Black Bears and Salmon

There are many black bears in the Lower Mainland, at the edges of the mountains. Indeed we see them from time to time in Abbotsford and have had them in our driveway and knocking over our bird feeder. On almost all of our hiking and cycling trails we see bear warning signs. So it is no surprise for us to see or encounter bears, particularly in the autumn when the bears are fattening up for winter hibernation and the salmon are spawning. This week however was exceptional in that we were able to observe a bear across a small creek from where we were, while it rested, fished, climbed and feasted on salmon. Its actions made it quite clear that it was nervous of other more “dominant” bears in the area, and in fact we encountered a sow and two cubs as we left the site and returned to our car. The following is a sampling of photographs I took while watching.

October in the Lower Mainland

October marks the “rainy season” in the Lower Mainland, with lots of rain, occasional floods, shorter days, falling leaves, cooler temperatures and migrating salmon and birds. But it is also a time of incredible natural beauty, if you get out, explore and observe. The following photos represent some of the highlights for me of the natural beauty observed this month.

Great blue heron
Mushrooms and other fungi have been bursting out everywhere!
Fly agaric mushrooms
Black bear in its favourite “perch”, immediately over a prolific salmon stream.
With the return of the salmon, we have the return of the eagles.
Hooded merganser drakes
Steller’s jay
Migrating salmon
Black bear with chum salmon.
Autumn colours
Spectacular aurora borealis
Ferns growing from lichens on tree
Cackling geese in flight
American bittern
Green heron with dragonfly

Aurora Borealis

The following pictures were taken from Abbotsford (Sumas Prairie) on the night of October 10. Experts say the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are more visible right now due to the sun being at what astronomers call the “maximum” of its 11-year solar cycle.
What this means is that roughly every 11 years, at the peak of this cycle, the sun’s magnetic poles flip, and the sun transitions from sluggish to active and stormy. The variety of colours were astounding. In several photos, you can see the Big Dipper clearly. In many photos, the traffic on the Trans Canada Highway shows as a line of lights.

September Birds

One of the things I appreciate about living in the Lower Mainland of BC is that you can see a good variety of birds, any month of the year, if you take the time to look. September is a good month to encounter migrating birds. I particularly enjoy spotting and trying to identify shorebirds……….a difficult challenge, particularly as many of the species are only encountered during migration. The following is a sampling of bird photos taken this month.

Clark’s nutcracker. A boreal bird of higher elevations. Taken in Manning Park.
The Canada Jay. Previously called the Gray Jay. Commonly known as the “Whisky Jack”. Also a boreal bird, taken in Manning Park.
Greater yellowlegs on the left, short-billed dowitcher on the right. I had to get expert advice to identify the dowitcher. To me, the long-billed and short-billed dowitchers are virtually indistinguishable from each other. Taken at Blackie Spit.
Long-billed dowitchers. Taken at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
Sharp-tailed sandpiper. This is an interesting bird to spot in the Lower Mainland. The species breeds in Siberia, and migrates south to Australia in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere. However, a very small number of juveniles, move eastward, through southern Alaska and into the Yukon and British Columbia. Certainly a rarity in this part of the world. Again, I depended on experts to spot and identify this bird. (There were there or four present at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
Pectoral sandpiper. The sharp-tailed sandpipers were associated with the more common pectoral sandpipers. Taken at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary.
Sandhill crane “colt”. At the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, there has been a resident pair of sandhill cranes for several years. This is one of the two cranes that hatched this year.
One of the resident sandhill crane parents at Reifel.
Great blue heron. These birds are resident in our area year round. I keep reminding myself not to take any more pictures of them, but every so often I cannot resist as one poses in front of me, or flies by with its most unusual call.
Ring-necked duck (drake). The ducks are transitioning from eclipse to breeding plumage and are being seen in ever increasing numbers in the region as we enter Autumn. Taken at Reifel.

