Our club has intended to host a winter wildlife tracking event for some time and we finally managed to pull it off on February 27 with able leadership from Hungry Hill naturalist and former trapper Frank McDonald.

Frank and his partner Lorraine have lived on Barrett Hat Road since the early 1980s and have accumulated an intimate knowledge of their neighbourhood and its natural history.  Frank, with help from other members of the Morice Outdoor Recreation Society, has also been largely responsible for the establishment and maintenance of the Barrett Hat trail network.

Mel and Frank  inspecting trail map. Barrett Hat in the distance. Click on any photo to enlarge.

If you haven’t yet been out there, the trail network is definitely worth a visit.  New maps, interpretive signage, benches and a shelter at various lookout points are some of the recent improvements.  To reach the trailhead turn west off Highway 16 at Barrett Hat Road near the top of Hungry Hill at the Bible Camp signs. The trailhead kiosk is located 1.3 km from the highway where the all-weather road makes a sharp left.

The well-marked trail leads through a variety of open and closed forest.

Conditions were close to perfect for our expedition. A fresh 2-4 cm layer of snow overnight allowed us to see some very clear details of new impressions, but it wasn’t enough to obscure accumulated tracks from the previous week.

Here’s a sample of the tracks we observed. Can you identify them?  Answers are at the bottom of this post.

(1) walking track. Prints are 12 cm wide

(2) bounding track of the same animal

The above, medium-sized mammal, was one whose tracks we saw repeatedly during our hike.

Below are three of the most common small mammal tracks observed:

(3) Tracks of two species are seen beneath this fir tree: the first (slightly larger footprints) diagonals to the lower left, while the second (smaller narrower prints) has scampered twice to the bottom centre right of the photo.

(4) Tracks of this furbearer typically appear in offset pairs with one paw slightly in front of the other. As seen here, this species is capable of huge bounds that greatly exceed its body length.

Tracks of these two small mammals (below) were seen only a few times. They are smaller than those above:

(5) These tiny tracks are spaced about 5 cm apart. Note the tail drag.

(6) Each of these imprints is actually two paws, barely offset. Each pair of prints is 2-3 cm wide and the front and rear paw-pairs are spaced 15-20 cm apart.

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This next one is easier:

(7) This animal walks sedately along the forest floor and is occasionally seen in the lower branches of trees or shrubs.

The ungulate below is often seen around Quick, but rarely elsewhere in our valley.  We observed both the tracks and evidence of antler rubbing:

(8) Medium sized ungulate tracks (each hoof is less than 10 cm wide).

(9) Antler rubbing by the same animal.

Other types of wildlife sign are also very visible during the winter:

(10) Who made the mark at the base of this tree?  Hint, it’s a pine tree.

(11) Who fed on the aspen bark many years ago, creating these large scars?

(12) Who made all this mess?

We didn’t see a single live mammal on this trip –hardly a surprise given the racket made by our snowshoes, but Frank shared this photo of the lynx recently prowling near his deck.  It’s probably the same animal whose tracks appear above.

Frank McDonald photo

All uncredited photos: S.Haeussler.

__________________________________
Answers: (1), (2) & (13): lynx (Lynx canadensis); (3) snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) and red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus); (4) American marten (Martes americana); (5) North American deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus); (6) weasel (Mustela species); (7) Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus); (8) & (9) elk (Cervus elaphus); (10) porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum);(11) moose (Alces alces); (12) red squirrel (Tamiascirus hudsonicus) feeding on cones.

It’s pretty evident that we humans are not the only ones enjoying the unseasonably warm weather this late winter.  The birds have also become are very lively and vocal.

Many of the year-round residents have already established territories and are calling to attract mates.   During the first half of March our early migrants, including American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos, Killdeer, Purple Finch, Varied Thrush and Mountain Bluebirds begin to arrive.

With that in mind, it may be time to head to the Willowvale (or Soravale) wetland behind Canadian Tire in Smithers to get an early start on this year’s birding. Learning to identify birdsongs and calls is so much easier when done step-by-step as the migratory species accumulate.

Here is a Willowvale – Soravale Wetland Bird Checklist, compiled by Mel Coulson last year.

There are always new species being reported from the wetland. In fact, since he produced this list last summer, Mel has seen a Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), a very cool species that should be added to the list.

If you encounter any species not on the list, please notify us at info(at) bvnaturalists.ca so that we can produce an update.  A photo or audiofile to confirm your sighting is appreciated, if available.  Copies of Mel’s Birds of the Bulkley Valley CD are also available through the club.
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This year’s BV Naturalist activities at the wetland include erecting a new interpretive sign to provide information on the Willowvale-Soravale bird community.

