Eclipse

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Alistair

 

There was a lunar eclipse in the early hours of today.

When the Moon is in the Earth’s umbra (totally in shadow), sunlight cannot reach it directly. Yet it glows with two different colours: red and blue. Both are the result of light that was bent as it passed through the Earth’s atmosphere.

The red, familiar to all, is the light that passed right through the atmosphere after much of the blue had been scattered in other directions to give the blue of the daytime skies. Seen from the Moon, the Sun is blocked and the Earth’s atmosphere appears as a ring of the reddish light of many sunsets.

The blue is more subtle and, to see it, timing is important. For a short time just after entering or before leaving the Earth’s umbra, the Moon’s rim is illuminated by light that passed through the Earth’s ozone layer. Ozone absorbs reddish light but allows bluish light to pass through to give the otherwise reddish moon a soft bluish edge. 

The Moon has just entered the Earth’s umbra and appears reddish with a soft bluish edge in the northeast.

Posted in weather | 1 Comment

Grizzlies in a tree

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Alistair

 

Can Grizzly Bears climb trees? Yes. They aren’t as good at it as are Black Bears, but as long as there are plenty of branches to grasp, they will happily climb. This is the story of grizzlies in a black-hawthorn tree.

It is October and steam fog rises from the fish-filled streams that flow into Kootenay Lake.

A family of Grizzly Bears patrols the shoreline.

However, these grizzlies seek berries from trees rather than fish from the stream.

Alas, the Kokanee salmon are in the deeper water out of easy reach of bears. This will change after the fish spawn, die, and float towards the shore.

The sow (centre top) and her male cub (right top) climbed high in a black-hawthorn tree. The female cub (centre bottom) tried to climb, but was too small to manage it. 

The sow fed on black-hawthorn berries,

as did her son.

Because her hungary daughter could not climb the tree, the sow tried to break off a branch to drop it to her. She failed and so climbed down, found a smaller tree and knocked it over so her daughter could feed.

The family then wandered off in search of more berries. Soon they will feast on Kokanee salmon.

Posted in fish, mammals | 8 Comments

Grouse shows ruff

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Alistair

 

The male Ruffed Grouse will display its ruff and fan its tail during spring courtship. It is unclear why this bird is displaying and calling in early October (two pictures).

Posted in birds | 4 Comments

Grizzly cute

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Alistair

 

Nature is often described as beautiful, but rarely as endearing. These four images of mommy grizzly’s little boy (larger) and girl (smaller) might qualify.

Posted in mammals | 2 Comments

Grizzly extras

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Alistair

 

Another jaunt to spend time in the company of grizzlies has proven amazingly successful. It will take time to make sense of the many shots from two image-filled days. Until then, here are two non-grizzlies and one grizzly from today.

On the way to the grizzlies, I looked up steeply at a mountain goat that was high above on a precipitous cliff.

After leaving the grizzlies, there was a white-tailed spikehorn.

Finally, a different Grizzly Bear than any that will appear in any of the other postings.

Posted in mammals | 2 Comments

Grizzlies arrive

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Alistair

 

October has arrived and so have Grizzly Bears.

There will be more of each.

Posted in mammals | 7 Comments

September goulash

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Alistair

 

In this posting, a diverse collection of this month’s leftovers are used in a goulash.

The only home of painted turtles near Nelson has long been the pond at Grohman Narrows Park (see loafing time). Yet, in late September, this turtle was seen in a pond at south Taghum about four kilometres away.

Here is an oddity. It might well be a Mucronella sp., one of a group known as icicle fungi. This one seems to have fallen over as the icicles are normally vertical. It was there one day, and gone the next.

A fawn steps out of the bush. Its spots help it blend into sun-flecked surroundings. Although looking at me, only one ear is directed my way; the other is monitoring its intended pathway.

Neither predators nor prey wish to be seen, so many animals have evolved an appearance that allows them to blend in. Blend, that is, when viewed in the visible portion of the electrodynamic spectrum. But, animals cannot hide the fact that they metabolize and so will have a temperature above that of their environment. If viewed in the thermal infrared (~ 8 to 14 µm, or 20 times a visible wavelength), a visually cryptic animal stands out from its surroundings merely because it has a higher temperature. The fawn’s mother glows in the thermal infrared. 

This raven was lethargic after gorging on kokanee salmon. Its reticence to fly allowed this portrait.
 

Posted in birds, herptiles, mammals, wildflowers | 5 Comments

Harlequin finale

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Alistair

 

The recently arrived Harlequin Duck seems to have now left Kokanee Creek. She will be heading to the Coast. Such a migration is a little odd: Other migrating ducks travel north and south; Harlequins travel east and west.

Why did this harlequin female deserve one more posting before she left? Because I got shots of her hunting underwater. I have only managed to do this with one other bird: a dipper. As that dipper posting showed, the dipper flies underwater using its wings, for unlike a duck, it doesn’t have webbed feet to propel it. As the second picture below shows, the harlequin holds its wings against its body and propels itself with its webbed feet.

The harlequin is seen searching the rocky bottom of the stream immediately after diving.

The harlequin then turns sideways and reveals that it is propelling itself with its feet, not its wings.

She surfaces and is soon off to the Coast.

Posted in birds | 4 Comments

Harlequin hunting

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Alistair

 

The first observations of Harlequin Ducks on Kokanee Creek this century were made this May at which time the males appeared in their breeding finery. Now, for about a week, a Harlequin has been seen on the creek again.

The breeding season is over so, while distinguishable, each sex is similarly drab. This is a female, or a juvenile.

Harlequin Ducks hunt while swimming under water. Here the stream is sufficiently shallow that the duck has rolled over on its right side. It is heading to the left of the picture; its left wing is seen in the middle of the picture and its left foot is pushing against the water at the bottom. The duck seems to be chasing something.

After one such underwater scurry, the Harlequin surfaced with a fry which was promptly swallowed.

On another occasion it was hunting under some of the rocks on the floor of the creek when it found and then ate what appears to be a (caddisfly?) larva.

Posted in birds, bugs, fish | 4 Comments

Tracks in water

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Alistair

 

It was one of the strangest patterns I have noticed on the surface of the Lake: a slowly drifting pattern of alternating swooshes of light. The swooshes were created by the paddles of a kayak. 

When a boat moves through the water, it leaves various wakes. Familiar is the V-shaped pattern of waves that spread laterally. There is also a turbulent wake: churning water left by a propulsion system such as a propeller. The turbulent wake and the debris wake (such as oil) have little lateral spread and so leave a track along the boat’s path.

Unlike that of a powerboat, the turbulent wake of a kayak isn’t continuous. Rather, a paddle disturbs a small patch of water first on one side and then the other. Almost any wind will soon disrupt the delicate patterns, but on this occasion, breathless air and glassy water allowed the pattern to persist and catch both the sunlight and my eye.

The turbulent wake left by kayak paddles has been slightly distorted by a gentle current.

Posted in scenes | 2 Comments