A Trip to Kimberley #3

When the final day came, I was reluctant to leave. What birder wouldn’t be? However, when my Dad told me that we would be going to Wasa Lake, all my feelings of regret to leave vanished. When we got to the Lake, I immediately scanned the visible section of the lake, only to find nothing. Or so I thought. When my Dad looked, he found  the birds I had missed – some white blobs I had thought were buoys turned out to be swans with their heads tucked under their wings, in the classic sleeping position. After awhile, they looked up and eventually left.Trumpeter Swan, Common Merganser

There were also a large number of Mallards, almost 200! Among the Mallards were some American Wigeon. A Bald Eagle flew over head, as we walked down the shore, and a covert of American Coot swam out into the lake. When we moved on from the lake, it was to go to the Wasa Sloughs, where we saw the swans again, along with almost 30 Common Mergansers. On the other side of the road, a Belted Kingfisher called. Belted Kingfisher

I sensed that something great would happen that day. And indeed, we did not drive directly home, but stopped at a place that we had been confidently told there had been a special bird in. It was a snow-scoured landscape, the previous site of a large forest fire that had left the trees bare and branchless. And then we found it. Sitting in a tree about fifteen feet off was a Northern Hawk-Owl – a lifetime first for both me and my Dad, and the first bird I ever wrote about!

Northern Hawk-Owl
Northern Hawk-Owl

 

And that concludes  A Trip To Kimberley, BC!

A Trip to Kimberley, BC #2

Elizabeth Lake in Cranbrook, which had proved to be a great place the year before turned out to be half-frozen! However, the birds in the open parts were plentiful, and I must say that the Red-winged Blackbirds and Song Sparrows were rather loud. As we drove into the parking lot, I thought I saw a pair of ducks sitting on a log. When the car was parked, I leapt out and walked to the place were I’d seen them. There was nothing there, but a ripple declared a presence. Determined to find out what these birds were, I raced back to an open patch where you could see through the bushes, just in time to see a pair of birds swim past – Hooded Mergansers! The next birds turned out to be a couple of Song Sparrows, singing in a nearby tree.

Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow.

As we began walking down the trail, a Canada Goose flew over our heads, changing a species – it made a Sparrow “duck”!Canada Goose
As we turned a bend, I gasped seeing the path ahead of me. It was flooded out!

Birding was not made impossible though, as we could still see a variety of birds – Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Killdeer and a Bald Eagle!

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These Swallows didn’t seem to mind perching on a sign about waterfowl!

Near to the end of the trail, a Northern Flicker sat on a sign, drilling its bill into the wooden top.IMG_8445
On the drive back, we complemented our good fortune of seeing two Golden Eagles and one Bald Eagle by staying a while in Cranbrook to explore. Our luck really was coming in bundles that day, because we found a small heronry by a river loaded with Violet-green Swallows. At one point, I saw more than 15 swallows in a square five feet!

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One of the 8 Great-blue Herons at the heronry.

The next day, we took the small drive from Kimberley to a campsite we know to be rich in bird life from previous visits. It was closed, but we could go in to the hiking trail by the river. On the way, a once well-known – but now forgotten – call stopped us in our tracks. After a long search, my Dad grinned – they were Golden-crowned Kinglets, right above my head! Further on, we came to the river. Scanning the area, I gasped – they couldn’t be! Black-headed Gulls! Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be Common Merganser males, their black head (it’s green, but if the sun catches it wrong it can appear to be black) on white bodies being all we could see from that distance.

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Common Merganser male, with a female above him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Stay tuned for the final part in “A Trip To Kimberley, BC”!

A Trip To Kimberley, BC

  This week, my family and I took a trip down to Kimberley, BC. As we did this last year and saw a lot of interesting species, I was really excited to get down there. On the drive in, we stopped at a friends house in Radium. Spring was in full stride by the time we got there. I went out by myself, to see what I could see, and found some House Finches, a few Merlins and other birds including Red-winged Blackbirds.

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Merlin.
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A female House Finch.

Later in the drive, we caught a Coyote pouncing on a mouse or vole underneath the snow.
It was quite fun  to watch it leap and stick its forepaws and head under the snow,
only to come up empty-pawed.

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This Coyote didn’t stop trying, so we got as many attempts to catch him as we wanted.

Farther on, we found a Red-tailed Hawk and a Bald Eagle, the only non-falcon raptors so far.

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Bald Eagle.

When we got to Kimberley, it was too late to do any birding, but the next day we went to the nearby town of Marysville and took a trail that lead along a stream into the bigger river.

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The Moose ran away after a while.

On the drive to Marysville, we stopped a few times, once for this moose:The second time we stopped was because of a flash of red and black: American Robin.

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American Robin. There were 5 of them there.

As we identified it, a glint of blue caught our attention. After a while, it turned out to be a Mountain Bluebird – Year-first!

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Mountain Bluebird.

When we got back to the condo we were staying in, I stepped out onto the porch in hopes of seeing a Stellar’s Jay – these birds had been numerous the year before. Instead I heard a mixture of Dark-eyed Juncos, Black-capped Chickadees and American Robins. As a Hairy Woodpecker landed on a nearby trunk, a clear, melodic sound pierced my ears. Unsure of what it was, my dad, my brother and I walked down to the area I had heard it in. Suddenly, a small brown bird sped over our heads and landed in a tree, calling. The same song. Upon further inspection, it turned out to be a House Finch – more than one!

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Male House Finch.

As we started to walk again, a bolt of movement called for attention – a Stellar’s Jay with a nest! It wasn’t extremely cooperative, but we managed to get a few photos. This is a male – you can tell by the blue stripes on its forehead.

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Male Stellar’s Jay.

The next day, we started off for Elizabeth Lake, a birding hotspot in Cranbrook. The drive was not a long one, but proved to be a good habitat for Western Meadowlarks.

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Western Medowlark, standing like a soldier.

Find out about Elizabeth Lake in the next post of “A Trip To Kimberly, BC”!