Bicycle Birdathon
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Dick Cannings
I was awoken by a banging on my bedroom door. It was dark, obviously the middle of the night, and I couldn’t think who it might be. My son and his team of birdathoners had left the house at 11 p.m. to be at their start point by midnight, while I was going to start my bicycle Birdathon at the more civilized hour of 4 a.m. The door opened and there was Eva Durance, one of the members of my Birdathon team. She had been ringing the doorbell for 15 minutes and had finally decided to drag me out of bed—I noticed I was clutching my alarm clock in my hand, so had obviously fallen back to sleep after it had gone off at 3 a.m. Luckily I’d chosen a team member who knew the layout of my house! I threw on my clothes and grabbed my gear; Mark Gardiner, the third member of the team, had already strapped my bike onto his car. We were off into the early light of dawn, headed into the hills north of Naramata. We reached Chute Lake, our starting point, at 4:18, right on schedule.
It was a perfect morning, clear and dead calm. A layer of mist lay on the lake as we cycled to the north end, where a pair of loons swam silently over to investigate us. We started adding species quickly as the sky brightened—Varied Thrush, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Ruffed Grouse, Wilson’s Snipe, Northern Waterthrush, and a cacophony of drumming Red-naped Sapsuckers. A Northern Pygmy-Owl answered my whistles as we turned around to begin our descent down the Kettle Valley Railroad trail, a popular cycling route between Kelowna and Penticton. Our plan was to take the trail downhill (an important consideration when cycling) to Penticton. The trail makes two 180-degree turns and goes through two short tunnels as it snakes down the hill for 30 kilometres to Naramata. We left Chute Lake at 5:20 a.m. with 28 species and steadily tallied more as we rattled down the gravel railbed—Winter Wren, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Townsend’s Warbler, Townsend’s Solitaire, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Steller’s and Gray Jays. Mark heard a Dusky Grouse hoot but my ears couldn’t pick up the low note. At Robinson Creek we decided to shave a few kilometres off the route by taking the rough and steep trail that connected the upper part of the track with the central track, avoiding the first tunnel. My (rather inexpensive) bike started to come apart on that section, and I hoped it would hold together until we got back to Naramata where we could tighten things up.
We reached the Little Tunnel at 7:30 a.m., where the Rock and Canyon Wrens sang on cue and White-throated Swifts rocketed overhead. We could scope Okanagan Lake from this height and picked out a small flock of Western Grebes about 2 kilometres away. At 8:20 we were back at my house to pick up all the gear I’d forgotten in my hasty departure while Mark repaired my bike. Eva spotted a Black-chinned Hummingbird at the feeder, and Mark and I had Vaux’s Swift overhead. We popped into Creek Park below my house long enough to get the first Pacific-slope Flycatcher of the year, then started south along Naramata Road to Penticton.
One of the benefits of bicycle birding is that you see fly-overs much more readily than while driving a car; we had a Great Blue Heron go overhead just as we reached Penticton, the only one of the day. The Red-necked Grebe was on its nest at the Yacht Club, a male Hooded Merganser floated off the walking pier, and a small group of very late Greater Scaup dove around a group of wet-suited triathletes-in-training. Despite the holiday weekend, the Okanagan Lake beach was empty save for a few Ring-billed Gulls and a female Common Merganser with 11 downy ducklings.
We cycled down the west dyke of the Okanagan River channel to Skaha Lake, adding a Yellow-breasted Chat and several ducks to the list, then continued down the west shore of Skaha. By now it was noon and a good southerly breeze sprang up in our faces, slowing the pace a bit as well as the birding. We reached Okanagan Falls by 1 p.m., where I dropped in on the local grocery store to buy some ibuprofen for my aching neck as well as some new food and drink supplies. We spent some time watching the local dipper nest at the river outlet, but failed to hear or see any sign of the adult birds. A few Barrow’s Goldeneyes bobbing in the riffles were the only new species there.
Further down the river we got to the big marsh at the north end of Vaseux Lake, the only real marsh on our route so our one chance for rails and a few other species. We quickly tallied Marsh Wren, then I heard a bittern call several times—a real bonus for the Okanagan these days. A Sora eventually called as well, but we never did hear a Virginia Rail. We left the marsh at 2:50 p.m. and headed up into the pine forest, passing a pair of Western Bluebirds on the way. Reaching the Green Lake Road, we turned south onto what local cyclists call “The Wall”, a very steep set of switchbacks that climb to Hawthorn Mountain Vineyards. I stalled out on the corners, and was happy to meet a couple of sets of birding friends stopped on the pullouts so that I could catch my breath. Mark and I saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk fly overhead, while Eva was waiting patiently at the top with news of a Golden Eagle that had unfortunately disappeared over the ridge.
