Water Levels

Columbia Wetlands from Mount Swansea June 17, 2012 

 Photo by Larry Halverson

Officials with BC's River Forecast Centre say river levels are especially high not only because of the rain, but also the melting snow.  And with more rain in the forecast we can expect higher water levels. Normally the Kootenay River’s peak flow is the middle of June while the Columbia River peaks around the first of July.

Importance of Wetlands

Video by The Nature Trust

A profile of the importance of the Columbia River Wetlands for migratory birds.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl nesting in clay bank along the Columbia River.
Photo and Video by Randy Hopkins.

Great Horned Owls are found throughout BC and according to Birds of British Columbia most nest sites are in trees where the owl uses old nest from other birds like Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles, Crows and Great Blue Herons. Sometimes they will nest on top of a broken snag and occasionally they use a hole in a clay bank like this one along the Columbia River.

Birding in the Columbia Valley

Shaw TV goes birding in the Columbia Valley. 

To watch the short video go to 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5A0b0utVnI&list=UUr0Nhp8T96ydA8aYAnyeopw&index=3&feature=plcp

Great Photos

Some great photos of the Columbia Wetlands taken during Wings Over the Rockies.

http://www.kootenaynaturephotos.com/blog

World Turtle Day

Western Painted Turtle crossing Hwy 93/95
Photo by Larry Halverson

World Turtle Day, May 23, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.

Aerial Tour of the Columbia River

Buckle up and enjoy this breathtaking aerial tour of the mighty Columbia River. The journey starts at the river's headwaters at Columbia Lake in British Columbia and ends at the Pacific Ocean, west of Astoria, Oregon. The view takes you about a mile up (or 1.6 kilometers) while moving at approximately three times the speed of sound. You'll also get a brief stop at each dam along the way out to the ocean. So pull that seatbelt tight for this one-of-a-kind flight over one of the Pacific Northwest's most valuable and beloved resources.

Save the Frogs Day

Northern Leopard Frogs Returning to the Columbia Valley - photo by Larry Halverson 

The Northern Leopard Frog (Southern Mountain population), is designated endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The population is threatened by low recruitment, disease, predation, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and introduced fish species. 

Amphibian populations are declining around the world and species extinctions have occurred rapidly even in protected areas. Point Pelee National Park lost a minimum of 9 species of amphibians and reptiles during the 20th century. The Northern Leopard Frog is no longer found in Kootenay and is now endangered in both British Columbia and Alberta. In the 1990s, researchers conducted extensive surveys in southeastern B.C. and found frogs at only a single location, near Creston. In an attempt to prevent them from disappearing in BC altogether the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program recently reintroduced Northern Leopard Frogs at Bummer's Flats, near Wasa, B.C. and this year the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners with funding from the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund are reintroducing the Leopard Frog into historical habitat  found in the marshes north of Radium Hot Springs.

Read more about Returning the Leopard Frog to the Columbia Wetlands

Friends of Kootenay Blog

 The Friends of Kootenay National Park have something to Crow About!

It is their new Blog - with stories about a cougar and bighorn sheep falling from a cliff to the announcement of a newly listed endangered species. You can read the results from the resent owl survey and learn about Parks Canada’s biggest fault. Entries are always short, with photos and occasionally videos and audio clips.

Look for new posts about which flowers are blooming, notes from the past and updates about park research and monitoring.

Go to http://www.friendsofkootenay.ca/blog. Keep updated through RSS Feed of Google Reader. Subscribe on-line to receive new entries when they are posted.

Canada Geese Pairing UP

Canada Goose displaying it’s alert, wary of danger body language - Photo by Larry Halverson

The Canada geese have started  “pairing up” for nesting. And the Columbia Valley is sounding quite musical with lots of  “honk-a-lonk” filling the air. If you listen closely you can distinguish between the male’s lower “honk” and the female’s higher “hink’.

Wetlands: Keeping our planet alive and well

The new Ramsar convention's movie tells a story about the importance of wetlands for human beings and issues that these most precious resources are facing. The Ramsar Convention helps people to work together and manage these vital ecosystems.

For more info The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Check out the birds the Athalmer Wetlands
photo by Larry Halverson

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual four-day event that engages birdwatchers of all ages across North America. Anyone can participate, from beginners to experts. Count for as little as 15 minutes on a single day, or for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy – and it helps the birds! 