The Brown Bears of Hyder

When we lived in Kitimat, we usually drove up to Hyder AK/ Stewart BC each summer to see the grizzly (brown) bears fishing. At the time, Hyder was notorious as a location for hard drinking and getting “Hyderized”. The Stewart / Hyder area has a long reputation for boom and bust as the economy has depended on mining. There are still significant mineral reserves in the area, mainly on the BC side of the border, and from what we saw on the trip, there is a lot of renewed mining activity. Hyder however is not doing well with most buildings derelict and only one decrepit bar still running. However, the US Department of Agriculture which oversees the Tongass National Forest has installed an exceptional bear viewing platform, and actively maintains surveillance over the platform to ensure protection of bears and people at Fish Creek, which is about five miles from Hyder, and accessible by paved road. When we were there this week, we observed two adult brown (grizzly) bear boars fishing and interacting on the creek. We missed seeing an older sow, and a black bear that had been chased out earlier. If you go there, you will need a passport: not to enter Alaska, but to return to Canada. The only road access to this location is through BC. Here are some of the photos I took.

Our first glimpse of a brown bear came after two visits. This six or seven year old boar has been named “Runner” by the Forest Service Rangers.
We watched Runner fishing, which proved to be a pretty easy task, given the large number of salmon in Fish Creek (mainly chum salmon).
After going into the bush to eat salmon in peace, we observed Runner sit-up, sniffing the air. Something had disturbed him.

The reason for the disturbance was the arrival of another brown bear, upstream. According to the Rangers, this bear is of a similar age and the two bears have not come to terms yet with respect pecking order. This bear, has been named “Scruffy” by the Rangers. For a while after his arrival, the two bears maintained a good distance between them and fished.

Runner. (Note the roe being squeezed out of the salmon by the pressure of Runner’s grip!)
All of a sudden, Runner stood up again and stared back at Scruffy, who was approaching………………..
…..and ran in the opposite direction…………
…………and ran, until there was a good distance between them.
Scruffy stopped his advance and resumed fishing.
Keeping a safe distance, Runner resumed “doing his thing” and fished some more, ever wary of Scruffy. It was a very interesting evening for observing!

Some Additional Birds from Newfoundland.

I have posted photos already of the northern gannet and the Atlantic puffin. Here are some other birds seen on our recent trip to Newfoundland.

Common murres
White-throated sparrow
Northern waterthrush
Herring gull
Razorbill or razor-billed auk
Thick-billed murre
The birds of Gull Island – mainly common murres.
Common murres

Black guillemot
Greater black-backed gull
Pine grosbeak
Black-legged kitiwakes
American pipit
Lincoln sparrow
Magnolia warbler
American black duck
Mourning warbler
Black and white warbler
Blackpoll warbler
Swamp sparrow
Caspian tern
Common tern
Common loons
Greater yellowlegs – not often seen swimming!
Rusty blackbird
Blue jay
Cedar waxwing

Birds of Early Summer in BC

Some of the photos taken on walks and hikes over the last few weeks, in the Lower Mainland of BC.

Western tanager
Bullock’s oriole
Cedar waxwing
Lazuli bunting
Least flycatcher (a rarity in this region)
American goldfinch

Glaucous winged gull, dropping shell in order to crack it.

Yellow warbler
Anna’s hummingbird
Rufous hummingbird
Cedar waxwing
Pacific flycatcher
Pacific wren
Tree swallow
Common yellowthroat

Feeding Time at the Osprey Nest

Two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to observe the osprey nest in Matsqui. The female was on the nest incubating eggs, when we heard and then saw the male approach with a fish. It then landed on a distant tree and started to eat the fish. The female on the nest called to the male, clearly wanting to be fed. After a while, the male approached, carrying half of the fish. It landed on the nest,and gave the half fish to the female. The female then left the nest and started to eat the fish in flight. The male stayed on the nest, presumably on the eggs.

Male with complete fish after landing in a tree about 400 metres from the nest.
Male bringing the half eaten fish to the female.
Delivering the fish.
The female leaving the nest after the exchange.
Leaving the nest.
The female, starting to eat the fish, in flight.

Eagles of the Harrison River

In November, bald eagles arrive on the Harrison River in great numbers (thousands) to feed on spawning salmon. They hang around until the dead and dying salmon are flushed down the river by high water levels. By January, most of the eagles have left. The following photos were taken in November and December. I was surprised to see a golden eagle amongst the large numbers of bald eagles, as they are a rarity in this region. This is a follow-up posting to one I made in December, with additional photos, not previously published.

Golden eagle!