Happy 2022 Birding.

Long-billed Curlew ((Numenius americanus) in flight. Jerry Kirkhart photo

A Notice to Northern BC  Birders

Birds Canada will be conducting a survey of the Long-billed Curlew in spring 2022 as part of the process of preparing a COSEWIC status report for the species.  Although a survey was undertaken in the Caribou-Chilcotin region in 2021, there has not been a comprehensive Canada-wide survey this vulnerable bird species since 2005.

The survey will be held between April 15 and May 15, 2002.  Northern BC birders are encouraged to participate.  Details here   

Virtual training will be available for participants. Sign up here
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BC Nature’s  Climate Action Subcommittee has organized a Climate Change solutions introductory workshop to be hosted by Drawdown BC.

 

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Our excursion to the Passby Creek wildflower meadow took place July 11th to coincide with peak flowering of this year’s outstanding display of mountain monkshood blooms.  Despite the rainy and buggy weather, the turnout of 9 members exceeded expectations. Most were curious to visit this site for the first time.

Passby Creek meadow on June 18, 2018.  This year’s show of mountain monkshood was exceptional. S. Haeussler photo

The Passby Creek wildflower meadow is located just off McDonell Lake Road near km 18.  It is an unusually large, meadow that has developed in layered fluvial (waterborne) sand, silt and gravel sediments deposited near where Passby Creek flows into upper Copper/Zymoetz River as the location of the creek shifted back and forth over the millennia since deglaciation. The upper Copper/Zymoetz River valley between features a series of flower-rich herbaceous meadows on both level and steeply-southfacing sites but the Passby Creek meadow is the largest and least damaged of these with the richest and most varied display of wildflowers.

Montane meadows are so-named because they occur in the middle elevations between upper elevation alpine tundra and subalpine meadows and lowland or valley bottom grasslands/ They are rare in our sub-boreal landscape because the climate at such elevations is ideal for the growth of woody plants.  Unless sites at mid-elevation (750 – 1200 m above sea level) are seasonally inundated with water (wetlands, floodplains) or extremely steep and lacking in soil (cliffs) they will usually be densely covered in trees or shrubs.  Despite having well-drained soils, and unlike the scrub-steppe ecosystems common on south-facing slopes in the Bulkley Valley, the Passby Creek meadow is mostly devoid of woody plants. Yet, the occasional discrete patch of trees or shrubs that can be found is tall and healthy-looking with no evidence of growth inhibition caused by poor soil conditions.

We briefly debated why on our slow walk toward the riverbank.  Is it due to an unusual property of the soils?  To a localized climate?  Most agreed that the dense growth of herbaceous vegetation was likely to impede the establishment of woody plants, but how did that come about? Was the site previously cleared by humans or through some type of natural disturbance?

Scientific literature suggests that any and all of these factors may be involved, and that the random sequence of events over time (what’s known in ecology as historical contingency), can be responsible for the occurrence of rare meadow ecosystems such as the Passby Creek meadow. Herbaceous plants (along with associated ants, small mammals, bears, humans and other animals inclined to dig up and redistribute these plants) are well known to modify the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils in ways that favour the growth of more herbaceous plants. Likewise, trees and shrubs modify soils in ways that favour the perpetuation of forested or woody plant communities. If the local weather or soil conditions just happened to be too dry, or too wet, for the growth of trees when the Passby meadow first became established, this could set the stage for a herbaceous community that persists thousands of years into the future even after the local environment subsequently became more appropriate for forest growth.

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During June, the club continued to host Tuesday Night Birding Events until the 29th (near the end of the active breeding season).  Frank McDonald also lead a field trip to Vallee Lake.

Vallee Lake (also known as Johnson Lake) is located approximately 15 km northwest of Houston.  Turn west off Highway 16 at Barrett Hat Road, which is located between Summit Lake Road (from Smithers) and the turnoff to Irrigation or Dunalter Lake (from Houston). Turn right after 800 m to reach the lake. A dock and boardwalk have recently been constructed to improve recreational access.

The lake is densely surrounded by aquatic vegetation and is best known as fishing lake. The boardwalk now provides excellent opportunities for natural history observations without a boat.