This year’s count runs from Friday, February 17, through Monday, February 20. It is not too late to participate, and advance sign-up is not required. It’s as simple as counting birds at a location near you, tallying the highest number of birds of each species seen together at once, and filling out an online checklist on the GBBC website. As the weekend progresses, visit the website regularly to check out results and share photographs. It’s going to be a great weekend for birders.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from The Friends of Kootenay National Park
 photo by Larry Halverson

Bouquets of spring-scented flowers, chocolates and heart-shaped boxes or special cards saying ‘I love you” are the order for Valentine’s Day. Here is a heart of a different sort, a valentine designed just for lovers of National Parks, mountains, forests and the outdoors. Nature’s hand has carved this gigantic heart into the forested slopes of Mount Selkirk in Kootenay National Park. It can easily be viewed from the Banff-Windermere Highway.

For information on the  click Friends of Kootenay National Park

Making Tracks

Mule Deer & Wild Turkey photo by Larry Halverson

So often you only see the tracks left by animals. But here is a picture of a Mule Deer and a Wild Turkey caught in the act of making tracks in the fresh snow on Valentine's Day

World Wetlands Day - February 2nd

Columbia Wetlands at Wilmer, BC  - Photo by Larry Halverson

"It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands, called Ramsar Convention, on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. World Wetlands Day was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning. Each year, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have undertaken actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits." For more information see RAMSAR Also check out the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partner's projects.

Golden’s 22nd annual Christmas Bird count

Dark-eyed Junco by Larry Halverson

Ellen Zimmerman, coordinator of the Golden Christmas Bird count, sent this report.

On December, 27, 2011 a group of enthusiastic birders out and about and at their feeders recorded a record high number of species. 41 species were recorded, while in previous counts the average was approximately 30 species. However, the number of individual birds was well below the record because of the relatively low count of bohemian waxwings.

Highlights included, two owls a Northern Hawk Owl and a Great Horned Owl, A great blue Heron, a mourning dove and a killdeer.  Also a record number of bald eagles were recorded, likely due to the mild weather and open water.

Weather - Started out, -1 Celsius, heavy overcast, light snow flurries changing to overcast + 1 Celsius, wind, se 20 kil. Changing to calm

# of field participants-14 number of feeder watchers4, # of species- 41, # of individual birds  1136

Ruffed grouse  11

Spruce grouse   4

Great Blue Heron 1

Bald Eagle –10

Hawk species 1

Killdeer  1

Great Horned Owl 1

Northern Hawk Owl 1

Mourning Dove 1

Rock Doves –4

Northern Flicker  16

Downy Woodpecker   15

Hairy  woodpecker   9

Pileated Woodpecker  5

Clark’s Nutcracker 1

Stellar’s jay 4

Black Billed Magpie 9

American Crow 21

Common Raven  265

Golden Crowned Kinglet  4

Black-capped  chickadee 180

Mountain Chickadee  21

Boreal chickadees   3

Brown Creeper  2

Red-breasted Nuthatch  15

White breasted Nuthatch  2

Townsend solitaire 1

Robin  1

Starlings 10

Bohemian Waxwing 243

Junco  17

Song sparrow 5

Pine grosbeaks  40

Common Redpoll 124

American goldfinch 10

Cassins’s finch 16

House finch 2

White Winged Crossbill 1

Pine Siskin   7

Evening Grosbeak 12

House sparrows 40

Windermere Christmas Bird Count

American Robin one of the 52 species recorded.
Photo by Larry Halverson

Seventy four people counted 3,927 individual birds during the 34th annual Lake Windermere District Christmas Bird Count. The number of birds is up by 47% from last year. Some of the increase can be attributed to high number Bohemian Waxwings and Common Redpolls. The total of 52 species recorded this year matches the average seen during the last 10 years of the count.  

Some of this year’s highlights include a new species for the count. Dean and Bill Nicholson observed 2 Trumpeter Swans in the open water at Athalmer. They also spotted a lone Hooded Merganser which has only been recorded 5 times in the history of the count. Many of the feeder watchers commented on the lack of birds however one hot spot was Ron Speta’s yard. He said “in the 25 years of watching his feeder this has been the best!’ He recorded 16 species. Troy Rad once again ventured into the high country a found a couple of White-tailed Ptarmigan. Elisha and Haley Bowels were delighted to see 8 American Robins in their grandma Luciel Campbell’s yard. Fran Kimpton saw an unusual bird and after some study it turned out to be a partly albino Mountain Chickadee. There is also another 'mystery' bird in  Linda Taylor’s  yard. From the description it may be a Northern Hawk Owl but it needs a little further investigation to confirm. Thanks to Greg Wagner a visiting birder from High River whos keen ears found the only Northern Pygmy Owl near Eline Madson School.  A couple of birds that were noticeably missing were the Great Blue Heron and Common Merganser.

For a complete list of birds counted see Wings Over the Rockies