Among our various local raptors, there are two that are almost mutually exclusive: the Osprey and the Rough-legged Hawk. The Osprey hunts over water in the warm months; the Rough-legged Hawk hunts over land in the cold months. Although each spends a half year here, the one might never have encountered the other.
The Osprey begins arriving from the Tropics in April and returns in September. It lives on fish. This picture was taken last June 15th.
The Rough-legged Hawk begins arriving from the Arctic in September and returns in April. It lives on rodents. This picture was taken November 7th (yesterday).
Underwater spring
Video: It is rare that I think that a posting would have been improved by the inclusion of a video clip. I am usually more concerned with stopping motion than showing it. However today, a movie clip would have helped the communication. Alas, I do not have one.In mid-August, two springs appeared on the bed of Kokanee Creek (at ~400 metres from the mouth). They persisted until early September, when they disappeared. In mid-October, one spring reappeared.
Visually, the springs were a churning mass of a lighter shade of sand upwelling from below which then spreading sideways.
On September 1st, Gary Munro waded out and took temperature measurements. Thrusting the thermometer deep into the upwelling fluid, he got a reading of 7 °C. At the time the water flowing in the creek was 11 °C.
This suggests that the source of the spring water was not elsewhere on the creek, but possibly ground water from off the mountainside. But, who knows?
One of the springs on the bed of Kokanee Creek in mid-August.
Churning sand rises from the bed of the creek in mid October.
