Winter Wonderland

According to a good birding friend in Creston, she said it was a good winter for the little Northern Pygmy Owl and are seen on most outings. So, I thought, I'll go out and look for one! And I did! I'm up to 127 birds seen this year now. It's a beautiful day here. Sunshine and around zero degrees Celsius. The owl flew across an open field in front of me and landed in a large poplar. At first I wondered what it was. I always think Owls are bigger. The striking brown and white pattern and touches of yellow had me stumped for a moment. But when I got a better look I could see it was a pygmy owl. Here's a link to a nice video taken in Creston yesterday by Brent Wellander.

http://www.youtube.com/user/kootenayphotos

Merry Christmas!

Castlegar Christmas Bird Count

We had a good day for the bird count. No snow and temperatures just below freezing, in other words, not TOO cold! Three of us walked the streets of Shoreacres. There was a lone Trumpeter Swan (126) on Slocan Pool. A couple of days later I saw two swans. The Northern Shrike was seen a day before the count so there it can be included for count week. A Great Blue Heron also flew over the house the following day. The Blue Jay that first made it's appearance last December was sighted and heard. The usual suspects for this time of year were observed including: Canada Geese, Mallard, Common Goldeneye, Bald Eagle, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, American Crow, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Raven, Northern Flicker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Stellar's Jay, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Bohemian Waxwing, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser. Val & Al also reported Evening Grosbeaks at their feeder during count week and Pine Siskins and Red-breasted Nuthatch on count day.

Merry Christmas!

Winter Birding

The neigbhours have seen them quite often this winter but I finally saw my first Bohemian Waxwings (125) this morning on my walk back from the mail box. It was a small flock of about 20 birds and they looked like they were trying to settle down on a mountain ash tree to eat some berries. The Northern Shrike is back for the winter and I've seen him flying around occasionally. We heard a Great Horned Owl the other night while we were in the hot tub. We might even have seen it as we saw something glide by on quiet wings.

The Castlegar CBC is the Saturday so I'm hoping to add a few more species to my big year then. 

Bonaparte Gulls

I'm aware that Bonaparte Gulls (124) fly by in large numbers. To date, I have never seen any. That changed today. It wasn't a large group and they weren't flying. But I'm struggling to figure out why some have pink legs and some have red legs. Bonaparte's have pink legs, so are the ones with red legs a different species? I need a gull expert! Help!

Sweat Bees

Finally discovered what was making ant hill type holes in my thyme plants. Sweat bees! Their heads are metallic green and their bodies are bee-like; yellow with dark stripes. They are good native pollinators so if the honey bees (which is non-native) populations crash, we know we have native bees around to do the job. Also, native are mason bees which are back and look like flies.

Northern Harrier

I must have been in a hypnotic trance the first time this bird flew by because she had to come by a second time to show me that she wasn't a Cooper's Hawk but a Northern Harrier (123).  She flew by low to the ground, slowly, showing off her white rump patch. It just didn't register the first time. I just looked and thought, 'oh there's that Cooper's again!' The Harrier is still around somewhere because I can hear the crows are agitated and cawing back and forth. I'm pretty sure my subconscious mind knew it was a Northern Harrier and that's why it sent the bird around a second time for my conscious mind to register it. This is only the second time I've had a Northern Harrier here in 3 years. Gail: I'm pretty sure it's the same bird you photographed. I guess it will pass Michael's Hawk watch tomorrow!

Common Nighthawks

My neighbours Al & Val called to tell me they had a bird roosting on the roof of their house. I went over for a look and we decided it was a juvenile Common nighthawk. What a rare treat to see this bird at rest and to observe it's plumage in detail. Normally, we only see it at dusk while it twists and turns catching insects. 

Saw a small flock (6) of Horned Grebes in front of our house and heard reports of larger flocks on Kootenay lake near Nelson. The Ospreys are still around. I went kayaking last week and saw four Great Blue Herons. 

Larry found a huge Western toad in our small pond beside our deck a few weeks ago. Turns out is probably a female which can lay 16,000 eggs. I have noticed, as well as tiny green pacific tree frogs, we have lots of little broad toadlets.

Butterflies

Here are some photos of butterflies seen in the Shoreacres area in the past month.

Great Spangled Fritillary (male) on Butterfly bush. 

Great Spangled Fritillary (female on left, male on right)

Lorquin's Admiral on Pearly Everlasting

Pine White - this was a rare occurrence for me. Usually this butterfly is flying high and fast. This one co-operated by staying still on this flower while I sat in my kayak and took a photo.

American Kestrels

It's August, so I know I'm guaranteed to see American Kestrels somewhere in Shoreacres, and usually in our yard. Today, during a short hail storm, one was sitting at the top of a fir tree. As the hail and rain pelleted down on him, instead of retreating to a drier spot, he stayed put, but also extended his wings out to the side as if sheltering from the rain and hail. Odd behaviour I thought as he was still get wet!

Solitary Sandpiper

I went for a walk along the river this evening in search of migrating sandpipers. I did see a small peep a few days ago but was without binoculars and didn't positively identify it. Today it was easier the shorebird I saw was easier to identify as it was the larger Solitary Sandpiper (122) which I see in the ponds each August. 

