Bird Calls at Night

For the past few weeks here on Grouse Mountain, if you wandered around late at night, you would have heard a strange cacophony of bird calls and sounds that you never hear in the light of the day.

These are the calls of the nocturnal migrants. Many bird species migrate at night for safety. Predators such as bird's of prey are not active, and because temperatures are cooler, less energy is spent in staying cool during the long demanding flights of migration. It's the equivalent of going for a late evening or early morning job before the heat of the day hits.

As always, there is safety in numbers so many species, or even mixes of species, migrate together and stay in touch through contact calls. Due to poor visibility, contact calls are the best way to stay in touch with your neighboring migrants during the night. Many of these flocks touch down briefly or pass overhead of the local mountains while flying at altitude. This is why we can hear them so clearly on top of Grouse Mountain.

It's an amazing experience to hear a chorus of birds at one o'clock in the morning! Experts study radar images of migration to determine the quantity and timing of migration. Vast flocks of thousands of birds show up as distincts groupings on radar images and allow ornithologists to study this unique phenomena.

Peeking at Pikas!

While walking near the ski runs on Grouse Mountain you might hear an occasional sound that resembles a squeeker from a dog toy. This sound, an alarm call, is coming from a small diurnal (active during the day) mammal known as a Pika, which inhabits the rocky terrain found around the mountain.

The American Pika (Ochotona princeps) is the species of Pika that is common to western North America and they are normally found above the tree line in the alpine. However, they are known to adapt to any area at elevation where large rock fields are created, such as ski runs.

Pika's are members of order Lagomorpha, which includes rabbits and hares. They are strict herbavores who feed on a variety of alpine grasses and leaves. They do not hibernate in the winter time, but rather store caches of dried vegetation to feed on in the cold winter months. They can be seen during the summer months both feeding and drying out their grasses for the coming winter season.

Watch and listen for this curious little mammal next time you are walking on talus or rocky slopes!

Here's a picture taken today on Grouse Mountain:

Barn Swallows on Grouse Mountain Ready to Leave the Nest!

Hello everyone,

Every summer we find hundreds of Barn Swallows calling Grouse Mountain their summer home. This year has been no exception. These birds can be found zipping and diving all over the mountian in their endless pursuit of insects to feed on. They can also be seen diving into the bear ponds for either a quick drink or a quick bath!

Barn Swallows are the most wide-spread species of swallow and can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere in the summertime. They migrate south for the winter before returning each spring.

When they arrive at the start of May they will begin to gather mouthfuls of mud which they use to construct nests that are attached to buildings, usually under the eaves or other shelter from the weather. Interestingly enough, while they used to also nest on cliff faces, they have come to rely on man-made structures and now nest exclusively on them.

After hatching, young Barn Swallows grow quickly, with both the adult male and female birds feeding them, and after 18-23 days the young are ready to leave the nest. We've been watching one nest that was constructed on top of a light bulb of the building where we store our bear food. The young birds are now very close fledgling and within a couple days should be following mom and dad around the mountain and learning how to catch their food!

Here are some shots from this morning - enjoy!

Grizzly Bears Enjoy a Summer Splash

Hi everyone! The weather has turned warm over these last couple of weeks and that means only one thing to the bears - pool time! These days it is quite common to see Grinder and Coola hanging out in one of their three ponds within their five acre habitat. Sometimes it's a quick dip and other times they will be in for hours.

Both Grinder and Coola have stashed some of their favourite items, including old bones, branches, grass clumps and an old shovel handle, in the mud at the bottom of the ponds. It is not uncommon to see them with their heads submerged (ears poking out of course!) and paws active as they search the bottom for where they last left their items. Today, Coola was playing with an old bone and was twirling it between his front paws and his back and finally flipped it up into the air. It was quite comical to watch!

Also, what would a pond be without a little playful wrestling? Grinder and Coola can be found having a good ol'fashioned pool fight usually at least once per day. This includes splashing, dunking and jumping on one another. I don't think they've ever heard about the rule of no running on the pool deck either!

Here's some shots from this morning:

Baby Boom Continues at Grouse Mountain!

Walking around the mountain top these days is like walking around one giant wildlife nursery! Baby birds of all species have left the nest and are following their parents around and are feeding on their own for the first time in their lives. Baby mammals, such as deer and black bear, can be seen doing likewise.

It always amazes me to see wildlife adapt to human structures and developments. Birds especially can be remarkably adaptable to nesting in or on man-made objects. Numerous Barn Swallow nests are located in the eves and rafters of our buildings here and just recently we found out about a Northern Flicker nest located in one of our Glen Greensides statues of a Basketball Player (see photos below).

Northern Flickers, a type of woodpecker, excavate cavities in both living and dead trees. These cavities can take up to two weeks to construct. Great care is taken in choosing the location and direction of the opening to the cavity. Woodpeckers are careful not to excavate above a branch, where rainwater could enter and fill up the hole. Also, the entrance is usually orientated south and east to get the maximum amount of sun and daylight (especially in more northerly locations). You can usually tell which species of woodpecker have excavated a cavity because the opening will be just large enough to allow an adult bird to enter it. The parent birds then line the cavity with a bed of wood chips on which they lay two to six eggs.

The cavity we found on the statue was rather large, indicating it was a Northern Flicker nest and not one of our other common woodpeckers such as a Red-breasted Sapsucker, and its entrance was indeed facing southeast! When taking the photos below I waited for some time for the parents to return to feed the young adult male flicker but they did not show up.

Returning the next morning I found the young bird had fledged (left the nest) and was resting on a nearby statue. The parent birds will often encourage the young to leave the nest by holding off on feeding them just long enough that the young bird is hungry enough to brave the outside world. The parents then protect and watch over the fledgling while it learns to forage and strengthens its muscles for flight.

I hope you enjoy the photos and before we know it this young guy will be tapping on trees, vocalizing loudly and otherwise proclaiming himself to the world.