September Pictures 2016 Pika, Sooty Grouse, Gray Jay, Manning Park, Lark Sparrow

Although we travelled to the Kootenays and Lilloett we didn't get many pictures of wildlife this month.  An overnight trip to Manning Park at the end of the month garnered a few shots of the local fauna.  I went alone as Dian didn't want to camp overnight in the cold weather and it was cold.  I registered 2 degrees celsius in the trailer in the morning.  I was sleeping with a comforter and down sleeping bag over that.  I was quite comfortable as long as I didn't stick my head out to far.  If it would have been any colder I am sure I would have froze some water lines. The daytime temperatures were in the mid teens and the sun felt warm.  It was a beautiful time to be up there.  I did see 1 bear and 2 deer which didn't present favourable photo opportunities.

Glen Valley, close to Fort Langley, had a Lark Sparrow for a few days at the beginning of the month.  This is a rare bird for this area but common on its regular patch.

Sometimes on migration one finds birds out of their regular habitat.  Such was the case with this female Brewers Blackbird up on the Manning Park Lookout.

 Canada Jay, Whiskey Jack, and Camp Robber are names associated with the Gray Jay.  Fossils of this bird have been found that have dated back over 18,000 years.

A Cascade Golden-manteled Ground Squirrel looks like a large chipmunk.  This rodent is found only in the Pacific Northwest and will be hibernating soon.    The chubby cheeks indicates it has had a successful forage on a rock scree in Manning Park.

Manning is a great place to find cute Pikas.  They are lagomorphs-the same family as rabbits.  They don't hibernate but spend the winters under meters of snow.   

This Pika is busy adding to its "haystack" deep within the talus slopes. This will nourish it through the winter.  If it runs out of food it will eat its own, and others, feces 

There are 2 species of Pika in North America and 29 species world wide.  This one (scratching its ear) is the American Pika.  We have also seen the other species (Collared Pika) high on Surfbird Mountain, just south of the Arctic Circle.

Manning Park is believed to be an overlapping range with the Sooty Grouse and Dusky Grouse.  It is not easy to distinguish between the 2 species but most likely this is a Sooty.

I drove up to the lookout at Manning at dusk to see the sunset.  The golden leaves of this tree were blurred by a sudden breeze as I focused.

One last sunset shot.

And now for something completely different.   With the visit of the Royal Family here, I was looking at Prince George and had that nagging feeling he reminded me of someone.

And then I was watching the emmies and Louis Anderson solved my problem.  It's probably just me.

End of this blog.  Scroll down for previous blog.

Lillooet Kaoham Train Shuttle to Seaton Portage Sept. 9-17 2016

This blog deviates from my normal blog as it doesn't contain many pictures of wildlife.  Instead I am utilizing it to vent my frustration with the tourist train in Lillooet.  It is described as "one of the most scenic rail trips in the world, along the shore of Seton Lake, surrounded by high mountains and near vertical cliffs. The 2 car Kaoham Shuttle train runs daily between Lillooet and Seton Portage."  However the train is mostly for locals but Fridays, tourists may purchase a round trip ticket for $10.

We began our trip with friends Art and Marlene. We initially decided to camp on Kootenay Lake.  Our first stop was Kekuli Campsite in Vernon where the California Quail were abundant.

Here is our camp at Davis Creek Campground on Kootenay Lake.  This is one of the most scenic campgrounds we have experienced.

It was here we discussed the Lillooet train ride.  We headed to Kaslo where a nice lady at the information centre searched her computer and found all the information we needed.

On Tuesday I phoned the number she provided and left a message with the Kaoham answering machine.  I explained we wanted 4 round trips for the coming Friday and left our names.

The next day (Wednesday) we had a message from a lady saying we were all confirmed for that Friday.  We  broke camp and took the 2 day trip to Lillooet.  We arrived in Lillooet on Thursday and took a trip around town.  We saw one of our neighbours from home, walking down the street with his wife, and told him about our pending trip. He said he would like to join us so he made a reservation too.

Here we are early Friday morning, waiting for the train to arrive.

And here is what we were waiting for.  The little puffer belly pulling in from its trip to Seaton Portage.  We waited in a nervous anticipation as the representative  opened a file and started calling off names and collecting fees.  Imagine our disappointment when our names weren't called.  We asked the representative why we weren't called and she replied if we weren't on the list we weren't getting on the train.  We wanted to play back her message on the phone that confirmed our reservation but she told us the train wasn't for us anyway but only the locals.  Then she threw up her arms and said she had to go because she had a "medical emergency".  The train left without us.  We then noticed a couple of other parties that had reservations and didn't get on.

The train returned that afternoon and we were there to meet it.  We again asked the rep to listen to her message and she reluctantly consented.  When she realized she had made a mistake she checked her file and discovered she had mistakingly put us down for the week after.  Instead of apologizing she rushed off and jumped into a waiting car and said again, "I have to go. I have a 'medical emergency'".  

This is a map of the total distance of our trip.  Notice the distance between Kaslo and Lillooet.

This is Seaton Lake that the train traverses.  In conclusion I would suggest if one intends to take this trip you must realize it is a hit and miss operation (to put it mildly).  You may have a great experience or a great disappointment depending on the whims of the operators.  At least don't take a 600 kilometre side trip to get there, like we did.  To add insult to injury, our neighbours, who reserved 2 days after us, took the trip and throughly enjoyed it.