Field Trip Report:
Vernon Commonage & Silver Star - July 16, 2006
By Ken Wright & Jim Ginns
At our meeting place - UBC Kelowna Campus, only two of us joined leader Bill Cutfield for birding in the Vernon area. Red Crossbill, Mountain Chickadee, and Chipping Sparrow were singing from the Ponderosa Pine woodlands on campus. A flock of 250 or more gulls were overhead making their morning trek from lake roost to dump. Dick Cannings glanced up and commented "mostly California with some Ring-billed."
| After wolfing down a couple of high-caloric Tim Horton's muffins, we drove to Predator Ridge on the Vernon Commonage. Our target was the Clay-coloured Sparrow, noted for it's song that resembles more of an insect than bird. Within a minute one sang vigourously on the shrub-dotted grassy slope above and several more were heard over the course of the morning. A lovely Lazuli Bunting sang—the first of many to come! A few hundred meters up the road in a young aspen grove we were treated to the songs or views of a Least Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Cedar Waxwings, Violet-green Swallows, Western Meadowlark and a Black-capped Chickadee. A nearby small pond yielded Mallard, Red-winged Blackbird, American Coots (both adults and gray chicks), Yellow-headed Blackbird, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, and Spotted Sandpiper. |  |
At McKay Reservoir, where a flotilla of cryptically-plumaged waterfowl caused us some ID frustration, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Ruddy Ducks and Common Goldeneyes were recognizable in the mix. A few passerines, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch and Vesper Sparrow, were added to the list. Fearing an imminent end to songbird vocalizing on this warm summer morning we hastened on. Beside a small wetland on Commonage Road, three Hooded Mergansers blasted right over our heads.
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At Rose's Pond a Great Blue Heron, Cliff Swallow, Belted Kingfisher and Lesser Yellowlegs awaited us. We quickly headed on only to screech to a halt for two fledgling Great Horned Owls perched right up against one another on a roadside fence post—a wonderful treat, especially during broad daylight. Bill heard a Yellow Warbler, and White-breasted Nuthatch, Swainson's Thrush, and Downy Woodpecker were also added to the roster. At the junction of Bench Row Road one of the local specialties—Swainson's Hawk—soared effortlessly on invisible thermals. A Gray Catbird "mewed" from an adjacent Saskatoon bush. Wandering through the wastewater treatment poplar stand produced our first Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos as well as a distant Golden Eagle. Of particular note was the preponderance of American Goldfinches on the Commonage—they were present at every stop. This was not to be the case at Silver Star where they were conspicuously absent. |
| We stopped on Wildwood and Hitchcock Roads on the lower slopes of Silver Star to listen. It was pretty quiet initially and all we saw were flocks of fledged and adult Chipping Sparrow's. A Cassin's Finch blurted out a couple of songs from a big Douglas-fir and then we heard our last expected member of the vireo family—Cassin's no less! Further up Hitchcock Road we heard our second member of the nuthatch fraternity—a Red-breasted. In the midst of a big hay field, Jim spotted a couple of Say's Phoebe’s on the fence. |  Rose's Pond, Vernon Commonage |
On Sovereign Lake Road in the high-elevation forests of Silver Star we first stopped just beyond the Silver Star Road junction—this proved to be our most "warblery" place where several Townsend's, Yellow-rumped and a single MacGillivray's Warbler were tallied. A Winter Wren sang in the distance. Around the bend four Pine Grosbeaks were on the road. From the car Ken heard the familiar ring of a Golden-crowned Kinglet and a Gray Jay glided across the road in its' distinctive fashion. At our last stop, the cross-country ski area parking lot, we were serenaded by the musical tones of Hermit Thrushes. Several Dark-eyed Juncos flitted about and Bill showed us a Rufous Hummingbird feeding in a patch of lupine. About 10:45 we headed back down the mountain with a respectable 82 species.
Field Trip Leader Harold at White Lake
SPECIES LIST ~ Vernon Commonage & Silver Star, 16 July 2006.
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Total 82 species |
Ken Wright
Box 131, Clearwater, BC, V0E 1N0 Email: kengwright@telus.net
Jim Ginns
1970 Sutherland Road, Penticton, BC, V2A 8T8 Email: ginnsj@telus.net
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British Columbia Field Ornithologists PO Box 45507 |
Last Updated: January 18, 2010. Copyright BCFO © 1999-2010. Masthead: Orange-crowned Warbler photo by Guy Monty |