Also about are lots of tiny greens frogs (as big as my thumbnail) everywhere. This is an annual event. They are Pacific Tree Frogs.

Lurking in the reeds I noticed a rather large crocodile as well! I'll have to keep a close eye on the grandkids next time they come to visit...

Same time every year

I'm beginning to notice a pattern. This is the third summer in a row I've seen a group of Black Swifts (121) here at the same time period. It was great to sit outside on the deck and eat dinner and watch them dipping and diving. I estimate about 40 this year which is more than past years. Just a few hours earlier I wondered if I would see Black Swifts today.....

Gulls & Sapsuckers

Went out for a paddle around Gold Island yesterday morning in the warm sunshine (today it's pouring rain!). The Eaglets were no longer in their nests & four adult Ospreys were flying around the Island. An juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker (119) was in the little bay near the Ward's Ferry Trail. I suspected they nested in the area but was never able to confirm that. A pile of rocks was home to about 30 Common Mergansers. They swam away and I noticed a grayish bird remain. Upon closer look I saw it was a gull and since it wasn't a Ring-billed I thought I better take a look and get a photo. As mentioned before, gulls don't often come to Shoreacres. They are usually flying over and don't land. This one turned out to me a juvenile Herring Gull (120). 

Pacific Tree Frogs

We are fortunate to have a couple of wetland ponds between our house and the river. The provide habitat to Pacific Tree Frogs which we hear in the spring. The other evening we spotted one on the wall of our house. Not too unusual a place until you realize that he is positioned near the black light which is used to attract moths. Was he being opportunistic? We didn't notice him catching any moths while we observed him. He was gone by the morning. I have noticed Black-capped Chickadees come searching for dead moths that get trapped in spider webs. The black light is actually an ultra violet light or 'party' light that makes your white clothes very bright at night.

 

New Bank Swallow Colony

Some Bank Swallows decided to start a new colony in what I considered a strange location. It was a bank but the holes are easily accessible by man and creature alike. When the first few holes were made the water level was higher, but as you can see in the photos, all the holes are easy to access now. At first there were six holes, then 14 and now about 20. Only two holes have nesting material and some holes are not very deep. Recently I haven't seen any activity at the nest holes and wonder if they have been abandoned. Occasionally boats get launched from there and they might have been disturbed by this. It will be interesting to see if they try again next year. 

Lesser Yellowlegs

We went out for a paddle this morning with the intention of heading south on the Kootenay River towards the junction of the Slocan River. But a wind blew up and the paddling was difficult so we headed north instead. I went on to the small bay in Slocan Pool and was very surprised to see a Lesser Yellowlegs (118). This is the first one I've seen in the Shoreacres area. I just looked at Gary Davidson's checklist and they are rare here in the summer but occasional in spring and fall when migrating through. You can see the smaller & very common Spotted Sandpiper beside it to get a sense of it's size. The paddling home was hard work against a strong head wind, when normally you just float down with the current!

Great Horned Owl Pellet

I found the pellet of a large owl underneath one of our fir trees. I suspect it's a Great Horned Owl due to the size of the pellet and it's the only large owl we've heard around here. I took apart the pellet and was amazed at how clean it was. Only dry bones and fur. From the jaw bone (bottom left of image) I'm guessing the prey item was a squirrel. Earlier this year I found a smaller pellet likely from a Northern Saw-whet Owl or similarly sized owl. The prey was a small rodent.

Ring-billed Gulls

While cycling back from Bird Creek Marsh this morning 4 Ring-billed Gulls (117) flew overhead. The Swainson's Thrushes are still singing as are the Lazuli Buntings. Cliff Swallows have invaded our back yard. Seems they are trying to build nests on the neighbour's house. 

Eaglets on Gold Island

I went out kayaking this morning with a friend from Calgary and we saw TWO eaglets in the Eagle Nest on Gold Island. Yeah! This nest has not produced any young in the past two years. Now I can add this breeding record to my square for the BC Breeding Bird Atlas Project. 

Big Poplar Sphinx Moth

Last year, on almost exactly the same date, we had  Big Poplar Sphinx Moth visit out black light. This year, we have another one. These are good sized moths as you can tell from the photos with Larry's little finger indicating scale.

Walking about

Took advantage of the nice weather and the offer to visit a friends property who will soon be moving. I rode my bike over as the property is just off Hwy #3 between Playmor Junction and the Slocan River bridge. Most of the property is heavily treed with conifers but I was nicely surprised to see some very large birch trees with a diameter of more than a foot. We heard some singing Hammond's Flycatchers, Cassin's Vireo, Swainson's Thrush and Townsend's Warbler. A flock of calling Red Crossbill's (116) flew overhead. Sarah says she often sees a mother turkey hen and her brood but we didn't see any today. We did come across these very interesting looking mushrooms. Anybody know what they are? I emailed my photo to a mushroom expert and he says they are: Elf's Saddles, Gyomitra infula. They are not edible!