Category Archives: birds

  This may well be one of the first Pygmy Owls in the valley this winter. They spend their summers in the high mountains where they are rarely seen. They are sometimes with us at the valley bottoms in the … Continue reading →

  Yesterday, I was watching a Pileated Woodpecker scrounge for grubs and ants in a piling. I took many pictures hoping to capture something interesting, but in the end, I only show one image and the bird is just sitting … Continue reading →

  Trumpeter Swans visit Kootenay Lake twice a year, but sometimes for an extended time. When two of them stopped by briefly to feed on October 25, they were probably not heading north to breed, but south to winter. The … Continue reading →

  These two birds are uncommonly seen around here. I posted a collection of pictures of the Clark’s Nutcracker last week.  This is just a single picture of one of a dozen of them about a half-kilometre from where they … Continue reading →

  The Blue Jay is an eastern bird. One range map marks it as here, but sparsely, another range map doesn’t show it here at all. I have seen one here only once before, some six years ago. The Blue … Continue reading →

  The Long-billed Dowitcher has now been here for at least three days. I posted some pictures a few days ago: Long-billed Dowitcher, but went back with Cynthia to see it again. Recall, it is mid-migration; it came from the … Continue reading →

  We have four local species of chickadee: Black-capped, Chestnut-backed, Mountain, and Boreal. These are listed in order from common to rare. Nearly four years ago, I saw the Mountain Chickadee for the first time and posted. I encourage opening … Continue reading →

  When I wandered our beaches since this last July, I have watched for migrant shorebirds. I do not mean the Spotted Sandpiper, the Solitary Sandpiper, or the Killdeer. Those are shorebirds that, while they migrate, do so by coming … Continue reading →

  Ospreys are vanishing. They have started migrating to central and south America. But, there are still a few adults around and one flew by yesterday with a headless fish. The bird had stopped by a rest stop and eaten … Continue reading →