Columbia Salmon Festival

The first annual Columbia Salmon Festival will be taking place September 28-October 1, 2011 in the Columbia Valley. This inaugural Festival is being hosted by the Shuswap Indian Band and Akisqnuk First Nation and proudly supported by the Canadian Columbia Inter-Tribal Fisheries Commission, Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners and Fairmont Trails Society.

The mission of the festival is to inform people about the history and future of salmon in the upper Columbia, and their cultural significance. The Festival will consist of events and activities in the Invermere to Fairmont Hot Springs areas including Youth Salmon Awareness Field Trips, guest speakers presentations, a Charity Golf Tournament, the Salmon Monument Celebrations and conclude with the Gala Salmon Dinner with Celebrity Chef David Wolfman.

This historic event will involve: First Nations and US Tribe Political Leaders; Federal, Provincial, Municipal and Regional Leaders; Members of the Ktunaxa, Okanagan and Shuswap Nation; Columbia Valley Residents; and members of the General Public.

For more information about the festival and events go to Columbia Salmon Festival and the Columbia Valley Pioneer page 16


For follow up story go to eKNOW East kootenay Online Weekly

Butterfly Weed

Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) 

Photo by Larry Halverson

This pretty milkweed is not listed in BC but is considered invasive. Unlike other milkweeds it can found in wetlands.   This one was photographed blooming on August 9th by the wetlands near Athalmer. 

Showy milkweed is toxic. It possesses moderate concentrations of cardenolides, and can poison or even kill grazing animals. However this weed has saved the lives of many Monarch Butterflies. Monarchs feed on the milkweed and toxins they ingest gives the  butterfly its defence. Most predators have learned that the monarch butterfly makes a poisonous snack. So the plant is also called the Butterfly weed.

Fall Migration Has Begun

 Greater Yellowlegs feeding on the shore of Lake Windermere,
July 29th , 2011    Photo by Larry Halverson

Greater Yellowlegs are one of the early migrants  passing through the Columbia Valley. Leaving their subarctic breeding grounds they’ll feed on small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, small fish, frogs, in wetlands as they move to their winter grounds in southern USA and South America. The autumn movement through our area peaks from mid August till September.

Won't Be Seeing This Soon

Canada Geese flying over the Columbia Wetlands May 31
Photo by Larry Halverson

Canada geese will soon be molting - an 8-10 week flightless period when they shed their outer wing feathers and grow new ones. Molting occurs between mid June through August. Most birds will resume flight by mid-August and with their new feathers will be in good shape for fall migration.

During this molting period the Canada geese will gather in the wetlands and ponds where they can hide amongst the vegetation, safe from predators. 

“Geese without young will sometimes travel hundreds of miles to the security of favored molting areas in the north.These “molt migrations’ account for the disappearance of local goose flocks in early June." This may also be the reason why rancher Bob Jamieson ( Executive Director of the Columbia Wetland Stewardship Partners) has been seeing a number of flocks, 500-600 Canada Geese flying north over his ranch.

Breeding Bird Atlassing Field Trip

Red-tailed Hawk occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes
Photo by Larry Halverson

Hillary Page from the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Cam Gillies from Eagle-Eye Tours are offering an atlassing walk to the Marion Creek Benchlands above Columbia Lake.  This is an area that NCC is on the cusp of purchasing and it has some beautiful habitat.  There are marshes, shrubby wet areas, aspen, grassland and forests.  The diversity of birds should be spectacular!   Flycatchers, warblers, and vireos should be abundant.  Hillary will talk about NCC's project and Cam will review how to atlas. 

Everyone is welcome including people that have not atlassed at all. Bring your binos, notebook, pencil and a lunch.

Friday June 3rd, 

Meet 8:00 am at the Hoodoos gas station.

Carpooling from there up to the property. 

Finish about 1 pm.

