Urban wildlife Part VIII: The Birds of 2021

All throughout the winter and early spring of 2021, 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 VIII.

Pictured above: Great Grey Owl resting before an evening hunt. Miriam Saville photo

An American Dipper caught a small fish, and after deftly flipping it around so he could swallow it head first, it went down with a gulp. Bob Whetham photo

Above and below: Joanna Popoff’s kindergarten students from Gordon Terrace Elementary were fascinated when they saw this pileated woodpecker calling from a treetop at Elizabeth Lake. It flew to a hole halfway up the trunk of a cottonwood, reappeared several times at the opening and dropped wood chips from its excavating efforts. It finally disappeared inside again. Stewart Wilson photos

Sweet chipmunk at its lookout post. Miriam Saville photo

The cutest, noisiest flicker spotted in Marysville. Karen Nordby photo

A fluffed up Pine Siskins feasting on seeds in the snow. Kathleen Opal photo

Robin photo by Craig Montgomery

A herd of sheep near Canal Flats. Craig Montgomery photo

A squirrel at lunchtime. Kathleen Opal photo

A white-breasted Nuthatch. Miriam Saville photo

American Goldfinch. Stewart Wilson photo

A choir of male Red-winged Blackbirds were singing and displaying their fiery, scarlet epaulettes as they establish their territories at Elizabeth Lake. Helga Knote photo

Downy Woodpecker enjoying a hard earned snack. Miriam Saville photo

Feeding time for a Northern Flicker and woodpecker. Kathleen Opal photo

This pair of Canada geese was busy feeding on an open grassy area at Confederation Park. Stewart Wilson photo

Hairy Wood pecker at Butte’s near Wycliffe. Gary Billmark photo

Above and below: The shots of the house finch (above), Bohemian waxwing (below X2) and mountain chickadee (below the Waxwing) are part of a series of shots which show how often songbirds are on the lookout for danger especially predators. Not long after a sharp-shinned hawk (below the Chickadee) flew low over the treetops looking for prey such as songbirds which make up 90% of its diet.

Above:House Sparrow. Stewart Wilson photo

Red Breasted Nuthatch looking at the world from a different perspective. Miriam Saville photo

Above: The Song Sparrow was one of two seen in low brush near the Visitor Centre at Elizabeth Lake. It’s one of the earliest sparrows to appear and sometimes overwinters here. Helga Knote photo