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Urban wildlife Part IV: The East Kootenay birds of summer

The work of local photographers printed in the pages of the East Kootenay Advertiser over the summer of 2020. Part III.
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All throughout 2020, our local photographers have been capturing the best of our feathered friends and furred friends and neighbours. Check out their work that has appeared in the Pages of the East Kootenay Advertiser over the past months. This is Part IV.

Above: A female mountain bluebird sits on her eggs in a nest along Pighin Road, one of many bird boxes in the local area which are maintained and monitored by Rocky Mountain Naturalists.. Stewart Wilson photo

Proud but wary parents and their young goslings out for an afternoon swim at Elizabeth Lake. Miriam Saville photo

A Cranbrook Blue Jay ponders its next move. Kathleen Opal photo

A raven has put its wariness aside for a snack from the hand of the photographer. Darrell Dyck photo

Hummingbirds are back in force in early May. Brian Sondergaard photo

An American Kestral with its prey in Cranbrook. Stewart Wilson photo

A Bald Eagle with a fish from the Kootenay River. The fish was so large the eagle couldn’t get it off the ground. Gary Billmark photo

A Yellow Warbler bursts into song at Idlewild Park. Stewart Wilson photo

Beautiful Lesser Yellowlegs looking for a tasty bite at Elizabeth Lake. Miriam Saville photo

A pair of Trumpeter Swans. Gary Billmark photo

Wood Ducks are quite wary but this fellow showed off his bright plumage at Idlewild Park. Bob Whetham photo

Tiny, hyperactive Marsh Wrens are back in business at the edges of our ponds and marshes, singing up a storm in the cattails. Helga Knote photo

A Rocky Mountain Ground Squirrel checking to see if it’s safe to go outside. Miriam Saville photo

An Evening Grosbeak enjoying sunflower seeds. Kathleen Opal photo

A flock of Avocets at Elizabeth Lake. Bob Whether photo

Black-necked Stilts seen at Sylvan Lake. Bob Whether photo

Turtles sun themselves at a small roadside turnout pond east of Cranbrook. Miriam Saville photo

A chickadee collects some cat hair left out for it, to use to line its nest. Christina Blasckovich photo

A Sandhill Crane, seen at Doran Marsh on the south end of Bummer’s Flats. Helga Knote photo

An Osprey after a successful hunt. Helga Knote photo

If you find a big, rectangular hole in a tree, you will know that it was made by a Pileated Woodpecker, searching for carpenter ants, its favourite meal. Pileated Woodpeckers are our largest woodpeckers. Helga Knote photo

A Turkey Vulture sunning itself. In the early mornings, vultures often will sit with their wings spread wide, increasing the surface area of their bodies so that the sun can more easily warm them. Miriam Saville photo

Of flock of snow on patrol. Bob Whetham photo

A backyard bandit: Miriam Saville photo

Blue Jays can’t resist peanuts! Darrell Dyck photo

A ground squirrel checks out the neighhourhood. Gary Billmark photo

A flicker. Helga Knote photo

A Downy woodpecker investigates a tree in a Cranbrook backyard. Christina Blaskovich photo

River Otters are seen in and around Wasa Slough. This one was swimming along the dike at the south end of Cameron Pond. Helga Knote photo

Two robins have a set-to over a piece of lawn in Cranbrook. Christina Blaskovich photo

The Mallard hen was one of several that had found a bit of open water at Sylvan Lake in the Cranbrook Community Forest. Helga Knote photo

A Bohemian waxwing. Christina Blaskovich photo

A well-camouflaged varied thrush. Bob Whetham photo

A curious robin. Miriam Saville photo

A red-winged blackbird. Miriam Saville photo

A starling. Miriam Saville photo

The Townsman and Advertiser wants to thank all the photographers who’ve contributed to Urban Wildlife over the past months, sharing the images and personalities of our feathered, furred and scaled friends and neighbours in the area. We hope and plan to continue running Urban Wildlife in the pages of the Advertiser over the coming weeks and months.

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Barry Coulter

About the Author: Barry Coulter

Barry Coulter had been Editor of the Cranbrook Townsman since 1998, and has been part of all those dynamic changes the newspaper industry has gone through over the past 20 years.
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