Category Archives: birds

  Two Northern Flickers were courting by bobbing at one another on the top of a tall piling. They then flew off – or so I thought. I kept shooting, hoping to catch their initial flight. But, they didn’t fly; … Continue reading →

  The White-winged Crossbill is a wanderer. It looks for spruce and tamarack cone seeds which it opens with its unusual crisscrossed bill. Here is a male White-winged Crossbill at Taghum. Photo by Cynthia Fraser. One never knows when this … Continue reading →

  The earliest I had seen a Killdeer before today was in mid-March. Indeed, Hinterland Who’s Who states “Killdeer reach southern Canada as early as mid-March…”  So, why did Cynthia and I see one at Kokanee Creek Park today? Global … Continue reading →

  This is the season when we are visited by the largest waterfowl in the world: the Trumpeter Swan. In the last few days there have been about 30 of them in the waters south and west of Kokanee Creek … Continue reading →

  Trumpeter swans are coming by and a family of six (two parents, four youngsters) were seen for the last few days. The advantage of viewing them from Kokanee Creek Park is that the swans can be seen at eye … Continue reading →

  I am not used to seeing animals fighting. But, recently I watched two female white-tailed deer go at it. And now, dippers. Except during mating and raising their young, dippers are solitary. They defend their territories vigorously against intruders, … Continue reading →

  Two days ago, there was only one Trumpeter Swan swimming off of Kokanee Creek Park. Today there were two.  

  Years ago, I saw mainly Tundra Swans around the west arm of Kootenay Lake. Now I see mainly Trumpeter Swans here.  Indeed, there have been Trumpeters here for the last few days, although when I looked this morning, there … Continue reading →

  Sometime ago I commented that the occasions where Wild Turkeys display is during the spring mating season. This was in response to advertisers who regularly showed Wild Turkeys in full display in the fall. However, the number of Wild … Continue reading →

  Last Saturday morning was a remarkably good day for watching birds eat berries from trees. While even more birds were seen on that walk, shown are those that ate. Eating berries is clearly seasonal. A late-season Cedar Waxwing is … Continue reading →