Evi Coulson and Lorraine McDonald provided a few photos of the some of the most atttractive aquatic and wetland flowering plants:

Western bog laurel (Kalmia microphylla) growing amid Sphagnum moss. L. McDonald photo

The showy pink flowers of bog laurel seem to dwarf the rest of this sprawling evergreen shrub which is rarely more than 30 cm tall and has inconspicuous, narrow leaves with in-rolled margins. Bog-laurel can be found in wetlands across the western 2/3rds of Canada and in the western US. Like many of western North American plants, it has a larger coastal variety, abundant in lowland Pacific bogs, and a smaller inland variety that freely hybridize. Specimens found in the Bulkley Valley are likely to be intermediates. Bog laurel leaves are toxic to livestock and other animals and thus shouldn’t be confused with Labrador tea when foraging. Bog-laurel leaves are smooth and shiny on their upper surface with whitish hairs beneath, whereas those of Labrador tea are typically wrinked and dull dark green with a dense rust-coloured wool on the underside.

Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) flowering in the bog-marsh ecotone. L. McDonald photo.

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Buckbean, also known as bog bean, is one of the most abundant wetland plants in the Bulkley Valley, and is probably under-appreciated because it is so common. This plant, with its distinctive 3-parted leaves forms large colonies in shallow open water around lake, bog and fen margins throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Its most striking feature are the attractive white flowers with their hairy petals.  In east Asia, where buckbean is less common (it’s endangered in Korea), it has been the focus of a variety of scientific studies to aid in conservation.  One Japanese researcher hypothesized that the purpose of the petal hairs was to deter nectar theft by ants.  Ants often consume nectar, but are generally not considered to be effective pollinators. To test this hypothesis, he clipped the hairs on some of the flowers (using nose-hair scissors of course) and found that ants were, as predicted, more effective in removing nectar with the hairs were removed. Presumably, flying pollinators would be less deterred by the hairs. Petal hairs are a relatively uncommon floral feature, but can be found in bog (fringed grass of Parnassus), aquatic (the infamous yellow floating heart), and desert (Mariposa lily) habitats where flowers may or may not be accessible to nectar-thieving ants.

White bog or water arum (Calla palustris). E. Coulson photo

Calla palustris, is known by a wide variety of common names: bog arum, water arum, Calla lily, wild calla.  However you refer to it, it’s apparent that this unusually-shaped flowering plant is related to BC’s more famous skunk cabbage. Calla palustris occurs naturally over most of the Northern Hemisphere but is absent from our west Coast, whereas the skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanum) is native to western North America but has invaded western Europe, and has a close relative with a white spathe in east Asia. These plants are all members of the Arum Family (Araceae) and possess the characteristic fleshy flower spike known as a “spadix” and a showy modified leaf (or bract), called the “spathe” that encloses the spadix.   In some members of the Arum family (e.g. Jack-in-the-pulpit), the spathe acts to trap pollinators, while in others the spadix generates heat and/or a foetid smell that are reflected outward by the spathe, but apparently none of those interesting features apply to our local bog arum.  The fruits of this arum are plump reddish berries that reportedly contain sufficient calcium oxalate crystals (along with histamine-releasing enzymes) to cause serious damage if ingested.

Yellow pond-lily (Nuphar polysepala). E. Coulson photo

By contrast, the seeds of the yellow pond lily (Nuphar polysepala) are edible.  They can apparently be toasted and eaten like popcorn, dried and ground like flour or cooked like oatmeal.  I haven’t tried this myself, but maybe this year is the time.  Along with their huge and instantly recognizable bright yellow flowers, the most amazing feature of the yellow pond lily must surely be its giant warty or scaly rhizomes, which occasionally rise to lurk near the water surface where they can easily be mistaken for the little-known but very dangerous boreal crocodile -watch out!

World Migratory Bird Day  (also known to some hardcore birders as Global Big Day), May 8, 2021, was a busy one for Bulkley Valley birders from Houston to Hazelton.  We’ve captured some of the action through photos, quotes, species lists and audio contributions from members, and by harvesting May 8 social media posts from around our valley.

Mountain Bluebird on Snake Road. Janine Pittman 

Our first post came from Treasurer Janine Pittman who also coordinates the club’s Bluebird Box project.  Fittingly, Janine has submitted this stunning short of a bluebird spotted on a fencepost along Snake Road.  A loop trip around the High Road – Driftwood area was an excellent way to enjoy bluebirds and a variety of other migratory and resident birds on this weekend.  Click on the photo to view its full splendor.

We received these two crisp photos from visiting out-of-town birder Leo Rankin.

Savanna Sparrow. Leo Rankin

Competition for Vlad the Impaler. Northern Shrike. Leo Rankin

At the Farmer’s Market this morning Loretta told us “There are so many warblers at [Malkow] Lookout right now, including an Orange-crowned Warbler”.  And sure enough, the following day at Tyhee Lake Park, Orange-crowned Warblers were spotted and heard many times along the lakeshore. Most of these were apparently on their migration northward.