For more info on the field trip contact  cam.gillies@telus.net and to learn about the BC Breeding Bird Atlas go to http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/english/index.jsp

British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas

Christopher Di Corrado, Atlas Coordinator recording birds in the 

Columbia Wetlands - Photo by Larry Halverson

The British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas (2008-12) is large-scale wildlife monitoring projects that engages over 1000 volunteers to map the distribution and abundance of breeding birds across the province. In 2011, we enter the fourth season of the atlas. So far over 240,000 records have been gathered during more than 30,000 field hours. The large, electronic datasets, freely available from NatureCounts, and maps and summary products available in near real time (www.birdatlas.bc.ca), have made the atlas a powerful tool for immediate conservation application, and for measuring  long-term change at local to landscape scales.

To get involved contact the regional coordinators:

Golden  - Ellen Zimmerman region28@birdatlas.bc.ca

Invermere  -  Cam Gillies or Larry Halverson region02@birdatlas.bc.ca

Osprey Fishing

Osprey with Rainbow Trout - Photo by Larry Halverson

This picture was taken one evening while fly fishing. The Osprey dove, caught the fish then flew by the canoe as if to show how easy it is to catch fish.

Osprey talons are specially adapted to allow one of the front toes to rotate backwards so that there are two talons pointing forward and two in reverse on each foot. This helps secure a good grip on the flopping fish. The Osprey is also very quick at adjusting it’s grip on the fish so that the fish's head is facing forward to maintain an aerodynamic profile. 

Wood Duck

The Wood Duck is one of the most colourful waterfowl - Photograph by Pat Morrow May 11, 2011

Pat Morrow didn’t have to go far to see this pair of Wood Ducks on an Osprey platform.  In fact he photographed them through a spotting scope from his home in Wilmer.

Most Wood Ducks are already paired when they arrive in the Columbia Valley as early as April 1st. Their strong claws and grip make them one of the few ducks that can perch on branches. They often nest in large poplar trees using old Pileated Woodpecker holes. 

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

One of the most easily recognized butterflies - Photo by Larry Halverson

The Mourning Cloak occurs throughout most of Canada. In BC it is most often found in open forests along wet areas where willows grow. They are one of the first butterflies seen in the spring because they over winter as adutls - hibernating in tree cavities or under lose bark. They feed on tree sap and the nectar of willow catkins. 

They seek a mate in early spring and die shortly after laying their eggs. New adutls emerge in August and fly into October.

Columbia Spotted Frog Eggs

4 Columbia Spotted Frog egg masses
Photo April 30 by Larry Halverson

Each egg has a narrow layer of jelly and densely packed in egg masses.
These eggs have floated to the surface spreading out and looking frothy
Photo by Larry Halverson

Egg masses are deposited in open, shallow areas near the shoreline. Depending on water temperature, the eggs will hatch tadpoles in 10 - 21 days. Columbia spotted frogs remain tadpoles for 2 - 3 months before undergoing metamorphosis into adult frogs.

Yellow Pond Lily

Pond Lilies are beginning to grow. The leaves or pads are attached to long stalks so that they will float with the rise and fall of water levels.  These lily pads provide resting places for insects like dragonflies and shelter for many aquatic insects. They may even be incorporated into the nest of a Red-necked Grebes.

CWSP & Wings Over the Rockies

There are lots of great events this week during the Wings Over the Rockies festival with Columbia Wetland Stewardship Partners leading a few of them.

Bob Jamieson is leading a paddle in 34’ fur trade canoes down the Columbia  River from Athalmer to Radium.

Ellen Zimmerman, explores a hidden treasure of the BC Parks system. Burges and James Gadsden Provincial Park which encompasses most of the Moberly Marshes near Golden.

Andi Dzilums is leading one of the most relaxing birding tour offered! Ride on one of Riverside Golf Course’s electrical golf carts and discover the plentiful birds, waterfowl and wildlife that inhabit the golf course grounds. To spot nesting pairs of Lewis’s Woodpecker and learn about the recent Lewis’s habitat restoration project implemented by Fairmont Hot Springs Resort and the Columbia Wetland Stewardship Partners.

