Category Archives: birds

Great Grey Owl eating

  Great Grey Owl: This is the fourth of five postings on this largest owl. The Great Grey Owl flies over the meadow to catch and eat voles. It was noted earlier that the Great Grey Owl flies very quietly. … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 4 Comments

Great Grey Owl flying

  Great Grey Owl: This is the third of five planned sequential postings on this largest owl. Having spotted a vole either by sight or hearing, the Great Grey Owl flies to catch it. The Great Grey takes off from … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 6 Comments

Great Grey Owl perching

  Great Grey Owl: This is the second posting on a planned sequence of five postings on this largest owl. The Great Grey Owl visits briefly beside the North Arm of the Lake during many a winter. It comes to … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 5 Comments

Largest & smallest owls

  The Pygmy Owl is our smallest owl. In the warmer months, it lives high in the mountains, but sometimes it visits the valleys in the winter. This year, there are many Pygmy Owls here and I have treated them … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 2 Comments

Pygmy Owl flying

  Some winters, I hardly see even one Pygmy Owl. This year, I cannot stop seeing them. We saw three different ones in a short time yesterday. It gave me the opportunity to try photographing one in flight. As daytime … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 7 Comments

Pileated Woodpecker, sex of

  After showing a male Pileated Woodpecker foraging on a piling a couple of weeks ago <http://blog.kootenay-lake.ca/?p=33997>, Cynthia found another foraging pileated. This new one was a female. So, I am showing both. First, I will reproduce the male from … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 6 Comments

Pygmy Owl diving

  Some winters, I have been able to photograph a Pygmy Owl.  This small owl spends most of its year at high elevations, but sometimes seeks the valleys in the winter. Unusually, it hunts by day and will sit quietly … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 1 Comment

2,000th posting

  This is the 2,000th posting to this blog site, Exploring Kootenay Lake. For this occasion, I am showing some of my favourite pictures, by year, from the last 500 postings. After all, you already can see some of my … Continue reading

Posted in birds, bugs, commentary, mammals, weather | 18 Comments

Pygmy Owl

  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

Posted in birds | 5 Comments

Pileated male or female

  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

Posted in birds | 4 Comments