Exploring Kootenay Lake

I had been told there was a dipper’s nest under the highway bridge over a local creek. But, when I searched, I could not find it. That is, until a dipper showed me where to look.

Usually when a dipper catches something edible, it downs it quickly. This time, it did not. Obviously, the food was destined for its chick. I then watched the bird fly up under the bridge, and so finally knew where to look for the nest.

The nest was unexpectedly big and had a hole in its side. While one could not get close to it—to try to do so would be to risk drowning in the raging creek—with binoculars, one could make out the bill of a chick in that opening.

The adult flew back with more food.

And delivered it to the chick.

A few weeks ago, I knew nothing of a Warbling Vireo; yesterday, I watched one on its nest.

I didn’t discover the nest; credit for that goes to Paul Prappas; he showed it to me (from a distance, of course).

A female Warbling Vireo sits on her nest.

A male Warbling Vireo watches from nearby.

Only occasionally did the wind part the leaves and allow a clear view of the bird.

At this time of year, some birds have chicks we can see; some do not. Here are examples from today.

Mallards proudly display their chicks.

A Bank Swallow flies back and forth to its nest. The chicks are in the cavities and still not visible.

A flower’s-eye view of an visiting Black-chinned Hummingbird.

It is not my normal practice to be out on the Lake during a rainstorm. But, an invitation to help monitor local raptor nests from a boat was too interesting to resist. What I hadn’t anticipated was how sodden and bedraggled the birds would appear.

Raindrops are apparent in only some of the pictures. Yet, it was raining and at times hard. Of course, I did not limit myself to taking pictures of raptors, so the first two shots are of other things.

A white-tailed buck was browsing by the water’s edge.

Farther along, a Great Blue Heron shows feathers slick with water.

If it is possible for eagle chicks to look miserable, then these two high in a tree fit the bill.

Nearby the nest was a disheveled adult eagle.

A sub-adult eagle flew by with flight feathers moulting and matted.

My favourite shot of the day is of a sodden osprey showing great dissatisfaction with the situation.

On a few occasions, I have watched an osprey fly down to the water’s surface and drag its talons in the Lake. What was it doing? My guess was that it was trolling. When the surface is rough or dappled with rain, the bird cannot easily find fish. Why not just fly along with the talons in the water and see what might be caught? However, I recognized a problem with this explanation: its talons were cupped the wrong way to make a catch.

It wasn’t until I showed the first picture to Derek Kite, that I learned the more likely explanation: he suggested that the bird was washing its talons. Derek noted that he had only ever seen this behaviour when it had just finished eating. Indeed, the second picture was taken just before the first, and shows the same osprey finishing off a fish.

So, does anyone know what is going on?

An osprey drags its talons in the water, presumably to clean them after eating.

Just prior to doing this, it polished off a fish. Rain has made the feathers glossy.

Here are a few recent pictures of birds.

Three species of gull are commonly seen around the Lake in the summer: Ring-billed, Herring, and California. Now and then, something different turns up, such as this Bonaparte’s Gull.

It is not that the House Finch is uncommon, but I rarely see one along the lakeshore.

There are many opportunities to take pictures of ospreys in the summer, but I rather liked this portrait of one hunting from a pine tree.

The Song Sparrow is so common that I rarely take its picture. However, this one looked positively reflective.

Now that there are ospreys about, herons are somewhat harder to find. This one was hunting in a marsh.

The Spotted Sandpiper is a daily visitor. This one looks as though it just caught a grub.

My favourite picture of the last week is this one of two female Common Goldeneye Ducks.

The picture of the heron was taken by Cynthia Fraser and is used with permission.