Mark Thomas presents a brief history of the loss of salmon to the Columbia Basin First Nations, a description of actions taken by Columbia Basin First Nations to address salmon loss, the results of intervention, and current and future plans for restoration.

Columbia River Treaty

An excellent video about the Columbia River Treaty. 

View  http://vimeo.com/22897243

Produced by Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), this short animation provides a brief history of the Columbia River Treaty (CRT) including reasons for the CRT, historical dates and events, as well as key dates for the future. CBT’s role in regards to the CRT is to act as an information resource for Basin residents. To learn more about CRT visit cbt.org/ crt

Townsendia hookeri Endangered Plant

Townsendia hookeri Photo May 1, 2001 by Larry Halverson

It is called Low Townsendia because it is only about one inch high. This almost stemless plant would go unnoticed if it wasn’t for the large white to pink ray flowers surrounding the yellow disk. It blooms in early spring on dry hillsides. This endangered plant was photographed in the Columbia Valley National Wildlife Management Area only a few meters from the wetlands.

Superhydrophobic

“Superhydrophobic” are what entomologists call the Pond Skater’s hairy legs. These microscopic hairs trap tiny air bubbles allowing the insect to float. The Pond Skater’s shadow in this video shows how they flit about on the water surface using their legs as oars. 

Pond Skater showing surface tension

Returning the Leopard Frog to the Columbia Wetlands

Save the Frogs is exactly what the Columbia Wetland Stewardship Partners are trying to do with one of their projects.

Northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) were once one of the most common amphibians in North America. However, over the past three decades there have been drastic declines across their western range. Once common throughout south-east B.C., but by the 1990’s only a single population in the province remained at Creston BC. So the BC population of leopard frogs are now listed as Endangered. Recent surveys suggest that habitat loss and alteration, disease, introduced fish species, and low reproduction levels threaten this population. 

Last year the Columbia Wetland Stewardship Partners carried out a study to determine the feasibility of reintroducing northern leopard frogs to the Columbia wetlands. Reintroduction sites between Canal Flats and Spillimacheen are now identified, assessed and ranked. Hopefully Northern Leopard Frogs will soon be seen once again in the Columbia Wetlands.

The endangered Northern Leopard Frog - Photo by Larry Halverson

This assessment project was supported with funding from the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund, the University of Alberta, and the Columbia Basin Trust Environmental Initiatives Fund.

See article in Columbia Valley Guide. A full report will soon be posted on the CWSP website - or request a copy from ColumbiaWetlands@gmail.com

Snowpack

Snowpack on Mount Nelson. drains into Toby Creek  - one of the main tributaries of
the upper Columbia River.   Photo by Larry Halverson taken April 14, 2011

Ducks Unlimited - April Habitat Report

“In the southern Interior, snowpacks were slightly above average this winter.  Spring habitat conditions should be better than they have been in the last two to three years.  Migration is underway, but was slightly late this year.   Snowpacks were about normal in he southeast Interior this winter.  Early spring conditions have been relatively cool." 

White Sturgeon Release into the Kootenay & Columbia Rivers

There is antidotel evidence that White Sturgeon once lived in the Columbia River, up stream from Golden, BC.

"The Kootenay River sturgeon population is endangered in both Canada and the U.S. due to a variety of human impacts, including the operation of Libby Dam that has altered the natural flow of the river. There has been virtually no natural reproduction in the wild since 1974. There are thought to be fewer than a 1,000 adults living on both sides of the border.”

“We know that this is a stop-gap measure but it is a very important component of the conservation effort while we, and many other partners, work toward implementing habitat restoration measures that should provide conditions for fish to successfully reproduce in the wild,” says KTOI’s Fish & Wildlife Program Director, Sue Ireland. “This aquaculture program is critical if we are to avoid this population becoming extinct.” 


