BC Breeding Bird Atlas Effort maps

We did well.

The map shows in blue, the blocks where the majority of squares in the block have over 20 hours of atlassing effort.

July Meeting, What a Venue!

Submitted by D. Calder

With the generous permission of a Wycliffe land owner, naturalists were able to visit a small pothole lake situated in the heart of rolling grasslands one mid-July evening.

photo: H. Knote

A variety of habitats including multi-colored alfalfa, native grasses, scattered clumps of trees and brush, and muddy shoreline surrounded the open water. A couple of yellow pine snags provided nesting cavities, and perches for the Osprey and hawks. As the evening winds subsided, a greater assortment of waterfowl could be identified, some trailing strings of ducklings across the calmer water.

photo: H. Knote

A few wildflowers dotted a rocky meadow where sharp eyed naturalists noticed an uncommon, singular, mauve flower. To quote from the 1952 book “Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to know in British Columbia”, by C.P. (Chess) Lyons, “The simplicity of this beautiful flower imparts an air of rarity that is further enhanced by it’s random appearance in drab range land. The stout stem carries one or more pale purple or lavender blooms often 2” across. Three large petals are marked on the inside with dark blotches near their base and a green band down their centre. One thin leaf grows from the base of the stem. The Sagebrush Mariposa Lily is seldom found in any quantity and often escapes notice because of it’s delicate shading...” Thanks, Chess. (1915- 1998)

photo: D. Cooper

As the evening light ebbed and the reflected sunset intensified, a couple of us heard the unmistakable call, a series of 3 to 8 deep, soft ‘hoo’ notes, of the Great Horned Owl.

photo: H. Knote

Conveniently, it perched on a nearby fencepost.

This large, heavy-bodied owl with noticeable ear tufts has glowing orange or yellow eyes on a tawny-brown facial disc. It is one of the largest owls in the Rockies and has ear tufts or horns which are toward the sides of the head. The eyeball of the great horned is as large as a human eye, and like other owls it has binocular vision. Its’ ear openings are of unequal size which also helps it to locate prey. The finely toothed edges of the outer primary feathers allow almost noiseless flights by this large predator. Along with long, sharp talons, these special adaptations make this mostly nocturnal owl an extremely effective predator on small rodents, birds, hares and even skunks.

As is the general case with owls, the female is considerably larger than the male, although the male has a deeper voice. They are year-round residents in the Rockies and very early nesters, sometimes incubating eggs beneath a blanket of snow. In February and March, naturalists make night time outings to detect the owls as they call to each other while establishing territory and preparing to breed. Submitted by Daryl Calder.



The list:

Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Eared Grebe
Canada Goose
Mallard
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Redhead
Ruddy Duck
Duck ‘Species’
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Shorebird ‘Species’
Gull ‘Species’
Great Horned Owl
Common Nighthawk
Northern Flicker
Eastern Kingbird
American Crow
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Warbler ‘Species’
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer’s Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird

Finishing Point Counts in 11PQ04

The Cherry Lake square

in the middle of nowhere, on the edge of the East Kootenay Trench

 

 

Spotties

Greg taught me how to find hillside Spotted Sandpiper nests - HE learned it from Gary last weekend in Nakusp.

I thought they only nested on the flats - but that's because previous nests I've found were in the Chilcotin - where it is flat.  Our Mountain Spotties don't mind roadside banks at all!

We found a couple. Cool.

Four Spotted Sandpiper eggs in this nest.

Seven Spotted Sandpiper eggs in this one.

This is my "Year of the Grouse"

First it was my encounter with a pair of Dusky Grouse trying to do their thing in the middle of the road (see Dusky Grouse animation blog post ).

Then, it was my lifer Spruce Grouse I spotted after ablutions (see 'Up the Skookumchuck' blog post ).

This time it was a couple of sets of mothers and chicks! Super cool! - but I only have pics of one of the species.

Ruffed Grouse chick

Momma Ruffed Grouse between me and one chick.

We spotted this family first, after we paused at the bottom of a ditch dug across the road a long time ago as part of the "decommissioning". Thankfully, these ditches were not as bad as the ones up Lamb Creek a couple of years ago. I don't ever have to go there again.

I spotted a chick first but mistakenly initially identified it as a vole or something. LOL.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for all eleven chicks to cross the road.

The next family was just down the road! A Spruce Grouse momma and 3 chicks.



Mountain bovine families:

Range cows checking us out.

It was a good day of atlassing - nice to finish off a Priority 1 square.

23 June 2012 Atlassing Needs Update

The table below is also available to view here:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B6XfZdJdfWtgcGNQWGtlbHF4Mk0

 

BC Breeding Bird Atlas

Region 1 – Southern Trench

2012 Square Recommendations

Updated 23 June 2012

 – prepared  by Dianne Cooper

Square	Name	PC / BE to Go		Assignment
11NQ86	Moyie Lake North	10 / 6		Patrick S.
11NQ85	Moyie Lake South	10/10		Pierre J.
11NQ95	Teepee FSR East	10/10		Pierre J.
11NQ87	Hidden Valley	9 / 0		(Dianne C.)
11NQ97	Gold Creek	3/		Dianne C.
11NR75	Findlay Creek FSR Mid E	9 / 0
11NR84	Island Pond to Torrent	5/		Cam G.
11NR92	Skookumchuck Prairie	4 / 6		Dianne C.
11PQ16	Colvalli Road	5 / 6		(Dianne C.)
11PQ18	Bull River	10 / 8
11PQ24	Englishman Creek Newgate	10 / 4
11PQ35	Baynes Lake East	10 / 10
11QQ13	Kishinena Peak	6 / 4
11PR37	Connor Lakes	8/
11PR50	Michel - Olson	10 / 6
11PR	Upper Elk Squares			Dean N.

Done so far in 2012

Square	Name	PC / BE to Go		Assignment
11NQ89	Cranbrook Airport	4 / 0	Done	Dianne C.
11NQ89	Cranbrook Airport	4 / 0	Done	Dianne C.
11NR80	LD Ranch Rd	8 / 6	Done	Dean N.
11NR82	Moen Rd	1 / 0	Done	Dianne C.
11NR83	Larchwood Lake	10 / 10	Done	Dianne C.
11NR85	Canal Flats	7 / 5	Done	Cam G.
11NR90	Bummer's Flats	8 / 0	Done	Dean N.
11NR93	Premier Lake		Done	Cam G.
11PQ04	Cherry Lake	4 / 5	Done	Dianne C.
11PQ17	Wardner	7 / 0	Done	Dean N.
11PQ33	Edwards Lake		Done	Dean N.
11PQ34	Dorr Cut Off Road	10 / 0	Done	Dean N.
11PQ36	Elko		Done	Dean N.
11PQ39			Done	Kevin K.
11PQ43	Grasmere Roosville Rd		Done	Dean N.
11PQ49	Fernie E	5 / 0	Done	Kevin K.
11PR43	Weigert Cr		Done	Dean N.
11PR44	Elkford W.		Done	Dean N.
11PR51	Sparwood		Done	Kevin K.
11PR54	Fording R Rd S	10 / 0	Done	Dean N.
11PR60	McGillivray	10 / 8	Done	Kevin K.

Region 1 Summary Statistics

Number of species: 190
Nr of point counts:   760
Nr of spp on point counts: 144
Nr of squares with point counts: 61

We have reached our target of 50 percent coverage for point counts. Yay!