Green Lake held a minor surprise—two Buffleheads and two Horned Grebes—both late migrants that weren’t there the day before. We reached the Willowbrook junction at 4:25 p.m. and realized we were way ahead of schedule. Normally I plan my Birdathons down to the minute, but hadn’t had the time to do that with this new route. We had 5 hours of birding left and only 14 kilometres to go. We debated whether to turn south towards Oliver in hopes of adding Lark Sparrow, but decided to simply head north to White Lake, where we could spend plenty of time walking the sage looking for a few difficult species. Also, some very black clouds were gathering over the western peaks, promising rain and wind in the near future. Just as we started off again, Mark called out “Hawk overhead!” and we looked up to see a beautiful light phase Swainson’s Hawk sailing southward. This species is regular at the northern and southern ends of the Okanagan Valley, but only seen as a rare migrant in between.
The last hill up to White Lake produced a pair of Lark Sparrows, always a beautiful bird to see. We stashed our bikes behind some big sagebrush above the lake and walked up the hill to search for Grasshopper Sparrow. This is a very rare species in British Columbia, but this was one of the regular sites. I soon flushed a sparrow without white outer tail feathers and excitedly looked at it through the binoculars—Savannah Sparrow. A much commoner species, but then we had missed it at Vaseux Lake so I was still happy to see it. We flushed more likely birds, but they all dove into the grass before we could identify them. Spreading out, we combed the hillside for sparrows, then finally I heard the high lisping trill of a Grasshopper Sparrow. Only Mark got a good look at it, but we contentedly turned back towards the road, hoping to put up Gray Partridge, and scanning the grasslands for Short-eared Owls. Finding neither, we cycled up the road to the area where Brewer’s Sparrows nest and quickly heard several giving their long, canary-like songs. We went for another walk there, hoping for a long-shot Clay-colored Sparrow or even a Sage Thrasher, but heard only more Brewer’s and the ever-present Vesper Sparrows and meadowlarks. After a period of wonderful calm, the wind had shifted to the north, so we pressed on towards Three Gates Farm, where my wife had dropped off our vehicle. We searched the roadside aspens, looking for Downy Woodpeckers and Cedar Waxwings, but again came up empty. A White-breasted Nuthatch called from the ponderosas, another one for the list—we wouldn’t have to disturb the nesting birds at Three Gates.
We pulled into the driveway at 7:10 p.m., with 103 kilometres on the odometer and still an hour ahead of schedule, but I looked forward to relaxing on the porch there, watching for a possible Anna’s Hummingbird and resting my weary legs. Chris Charlesworth, Ryan Tomlinson and Michael Force, another Birdathon team, were whistling in vain at the entrance for a pygmy-owl they’d missed earlier in the day. Doreen Olson, our friend who lives at Three Gates, welcomed us with coffee and pie, while the young Great Horned Owls called from the nest above her lawn and a young Northern Saw-whet Owl peeked out of a box along the driveway. We’d hoped for Western Screech-Owl there as well, but Doreen wasn’t sure where they were nesting on her large property. We’d have to wait for dark, when we could get Common Poorwill and maybe even Flammulated Owl as well. But steady rain came before nightfall, and with the gusty wind we were easily convinced that it would make more sense to simply go home and climb into bed. As we got in the car at 8:45, the pygmy-owl began to call to bid us good night. We counted up the species on the way home—138—a very respectable total indeed.
Dick, Eva and Mark’s bird list is below:
Okanagan Big Day Challenge 20 May 2007
The Swainson’s Switchbackers: Dick Cannings, Eva Durance, Mark Gardiner.
An all-bicycle Big Day. Clear and calm in morning, south wind after noon, clouding over in late afternoon, wind turned to north at 18:00, raining after 20:00. High 27ºC. 103 km cycled.
