Exploring Kootenay Lake | inadequately supervised activities

Time 2020-10-10 07:03:06

Web Name: Exploring Kootenay Lake | inadequately supervised activities

WebSite: http://blog.kootenay-lake.ca

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Lake,Kootenay,Exploring,

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Three smallish grizzly bears were fishing in a stream. I suspect that these bears were cubs freshly on their own as they had yet to develop the prominent shoulder hump of adult grizzlies.This grizzly appears to be looking straight at me. While undoubtedly aware of a human presence, it seemed unconcerned. Indeed, the look towards me was just a glance as the bear turned its head. Actually, grizzlies are influenced more by smell, and this one was fishing on the edge of a stream filled with freshly rotting Kokanee spawners. There was really only one thing on its mind: fish.Sometimes a bear would stand in the stream and just eat a fish floating by. Other times, the grizzly would wait on the shore and grab one from the shallows. Yum, yum.  The final picture was taken by Cynthia Fraser and is used with permission. Today I photographed two different mammals, which was somewhat unusual as most days I don t see any wild mammals. Below is the first seen, and the smaller of the two. The next posting will be of the more dramatic mammal. A chipmunk was scurrying around on a rock face, and so presented me with different views.Here is a portrait view. The Double-crested Cormorant is a big bird it requires a long runway to take to the air.The cormorant is demonized in Ontario where hunters are allowed to shoot the birds on sight. However here, the cormorant is rather an interesting curiosity. Indeed, there is a bay on the outflow of Kootenay Lake where it is consistently, but rarely to be seen. And it was there that I watched two cormorants this morning. The cormorants didn t seem to like being watched, even from a great distance. Upon spotting a watcher, they would systematically fly off, but that behavioural quirk gave me a chance to watch their liftoff from the water. Cormorants cannot merely jump into the air and fly off as does a mallard. Rather, they must run across the water surface so as to slowly pick up the speed necessary for flying. This is similar to the behaviour of a swan when lifting off from water. Two cormorants take to the air. Notice the spacing of the splashes left by their foot prints on the water. The closer one (left) has just started its liftoff and so is moving slower than the distant one (right). Its splash prints are closer together. Further, the spacing of the splash prints of the distant bird progressively get farther apart as the bird picks up speed. Ultimately, each became airborne. People are at pains to interpret the sounds and gestures of one another. They want to do the same for animals and feel that they do a good job making sense of the signals sent by their pets.But, what about signals from wildlife? What is the purpose of the howl of a wolf? The penguin dance of the grebe? The spread-wing stance of the dipper? The huff of the black bear? The communications of the loon are a particular source of fascination, in part because its calls are so evocative and beautiful. We have named four of them wail, hoot, tremolo and yodel and for each, a supposed message has been deduced. The loon also adopts various understood stances in its close interactions with others. So, it is not unreasonable to ask: When a loon raises its foot out of the water and waggles it, what is it signaling?Consequently, the purpose of the waggling foot of the loon has received modest study.It seems that the loon is communicating nothing: the bird is merely having a stretch. Chuckle.A juvenile Common Loon waggles a foot as it drifts languidly by. Ho-hum.  I was delighted to see a half-dozen featureless grey ghosts visit a dilapidated dock in the faint light well before dawn. They constituted a family of otters. In recent times, I had been wondering about local otters for I had not seen any for 28 months. Had our local otter numbers actually diminished? Had I merely been inattentive? Could it have been both? Who knows? Yet, otters have now reappeared.A family of six otters paused briefly on a dock in the dusky light well before dawn. When I casually started to watch local birds a dozen years or so ago, I posited that there was no point in paying attention to shorebirds there were just too many similar ones.I adapt. With time, I realized that we have both the (rather few) standard summer residents, and the migrants (passing through, the shoulder-season visitors). So, from late July through September, I now watch for migrants.This year, I have seen fewer migrating shore birds, and certainly the wildfire smoke of the last week or so has kept the birds and me apart. I did see a Greater Yellowlegs a month ago, but that was it until this morning. I have just spotted a Long-billed Dowitcher foraging in a pond adjacent to the lakeshore.A Long-billed Dowitcher looks up briefly as it forages in a pond adjacent to the lakeshore. Late summer is the season of smoke and fish. The smoke is episodic some years none, some years considerable. This year it is particularly bad. The fish, spawning kokanee, are an annual staple that is far more agreeable.Wildfires between 500 and 1000 km to the southwest have sent a pall of smoke our way. Normally the pellucid local atmosphere permits clear views of even distant mountains. Now we cannot even see across the narrowest portions of the Lake. I illustrate the problem with two ferries on the Main Lake. On the left the MV Osprey 2000 is emerging from the mirk, while on the right the MV Balfour is vanishing into it. Sigh .This is the spawning season for kokanee salmon around the Lake. Spawning in West Arm creeks is coming to an end, while spawning at the north end of the Main Lake is in full bloom. Now that September is here, daytime temperatures are somewhat more temperate and the mourning cloak butterfly is back in abundance. The mourning cloak likes to avoid temperature extremes, otherwise it closes down. Over winter, it hibernates (becomes dormant to avoid the cold); over summer it aestivates (becomes dormant to avoid the heat). So, it is seen in the spring and reappears again in the fall. This is one of many mourning cloak butterflies to be seen at this time. The wing feathers of the juvenile osprey have been memorably described as having been dipped in cream. They contrast with an adult s wing feathers, which are uniformly dark.Now is the time to see juvenile ospreys out of the nest and hunting, for within a month, they will have migrated south. They will return only as (dark winged) adults in two to three years, then to nest and raise their own chicks.A juvenile Osprey hunts from a tree branch. When we think of local migrants, we usually think of birds. Indeed, many of the birds we watch most assiduously, migrate in and out our region. But , migrating insects?Most local insects spend their whole lives within kilometres of where they were hatched. But, a handful do not. Of our many locally-seen butterflies, there are only three migrants. But, the migrating insect seen this morning wasn t a butterfly; it was a dragonfly, one of only two local migrants: it is the variegated meadowhawk.Its name, variegated, exhibiting different colours, especially as irregular patches or streaks certainly characterizes it. Indeed, the males even shift to reddish as they age. Yet throughout these variations, all display two yellow dots on each side of the thorax.I could learn little about its range, although it seems that this one will have originated a bit to our north and may well migrate as far south as Central America. But, unlike birds where the same individual migrates both ways, these dragonflies split their round trip across at least two generations itself a neat trick. A striking looking migrating dragonfly, this variegated meadowhawk is on its southward journey. Subscribe/UnsubscribeLeave This Blank:Leave This Blank Too:Do Not Change This:Your email:

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