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January 27, 2005  Ducks In The Wind I was riffling through a stack of magazines the other day when my eyes spied a caption on an old issue of Harrowsmith magazine. ‘The best in birdwatching’ read the banner headline. I am not usually in the habit of consulting indexes to locate a particular story but I did in this case, so I could quickly find out what the article was all about. Next to an Eastern Bluebird head-shot the index held another teaser, ‘Adventures in Birdwatching...five destinations where avid birders can see a bounty of unusual species.’ On page 89 I read of bird adventures in Witless Bay Ecological Reserve in Newfoundland, Brackendale in BC, Last Mountain Lake in Saskatchewan, George Montgomery Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Quebec, and Prince Edward Point in Ontario. Given that only five spots were featured it wasn’t surprising that 100 Mile House didn’t made the cut, but the article got me thinking about our birding experience. I noted that each birding location boasted of one or two species of birds, or a group of birds, that they felt was their main draw. For instance the Newfoundland location was known primarily for its sea birds, including the Puffin. Brackendale featured Bald Eagles in January as its main bird species of interest. The Saskatchewan site was known as a place to see Sandhill Cranes. What would I say if I had to select a big birding attraction and describe it to a birder unfamiliar with the South Cariboo? I was surprised by the turn of my thoughts as I ruminated on this question. Usually I would rave about our 30 or so western interior bird species holding them up as our great drawing card. These include, but are not limited to, birds such as the Varied thrush, Townsend’s Solitaire, Western Wood-pewee and Western Kingbird. And sure, they are interesting enough to birders, but now I sensed a shift as I pondered a new face of our birding experience. Now, on this January morning, with our lakes and creeks frozen over, the answer became clear - we are waterfowl! One Hundred Mile House is a waterfowl haven! Yes, that’s the group of birds we can boast of without fear of contradiction. I have never lived in, or visited a place that has the variety of waterfowl as the South Cariboo. In spring and early summer about 15 species of Ducks congregate on local lakes and ponds. Here is a list of ducks that can be seen, in full breeding plumage, on a daily basis, and without difficulty: Pintail, Shoveler, Redhead, Canvasback, Blue and Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall, Mallard, Barrow’s and Common Golden-eye, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, and Greater and Lesser Scaup. Migrant ducks can also be spotted on many lakes. These include the Long-tailed Duck, Surf and White-winged Scoters, and Harlequin. Wood Ducks nest here too and ply the smaller backwaters. Eurasian Wigeons appear every spring. We also have Eared, Pied-billed, Horned, Red-necked and Western Grebes. All but the latter nest in the Cariboo. Add to this both the impressive Trumpeter and less common, Tundra Swan. The spectacular Hooded Merganser and the Common Merganser are common sights during nesting season. As well, Common Loons nest in almost every lake and, in summer and fall, sightings of the Pacific Loon and the Red-throated Loon are not uncommon. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the Geese. We have our share of Canada Geese that annually raise their broods all around. And on occasion, a few White-fronted Geese and the odd Snow Goose drop by. There is nothing like standing beside one of our many small ponds and lakes on a crisp May morning and watching the pageantry and beauty of so many species of waterfowl in full breeding colours. And as I said before, these are not far-off glimpses or fleeting views. These birds are right at home in the marshlands, carrying on their daily rituals of feeding, preening and resting Even the Trumpeter Swans, though not tame by any means, can be viewed easily without binoculars. Now as my mind clearly pictures this crisp May morning at a small pond in the Cariboo, I am suddenly hearing so many other birds that make riparian life so amazing. Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds are now calling from the tule rushes. Greater Yellowlegs are piping loudly and Virginia and Sora Rails bray, tick, and whinny from hidden cattail edges. I now realize that we couldn’t just boast of our abundant waterfowl species. We would have to invent a new word for the amazing array of birds that haunt the riparian areas too. It would have to be a word that included Shorebirds, Marsh Wrens, Blackbirds, Rails, Yellowthroats and Black Terns. Since there is no single word for all these, I will invent one. We should, in future boast to the birding world of our riparianfowl experience; only then can every player in the pond-side experience be embraced. We are not just waterfowl anymore - we are a haven for riparianfowl! March in January Our spell of minus 30 degrees Celsius ended suddenly on January 15th as a great frigid air mass that covered most of the province grudgingly yielded to a series of strong, warm storms flowing up from the southwest. It took a few days for the warmer air to scour all the pockets of frigid air out of all the valleys in our area and it was a time marked by fine snowfall and then rain. Grateful as I was to have roundness back in the van’s tires, due to the sudden shift back to warmer temperatures, it was nonetheless unnerving to awaken from sleep to hear steady rain falling on the roof for several nights. January showers probably wouldn’t bring February flowers. We were more likely to experience roads as slippery as skating rinks. I spent four days in the hinterlands of Buffalo Creek while the temperature rose. Then, upon returning to 100 Mile House, I was amazed at the amount of snow that had melted off the fields along the creek, and the amount of water on the ice at 100 Mile Marsh. Those who know about our winters, however, are not fooled. I have seen minus 30 temperatures near the end of February so don’t put away the snow shovels and kitty litter just yet. To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
