Okanagan Big Day Challenge--Team: "The Shuttleworth Shuffle-lots"

Sorry for the long delay in relaying these photo-highlights! I've been soooo busy with work and "planning ahead" that this report slipped through the cracks. It was a great pleasure to be joined by my good friends Michelle Hamilton, her partner Grant, and Michael Force. We decided to walk from Venner Meadows (about 19km above Vaseux Lake) down to Vaseux, then up highway 97 to Okanagan Falls. We logged close to 29km on the day and saw close to 120 species. Here are some of the photo highlights:
[The gang takes shelter from an early morning rain--I was regretting my choice to wear jeans at this point!]

[Male Black-backed Woodpecker forages near the roadside--something we wound't have spotted from a car!]

[The team poses for a photo half-way down the hill]

[Canyon Wren nestling--we found a nest just off the road in the Irrigation Ck Canyon!]

[Lazuli Bunting along Irrigation Creek]

[Stopping for lunch and a scan of Vaseux Lake]

[One of the biggest surprises of the day: a lone Sandhill Crane at the Vaseux Lake Banding Station]