CHICKADEES, Mountain, Black-capped, Boreal, Mexican and Chestnut-backed. Sept. 2020

This is a short pictorial on Chickadees of which there are 7 species in North America.  I have pictures of 5.  Missing is the Carolina and the Gray-headed.  The Gray-headed is found in the far most northern regions of Alaska and the Yukon and the Carolina is found in the southern midwest and eastern states. Perhaps someday we may tack them on to our list but until then, here is what we do have.  These hardy little birds which weigh less than 1/2 an ounce, can live quite a long life. 

I took this picture of a Black-capped in Newfoundland.  I was surprised to learn years ago that Black-capped are not found on Vancouver Island, Haida Gwai, and some Gulf Islands. Instead, they are replaced by the Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

 Boreal Chickadees are the largest chickadee at 5.5 inches.  They are less social and more secretive than other Chickadees.  They tend to habit more northerly environments.  The oldest recorded Boreal Chickadee was at least 5 years, 4 months old which appears to be the least lived of all the chickadees.  Like most chickadees, the Boreal Chickadee hides food regularly. Known as caching, this habit is probably vital for winter survival in the harsh boreal environment. 

Our most common Chickadee is the Black-capped.  It is 5.25 inches long.  The oldest known Black-capped Chickadee was known to have lived over 12 years.

Cattails supply a source of nesting material.  

• Every autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their social flocks and environment. 

Mexican Chickadees have a large, black bib and are small at 5 inches.

We found these Mexican Chickadees in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona.  This is one of the few places they can be found outside of Mexico.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees are the smallest of our Chickadees at 4.75 inches.  The Chestnut-backed Chickadee uses lots of fur in making its nest, with fur or hair accounting for up to half the material in the nest hole.

They are found all along the west coast and the Pacific Northwest.  It is the only species of Chickadee found on Vancouver Island.

Mountain Chickadees are usually found in higher elevations across most of the evergreen forests of Western mountains.  This one has found a larva.

             They are 5.25 inches.  This one has an insect wing.

• The oldest recorded Mountain Chickadee was a male, and at least 10 years, 1 month old when he was identified by his band, alive in the wild in Utah in 1974. He had been banded in the same state in 1965.  It is estimated that their population has been reduced by 50% since 1966.

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Beaver Shots-August 13-14, 2020 Ashcroft, BC.

  Dian and I camped at the Ashcroft Municipal Campground for 5 days in August.  Friends Art and Marlene joined us for a couple of days before they moved on to Douglas Lake campground.  When they left we went exploring on our own.  At a local lake, we ran into a lady who was camped there.  We struck up a conversation and she told us she was staying there while her husband worked at a local mine for the summer.  I guessed she was from Newfoundland as the accent was obvious.  She told us about a pond she had discovered where we were sure to find Beaver.  We returned to the pond that evening and set up our camping chairs around 6:15.  Almost immediately the action started.  The following pictures were taken over the next two evenings.  I have added comments that I have gleaned from the internet to make it appear I am an expert on Beavers.

Dian took this shot of me with her cell phone, by the beaver pond.

When the Beaver saw us they would swim up close, trying to ascertain if we were friend or foe.  This one had a notch in its' ear.  The setting sun was just right but went below the horizon shortly after.

A shot taken a few minutes later was taken in the shade.

This one had what looks like a "burr" alongside its' nose.

Beaver have a split toe on their hind feet that they use for grooming.  Here is it trying to rid itself of the burr.

The burr appears to be still there.  You can see the split-toe grooming the fur.

The scratching appears to feel pretty good.  The upper teeth can grow up to 25 millimeters. Constant chewing keeps them sharp and at an acceptable length.  We could hear them chewing the bark off twigs at a good distance. 

Beaver have sacs at the base of their tail that produces castoreum.   They use this to mark territory.  When I worked for the Hudson's Bay Co. northern stores (many years ago), we would buy these sacs off of trappers.  It is used for perfume and some food products although if you ever saw what we bought you wouldn't want to wear or eat it. Castor oil is extracted from beans so you can keep eating that.

Beaver have a cloaca like a bird.  I was quite surprised when I read this.  All excrement and urine are excreted out of the same hole which is also used for reproduction.  I guess the least amount of holes in the hull is a good thing if you spend a lot of time in the water.

