Sunday Drive

Today was not snowing so we [Gary and I] went birding in the rain and wind. 

"Wild Turkeys"

Specifically we decided to get up very early [we got up at 5am and left at 5-45 however this was the new time that had been changed the evening before because of daylight saving and therefore because the clocks were moved forward an hour it was thus a 4 am wake up and a 4-45am departure on the old time…..] and then we headed west to the Kootenay Lake valley to visit some spots [as shown on the accompanying map]. Now we were optimistic that spring may have sprung a little earlier a little east but we were wrong.

Day trip route [A = Nakusp, B = Lardeau, C = Johnson's Landing, D = Meadow Creek]

Over in the Kootenay Lake area we had both birders and birds as objectives.

First to visit was birder and photographer, Gail Spitler who resides and is retired at an ‘off-the-beaten-track’ farm at Johnsons Landing. Here was a bird that I had long ago eaten but had never seen in the wild; the inaccurately named ‘Wild Turkey’. Gail has hosted a flock of these ridiculous birds for quite a few years – ever since they strolled northwards into her valley, probably from release areas as far south as Idaho, USA. The birds, of course, are authentic native Americans but their spread west seems to have been assisted. Nowadays Turkeys, wherever you find them, are tickable. So this is what I did – ticked them. Lifer, and bird no# 119 for the year 2012!

Also around her farm were Bohemian Waxwings, Siskins, Chickadees, Nuthatch, Song Sparrows and a White throated [singing but not seen], Steller’s Jays, Northern Flickers, Robins, Redpolls, Starlings and the obligatory corvids.

A few black-tailed Deer were wandering in the adjacent Apple Orchid however the advertised Elk were a case of ‘you should have been here yesterday’, an all too familiar phrase for birders and naturalists alike.

Gail very kindly came birding with us and shared some of her knowledge and country. She also advised us that we were mad birding here in the cold and rain and invited us back when it warmed up; an invitation that I’m sure we’ll accept. 

Stopping at a few spots along the lake’s edge in forest first and then adjacent to a small marsh we saw a few familiar faces; Pine Siskins, Buffleheads, Mallards, Dark-eyed Juncos, a Common Loon and a Common Merganser, a cute pair of Hooded Merganser,  Barrow’s Goldeneye, Dipper , two gulls – Herring and Ring-billed and, best of all, good views of a Ruffed Grouse that slowly stepped half way across a road before exploding into flight at my mention of a camera. At the marsh a few Red-winged Blackbirds were holding court at the still dead rushes with their calls begging for spring. The marsh was also home to turtles, information noted by sign rather than direct observation because, sensibly enough, the turtles remained buried under mud, under the water and under the still-iced edges. The marsh also was home to Skunk, a species noted by smell, rather than sight. The smell was quite strong and distinctly ‘skunky’ and both my Canadian friends were in complete agreement as to the odour’s host.

We then visited birder number 2 – Marlene Johnston at Lardeau. She too had her resident birds  in and around her house; Robins, Chickadees, Juncos and the like. Marleen told me about  a small herd of Rocky Mountain goats that reside on the hills above Lardeau – yet another mammal to come back for.

Travelling northward from Lardeau, we stopped on spec and saw a few more waterfowl on small streams and beaver-crafted dams. A single White tailed Deer drinking ran off as we pulled up. Large flocks of Redpolls fed on the roadsides as Siskins are seen elsewhere. Hundreds of birds were seen and we scanned the flocks for a Hoary Redpoll. We, nearly, got lucky. One bird, clearly paler than the rest, stood out even with the naked eye. Sadly it proved a little elusive to get definitive views to turn our 90% sure to a 100% certain. So I have seen a ‘Probable Hoary Redpoll’. A species that I will designate the latin trinomial as Acanthis indistincta prettybloodyannoyingii. Soon after the frustration of the redpoll saga; about a few hundred Canada Goose later in fact, the girls decided that the weather was silly and time was perhaps better spent in doors. We had little in the way of argument so birding was adjourned and lunch called for.