[VancouverBirder15]

See you tomorrow! I wonder how much the tank will intimidate people on the highway...

[birdergirl]

Well our youth birding trip was a fantastic success!

We had such a great time in gorgeous sunshine!

We had eight kids and they all got many lifers!

These are some of the highlights we saw today during our 11.9km hike!

450 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches both the coastal and interior species! What an amazing sight to see such large flocks in swarms like that!
Northern Pygmy-Owl (perched 6 metres away from us!-Wait till you see the kids'pics! )
1 adorable tame as ever Hoary marmot
Pikas
Pine siskins
Evening grosbeak
Varied thrush
Steller's Jays
Mountain chickadees
Chestnut-backed chickadees
Red breasted Nuthatches
RTHA's
3 American Pipits
Golden-crowned kinglets
8 Sharp-shunned Hawks
4 Clark's nutcrackers
Eurasian-Collared Dove
1 Townsend's solitaires
2 Merlins
50 Gray Jays that loved to feed from our head and hands

We dipped on a Ptarmigan but we couldn't complain could we?! It was so wonderful seeing our first Rosy finch from the Peak to Peak gondola, having lunch by such a beautiful lake hiking in the alpine and seeing all these great birds, feeding the Gray Jays with great friends ! Surely a day we won't ever forget and thanks B for baking the delicious cookies!

Thanks guys for an awesome day and all the joy you have brought me this year! This was a terrific way to end our final field trip of the year!

I Look forward to seeing your photos and comments on the trip!

Here is a group shot of the kids from Blackcomb Lake!



Cheers,
Mel

[Isaac]

Wow, sounds like a great success Mel! Congrats everyone on the Rosy Finches!!! And the Pygmy Owl is awesome!

[birdergirl]

Thank you so much Isaac! I wish you could have joined us!

Here are three photos I took today!

Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) - Whistler, BC by Birdergirl, on Flickr

Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) - Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler, BC by Birdergirl, on Flickr

Hoary Marmot - Blackcomb Mtn in Whistler, BC by Birdergirl, on Flickr

Cheers,
Mel

[markj]

I am constantly amazed by how much you do for and with the youth BG with your own free time..

well well done you sure are a nice and giving person.

I guess the pygmy owl and the hundreds of rosy finches appeased the kids since you missed the ptarmigan not an easy bird to get at the best of times so Im sure they understood. You did extremely well for mtn birding seeing that many species varieties.

The photos you got are impeccable. The tiny pygmy looks so ferocious like a tiny killer I guess that is what they are after all. The gray jay portrait is beautiful and the hoary marmot is one I have never seen before very beautiful! they named whistler after those things didnt they

You should be very proud of yourself for all the work you do for these youngsters and I'm sure they are very grateful.

Awesome you all had a great day with them. Waiting to see their pics too! Nice group shot!

Mark

[VancouverBirder15]

Gorgeous photos Mel!

Here are mine from yesterday.

Northern Pygmy-Owl! by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Gray Jay by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Hoary Marmot by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Northern Pygmy-Owl! by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Common Raven by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Gray Jay by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Whistler Mountain by VancouverBirder, on Flickr

Thank you so much for organizing this! It was a unforgettable day, and finally seeing a Pygmy-Owl was spectacular!

[birdergirl]

Wow Cole your shots are so amazing!!!!
I love your perspective holding the whiskey Jack and your Pygmy shots just blow me away! I know this was your most wanted bird yesterday so I'm so glad we got him! Notice the blood on his beak? These guys can bring down prey twice their size and we noticed he tried to get the whiskey jacks several times! It was magical how long he spent with us. Love your marmot shot it's a gorgeous profile shot! wasn't he cute?! He was just a youngster! I was thrilled to see one.


Thanks for your nice comments Mark.


Cheers,
Mel

[ian406]

Here are a few of my pictures from the trip
This is my first time posting pictures so it may not work

The lake where we ate lunch
Blackcomb meadows lake by Ian Harland, on Flickr

The pygmy owl

Pygmy Owl by Ian Harland, on Flickr

The Pygmy Owl waving

Pygmy Owl by Ian Harland, on Flickr

The Gray Jays were awesome

Gray Jay by Ian Harland, on Flickr

Gray Jay by Ian Harland, on Flickr

An over exposed picture of our group

Group by Ian Harland, on Flickr

Hoary Marmot

Hoary Marmot by Ian Harland, on Flickr

[birdergirl]

Wow Ian,

Just another set of spectacular shots!


This was such a great day and I love that shot of us all trekking along in the alpine!

Wasn't that scene funny when the guy was like there are two bears there ?

And we were all like where where?


Anyways I love how the Pygmy is waving at us !

The marmot was so cute great shots and a trip to the mountains without gray Jays is like a day without sunshine.

Thanks again kids! See you soon for some winter owling walks and we will get a ptarmigan on another trip.

Cheers,
Mel

[Guy L. Monty]

Sounds like a great trip, and some great photos.

Well done all.

Guy L. Monty
Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island, BC

[markj]

INCREDIBLE photos kids!

That's so rad that the owl got so close to you guys!

You guys saw a lot of cool birds for a trip to the mountains where you usually only see like maybe six species.

Great shots looks like a beauty of a day and lots of fun had by all!

Mark

[birdergirl]

Thanks again for the nice comments Mark and Guy .

Liron is away at school camp right now but he wanted to share his gorgeous shots of the Townsend's Solitaire he got. This is truly one of the best shots I have seen of this species!

Townsend's Solitaire by lironsnaturephotography.com, on Flickr

He also got a beautiful shot of the Pygmy-Owl

Northern Pygmy-Owl by lironsnaturephotography.com, on Flickr


Cheers,
Melissa

[markj]

Rad shot of the Townsend's Solitaire there Liron! I've always dug their facial expressions with their bold eye ring!

Also I like the full frame shot you got on the Pygmy! Wicked cool!

Mark

[Fancy]

Mel suggested that I post some of these photos I got of some of us…

Ian with the Hoary Marmot:


Liam with a Grey Jay:


Cole with a Grey Jay:


Virginia at the bottom of a hill a few of us climbed:


Cole again with a Grey Jay:


Two of Virginia with Grey Jays:



And Virginia, Liam and Cole photographing the marmot.

[birdergirl]

Aww Bridget these are adorable!

You guys are all so cute with the gray Jays!!


I love these shots!!

Thanks for posting these Bridget great memories of our trip!

Cheers,
Melissa