One of our favorite vocal spring birds, the Red-winged Blackbird was photographed by Michael Kawerninski, at Tyee Lake. You’ll find both spellings in this post, just as you do when you drive the High Road (Tyhee Lake Provincial Park, Tyee Lake Mobile Home Park, etc.).

Red-winged Blackbird making his presence known. Michael Kawerninski

Michael also shared this photo of a Red-tailed Hawk. “There seems to be a fair amount of them around this year.” he said. “There are two active nests at present within a two kilometer km radius of Tyee Lake and with their iconic call, [they]’re easily spotted.”

Red-tailed Hawk. Michael Kawerninski

Later in the day, Michael birdwatched at Tyee Lake with Jay Gilden and reported the following sightings:  Yellow-headed Blackbird, American Bittern, 2-3 Wilson’s Snipe, Wilson’s Warbler, Ring-necked Ducks, multiple Common Loons, Red-winged Blackbirds, Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Yellow-headed Blackbird (Michael Kawerninski photo)

This photo of the Yellow-headed Blackbird was taken a few year’s ago, but according to Michael “today’s appearance was identical… It’s been around the marsh in front all morning — one can’t miss or mistake that distinctive call!”

Male Osprey at Quick Station. Mel & Evi Coulson

Mel and Evi Coulson returned to their old haunts, prowling around Round Lake, Covert Lake (the pond near the old Quick Church), and over the bridge at Quick to assemble a checklist of 179 birds of 38 species, including 26 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 4 American Coots.  The highlight of their day was an encounter with a randy pair of Quick Ospreys.

My personal birding moment of the day:  pausing at the viewpoint overlooking Willowvale (Soravale) Marsh near Pacific Avenue to take in the morning chorus. Dave Coates made an audio recording.  You’ll need to maximize your speaker volume to hear this as Dave’s no audio pro. Can you identify the “ker-whit” call?

Birdsong at Willowvale Marsh (10 am, May 8, 2021)- answer at bottom of page.

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Hilary Bradnam, Tina Portman and Cindy Verbeek posted a total of 73 observation and 43 species on our iNaturalist World Migratory Bird Day project.

Green-winged Teals near Tatlow. Tina Portman

Red-breasted Sapsucker. T.Portman

Tree Swallow. T. Portman

Their most-sighted species was (no surprise) the Yellow-rumped Warbler, followed closely by Canada Geese. And it’s clear that the Flycatchers have arrived in the Valley as both Hillary and Tina reported an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Several avid birders took part in Global Big Day, posting their results on eBird and on the Bulkley Valley Birders Facebook page.
In Smithers, Ken and Teresa White started at 7 am and finished 14 hours later. Together they tallied 78 species, including 14 new species for the year, moving between hotspots at Toboggan Lake, Glacier Gulch, the Bluff Trails  Tyhee Lake Park, Tatlow and out to Vallee Lake. Highlights for their Big Day included a Wilson’s Phalarope and a Virginia Rail.
Down-river in Hazelton, the Global Big Day adventures of Larry Joseph and his friends included 56 species at eight locations around the Hazeltons including a stop at Hospital Lake (near Two-Mile)  where 78 birds of 17 species were recorded, including Lesser Scaup (18), Ring-Necked Duck (14), Barrow’s Goldeneye (10), and Northern Shoveler (9).

Thanks to all the birders for sharing your bird news!

Audio clip answer: that was the eponymous Sora (Porzana carolina) in the audio clip, with a few of the ever-present Red-Winged Blackbirds chiming in.

May 8, 2021 is World Migratory Bird Day.  We’re celebrating the weekend by combining a virtual event (Saturday, May 8) with a socially-distanced birding excursion (Sunday, May 9) in place of our usual Mother’s Day Birding and Brunch.

Celebrate World Migratory Birding Day (May 8) with us by submitting your bird photo, drawing or bird observations for posting on the Nature Blog or via iNaturalist and eBird.

A Sandhill Crane makes a landing during an April stopover in the Kispiox Valley. Mel Coulson photo.

This year, on World Migratory Bird Day we have an opportunity to show how important birds are to us and to raise our voices for their survival. Join thousands of people around the world to celebrate the birds as they return from their long migrations!

All are welcome, and we encourage submissions from children or grandchildren.  This event is about enjoying birds however you choose to do so.  It does not require that you properly identify bird species, own a fancy camera, or make a list of everything you see.