“The 10-month old juveniles weigh about 70 grams and are typically between 15 and 25 centimetres in length. They can grow to the length of a canoe and live for over 100 years."

For more information about Columbia and Kootenay River white sturgeon, visit www.gofishbc.com/Sturgeon.htm, www.uppercolumbiasturgeon.org and www.fwcp.ca.

Wood Frog

Wood Frog found in the Columbia Wetlands - Photo by Larry Halverson

Mike Kerr, from Canmore, writes about the Wood Frog in his book The Canadian Rockies Guide to Wildlife Watching

"The Wood Frog is the most terrestrial of frogs, so it may show up some distance from water. It is a truly Canadian frog, if ever there was one. Throughout Canada, the Wood frog is more widespread, found at higher elevations (up to 2,500 m), and encountered farther north than any other amphibian. In fact, it is the only amphibian that lives north of the Arctic Circle

Wood frogs survive our cold winter by burrowing under the forest floor. They also benefit from some nifty internal engineering, surviving temperatures as low as –6 degrees C with up to two-thirds of their body’s water in a frozen state. Wood Frogs pump large volumes of glucose into their cells; the glucose acts like antifreeze, allowing the water between the cells to freeze, while protecting the internal cell contents" 
It covers all the mountain National Parks and there are a number of pages are dedicated to the Columbia Valley.


For a full report on Wood Frogs see Wildlife Afield

Columbia Spotted Frogs

 April 19th Columbia Spotted Frogs  Photo by Larry Halverson

Columbia Spotted Frogs breed early in the spring - often before the pond ice has disappeared. The breeding period is quite short and last 2 weeks at the most. The males station themselves along the shore and call with their heads just out of water. During mating the male clasps the female in pectorial amplexus. The females lay eggs in communal masses at the surface of the water, either freely floating or loosely tangled around emergent vegetation. The tadpoles usually transform in late summer and reach maturity in 4-5 years.

The Columbia Wetland Stewardship Partners are interested in frog sightings in the Columbia Valley so we invite you to participate in the BC Frogwatch Program. You can also take part Herpwatch, a survey for amphibians and reptiles in Banff, Kootenay, and Yoho National Parks.

 

To listen to their call click HERE It sounds like a quiet helicopter

Osprey are Back

Osprey are circumpolar in distribution however the Columbia Valley is a major population centre for Osprey     Photo by Larry Halverson

Ellen Zimmerman reported the return of the first Osprey - April 6th on a nest just south of Golden along the highway. Osprey in the Columbia Valley can travel over 6,000 km on their return flight from their wintering grounds. 

Telemetry studies using satellite transmitters tracked Osprey from southern BC to their wintering sites in  Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela.

Satellite telemetry of ospreys tagged in BC showing migration routes to wintering sites on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and in Central and South America.

Western Painted Turtle

Western Painted Turtles basking, April 13, 2011.  Photo by Larry Halverson

Western Painted Turtles are blue-listed in BC, meaning they are vulnerable to further decline due to habitat loss and destruction.

“Turtles are cold-blooded and require the sun's energy to regulate body temperature," says Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program, biologist Ross Clarke. Basking out of the water is a critical element of their daily routine. A lack of basking structures such as logs or large rocks can be an issue. Basking plays a far more important role than purely increasing body temperature. Typically turtles need to obtain a body temperature of 18 C to digest food. Depending on the weather and time of year, western painted turtles spend up to two hours at a time basking in the sun out of the water. While they can absorb heat when they float near the surface, being out of the water is far more efficient. Basking is also important for turtles to rid themselves of algae and help promote healthy shell growth.

