Today we’re going to take a look at an unmistakable species, easily recognized when seen. In our part of the Okanagan, however, they are not common, usually sighted in either April, May or June when they pass through northwards in migration. Huge flocks migrate together from their wintering...
Spring migration, an overview In our valley, spring migration unfolds gradually, some birds arriving to breed here as early as February or early March, others not until June. Let’s take a look at which species have already arrived, which will come soon and which will leave us to spend our summer...
By Pam Laing American Crow and Common Raven, two familiar Corvids This winter started off unusually mild and snowless. You may have noticed, as I did, that many more crows than usual were lingering here instead of moving further south. Why? As always with birds, it’s all about finding food in...
Fall migration, an overview Flock of Sandhill Cranes migrating south Many birds migrate, as you know. In our valley, spring migration unfolds gradually, somebirds arriving to breed here as early as February, others not until June. And in the fallmigration doesn’t all happen at once either. Birds...
In our last post we looked at two North-American sparrows which turn up every spring tobreed here, Savannah and Vesper Sparrows. This time let’s look at a sparrow you will onlysee here in summer, the Lark Sparrow. Lark Sparrow, distant but easily recognizable This is one of the few places in...
When non-birders think of sparrows they think of the common House Sparrow, the birdthat says, “Cheep, cheep” in our hedges and is abundant in built-up areas. But HouseSparrows are not true sparrows, were introduced here from Europe and are in fact relatedto the North African weaver finches! Two...
Our valley is home to two jays, members of the corvid family, (which includes crows,ravens, magpies and so on). These are the Canada Jay, formerly called the Gray Jay, and theSteller’s Jay. I wrote an article about Canada Jays in the fall of 2017 for this blog.* This timelet’s look at the other...
Don’t call them Seagulls! When we live in a valley with a number of lakes, large and small, as well as ponds, riversand creeks, (not to mention large landfill sites), we are bound to see gulls. Non-birdersoften refer to them as Seagulls. But we have no sea anywhere near us here! Gulls are foundall...
In our spring posting we took a close look at the three species of Grebe that spend their entire year here, changing plumage into breeding ‘duds’ each spring. Today we’ll focus on the two species that migrate here to breed during our summer. These are the Western Grebe and the Eared Grebe. Western...
Three Grebes In past postings we’ve looked at many of the ducks that can be seen in our valley annually. Today let’s look at another family of diving birds, the grebes. Five species of grebe come to the Okanagan annually, plus one more occasionally, but only three are here in winter, and those are...
Four Owls Winter is undoubtedly the best season in which to see owls. This is partly because many trees are bare, enabling better sightings, if you are lucky. But it’s also because in winter some of the owls that usually breed and hunt in the upper forests come down occasionally to the valley...
Two small falcons – Merlin and American Kestrel Peregrine falcons are probably the best-known of all falcons and we do see them occasionally in our valley. But we are much more likely to see one of the smaller falcons, Merlins and American Kestrels, especially in fall and winter. Let’s take a...