Category Archives: birds

  Bonaparte’s Gull is not one of the typical gulls seen daily around Kootenay Lake in the summer. Bonaparte’s breeds in boreal forests well to the north of the Lake. As with other migrants that winter to our south and … Continue reading →

  At this time of year, Bank Swallow parents are kept very busy ferrying insects to their chicks. Here are four pictures of the feeding of one group of chicks. A parent approaches five chicks, each demanding that it be … Continue reading →

  Herons stand on their toes—indeed, all birds stand on their toes. The joint halfway up the leg that looks as if it were a backwards knee, actually corresponds to the ankle of a mammal. I have never seen a … Continue reading →

  I long wanted to get pictures of an Osprey family with downy chicks in the nest, but until yesterday success eluded me. The problem is that the nests are usually well above eye level and nestlings rarely stick their … Continue reading →

  Turkey Vultures have increased their presence in southern BC over the last dozen, or so, years. Yet, they are still not so common around here that a sighting doesn’t merit a picture or two. Sunday noon, I watched five … Continue reading →

  Spotted Sandpiper chick  

  For all I knew, the Three-toed Woodpecker was a mythical beast—a joke perpetrated on amateurs by field guides so as to say: we are going to fix it so you never get to see this one. That was until yesterday when … Continue reading →