How lucky are we to live in the South Okanagan?
Not only do we have an incredible variety of wildlife around us, I’m surprised at how close the wild can be.
From my home near Okanagan Falls, I’m mere minutes away from the wilderness treasure of Vaseux Lake.
With the magnificent backdrop of McIntyre Bluff and a foreground of marsh, Vaseux Lake is a bright link in the chain of Okanagan lakes fed by the Okanagan River. The lake is also a bright link in the flyway that links northern summer habitats to southern winter ones.
Swans are the feature bird this November as they fly south, their large white shapes visible even from the highway. For the best view, and safest one, I stop at the Vaseux Lake Wildlife Centre observation area.
A short trail from the parking lot takes me deep into the marsh, and a different world.
I pass through some large Ponderosa Pines, a willow or two and a variety of shrubs that include wild Rose, Red-osier dogwood, choke cherry and common snowberry.
The interpretive signs at the trailhead tell me I might also see a number of endangered or rare creatures such as a Yellow Breasted Chat or Flammulated Owl, but they’ll be in their southern winter digs by now.
Fortunately, the Fall pattern of colourful leaves, berries and criss-crossing branches provide good perches and feeding stations for other birds like Black capped Chickadees. I’m a shutterbug but the Chickadees rarely stop long enough for a photo op.
Ahead, a wooden boardwalk protects the fragile wetlands and keeps my feet dry. At a couple spots, openings in the brush reveal secret side channels.
I’ve seen a muskrat, mallard ducks and hooded mergansers in there.
One more turn and I’ve arrived at the recently reconstructed three-storey bird blind.
Thanks to folks who designated Vaseux Lake an Important Bird Area, we can also thank other groups for this wonderful way to enjoy its special sights and sounds.
I’m always keen to climb the stairs to the top level of the blind. And there they are! Draped like a string of white pearls across several sand bars I can see at least two-dozen swans. From this distance it’s hard to tell which are Tundra swans and which are Trumpeter swans, but they are out there.
The Tundra swans are slightly smaller over all and have a slightly smaller bill with a yellow spot at the base near the eye. But binoculars, spotting scope or a handy-dandy telephoto lens are necessary to make that distinction.
Suddenly, four swans begin calling. They paddle energetically for a second or two, flap into lift off. Their graceful flight carves white wing patterns into the dense background of shrubs and trees on the opposite shore. They wheel around and come back in for a landing.
They rejoin the rest of the flock to continue feeding. One of the challenges of photographing swans in this situation is catching them when they are displaying their classic pose — the artistically cocked head on slender curved neck above decoratively held wings.
With my luck, every time I press the camera shutter, they have turned themselves tail up, exposing their under sides, a preferred feeding posture. They are dabblers and dunkers after all.
Even from a distance it’s easy to see their large black webbed feet paddling furiously to keep their heads below the surface to get the best duckweed or pondweed roots and stems.
It’s nice to know the swans will be here for awhile yet, moving on as the weather cools, flying as much as 6,000 kilometres between their breeding grounds on the Arctic coast and their winter home in California.
Although most swans will fly further south for the winter, there are always some that stay in our valley. When Vaseux freezes over, they’ll move up to Skaha and Okanagan lakes for open water.
Dianne Bersea is a member of the South Okanagan Naturalists Club. Views expressed here do not necessarily represent SONC. For info on meetings and events visit www.southokanagannature.com.
