Kaslo (West Kootenay region), Nov. 18: My 4-year-old looked out the window this morning and said "There's a duck in the yard!". A large bird (size of a small duck, but not a duck) was waddling through the fresh snow. As it was not one I had seen before, I went for my camera, but it flew off as I was about to photograph it. It had a yellow breast and grey back, prominent (longish) black beak, and a very round (fat) body. The only thing I can find that looks similar is the Yellow-breasted Chat, but apparently they are migratory birds, breeding in the Okanagan but not the Kootenays, rarely seen in BC at all anymore. Any ideas?

Yellow-breasted Chats are a type of warbler, so they are small. How big was this bird?

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Liron

Bird photography equipment
Canon EOS 60D
Canon EF 400mm f5.6L USM
Sigma Flash & Vello Flash Bracket

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Western Meadowlark, puffed up because of the cold?

Guy L. Monty
Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, BC

Meadowlark it is! Thank you!