Today’s photos come from reader Kevin Krebs, who sent in photos from a trip in British Columbia (part 1 is at the first link below). Kevin’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.
The Crowsnest to Osoyoos – Part 2
Princeton to Osoyoos
My previous post left off with a photo of the incredible geology around Hedley, BC on the way to Osoyoos.
Before we get back on the road, let’s talk a little about Osoyoos and why I am drawn to it as a destination every spring.
When most people think of British Columbia, they envision old-growth forests, our rugged coast, and our mountains (and, of course, the incredible Burgess Shale!). Many people, even British Columbians, are unaware we have a xeric shrubland biome only a few hours drive away.
I love the coast — it’s where I cut my teeth as a birder—but the antelope and sagebrush grasslands in the southern BC interior are akin to visiting another country. The flora and fauna are so different that I’m engulfed in a nebula of discovery and confusion. Maybe it’s a way of meditating, of striving to see and hear and smell what is really there.
Grasslands are one of the most threatened ecosystems on our planet, yet receive scant attention: old-growth forests are easy to comprehend, but few of us think about old-growth grasslands. Our primate brains and maniacal culture see only empty fields to be cleared for parking lots and big-box stores. As a result, grassland birds have seen terrible declines for decades, as I’m sure other grassland species have as well.
With that scene set, let’s continue our excursion…
The next stop on the route is the village of Keremeos, the “fruit stand capital of Canada,” where I can find several families of (ridiculously cute) California Quail (Callipepla californica). This male was perched on a branch to keep a keen eye on me.
On the outskirts of Osoyoos is the incredible Nighthawk Hill Grasslands. This year was the first time I explored it. I often return there in my mind when I’m stuck on a crowded bus.
While there, I was lucky to spot three birds I rarely see…
A Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri) — unfairly described as a “small, drab sparrow” (ok… maybe it’s true, but I always find myself annoyed by our human judgments of other beings) with a complex song. Named after Tomas Brewer, a 19th-century naturist and ornithologist.
Here’s a Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) that I also spotted at Nighthawk Hill Grasslands. A larger, beautiful sparrow that is the only species in the genus Chondestes. It also has a distinctive song.
A Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)! I was absolutely elated to find this bird — I’d never found it before, and it was one of the species I hoped to see on this trip. Closely related to crows and jays, these birds are the primary seed disperser for whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). Not a great photo, but it was the best I got without disturbing the bird too much.
This was the second year I saw a Blacked-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) while visiting Kilpoola Lake Road just outside of Osoyoos. These woodpeckers specialize in foraging in recently burnt forests and bogs with dead trees — their black back helping to camouflage them against the burned trunks.
Uncommon on the coast, Red-naped Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) are somewhat more common in the interior of British Columbia. Unlike more well-known woodpeckers, sapsuckers drill rows of holes into trees, feeding primarily on the sap that is exuded by the tree in defense.
Continuing with woodpeckers, I was pleased to spend some time with this Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus). While easy to confuse with the smaller Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), a close look at the size of the bill will help pick them apart.
A Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) — the smallest bird native to North America, weighing 2-3 grams (0.071 to 0.106 oz) and measuring 7-10cm (2.8–3.9 in) in length. Breeding from British Columbia to Colorado, they migrate to southern Mexico for the winter.
Simultaneously curious and suspicious, this Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus) spent a while checking in on me as I rested by the side of the path.
Another bird that was on my wish-list: a Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea). A small and ridiculously cute bird.
And last, a weirdo bird — the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens). While quite widespread across North America, Yellow-breasted Chats tend to be shy and difficult to spot. Once thought to be a type of warbler, as of 2017 it was moved to the monotypic family Icteriidae .
That wraps up this post. I hope you enjoyed it, and with a little luck maybe I’ve inspired you to travel somewhere new and to care about landscapes and ecosystems that have been ignored by too many of us.
Thank you for your pics and commentary!
That jaunty little plume on the California quail’s head is just too cute for words.
I’ve just downloaded Bird Buddy on my iPhone. I’m hoping it will make it easier for me learn to distinguish between all those ‘drab’ little birds so I can finally put a name on them instead.
I don’t know anything about Bird Buddy, but I’d also recommend you check Merlin Bird ID from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It interfaces with eBird and is not bad at IDing birds by sound (but always take it with a few grains of salt…). https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
🌳🌲🌳🌲
Ahhhhhh……
Beautiful Hummingbird! I have several species of Hummngbirds that frequent my backyard. I was lucky enough to film the mating dance of a pair of them a few months ago. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone handy at the time.
Gorgeous photos–I hope there will be more from that region.
Although I know that the Calliope Hummingbird travels from there to southern Mexico to overwinter, it still boggles the mind that such a tiny bird can make that trip.
Another hummingbird we see up here on in the Pacific Northwest is the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus). It’s a small, brilliantly copper hummingbird that makes the longest avian migration measured in terms of body length: up to 2,000 miles for a 2-3 gram bird with almost incomprehensible energy requirments. Their hearts beat up to 1,200+ per minute when they’re flying!
Such a beautiful set of photos and entertaining commentary. Thank you for brightening my day.
Very nice. The hummingbird is particularly colorful and iridescent.
Great pics and commentary
Terrific! I had no idea that British Columbia had so much of what I think of as the “Great Basin” biome, with sagebrush, juniper, grasslands, antelopes, and all those nice birds. Thanks for the tour.
Nice to see pictures of the Osoyoos area. I spent a couple of weeks walking the southern end of the Reserve there (and around Nighthawk Hill) looking for pygmy short-horned lizards (Phrynosoma douglasii back in the early 90s – that’s the only reported locality for them in Canada. Loved the area, but never did find the lizard – looks like they’re extinct in Canada.
It never even crossed my mind there could be lizards there. It looks like you’re correct about those lizards being extirpated from there (no reports on iNaturalist of any Phrynosoma lizards in the area), but I’ll keep one eye on the ground next time!
Great set of photos. Thanks!
I hate to argue (he said, jocularly), and I could easily be wrong, but I’m almost certain that that actually is a downy woodpecker, not a hairy. The length of the bill is about half the width of the head (as seen from the side). If it were a hairy, the bill would be as long as the head is wide. Corrections/commentary appreciated!
It’s all good – I don’t interpret it as arguing! It’s vital as a birder to question what you see or hear to improve. You are correct that the bill should be about as long as the head is wide, and it is more or less is if you measure.
Take a look at the ebird page for a Downy Woodpecker (https://ebird.org/species/dowwoo) and notice just how much smaller the bill is comparatively.
Also, you can’t tell from this photo given there’s nothing to compare it to, but this bird was visibly larger than what would be expected for a Downy Woodpecker — which are such small birds.
Excellent. Thanks!