Exploring Kootenay Lake

A week ago, I posted pictures of a winter visitor to the valley bottom: a Pygmy Owl. Given its preferences, this owl would prefer to go after irruptive birds. This week many irruptive birds, Bohemian Waxwings, arrived about a hundred metres from where the Pygmy Owl had been. The owl’s timing was a bit off.

When irrupting, Bohemian Waxwings travel in great numbers, a few hundred together. They find a staging tree next to a berry tree. From there, they travel in smaller numbers to feed on the berries. 

A view of a quarter to a third of the birds await their turn in a staging tree.

A small group flies from the staging tree to feed on rowan berries (mountain ash).

The waxwings are voracious. Two of them have berries in their throats.

As the rowan berries hang below the twigs, the birds often often grab them upside down.

Here, one bird grabs a berry and another is about to.

Repositioning the berry.

Having swallowed a berry, a waxwing flies back to the staging tree.

Pictures two and three courtesy Cynthia Fraser.

The Northern Pygmy Owl is an inconspicuous little owl — at least it is for much of the year. It resides in the uplands where its small size makes it difficult to be found amidst the vastness of all the foliage. 

For a few months in the winter, it might come to the valley bottom where it perches atop trees or on well exposed branches. The key word is might. Some winters it is evident, some it is not. Mind you, it is only about the size of one’s fist, but it is readily visible and not easily spooked by humans. 

This picture was purposely not cropped closely to show that despite its diminutive size, it is easily spotted among the bare branches. Further, it has no particular difficulty in being around people.

This rather odd picture needs an explanation. The pygmy owl has lowered its head as it looks for the antics of some tasty voles below. We see the top of its head and the two fake eyespots on the back of its head.

However, the pride of place goes to this larger-than-life shot of the pygmy owl scratching under its chin. Not only is its claw raised, but its eyes have been covered by the nictitating membrane, a translucent third eyelid present in some animals.  

The Pygmy Owl lives in the alpine forest for most of the year, but in winter, it moves to lower elevations. Here it feeds on songbirds, particularly irruptive birds, a bird which occasionally migrates to a southern area in large numbers based mainly on food supply rather than a hormonal change.

So far this winter there have been a few irruptive birds, but not enough to satisfy the Pygmy Owl’s appetite. Consequently, there seem to be few Pygmy Owls around.

Saying there are few, doesn’t mean there are none. Here is a Pygmy Owl high in a tree.

Bald Eagles are early breeders. But, January? Well, it seems so.

The early part of this minor drama was seen but not recorded. A female eagle was sitting on a branch and suddenly began to call. Soon it was visited by another calling eagle.

A male eagle landed a little farther out on the branch and both called incessantly. This picture was taken by Cynthia Fraser.

Once they settled down on the branch, it was easy to tell which was which. Among raptors, the female is bigger. Bald Eagles mate for life.

Perhaps three or four dozen Bohemian Waxwings graced the skies at one time. I tried to capture a flight shot, but only succeeded in capturing two in a tree.

The Bohemian Waxwings is perhaps the ultimate example of an irruptive bird. It lives in the north, but in some years, it travels in large numbers to the south in search of food.  This is such such a winter.

Two Bohemian Waxwings, out of a large flock, rest in a tree.

This detail of one of the waxwings shows the red, waxy tips on some of their wing feathers. The colour comes from carotenoid pigments found in the fruit waxwings eat.