Category Archives: birds

Pileated Woodpecker, sex of

  After showing a male Pileated Woodpecker foraging on a piling a couple of weeks ago <http://blog.kootenay-lake.ca/?p=33997>, Cynthia found another foraging pileated. This new one was a female. So, I am showing both. First, I will reproduce the male from … Continue reading

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Pygmy Owl diving

  Some winters, I have been able to photograph a Pygmy Owl.  This small owl spends most of its year at high elevations, but sometimes seeks the valleys in the winter. Unusually, it hunts by day and will sit quietly … Continue reading

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2,000th posting

  This is the 2,000th posting to this blog site, Exploring Kootenay Lake. For this occasion, I am showing some of my favourite pictures, by year, from the last 500 postings. After all, you already can see some of my … Continue reading

Posted in birds, bugs, commentary, mammals, weather | 18 Comments

Pygmy Owl

  This may well be one of the first Pygmy Owls in the valley this winter. They spend their summers in the high mountains where they are rarely seen. They are sometimes with us at the valley bottoms in the … Continue reading

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Pileated male or female

  Yesterday, I was watching a Pileated Woodpecker scrounge for grubs and ants in a piling. I took many pictures hoping to capture something interesting, but in the end, I only show one image and the bird is just sitting … Continue reading

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Trumpeter Swans

  Trumpeter Swans visit Kootenay Lake twice a year, but sometimes for an extended time. When two of them stopped by briefly to feed on October 25, they were probably not heading north to breed, but south to winter. The … Continue reading

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Two uncommon birds

  These two birds are uncommonly seen around here. I posted a collection of pictures of the Clark’s Nutcracker last week.  This is just a single picture of one of a dozen of them about a half-kilometre from where they … Continue reading

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Gull and fish

  The Ring-billed Gull is so common in the late summer and fall that it becomes almost invisible. It is just here and it is usually around the water. Yet, now and then, it provides delightful views. Such was the … Continue reading

Posted in birds, fish | 5 Comments

Blue Jay

  The Blue Jay is an eastern bird. One range map marks it as here, but sparsely, another range map doesn’t show it here at all. I have seen one here only once before, some six years ago. The Blue … Continue reading

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Dowitcher redux

  The Long-billed Dowitcher has now been here for at least three days. I posted some pictures a few days ago: Long-billed Dowitcher, but went back with Cynthia to see it again. Recall, it is mid-migration; it came from the … Continue reading

Posted in birds | 4 Comments