Pemberton AGM Pre- and Post-Conference Trips

 

This year’s BCFO AGM in Pemberton (June 13th – 15th) is going to be a great weekend in its own right, but we’ve also lined up some fantastic optional birding opportunities for members both before and after the conference weekend.

GwynethLkHurleyPassRd

Gwyneth Lake, Hurley Pass Road

Extension Trip 2014

This year’s three-day Extension Trip, lead by Rick Howie will be focus on the grassland and higher elevation forest birds of Rick’s Kamloops home turf. Leaving Pemberton after lunch on Sunday, June 15th, participants will make their way to Kamloops, with a stop en-route for some Hat Creek birding. The extension will shift into high gear early Monday morning as daily excursions to key habitats start and return to our hotel “base camp” in Kamloops.

Provisional target species for the extension include: Flammulated and Boreal Owls, Boreal Chickadees, Swainson’s Hawks, Long-billed Curlews, Chukar, Lewis’s Woodpeckers, and Horned Larks. Participants will also have reasonable chances to see American White Pelicans, Northern Hawk and Great Gray Owls, Williamson’s Sapsuckers, Rock and Canyon Wrens, and Prairie Falcons.

Transportation will be car-pooling. Full details of the extension, including costs, hotels, and registration forms will be published in the March issue of BC Birding.

Sharp-tailed Grouse Jellicoe

Sharp-tailed Grouse, Lac DuBois grasslands. Although lekking is over by June, a few stragglers may be still be around for the Extension Trip.
Photo: Len Jellicoe

Pre-Conference Two-Day Field Trip

Lillooet will be the destination for members who wish to enjoy some excellent birding before the conference. A two day field trip will be offered for June 12th and 13th as one of our 2014 scheduled Two-Day Field Trips for Members.

BCFO members know from our 2007 AGM that Lillooet is an amazing place to go birding. Many of us who missed that opportunity won’t want to miss out in 2014. Hoped for species include: Dusky Grouse, Western Screech-Owls, Red-naped Sapsuckers, White-throated Swifts, Long-billed Curlews, and Rock Wrens. The trip will wrap-up early afternoon on the 13th, giving everyone plenty of time to drive to Pemberton for the AGM opening Meet and Greet.

Full details and registration forms for the AGM, and both trips will be published in the March issue of BC Birding.

BC Birding – December, 2013 issue

The December 2013 issue of our BC Birding newsletter is now available in the Members Area for your holiday season enjoyment. You may read the issue online, or download a copy for your reading pleasure.

As you’ve come to expect of our newsletter, this issue is crammed with fascinating articles on birds, birding travel, great photographs, and announcements of upcoming birding events, including confirmation that our 2014 AGM will take place in Pemberton.

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Bird Records Committee up and running

Finally, we’re off to the races with the long-awaited restart of the BCFO Bird Records Committee.

We’ve got a great group serving on the committee, and the first set of reviews are up for all to see, along with an initial set of operating principles.

Use the drop-down menu under the BRC tab, and select BRC-Public.

Enjoy our latest endeavour, and let us know what you think.

British Columbia Birds – In Press articles

The following In press papers from British Columbia Birds are now available on the BCFO Member’s area of the web site:

Distribution, Relative Abundance and Population Size of Williamson’s
Sapsucker in South-central British Columbia – Gyug et al.

High concentration of Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
wintering in Castlegar, British Columbia – Arndt

Enter the realm of the Golden Eagle (Book review) – Nelson

BCFO Featured Photographer #4 – Len Jellicoe

Many BCFO members, and BC birders have known for a long time about Len’s outstanding photographs of wildlife. BCFO is delighted to offer a collection of Len’s pictures of BC birds as he becomes the fourth in our series of Featured Photographers. When reading Len’s commentary you’ll see that we local fans are not the only ones to recognize his talent. Click here, or use the drop down menu under the Features tab to access Len’s pictures, and the pages of our previous three Featured Photographers.

Remember to click on each image to view larger versions.