Friday, June 2 - Hope, Manning Park and Wayne Lake in Princeton

I left home quite early in the day and made good time to my first stop in Hope. I always try to make a quick birding stop at the Hope Airpark just north of Highway 1. I might get an early look at a Western Kingbird or get really lucky and see a Lazuli Bunting.

It was not to be, I only saw two birds of note. The first was a Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead.


Red-tailed Hawk - Hope Airpark, Hope BC

The other bird was a singing White-crowned Sparrow. I took a quick shot and headed east towards Highway 3 and Manning Park.

White-crowned Sparrow - Hope Airpark, Hope BC

Although it was June, it felt like early spring in Manning Park. I stopped at the resort to check out the picnic area for birds. There were a few hardy people there who were camping at Lightning Lakes.

The first bird I saw was the dreaded Brown-headed Cowbird. It was my first for the year which made it a little more of a welcome sighting. 

Brown-headed Cowbird - Manning Park Resort, Manning Park BC - 2017 Bird #156

The other birds I saw were much more welcome, a couple of Clark's Nutcrackers. I'd not seen this common alpine bird since 2015. They seemed to be ruling the Picnic area again after ceding control to Ravens last year.

Clark's Nutcracker - Manning Park Resort, Manning Park BC - 2017 Bird #157

I also a Gray Jay very briefly, but did not get a photo. The photo below was taken at Manning Park in 2015.

Gray Jay - Manning Park Resort, Manning Park BC (2015) - 2017 Bird #158

The other place I try to check out at Manning is the Beaver Pond. It's feast or famine here and this visit was devoid of birds except for a Mallard and this Song Sparrow. Maybe I'd have better luck here when I came back going home (hint, hint).

Song Sparrow - Beaver Pond, Manning Park Resort, Manning Park BC

I made my way slowly to Princeton as there was some road construction just outside the park. They are finally widening and repaving some of the narrower sections of Highway 3. I stopped at Thomasina's in Princeton for lunch and then made the short trip to a couple of nearby lakes. 

I've been going to Swan Lake for a few years. Last April a local birder told Mary-Jean and I about Wayne Lake, about 3KM past Swan Lake. I decided to go to Wayne Lake first and the hit Swan Lake on the way back.

After parking, I noticed a pair of Ruddy Ducks fairly close to shore. I switched the Nikon into video mode and shot this video. The male is the more colourful bird with the blue bill.

Here's a still photo of the pair:

Ruddy Duck - Wayne Lake, Princeton BC

I noticed a small bird fly in and got one shot of it. I knew it was a sparrow but did not confirm an ID until I loaded the day's photos onto my notebook computer. It was a Vesper Sparrow, one of my target birds for this area. The field marks for this bird are the complete white eye-ring, the rufous shoulders and the dark streaks.

Vesper Sparrow - Wayne Lake, Princeton BC - 2017 Bird #159

This wrapped up part 1 of the day, part 2 follows with Swan Lake and Cawston.