Okanagan Vacation 4 - Okanagan River bike path
June 18th, 2011
The Evening Grosbeak is a stunning burnt-yellow finch the size of a robin. It's hard to find in our area unless you know where to look--namely residential areas adjacent to Larose Forest, in fall and winter. If you don't typically get out that far, you can easily bird Ottawa for years and never see a one. I hadn't.
Well, I've found the motherload of Evening Grosbeaks. It is the West. In the south Okanagan in June it would take a concerted effort not to see an Evening Grosbeak! As I hiked a bike path along the river, whole flocks of them periodically filled the trees.
Trivia point: the greenish hue of the beak in the above photo is not an artifact--it's real. Evening Grosbeaks typically nest in spruces. The spring-green color of their conical bills evolved (so scientists think) to match the appearance of young green spruce cones, camouflaging them when they poke their heads up out of the nest. In winter the green is no longer useful and the bill changes to the color of bone.
Gray Catbirds serenaded me from the riverbanks.
Ring-Necked Pheasants were common, though much more often heard than seen. This species was introduced from Eurasia in the 1800's and has since naturalized over many parts of North America. (Ottawa itself once had a small population. But our harsh winters wiped them out.) I spotted this one out in the open in a farmyard adjacent to the bike path. He quickly returned to cover when he noticed I was watching him.
I found this guy basking on the bike path. Possibly the biggest snake I'd ever seen! It was a little intimidating as the south Okanagan does have rattlesnakes, but his head didn't have the triangular shape so I doubted it. Research back home indicates that this is a Great Basin Gopher Snake. Harmless to humans, not so harmless to rodents!
Apparently a Gopher Snake will do its best imitation of a rattlesnake if it feels threatened: flatten its head into a triangle, and shake its tail around in dead leaves to make it sound like a rattle. I guess this one didn't feel particularly threatened.
To show scale:
June 18th, 2011
The Evening Grosbeak is a stunning burnt-yellow finch the size of a robin. It's hard to find in our area unless you know where to look--namely residential areas adjacent to Larose Forest, in fall and winter. If you don't typically get out that far, you can easily bird Ottawa for years and never see a one. I hadn't.
Well, I've found the motherload of Evening Grosbeaks. It is the West. In the south Okanagan in June it would take a concerted effort not to see an Evening Grosbeak! As I hiked a bike path along the river, whole flocks of them periodically filled the trees.
Trivia point: the greenish hue of the beak in the above photo is not an artifact--it's real. Evening Grosbeaks typically nest in spruces. The spring-green color of their conical bills evolved (so scientists think) to match the appearance of young green spruce cones, camouflaging them when they poke their heads up out of the nest. In winter the green is no longer useful and the bill changes to the color of bone.
Gray Catbirds serenaded me from the riverbanks.
Ring-Necked Pheasants were common, though much more often heard than seen. This species was introduced from Eurasia in the 1800's and has since naturalized over many parts of North America. (Ottawa itself once had a small population. But our harsh winters wiped them out.) I spotted this one out in the open in a farmyard adjacent to the bike path. He quickly returned to cover when he noticed I was watching him.
I found this guy basking on the bike path. Possibly the biggest snake I'd ever seen! It was a little intimidating as the south Okanagan does have rattlesnakes, but his head didn't have the triangular shape so I doubted it. Research back home indicates that this is a Great Basin Gopher Snake. Harmless to humans, not so harmless to rodents!
Apparently a Gopher Snake will do its best imitation of a rattlesnake if it feels threatened: flatten its head into a triangle, and shake its tail around in dead leaves to make it sound like a rattle. I guess this one didn't feel particularly threatened.
To show scale:
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dagibbs
June 18th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
I'm pretty sure I've seen bunches of Evening Grosbeaks. I think they tended to visit the bird feeders in our back yard when I was growing up. (Unless there is another bright-yellow grosbeak that occurs in the Ottawa area.)
Suzanne
June 18th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
That's quite possible. There was a population boom of Evening Grosbeaks in Ontario, I think sometime in the 70's--back then they were common feeder birds. They've since become scarcer, at least in southern Ontario.
dagibbs
June 19th, 2011 at 12:06 am
70s would have been right for me growing up, yup.
Mike
June 19th, 2011 at 11:05 am
Nice... I wish I'd gotten the chance to see the snake!