This one came far enough out of the water so we could see the tail.

This was one of the smaller ones.  At one time Catholics considered beaver to be akin to fish and therefore okay to eat during fasting days.

This was the biggest one.  This one was so fat we almost laughed.  Both sexes can get up to 90 pounds.  Usually, they have young ones in May or June but they have been known to have kits later than that.  This has me wondering if this one is pregnant.

This was my favorite picture.  Remind me not to go on a "twiggy" diet. (Remember her?) 

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Fraser Valley Birds November 2019, Northern Pygmy Owl, Great Egret, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Sturgeon, Peregrine Falcon

The following are some birds we encountered in the first few weeks of November.

We took a day trip up to Harrison Hotsprings and found this Northern Pygmy-Owl in Sasquatch Park.  We walked under it once and only located it on our return.  They are quite small and not easy to spot.

We searched hard to find a rare Clark's Grebe at Island 22 in Chilliwack but only came up with a common Western Grebe.

While we were looking for grebes this fisherman landed a Sturgeon in front of us.

This Bushtit posed nicely.  Because of the dark eye, we know it is a male.  Females have pale eyes.

I had to wait for this friendly Red-breasted Nuthatch to get off my camera before I could get a picture.  It was looking for sunflower seeds at a local wildlife reserve.

A Peregrine Falcon sat on the shore of Harrison Lake.

We are a few hundred miles north of the Great Egret's range but every so often one shows up here and usually in the fall.  The backlit shot accentuates the wing feathers like an x-ray. 

This Gray-blue Gnatcatcher is the 23rd record for British Columbia and the second record for Dian and I in B.C.  We found our first one at Kelowna, Nov. of last year.  These birds usually migrate south in the fall from their ranges in southern states.  However, this one came north.   It was found by John Gordon in Maplewood Flats, North Vancouver.

Another view of the Gnatcatcher.  This bird was missing a few feathers in its tail.

Pied-billed Grebe at a local park in Abbotsford.

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Anahim Lake, Bella Coola August 2019 and Kaslo, BC Oct.10 2019 Grizzlies, Spruce Grouse, Snow Bunting, Barred Owl, Victoria's Yellow-browed Warbler

At the end of August, Dian and I camped at Anahim Lake.  It was a convenient location to leave the trailer without pulling it down a treacherous hill to Bella Coola and Tweedsmuir Park.  This area has a reputation for Grizzly sightings and nothing gets the heart racing faster than a Grizzly.

This map shows the route we traveled.  It was a 2-day trip to get there.

A Common Loon patrolled the waters on Anahim Lake behind our campsite.

We were sitting on the banks of the Atnarko River with a few other people when someone said "there is a bear behind us."  This Grizzly had crept up and was wondering what to do with us.  We all stood up and stayed close together to form a large, and hopefully, intimidating presence.

It, fortunately, circumvented us and climbed down into the river.   

The difference in lighting gave the bear a different color.  In the shadows it was dark.  In the sunlight it had a reddish sheen.

It looked back at us from approximately 10 meters.  It eventually went upstream where it caught a large salmon.  Unfortunately too far away for a good picture.  There is a bear viewing platform just upriver but it didn't open until Sept.1 and we were a week too early.

Back at the Anahim campsite, we saw a few Spruce Grouse.  This female posed nicely.

This Barred Owl was seen back home in Abbotsford.

On Oct. 9 we went to the West Kootenays for a couple of days.

This Grizzly was just leaving a small community.  Its scat revealed it was probably raiding apple trees in someone's yard.  It didn't present any exceptional photo opportunities before it left the road and disappeared up a river.

We walked the shores of Kootenay Lake and found 2 migrating Snow Buntings.

This Canvasback Duck was also along the Kootenay Lakeshore.  The fall colors on the water were striking.

An American Dipper was resting in Davis Creek near Kaslo.  Its eyes are closed revealing its white eyelids.

We just forked out $200 for this substandard picture.  This is what we spent on fares to take the ferry to Victoria to find what may be North America's (apart from Alaska) first record of a Yellow-browed Warbler.  Definitely Canada's first record.  It was found by Geoffry Newell and Jeff Gaskin Oct. 18.  This warbler is usually found in Siberia in summer and migrates to southern Asia in winter.  This one took a wrong turn.  One was seen in the Mexican Baja some years ago.  

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