Birds

Knock knock — whoos there?

Knock knock — whoos there?

Retired Kootenay Park warden Hans Fuhrer noticed and photographed this boreal owl while skiing in Taynton Bowl at Panorama Ski Hill. Hans said “it poked it’s head out the hole when I knocked on the ...Full story

Feeding time

These cliff swallows have built their nests under a bridge near the Yoho-Banff boundary. These insect-eating birds are long-distance migrants, flying to southern South America beginning in late summer. ...Full story

Bruce Kirkby keynote speaker at Wings gala

Bruce Kirkby keynote speaker at Wings gala

May 12, Invermere – The Wings Over the Rockies festival’s gala evening on Saturday, May 12th promises a delicious meal at Radium Resort, a raucous live and silent auction and an entertaining keynote ...Full story

The birds like it here. Annual count finds 52 species.

The birds like it here. Annual count finds 52 species.

Seventy four people counted 3,927 individual birds during the 34th annual Lake Windermere District Christmas bird count. The number of birds is up by 47% from last year. Some of the increase can be attributed ...Full story

Grand slam of chickadees

Grand slam of chickadees

Chestnut-backed chickadees are uncommon residents in BC’s eastern southern interior and they are very rare in the southern Rocky Mountains. So when John Pitcher, former Kootenay National Park naturalist, ...Full story

They’re back

As the temperature begins to rise look up and you may spot a turkey vulture soaring overhead. These birds arrive back in the Columbia Valley in April using thermals to move through the air with very little ...Full story

Flight cage grand opening celebration

Flight cage grand opening celebration

May 12, Invermere – The 2012 Wings Over the Rockies festival will include a celebration of the grand opening of a new flight cage for the rehabilitation of injured raptors on Saturday, May 12 with an ...Full story

Greater yellowlegs a sign of autumn

Greater yellowlegs a sign of autumn

Greater yellowlegs are one of the early migrants passing through the Columbia Valley. Leaving their subarctic breeding grounds, they’ll feed on small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, small fish, ...Full story

Birds

New bird species for Kootenay National Park

New bird species for Kootenay National Park

The Eurasian Collared Dove is native to Asia and Europe. It was introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s, spread to Florida in 1982, and has been rapidly expanding its range across North America. There ...Full story

Butcher bird

The following discription from the Canadain Museum of Nature should work up your appetite. “Northern Shrike is known as the ‘butcher bird’ because of its unusual practice of impaling prey on thorns ...Full story

Honky-tonk geese

Honky-tonk geese

The Canada geese have started ‘pairing up’ for nesting and the Columbia Valley is sounding quite musical with lots of “honk-a-lonk” filling the air. If you listen closely you can distinguish ...Full story

Canada geese ‘molt migration’

Canada geese ‘molt migration’

Canada geese will soon be molting — an 8-10 week flightless period when they shed their outer wing feathers and grow new ones. Molting occurs from mid-June through August. Most birds will resume flight ...Full story

White-tailed ptarmigan

White-tailed ptarmigan

This master of disguise is all but invisible as its mottled plumage blends in with the surrounding rocks. The bird itself seems well aware of the efficacy of its camouflage for it is reluctant to flush ...Full story

Love song

Almost everyone can identify the bird that sings a rapid, nasal chickadee-dee-dee. It is the call the chickadee uses to challenge intruders or to express alarm and it can be heard anytime during the year. ...Full story

Calling all birds…

Calling all birds…

Finally it’s spring again, and these turkeys are certainly raving about it. But they are not the only ones to do so. The valley is home to a gazillion species, many of whom will soon arrive to hang ...Full story

Birds

Geoff Hill / MaxWell Realty