July 20
We are back from a ten day trip through southern BC.
I would like to share some images from one of the highlight days in Osoyoos. We got up early and got our birding done by noon as the weather was hot and the air was smokey. The southern Okanogan is a unique ecological zone for Canada. It is called shrub steppe. It would be classified as a desert based on precipitation but cool winters allow the soil to retain some moisture and support sage and antelope brush at the lower elevations and dry forests at the higher elevations. Many species of flora and fauna can only be found in this part of Canada.
This Dulton Creek road (aka Irrigation Creek Road) starts near a roadside cliff and goes through sage brush habitat that changes to Ponderosa Pine as you gain elevation. We saw three new lifers along the road. The Pygmy Nuthatch and Canyon Wren are common in the area and can be seen year round in the right habitat. The Williamson’s Sapsucker is much rarer with about a dozen being reported in the area this year. Another lifer for Connor was the White-throated Swift. Update August 1, we didn’t see a Williamson’s Sapsucker. It was a Juvenile Red-Named Sapsucker.
The California Quail is very common to southern BC and was another lifer for Connor. It greeted us at our hotel when we arrived and we saw it every day. This image is from Dulton Creek road.
I threw in the Cedar Waxwing image form that day because I like it.
Connor and I picked up another couple of lifers on the trip; the Sage Thrush and the Nashville Warbler. From a birding perspective, you are allowed to count birds on your life list if you hear them and can clearly identify them by song. It is not necessary to see them. That was the situation with these two birds, We heard them clearly but could not get a good look at them. That will be the challenge for next time.
The last lifer for me on the trip was a pair of Vaux’s Swifts we saw in Creston. True to their name they were very swift. We found a nesting cavity in a large log and could see them coming and going but getting a photo was impossible.
Stay well !
