Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of joining Tom Dickenson, the Dean of Science at Thompson Rivers University and a very passionate birder, to do a breeding bird survey along some back country roads near Sorrento and Tappen, BC.  Tom and I had crossed paths several times before but we had never actually been in the field together.  Tom is the kind of person that oozes ornithology and is passionate and knowledgeable about other areas of the environment as well.

The destination was approximately a 1 hour drive east from Kamloops.  Tom has been doing this survey for over 20 years along Notch Hill and Tappen Notch Hill Road.  He usually conducts this survey at first light but we gave it a go from 5:30 pm to dusk.  Because of this there were a few species we weren’t able to see and hear.  Still, it was a fantastic afternoon out with Tom and I did a lot of gleaning of information.  Tom is a textbook of local biology ranging from birds to geology.  He is a pillar in the local community with the naturalist club and has been instrumental in getting several pieces of land into conservancy.

We also snuck in a little time to bird Tappen Bay and other places on Shuswap Lake right at dusk.  Tom knew a good place for Nashville Warbler, which was new for me, so we picked up a few of those at the end of the day as well.

Thanks Tom for a fantastic trip and I look forward to many more!