Note from Angus Glass
Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program

River Otters

River Otters in the Wilmer Marsh, Columbia Wetlands Wildlife Management Area. Video by Pat Morrow

Like most predators River Otters prey upon the species that are the most readily accessible. Fish are their favoured food and studies have shown that slow swimming fish like the Northern Pikeminnow (Squawfish) in Pat’s video are preyed upon more often than trout when both are equally abundant. Otters also consume frogs, turtles and in the upper reaches of the Columbia River they'll feed on freshwater mollusks. There has also been some documentation of River Otters eating small mammals like muskrats and beavers.

Thanks Pat for sharing your video from your backyard.

Wilmer Marsh Clean Up

Spyder Hoe  - Photo by Larry Halverson

The Wilmer Marsh, prior to becoming part of The Columbia National Wildlife Area was historically used as an unofficial dump site. Over the years a significant amount of garbage (including home heating oil tanks, car bodies, tires, paint cans and general household waste) accumulated in the marsh and along the shoreline. Sampling conducted at the site showed levels of contaminants that exceed the applicable federal guidelines.

So this year before the ice melted a clean up was conducted. Approximately 300 m3 of debris was removed from the shore. The excavation of old tires, car parts and contaminated soil was scooped out with a specialized, low-impact, excavator call a Spyder hoe. The debri was then carried by helicopter to a staging area and then transported to the Regional District Landfill for disposal.

Upon completion the shore was restored - backfilled with native topsoil to prevent the introduction of non-native species to the area.

For photos of “People Wortkingh Together: Wilmer Marsh Breakdown“ go to http://www.ec.gc.ca/envirozine/default.asp?lang=En&n=DA4BBC92-1

Staging Area by Larry Halverson

Lots of old tries & vehicle parts By Larry Halverson

Funded by Environment Canada 

The Beavers

A friend  Brian Keating took this amazing video of beavers in his Calgary backyard.  "Brian heads up the Conservation Outreach Department at the Calgary Zoo, where he's responsible for a variety of local and international conservation projects. He also started the Zoo’s nature-based travel program some 20 years ago, visiting many of the best wildlife watching locations on all seven continents."  it is  ironic he witnessed this memorable wildlife viewing experience from his own backyard.

Canada Goose Display

Canada geese near the Athalmer bridge. Photo by Larry Halverson

It is a good time of year to spend an evening along the Columbia River.  As there is lots of Canada Goose activity.

The goose in this video clip was defending its mate. Using the head forward display - the goose extends its neck, holds the head low and points it towards the opponent often while honking. If the threat doesn’t move the goose then flies towards the intruder to chase it off.

Fish Need to Move

Shuswap Creek before Photo by Larry Halverson

Shuswap Creek after culverts removed Photo by Larry Halverson

"Fish travel along waterways to find food, mates, good spawning gravel and safe places for their young to grow. A poorly functioning culvert can stop fish from reaching key parts of their habitat, resulting in lower numbers of fish, fewer species and less genetic diversity to keep populations healthy."

Photo by Larry Halverson

Thanks to the Shuswap First Nations Community for improving fish passage from the Columbia River into Shuswap Creek.

Robin Migration

American Robin Photo by Larry Halverson

Length of daylight is one of the main bird migration influences. However ornithologist, Rick Howie says "the northward movement of Robins often matches a line across North America where the average temperature is 2 degrees centigrade. As temperatures warm and this "isotherm" moves northward, the majority of robins follow it." 

The Robins in the Columbia Valley had to be surprised this morning (April 7th) by the 6 inches of new snow.

Canada Goose Nesting Platforms

Canada Goose nesting platforms dot the wetlands along the Columbia River. Photo by Larry Halverson

The local Rod and Gun clubs along with Ducks Unlimited established these platforms many years ago as a way to help nesting geese from having their eggs flooded from rising waters. In fact one of CWSP members The Golden District Rod and Gun Club maintain over 100 of these goose nesting platforms for over 20 years. Now with goose numbers up there is discussion around removing or replacing these structures.

It won't be long now before the Geese are back nesting . Photo by Larry Halverson