Exploring Kootenay Lake

This is the season of chicks. Three weeks ago, a male Wild Turkey treated us to its display. Now a female shows off her chicks. Ron Welwood sent me this picture taken in his yard.

Ron Welwood’s picture is used with permission.

I had been watching a sapsucker surveying its trees (image right) when I realized that there was something even more interesting in the vicinity: Chestnut-backed Chickadees were ferrying grubs to their cavity nest. Although the chicks have yet to be seen, the feeding behaviour was unmistakable. 

This picture is a composite of two shots of the same chickadee first bringing a grub to its nest, and then, flying off to fetch more. Parenthood is an unending job of providing food and comfort.

The previous day had been sunny. I initially thought that there was only a single bird flying in to feed a mate that was incubating eggs. This speculation was abandoned when both mates were seen coming and going with food. Clearly, ravenous chicks had hatched.

The parents were often seen together as they tended the nest.

There is an Bald Eagle’s nest I have watched for a decade. In fairness, this is actually the second nest, the first having grown so big, it brought down the tree. While the first nest was easily visible from the Lake, its replacement is obscure. One must float at just the right spot for a clear view. 

An easily visible perched eagle hints that a hidden nest might be nearby. Both adults incubate the eggs, but the female spends most of the time doing so. So, this is likely the male. 

Even after spotting the perched eagle, the nest was still not easy to find. In a few weeks we may see chicks peeking over the edges of the nest.

Crab spiders (Misumena vatia) hang out on flowers where they wait to pounce on pollinating insects. I noticed my first Crab Spider a decade ago when it was hunting on a Tiger Lily: see the last picture at reddish wildflowers. Since that time, I have seen them mainly on daisies: watching crab spiders, yellow crab spider.  Yesterday, I again saw a crab spider on a Tiger Lily. Alerted by that sighting, I examined local Daisies where I spotted some more.

A crab spider on the outside of a Tiger Lily was waiting to pounce on prey. When a perceived threat, a photographer, passed by, the spider hid inside.

Having seen a crab spider on a Tiger Lily, I then scoured local Daisies.

The abundance of some birds, such as the Osprey, is considered to be a sign of the purity of a lake’s water. Around Kootenay Lake, Ospreys abound. 

I wonder if the lack of abundance of other species could also be considered to be a sign of water purity. If so, might such a species be the Blue-winged Teal? 

The Blue-winged Teal is the second most abundant duck in North America, behind the Mallard. Yet, while the Mallard is ubiquitous around Kootenay Lake, a sighting of the Blue-winged Teal is worth noting. It seems that this teal favours shallow, often brackish, vegetated wetlands with lots of decaying organic matter. No wonder, I don’t often see it on the deep pure waters of the Lake. Its relative absence seems to be a good indicator of purity.

A Blue-winged Teal couple stopped by briefly before looking for their preferred murky waters.