Eggs and protests

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Alistair

 

Some birds protest vigorously if a human (or other perceived predator) passes anywhere near their eggs. The odd thing is that often this noise serves to reveal the presence of a nest that would otherwise be missed.

Emily Graeme sent me this picture of a killdeer near Nelson. It is standing over its eggs and vigorously protesting the presence of people in the area. Just as some people will buy a house near an airport and then complain about the noise, this killdeer had laid eggs around humans and then complained when they passed by.

Similarly, it was protestations of this robin that had built a nest within a meter of my home that alerted me to the fact that it was there.

Without the protests, I would have walked right past without noticing the eggs.

Meanwhile, on another side of the house, a robin chick has already left the nest. At the point the chick is mobile, the parents become more relaxed.

Emily Graeme’s picture is used with permission.

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Nuthatchery

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Alistair

 

Bird chicks demand obeisance. Nuthatch chicks are no different—their parents must dance to their demands.

I was fortunate to to be able to revisit the nuthatches at the Sanderson home (see, Tasty spider, m’dear?). The nuthatch couple now has chicks, and those chicks are being attended to by their diligent parents.

Two nuthatch chicks vie for food from a parent.

Now for a tasty beetle.

This picture makes it clear that there are three chicks in the nest. I cannot be sure of the insect being offered, although it looks somewhat like an earwig.

Nuthatch parents not only bring food for their chicks, they also clean out the detritus. Over and over, a chick would stick its butt out the opening and extrude some guano. The parent picks it up in its bill and carries it away.

And for no better reason than that it flew by, here is a heron.

 

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Gosling expectations

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Alistair

 

“We are looking forward to a promising future of, er…, embellishing your lawns.”

 

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Fairy slipper

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Alistair

 

The fairy slipper or calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa) frequents cool, moist, coniferous forests, so what better place to look for it than beside our raging creeks of springtime. Yet, it is inconspicuous on the forest floor—calypso is a Greek word meaning hidden. And hidden is the keyword: two days ago, I spotted only one flower; today, while walking the same path, I managed to find over a dozen.

Here are three shots of what many consider to be our most beautiful wild orchid. These are followed by a bumble bee carrying what may be its pollinia.

In the past, I have only noticed the fairy slipper in isolation. So, this group was unexpected. Unfortunately, I could not move in for a closer picture as these fairy slippers were on a cliff ledge well below me.

I managed to get closer to two adjacent orchids atop the cliff.

Other fairy slippers seen were isolated.

Orchids (and a few other flowers, such as the periwinkle and dogbane) assemble their pollen into packets that the flower glues to the back of a bee. Here is a bumble bee (Bombus bifarius) carrying two pollinia (the yellow capsules between its wings). Whether these come from the fairy slipper cannot be determined, but it is a good possibility.

Posted in bugs, wildflowers | 4 Comments

Old growth or canyon?

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Alistair

 

Today, I go for a walk in Kokanee Creek Park.

I had been asked by a member of a local camera club to assess the suitability of the walk through the Old Growth Forest for a group excursion. Normally at this time of year, that trail is open and verdant. This year, however, it is not—or at least, not yet. There is snow on the road to the trailhead, a tree across the road, and considerable snow on the trail itself. Equally to the point, the wildflowers are not much in evidence at this altitude as yet. In a couple of weeks it will be much better, but for today, the trail through the Old Growth Forest would be a good deal of work for few photographic rewards.

So, my suggestion is to substitute it with the trail to the canyon in Kokanee Creek Park. I explored this low-altitude alternative yesterday. It is much better for photographic purposes. I saw five species of wildflower in bloom (false solomon seal, Oregon grape, arnica, wild strawberry, and a fairy slipper) and the views along the creek just call to the photographer. So, the walk up the canyon is my recommendation to this group.

