead Hooded merganser Common merganser Red-breasted merganser Ruddy duck Turkey vulture Northern harrier Northern goshawk Red-tailed hawk 11

12 Golden eagle Bald eagle Osprey Merlin American kestrel Peregrine falcon California quail Spruce grouse Blue grouse Ruffed grouse American coot Virginia rail Sora Black-bellied plover Semipalmated plover Killdeer Black oystercatcher American avocet Greater yellowlegs Lesser yellowlegs Spotted sandpiper Whimbrel Long-billed curlew Ruddy turnstone Wandering tattler Surfbird Sanderling Dunlin Western sandpiper Semipalmated sandpiper Least sandpiper Long-billed dowitcher Wilson s snipe Wilson s phalarope Red-necked phalarope Bonapartes gull Mew gull Ring-billed gull California gull American herring gull Glaucous gull Glaucous-winged gull Western gull Black-legged kittiwake Common mure Pigeon guillemot Marbled murrelet Cassin s auklet Rhinoceros auklet Tufted puffin Mourning dove Eurasian collared dove Rock dove Band-tailed pigeon Northern pygmy-owl Common poorwill Common nighthawk Vaux s swift White-throated swift Anna s hummingbird Calliope hummingbird Rufous hummingbird Belted kingfisher Lewis s woodpecker Williamsons sapsucker Red-breasted sapsucker Red-naped sapsucker Downy woodpecker Hairy woodpecker Three-toed woodpecker Northern flicker Pileated woodpecker Olive-sided flycatcher Pacific-slope flycatcher Willow flycatcher Hammond s flycatcher Say s phoebe Eastern kingbird Western kingbird Red-eyed vireo Warbling vireo Cassin s vireo Steller s jay Blue jay Gray jay Clark s nutcracker American magpie Common raven American crow Northwestern crow Sky lark Horned lark Purple martin Northern rough-winged Bank swallow Violet-green swallow swallow Tree swallow Cliff swallow Barn swallow Black-capped chickadee Mountain chickadee Chestnut-backed chickadee Bushtit Red-breasted nuthatch Brown creeper Bewick s wren Winter wren Marsh wren Canyon wren American dipper Golden-crowned kinglet Ruby-crowned kinglet Townsends solitaire Mountain bluebird Western bluebird Varied thrush American robin Swainson s thrush Hermit thrush Veery European starling American pipit Cedar waxwing Orange-crowned warbler Nashville warbler Yellow warbler Yellow-rumped warbler Townsend s warbler Common yellowthroat Wilson s warbler Western tanager Black-headed grosbeak Lazuli bunting Spotted towhee Chipping sparrow Le conte s sparrow Savannah sparrow Golden-crowned sparrow White-crowned sparrow Fox sparrow Song sparrow Dark-eyed junco Western meadowlark Bobolink Brown-headed cowbird Yellow-headed blackbird Red-winged blackbird 12

13 Brewer s blackbird Rusty blackbird Bullock s oriole Evening grosbeak Purple finch House finch Red crossbill Pine siskin American goldfinch House sparrow 13