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November 23, 2006  Two Alulas Way, Way Up At a recent meeting our local watershed group discussed putting the wings back on a local bird festival. Previously, a handful of us made an effort to hold a bird day celebration and managed to continue the tradition for two years after the first one. Our event was rather low key but managed to snag one of the big names in birding, Dick Cannings. He certainly pulled in some interested people but despite our modest success, enthusiasm for making this event an annual affair dwindled. Recently the idea was revisited, but I lack the promoter’s genes necessary to take this event to another level, and there is no obvious other person stepping up to take the bird event by the horn (beak?) This didn’t stop me from sitting down with Bonnie and laying out what I thought had to happen for a birding event to grow. After all our points were tabulated we decided to let the idea go. Despite our lack of zeal I still think at least one idea should be pursued - the naming of a town bird. Most bird festivals pick a local celebrity bird as a mascot. The chosen bird is then reflected in the name of the event. Some examples are the Snow Goose Festival, Return of the Osprey, Meadowlark festival, and numerous Bald Eagle celebrations. Other featured birds are Swans, and Sandhill Cranes. And this brings me to the question of what bird species would best represent the town or area around 100 Mile House. In order to retrieve the most democratic answer this question should be a survey question for local papers and radio. However newspaper space or radio time costs money, and budgets being what they are, I will just nominate my own top three contenders then wait for other suggestions to come rolling in. So here, without further ado, and after a small drumroll, are my mascot suggestions in no particular order: The Harrier, the Violet-green Swallow, the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Other options are numerous. They include Ruddy Ducks, Mountain Bluebirds, Varied Thrush, Sandhill Cranes, Western Tanagers, and Common Loons - or, feel free to send in your own suggestions. Of all my suggestions, The Harrier is probably least known. A Harrier is a medium sized Hawk that frequents wet meadows and shorelines. It hunts by flying low over terrain then surprising its prey by appearing suddenly and pouncing. So unobtrusive is this large bird that it wasn’t even high on my list until I mentioned it to another birder passing through our area. He was from the Okanagan and we happened to meet near Skaday Bridge on Horse Lake. He asked me about our local birding and I mentioned that in springtime there was a significant Harrier migration past the area where we stood. On migration the birds fly along the shores of Horse Lake, proceed along the face of Bird Compass Ridge (my name for the old ski hill,) then fly low over town. Once clear of the highway they drop down and sail over the cattail margins of the 100 Mile Marsh before making their way over the arena and onto the fields of Little Bridge Creek and Exeter Lake. I have been west of town during this fly-through and noted they are still heading westward at Holden Lake but this is the extent of my knowledge of their route. The visiting birder was very interested in the Harrier migration, and said that he was not aware of such an event anywhere else. His interest put the Harrier in the running as one of the feature birds of a local bird festival. This brings us to another virtually unknown bird on my list, the Violet-green Swallow. The Violet-green Swallow is a bird of the west and looks much like a Tree Swallow except for an arc of white on its face and saddle-like patches of white on the sides of its rump. The iridescence of its back, as the name suggests, is violet-green with some purple sheen as well. The Violet-green arrives in late April. It is truly unique because it insists on nesting in nooks and crannies of buildings on Birch Avenue, (the main street of town) and the alley behind Birch Avenue, (the lane I call Scrub Birch.) Unlike the Tree Swallow, found in abundance around natural cavities or bird boxes during nesting season, the Violet-green is almost impossible to find nesting anywhere but downtown. The only other place I know of is on the Fraser River 50 miles west of town. Any bird that insists on living in the hubbub of our small town surely deserves to be on a short list of birds that represent our area. The other bird on my list is the Yellow-headed Blackbird. I would be willing to bet that the Yellow-headed Blackbird, like the Robin, is known to almost every person in our area whether they are interested in birds or not. I would also bet that if a vote were held for most popular local bird, the Yellow-headed Blackbird would win over the other two birds I mentioned. What has the Yellow-headed Blackbird got going that it deserves your vote? It is strikingly marked, easy to find, nests at the 100 Mile Marsh, and would look good on a T-shirt. Perhaps that’s all it takes to be the top bird. So there they are - the candidates. And like human candidates in an election they have their unique qualities; some are subtle, some are gaudy, and some require further investigation. So what do you say? Shall we vote? To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