Below are two pictures taken yesterday on a recce of the canyon walk. These are followed by one picture of a trillium taken two thirds of the way along the road to the Old Growth Forest the day before. Clearly, that trip was not without its pleasures.

 

Posted in scenes, wildflowers | 2 Comments

Two flying FOYs

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Alistair

 

A short time ago, I encountered the birder’s term, FOY, and didn’t have a clue what it meant. It refers to the First (observation of a particular species) Of that Year. Many birds have an annual variation, coming and going at roughly the same time each year. A birdwatcher notes these events in the same way that a weather enthusiast appreciates the first steam fog on the Lake in the fall.

Yesterday, I saw two FOYs. Others have spotted these birds already, but each was my first of the year.

I have been visited by the Rufous Hummingbird for a few weeks now, but this was the first Black-chinned Hummingbird to drop by. This male is showing flashes of iridescent purple on its gorget.

Bank Swallows are back. This appears to be a mating couple, but was it really necessary for the departing bird to kick all that dirt at the one left in the nest?

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Totally turtle

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Alistair

 

The Painted Turtle is our only indigenous turtle. I keep seeing it and taking its picture—I then ignore the images, and post about something else.

To make amends, here are three recent pictures of Painted Turtles taken from different places around the region.

 

Posted in herptiles | 4 Comments

Camas, et al.

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Alistair

 

I headed out with Derek Kite to look for, well…, whatever we could find. Certainly, we found mommy marmot, along with ground squirrels, birds and turtles, but the most striking things we ran across were wildflowers.

An interesting flower seen was camas. It reminded me of the Kootenay Camas Project launched by the Kootenay Native Plant Society. As the Society says:

Common camas, Camassia quamash, is a native perennial herb with edible bulbs in the lily family. The beautiful blue flowers grow in moist meadows and prairies in southern British Columbia and the northwestern United States. In the Columbia Basin of BC, camas is a rare find, restricted to low-elevation sites in the West Kootenay.

To locate and document camas is a worthy project. The first two pictures show some we found. These are followed by other wildflowers seen on this jaunt.

Two pictures of camas seen Sunday. They are, indeed, lovely.

We also saw mountain arnica,

smallflower woodland star,

what I think is (the blue-listed) Sutherland’s larkspur,

and finally some indian paintbrush.

 

Posted in wildflowers | 2 Comments

Mommy marmot

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Alistair

 

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Bee or fly?

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Alistair

 

A great deal of deception is perpetrated in the fields and woods: camouflage, feigning, mimicking. Fawns sport a dappled coat so as to vanish into the sun-flecked brush. Robins feign injuries to lure predators away from a nest. Flowers lacking nectar attract pollinators by mimicking flowers that deliver.

The topic du jour is the common practice of some types of fly to mimic a bee. A year ago, I treated this same topic, Telling bees from flies, with a more nicely matched pair of images. I now take another run at it using two pictures taken this last week.

A bee has a good defence against a bird that would eat it: it stings. A fly is not similarly armed, but some adopt the survival strategy of looking as if they were: they masquerade as a bee.

Although many flies are remarkably good at such mimicry—good enough to fool birds—differences can be seen. Some are subtle and may not be obvious in the field: bees have four wings; flies only two. Others are easier to spot: flies have larger eyes and smaller antennae than bees. Below is a picture of a bee and a plausible look-alike.

This is a bumble bee, a Bombus vagans (I think). It has long antennae and smallish eyes. This one has alighted on forget-me-nots and is using its tongue to sip nectar.

This is a fly, one of the hoverflies in the genus, Criorhina. Its eyes occupy a much larger portion of the head than do those of the bee. Indeed, this male’s eyes almost touch in the middle of the head. (The particularly large eyes of the male help it to find females). The fly cannot hide is enormous eyes, but it has an interesting way to compensate for its vanishingly small antennae, and it demonstrates it in this picture. The fly will extend its forelegs and wave them about in a simulation of the constantly probing antennae of bees.

 

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