Category Archives: birds

  The battle went on for about ten minutes: a crow took on a Bald Eagle. But the eagle didn’t try to tackle the crow, it just kept flying away. Eagles generally like to raid the nests of others for … Continue reading →

  We are about as far north as the Bobolink gets in our region of British Columbia. It has travelled here from central South America to breed. Seen yesterday morning was a male, but I haven’t yet seen the female. … Continue reading →

  Amazingly, a Cattle Egret appeared in Nelson yesterday. It was well outside its normal range. It was also in its breeding plumage.  I have seen the Cattle Egret once before, but a long way from here. It was (appropriately) … Continue reading →

  Three weeks ago, I posted pictures of our three hummingbirds. The males arrived first and of the three, two were illustrated with iridescent chins (blog.kootenay-lake.ca/?p=34515).  Now, the females are here, but one species, the calliope, has not returned. So, … Continue reading →

  Twelve years ago, I wrote a post about birds and pilings (blog.kootenay-lake.ca/?p=8842). In it, I noted that many birds like the wooden pilings and often rest on them and even nest in them. For these birds, wooden pilings provide … Continue reading →

  I have been watching hummingbirds in an attempt to get pictures of the female Black-chinned and the female Calliope. It has been unsuccessful so far. However, I did spot an unusual feature on a Black-chinned male: evidence of a … Continue reading →

  I mentioned earlier (blog.kootenay-lake.ca/?p=34474) that we get three hummingbirds: rufous, black-chinned and calliope. In the last few days I have seen males of each of these birds. They migrate here before the females do. The gorget (throat) of many … Continue reading →

  The Bufflehead is our smallest diving duck and the two sexes look different. It is primarily a somewhat uncommon winter bird here for it breeds farther north. I got some pictures of the male flying. This is with wings … Continue reading →