For Technophiles (iNaturalist & eBird): 
We have created a special iNaturalist project for the event at:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bv-naturalists-world-migratory-bird-day-2021.
You are welcome to submit your Migratory Bird Day observations via this project. Alternatively, if you would simply like to post your observations independently on your own iNaturalist or eBird page, we will gather May 8 observations from these platforms to summarize in our post. An iNaturalist tutorial can be found here

What to include in your submission:
Send your submission (text, photo, or drawing) to info@bvnaturalists.ca. or text Sybille (250-643-9054).
While it’s excellent if the bird was observed on May 8th and is a migratory species, neither is mandatory. Observations can range from a sentence or two about something interesting you saw this spring, to a full list of species recorded on the day.
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Other helpful information: where & when you observed the bird(s), and whether you would like your name to appear online or prefer to remain anonymous.

Mother’s Day Birding Outing:  8 am, Sunday, May 9, 2021

White-crowned sparrow welcomes spring at Tyhee Lake Park. Smithers Interior News photo (Brenda Mallory).

Meet at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park parking lot at 8:00 am.
Leader: Mel Coulson 788-640-4700
Bring binoculars, your own bird book if possible, and a facemask.
This will be a socially-distanced excursion. We will split into separate groups as needed. The pace will be slow.  Terrain is mostly level but may be muddy.

Photos, drawings,  and anecdotes from this event are welcomed for the World Migratory Bird Day event.

Late winter excitement in the Skeena region (now known as the Northwest Health Service Delivery Area) begins in mid-March with the oolichan/eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) run on the Skeena River.  2018 was the last big run and we’ve got some excellent photos from that event (thanks Mel and Evi Coulson), plus a selection of photos from the smaller, less dramatic run of 2021 by members who travelled downriver on medical trips or as a cabin fever daytrip.

One month later in mid-April, it’s the annual sandhill crane migration north to the Copper River delta.  Again, we’ve got a few great shots from Mel and Evi Coulson who’ve made several recent trips to the Kispiox Valley.  For those staying in the Bulkley Valley, there’s also plenty of sandhill action to be had by just listening and looking up.

Please enjoy (click on the photos for a better view).  And if you have some great photos to share, please send them along and I’ll add them to this post.  Also, let me know if I’ve incorrectly identified something.

2018 Skeena River Eulachon Run (photos by Mel & Evi Coulson)

Gulls of at least four kinds (2018)

Tsimshian fishers amid the gulls (2018)

Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) on ice floe (2018)

Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) on a melting ice floe (2018).

2021 Eulachon Run (photos M. & E. Coulson and S. Haeussler)

Not the huge flocks/herds/harems/convocations of animals seen in the past, but some stellar photography nonetheless, especially when the sun came out – — plus river otters!

Sunshine on the lower Skeena River

Hopeful bald eagles wishing the sun would come back out

Tidal flats on a gloomy day. Also a pretty cool sight.

Closeup view of Steller sea lions near Kasiks River. What’s with the raised flipper?

Sandhill Cranes

For those interested in learning more about the cranes that bugle their way through our valley each spring and fall, the International Crane Foundation has a fascinating website including this fantastic map showing the migration route from Sacramento Valley to Homer, Alaska including stop #15  in the Bulkley Valley and an E-bird heat map showing their distribution throughout the year.

Here are some photos from Mel and Evi Coulson’s recent trips to the Kispiox Valley.  Please send your own best crane shots (from these or past years) and I’ll add them here.  The cranes leave their overnight staging areas by 10 am, so this is an activity for early risers.

Sandhill Cranes at km 35 on the Kispiox Road.

Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis)

Landing, not dancing.

Part of a big flock of some 1500 birds, April 21

Just part of the flock

Houston Nature Centre at Buck Creek opening its doors for Earth Week (April 19 -23)

Cindy Verbeek, Coordinator of the A Rocha Buck Creek Canfor Hatchery and Nature Centre in Houston has announced that the Nature Centre will be having its soft-opening this week Earth Week (April 19-23, 2020).  The Centre will be open for drop-ins every day this week between 2-5 pm. There will be a scavenger hunt, interpretive displays and an Earth Day Story Walk.

After Earth Week, the Nature Centre will be open Tues & Thursday (2-5 pm) and Friday (2-4 pm) for drop ins.  To arrange a visit outside these hours please contact Cindy  at 250-845-4540.

In keeping with COVID restrictions, a maximum of 8 people will be allowed indoors at a time.  Please bring a mask.

Contact Cindy (250-845-4540) for a complete list of events taking place at the Houston Nature this summer and fall.
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Congratulations to Cindy (and all the volunteers) for tireless work to get this project off the ground.

The Nature Centre also expects to hire a full-time summer assistant.  This is a 16-week position. Contact Cindy to apply.