Chute Lake
0418 1. American Robin
2. Lincoln’s Sparrow
0420 3. Dark-eyed Junco
4. Yellow-rumped Warbler
5. Song Sparrow
6. Varied Thrush
7. Red-breasted Nuthatch
0430 8. Wilson’s Snipe
9. Ruffed Grouse
0440 10. Northern Waterthrush
11. Tree Swallow
12. Common Yellowthroat
13. Common Loon
14. Red-winged Blackbird
15. Orange-crowned Warbler
16. Mallard
17. Red-naped Sapsucker
0450 18. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
19. Warbling Vireo
20. Common Raven
21. Northern Flicker
22. Northern Pygmy-Owl
23. MacGillivray’s Warbler
24. Mountain Bluebird
0500 25. Western Tanager
26. Mountain Chickadee
0510 27. Black-capped Chickadee
28. Golden-crowned Kinglet
Chute Lake to Rock Ovens Park
0520 29. Winter Wren
30. Dusky Flycatcher
31. Pine Siskin
32. Olive-sided Flycatcher
33. Hammond’s Flycatcher
34. Townsend’s Solitaire
0529 35. Townsend’s Warbler
0530 36. Swainson’s Thrush
37. Wilson’s Warbler
38. Cassin’s Vireo
39. Gray Jay
40. Steller’s Jay
0540 41. Hermit Thrush
0550 42. Clark’s Nutcracker
0608 43. Pileated Woodpecker
0610 44. Nashville Warbler
45. Brown-headed Cowbird
46. Dusky Grouse
0628 47. Chipping Sparrow
0630 48. Red Crossbill
Rock Ovens to Glenfir
0700 49. Rock Wren
50. American Goldfinch
51. Calliope Hummingbird
52. Hairy Woodpecker
53. Cassin’s Finch
54. Rufous Hummingbird
Glenfir to Little Tunnel
0715 55. Spotted Towhee
56. Violet-green Swallow
0720 57. Mourning Dove
Little Tunnel
0730 58. Red-tailed Hawk
59. Vesper Sparrow
60. California Quail
61. Western Grebe
62. White-throated Swift
62. Canada Goose
0740 64. Canyon Wren
Arawana
0802 65. House Wren
66. N. Rough-winged Swallow
67. Pygmy Nuthatch
0820 68. Western Wood-Pewee
69. Say’s Phoebe
70. Brewer’s Blackbird
71. Evening Grosbeak
72. Black-chinned Hummingbird
0830 73. Vaux’s Swift
0840 74. Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Naramata to Penticton
75. Black-billed Magpie
76. House Finch
77. European Starling
78. Bullock’s Oriole
0900 79. House Sparrow
80. American Kestrel
81. American Crow
0910 82. Eastern Kingbird
83. Turkey Vulture
84. Barn Swallow
Okanagan Lake, Penticton
0930 85. Great Blue Heron
86. Bank Swallow
0940 87. Red-necked Grebe
0950 88. Rock Pigeon
89. Black-headed Grosbeak
90. Gray Catbird
91. Spotted Sandpiper
92. Belted Kingfisher
93. Yellow Warbler
1010 94. Hooded Merganser
95. Greater Scaup
96. Common Merganser
97. Ring-billed Gull
98. Osprey
SS Sicamous
1026 99. Cinnamon Teal
100. American Coot
Okanagan River Channel
1035 101. Cliff Swallow
102. Ring-necked Pheasant
1040 103. Yellow-breasted Chat
104. Veery
1100 105. Western Kingbird
106. Western Meadowlark
1110 107. Killdeer
108. Lesser Scaup
109. Redhead
110. Gadwall
111. American Wigeon
1125 112. Wood Duck
Skaha Lake, west side
1204 113. Yellow-headed Blackbird
1236 114. Bald Eagle
Okanagan Falls
1315 115. Barrow’s Goldeneye
Vaseux Lake, north marsh
1410 116. Marsh Wren
117. American Bittern
1425 118. Sora
119. Green-winged Teal
1430 120. Ring-necked Duck
121. Ruddy Duck
1440 122. Pied-billed Grebe
1450 123. Western Bluebird
Green Lake Road
1520 124. Sharp-shinned Hawk
125. Golden Eagle
1535 126. Bufflehead
127. Horned Grebe
Willowbrook
1625 128. Swainson’s Hawk
1630 129. Lazuli Bunting
130. Northern Harrier
White Lake
1700 131. Lark Sparrow
1710 132. Cooper’s Hawk
1720 133. Savannah Sparrow
1740 134. Grasshopper Sparrow
1800 135. Brewer’s Sparrow
Three Gates Farm
1900 136. White-breasted Nuthatch
1910 137. Great Horned Owl
1940 138. Northern Saw-whet Owl
Raining; finished at 2030.