Category Archives: mammals

Marmot pups

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Alistair

  This is the season to see marmot babies freshly emerged from the den. These are the pups. This is an adult Yellow-bellied Marmot.  An adult and pup watch the world. A pup looks around.

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Awaken, mark, waddle

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Alistair

  Saturday’s sunrise found me watching an otter sleeping on a local dock. Otters are short-sighted and I maintained a discreet distance, but an inadvertent noise woke it. It did not seem to spot me and so set about sniffing to see if any … Continue reading →

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Catching up on May

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Alistair

  Sometimes a posting has the sole objective of catching one’s breath at the end of the month. The Lazuli Bunting is a small songbird that comes to this region to breed. A composite of a single Bullock’s Oriel landing in a … Continue reading →

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Doug’s grizzly

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Alistair

  A week ago, Doug Thorburn sent me some pictures of another grizzly bear he encountered in his wanderings in the mountains south of Nelson. There were many fine shots out of which I chose two. Alas, I did not … Continue reading →

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Polymorphistic bears

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Alistair

  Yesterday morning, I saw an example of polymorphism high in the south Selkirk Mountains. It took the form of different colour morphs within a family of Black Bears.  Colour morphs (also called phases or forms) are found in a number … Continue reading →

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Birds plus

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Alistair

  Herein are a few birds seen in the last few days, plus one mammal. What I thought was a White-throated Sparrow is actually a Savannah Sparrow.  Rough-winged Swallows are determined to evict a Kingfisher from its nesting cavity and have it … Continue reading →

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Mother’s Day

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Alistair

  A dozen pictures of local families serve to mark Mother’s Day. They are from my personal archives and were taken at various times through the year. A Bald Eagle watches over its chick in the nest. Goslings are well … Continue reading →

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Squirrel breakfast

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Alistair

  Sometimes the story, the composition, and the lighting just come together. A Red Squirrel starts its day by eating a Douglasfir cone.

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Grizzly trail

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Alistair

  Everyone appreciates a good road. Early roads often followed animal trails; now, animals often follow our roads. Here, three Grizzly Bear cubs wander up a mountain road above Nelson. The picture is courtesy of Doug Thorburn. When he took … Continue reading →

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Congeners

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Alistair

  No, the Lake has not been invaded by giant eels; that is the conger. I am discussing congeners: species that share a genus. The genus of interest here is the Odocoileus, what most people refer to as deer.  We have two species … Continue reading →

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