Cindy IS the 'squirrel whisperer'! lol These little guys were so cute and curious.
We had gone to Haynes Point Provincial Park in Osyoos, British Columbia. Haynes Point is located on the west side of Osoyoos Lake near the border of Canada and the USA.
Haynes Point Provincial Park is situated the narrow sand spit that you can see in the photo, that almost cuts Osoyoos Lake in half. All along this spit of land, on both sides are amazing campsites. This is where we encountered these Red Squirrels.
It is believed that there are only a few hundred breeding pairs of Long-billed Curlews in British Columbia, Canada.
Prior to legal protection in early 1900s, Long-billed Curlews were decimated by hunters in eastern North America, and were eliminated from many parts of their range by expansion of agriculture on the plains and prairies in the 1930s. The Long-billed Curlew has already disappeared from most parts of eastern Canada and United States.
In British Columbia, curlews breed in the Southern Interior; primary breeding areas are the open grasslands from Williams Lake west through Alexis Creek, in the Okanagan and lower Similkameen valleys, in the East Kootenay Trench, in the Nicola Valley and near Kamloops; a few pairs breed north along the North Thompson River to Clearwater and along the Fraser River near McBride.
Curlews frequent grassy terrain, newly-ploughed fields, green hayfields, meadows and pastures; birds do not have to be near water.
Curlews got their name from their unmistakable call, "curleeuu, curleeuu, curleeuu. "
When danger approaches, parents sound an alarm call telling chicks to "freeze" and hide; parents and neighbouring birds dive from skies to drive intruders off.
Threats:
Habitat loss due to agriculture and urban development.
Sensitivity to human disturbance.
Off-road vehicle use in or near nesting habitat.
Info via Government of British Columbia - Ministry of the Environment
Music by Alexander Blu 11 - Fadeoutv
Canada has one desert. It's located in the South Okanagan region of British Columbia. It's considered a 'pocket desert' one of North America’s most fragile and endangered ecosystems. Despite its small size, it is home to an exceptional array of desert plants and animals, some found nowhere else in Canada, many on the brink of extinction. It is here, that's we filmed the osprey's on April 13, 2012.
They're often call fish hawks . . .
Osprey's eat fish which they can see from great heights as they fly over bodies of water, when they spot the prey they hover by flapping their wings and then if all things go right, meaning the fish don't spook, the osprey dives into the water with talons stretched out and catches the fish.
The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk, fish eagle or fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.
Food source?
As the common name suggests, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognised. Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not a sea-eagle
Migratory?
Osprey's are migratory birds. We have seen and filmed them in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in the winter months.The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.
music is by 01 - zero-project - 01 - Land of legends
