Category Archives: fish

Fleeing fish

The first time I saw such a frenzy of fish breaching the water’s surface, I was kayaking on the Persian Gulf. What in the world prompted all those fish to adopt such an odd behaviour? The next time I saw such … Continue reading

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Dipper’s comestible

Dippers, the only aquatic songbird, prefer cold, fast-flowing, streams where they mainly eat invertebrates found on the stream bottom. On Sunday, a half-dozen dippers were scouring the waters of Kokanee Creek below the spawning channel when one surfaced with a … Continue reading

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Grebe and sculpin

Our local sculpin is a small (6-8 cm long) secretive fish that spends most of the daylight hours well camouflaged and motionless on the floor of the Lake, often within rocky hideouts. By such devices, it tries to avoid predatory … Continue reading

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A big swallow

It is not just grizzlies, eagles, and ravens that enjoy a Kokanee for lunch in the fall. This California Gull swooped down and plucked a fish from the mouth of a creek flowing into Kootenay Lake. Two seconds later, and … Continue reading

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Osprey gull kingfisher

One might think that, with a title like this, I would include a picture of a gull—I don’t. Yet the gull is part of the story. An adult (probably female) osprey packing a rather large fish stopped at a piling … Continue reading

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Kokanee whimsey

It is September and locals arrive by the dozens—even hundreds. That is because the Kokanee arrive by the thousands—even tens of thousands. The streams and channels turn red with spawning fish. No September visit to this area is complete without … Continue reading

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