Chipmunk

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Alistair

I recall that as a child, I would see chipmunks around Kootenay Lake, that is, right down to the valley bottom. Now, I only see them much higher in the mountains. David Nagorsen’s book, Rodents & Lagomorphs of British Columbia (2005), suggests that such a variation in altitude range is largely a result of competition with related species (p. 186).

The three pictures of the Yellow–pine Chipmunk below were taken at an elevation of about 1570 metres on the same jaunt into Kokanee Glacier Park that produced the pictures of the Solitary Sandpiper.

 

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Solitary Sandpiper

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Alistair

The most frequently seen shorebird here is probably the Spotted Sandpiper, yet, the Killdeer is also common. Only occasionally have I seen a Wilson’s Snipe.

However, yesterday was the first time I had seen a Solitary Sandpiper. To be sure, it wasn’t actually along the shore of Kootenay Lake, but over 1400 metres above it on an alpine pond in Kokanee Glacier Park. This area is at the southern limit of the Solitary Sandpiper’s breeding range, so one would not expect them often. There are three pictures of it below.

A Solitary Sandpiper flies toward the grassy edge of an alpine pond.

It alights.

And starts hunting along the shore.

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Three arms

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Alistair

A satellite view of Kootenay Lake

I am a sucker for an interesting panorama. For example: the header for this blog and the rainbow posted earlier, are panoramas which each span about 270 degrees.

Kootenay Lake has three arms: North, South, and West. The Lake is shaped somewhat like a bow and arrow, with North and South Arms forming the bow and the West Arm being a bent arrow.

Some time ago, I wondered if there were a spot on the Lake near the junction of the arms where one could look along all three arms. The best spot seems to be in the vicinity of the (now decommissioned) Pilot Bay Lighthouse (which, of course is why it is where it is).

Last Sunday, I went to a spot just offshore from the lighthouse and took multiple images which were then stitched together to form a 360–degree view. The resulting panorama is below.

The picture is split at roughly the position of the lighthouse and so the greenery on either edge of the picture is the Pilot Bay Peninsula. There are three gaps in the mountains: The one on the left is the South Arm; The one in the middle is the West Arm; The one on the right is the North Arm. In no case can one see the full length of an arm, but it is interesting to see them laid out in this way.

A 360–degree view showing the three arms of Kootenay Lake

 

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Cabbage White

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Alistair

There is nothing rare about this butterfly. The Cabbage White is common across the southern half of the Province and, although it is an introduced species, it has been here for about two centuries.

A female shows two spots on the upper forewing.

Last week, I watched a dozen or more Cabbage Whites sipping nutrients from the moist soil along the shore of Duck Bay at Nelson’s waterfront. During their phrenetic activities I could not distinguish the sexes. Later, using pictures, I could only identify males.

Both sexes have a black tip on the upper forewing, behind which there is one black spot on the male, and two black spots on the female. The underwings are virtually the same, each with two black spots on the forewing.

So, one must see the two spots on the upper wing to identify the female. To the right, I include a small picture of a female taken a previous year.

 

The extended proboscis of each Cabbage White is being used to sip nutrients from the moist soil.

The butterfly lifting off seems to have a faint second spot on its upper forewing, but we are merely seeing through the wing to the lower side where there are two spots. This too is a male.

The back underwing is a pale mustard colour. The proboscis is coiled as it flies away.

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Bluet protectionism

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Alistair

The first thing to realize when watching the Tule Bluet is that you can normally tell the boys from the girls. The males are blue and black while the females are brown and black.

Tule Bluets mating in the wheel position (taken a previous year)

It is of interest to tell the sexes apart as these damselflies seem to spend most of their adult lives either trying to mate, mating, protecting their investment, or laying eggs.

Damselflies are one of August’s lakeshore delights. More often in the past, I have seen them mate, something they do in what is known as the wheel position where the male clasps the female by the back of the head. After mating, he maintains this hold on her neck and accompanies her until she has laid the eggs he fertilized.

Sunday, I watched the later stages of this interaction: the flying away, fending off competitors, and guarding her until eggs are laid on a plant just below the surface of the water. Three pictures, below.

 

This is my freshly mated girlfriend; I drag her around with me because…

so many others would like to transform my investment into their own investment.

