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.