Exploring Kootenay Lake

A month and a half ago, I posted my first pictures of the season of a Northern Pygmy Owl, and expressed the hope to see this winter visitor to the valleys again before the season was over. Indeed I did see it, but always from a distance that didn’t favour satisfactory images.

Today, towards the end of the season, I watched a Pygmy Owl hunting along the lakeshore. It would perch and watch from one spot. If it found nothing, it would fly maybe 30 metres along the shore and look again.

When spotted, this Pygmy Owl was hunting beside the Harrop Ferry landing.

It soon shifted to the other side of the landing, hunted for few minutes, and then moved on again.

I suspect that I won’t see one many more times this winter.

I would rather have Wild Turkeys roaming my yard than Canada Geese. Alas, the geese are the far more likely visitors. Yet, turkeys are here, having begun their colonization of the area from the south nearly a half century ago. Most locals merely view them as a delightful curiosity. 

Sunday, I watched three toms foraging about a kilometre from my home. I am sure they were aware of me, but as long as I didn’t crowd them, they seemed comfortable.

Our local Wild Turkey is a Merriam’s, a subspecies with dark iridescent feathers. The long feathery beard that hangs from the breast is a characteristic of all male turkeys. 

Usually, the turkeys kept their heads low as they foraged. This one looked up.

It was after the snowberries that abound in the woods at this time of the year.

I suspect that in a beauty contest for birds, the Wild Turkey would lose big time—this bird is not a swan.

Some of the most interesting birds to be seen at this time of year are waterfowl. However, the only satisfying bird pictures I have taken of late are of passerines—birds with feet adapted for perching, such as songbirds.

The Song Sparrow is with us year round. This one is consuming a desiccated berry of the red osier dogwood.

Similarly, the dipper is with us year round. It is easy to see diving for food in creeks, but I have never managed a shot such as this before. It was caught just as it surfaced, still covered with a film of water, which an instant later drained away. It looks rather like robodipper keeping the creeks safe for all.

In Canada, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee is seen only occasionally and then only along the West Coast and in the Kootenays. As such, it is distinctly less common than its cousin, the Black-capped Chickadee, which is a common bird across the country. This was one of four flitting about in Douglas-firs. 

The Bohemian Waxwing is only seen around here during the colder half of the year. But, as the birds roam in large flocks, spotting them is either feast or famine. Here, over forty of them are in the tree. Why they are all looking in the same direction is unclear. Soon they were off again.

Waxwings are named for small red waxy extensions on some wing feathers, easily seen here as this bird preens.

This is a season of visitors, so it was grand that Bohemian Waxwings arrived from afar to enjoy our local fare.

Most of the elderberries have been eaten, but there is still a good supply of rowan berries, aka, mountain ash, for the taking, and yesterday waxwings took advantage of them. 

One waxwing holds a berry while another watches. Only a few berries were taken from the overwhelming feast.

Indeed, the birds would sit still in the sunlight without feeding for quite a while.

When a berry was taken, the bird would first manipulate it in its bill.

The low winter sunlight made for strikingly warm colours.