I stay locked on her until she has laid all (my) eggs (and hope that those minnows don’t eat them).

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Marmot

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Alistair

I don’t often see marmots, so it was fun to see two different (widely separated) ones yesterday. Both were Yellow–bellied Marmots, but the pictures below are only of the first.

Locally, there are two species: The Yellow–bellied Marmot is found in the valleys; The Hoary Marmot higher in the mountains. The marmot is essentially a large, vegetarian, ground squirrel.

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Flycatcher family

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Alistair

Ron Welwood invited me to his place to see a family of flycatchers. They turned out to be the Pacific-slope Flycatchers. It is the only one around here that will nest on buildings and that will use moss in its construction.

The five pictures below show two of the three chicks (barely) peeking out of the nest and some shots of the two adults that seemed anxious to feed them.

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Pileus

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Alistair

In ancient times, pileus was the name of a brimless felt cap worn first by Greek sailors and then by Roman freed slaves. The word is now applied to the cap of a mushroom and the cloud that forms over the top of a vigorously growing cumulus cloud.

I only see the pileus a few times a year.

A pileus is a smooth cloud sometimes seen briefly over the top of a vigorously growing cumulus cloud. There were a few of them on the cumulus building around the Lake last Sunday.

A cap cloud sits over Mount Ymir

A similar looking cloud is frequently seen over the higher mountain peaks where it has the linguistically equivalent name of cap cloud. Such a cap cloud forms when a strong wind blows against the mountain and flows up and over it. Water vapour is cooled by the lifting and condenses to form the cloud. The vapour condenses on the upwind side, the resulting cloud droplets persist as the air flows across the mountain top, but then evaporate as the air flows down the lee side. As a consequence, a stationary cloud sits over the mountain top even though the wind howls though it.

The pileus forms in a similar way when the growing cumulus cloud acts as a barrier to the winds near its top. Some web sources suggest that the pileus is composed of ice crystals, however, this is rarely the case. Rather, the pileus is almost always composed of water droplets.

As moisture in the atmosphere is often in thin moist and dry layers, when the pileus forms, it too may appear laminated. The pileus is transient: the cumulus soon grows right through it and engulfs it—something a mountain cannot do to a cap cloud.

This pileus looks like an upside–down dinner plate hanging over the cumulus cloud. It has multiple layers.

Another laminated pileus hangs over cumulus growing over the mountains around the Lake.

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Kestrels & vultures

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Alistair

Derek Kite and I visited the kestrels again. The chicks had fledged. Unexpectedly, there were now three chicks, even though earlier we had only seen two at a time looking out of the nest cavity.

It was fun to see the kestrel chicks, and adults, but a real treat was the appearance of two vultures.

Neither American Kestrels nor Turkey Vultures are common along the heavily forested valley of the West Arm of Kootenay Lake. Both birds prefer clearings, the kestrel for hunting, the vulture for scavenging. However, the birds do take advantage of the modest clearings that have been made.

Three kestrel chicks have fledged and sit together on a snag.

Two kestrels sit on adjacent snags.

One of the Turkey Vultures flies overhead.

The other Turkey Vulture flies by.

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Indian pipe

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Alistair

I was looking for bumble bees, and found them visiting—to my amazement—indian pipe. I had visited this spot close to the water’s edge along the North Shore many, many times over the years and had never seen indian pipe there before. Indeed, the only place I had seen indian pipe in recent years was deep in the forest of Pilot Bay Provincial Park.

More pictures of indian pipe and a description of the plant is offered on the main website under Wildflower Oddities.

Although it looks like a fungus, indian pipe is indeed a plant, but one that lacks chlorophyll and so cannot manufacture its own carbohydrates. Rather, it obtains carbohydrates from another plant (such as a tree) through a fungal intermediary. This tactic enables it compete successfully on the dark forest floor where little sunlight penetrates.

It may be a testimony to the cloudy and rainy spring we have had, that it appeared along the West Arm at a spot where I had never seen it before.

Ghostly and beautiful, the flowers and stems of the indian pipe lack chlorophyll.

These ones were growing in a shady spot close to the lakeshore.

This blurry picture shows a bumble bee visiting the indian pipe flower.

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