Category Archives: commentary

Dipper under ice

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Alistair

A dipper sometimes forages under ice. I believe I know when and why it does so. The odd thing about this, is that I have often watched a dipper stand on the border ice along a creek, dive into … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary, weather | 4 Comments

Eats, fish & leaves

Posted on November 11, 2020 by Alistair

There is a classic joke that depends upon the sloppy employment of a comma: Eats, shoots and leaves. This is how Wikipedia tells it: A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary, fish | 5 Comments

Wild Turkey presence

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Alistair

When I was a child on the shore of Kootenay Lake, there were no Wild Turkeys to be seen. Returning to the lakeshore in retirement, I was surprised to see a few. Since that time, the proliferation of turkeys … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary | 3 Comments

Lucy has a new gosling

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Alistair

Lucy was hatched at least a decade ago. She is the only local Canada Goose that is a recognizable individual. Normally, when we wish to identify an individual animal, we have to mark it with something ranging from a … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary | 4 Comments

Two courtship displays

Posted on May 23, 2020 by Alistair

I watched two courtship displays of birds this morning. One was obvious; the other was subtle. A courtship display is a behaviour in which an animal (often a male) attempts to attract a mate. The courtship display of the … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary | 1 Comment

March goulash

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Alistair

This is a collection of images from March, each of which lacked a posting of its own. Such observations of nature serve as a balm to my own increasing social isolation. These are creatures oblivious to our present angst. … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary, mammals | 7 Comments

Stuck cat

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Alistair

This blog does not usually concern itself with domestic animals, but this seemed special: a stuck cat. It was beside the highway and high on some utility cables about a third of the way between the poles. Presumably it … Continue reading →

Posted in commentary, mammals | 11 Comments

Palindrome day

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Alistair

The primary reason for today’s posting is its unusual date: it forms a palindrome. A palindrome is an expression that reads the same forward or backward, and in the manner in which I date my pictures (year month day) … Continue reading →

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Curiosity of young raptors

Posted on November 25, 2019 by Alistair

Of late, I have become curious about the curiosity sometimes displayed by young raptors. When I wander past a perched raptor, it usually bolts to a more distant spot. Now and then the raptor will first regard me from … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary | 7 Comments

Flaws in supporting pictures

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Alistair

This blog bases its postings on recently taken pictures from local nature. Now and then an identification is mistaken and this results in a flawed text. Nevertheless, the picture is correct. News sites have the opposite problem. A textual … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, commentary, mammals | 2 Comments