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July 2024
Greetings from the Creston Valley wetlands,
The month of July was hot and dry here in Creston. The wildlife and people alike in our valley had to manage the heat as best as possible. A variety of birds fledged from their nests around our admin building as well as throughout the wetlands. Wildlife families were growing up all around us within the wetlands, so many feathered friends, and some others observed were black and grizzly bears, elk, deer, coyotes, turkeys, bats, turtles and otters, just to name a few!
The staff at CVWMA were very busy out in the field in July. Some of the projects they were working on included surveys in the wetlands on birds and vegetation, reptile surveys, monitoring numbers of breeding pairs of specific birds, monitoring and collecting sound recordings out in various locations in the marshes, and completing ongoing maintenance around the dikes, roads and trails. Find out more about the cool reptiles that call this area home, below from Julia Kaczkowski!
Through the summer months, I have been working alongside Julia weekly doing Bobolink surveys in the mornings out by the south end of Duck Lake. It was very interesting observing and recording the movements and behavioral changes week to week with these birds. This is exciting as it is a new species to me, and they have very distinctive calls! The male’s plumage is striking and easy to spot once I was familiar with them, and seeing how well the pairs hide their nest sites was very intriguing. (to the right is a picture of us out one morning completing our surveys, and one of the males!) You can check out some details of this species on the Cornell Lab website, by clicking HERE
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August 2024
August brings some adjustments to tasks at hand for CVWMA staff and starts to different projects. Currently there are bat researchers in the valley completing some surveys of our local bat populations! You can report bat sighting, and learn more about bats in BC and the Kootenays when you check out the The BC Community Bat Program website, by clicking HERE
Throughout the summer, and currently, northern leopard frogs are being monitored by a Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program crew, and the fall migration in this area will be starting soon. With this amazing bi-annual migration comes a reminder to the public within the Creston Valley, that the gate on the dike road at the south end of Duck Lake will be closed as of Aug 15, 2024.The dike will re-open to motorized vehicle access on October 15th (at 11:59 pm). The closure is necessary to help recover the last population of endangered northern leopard frog in British Columbia. The frogs particularly like to forage on the warm road surface in the evening and at night during the fall migration between the Duck Lake Nesting Area (wetland unit south of Duck Lake) and the Old Goat River Channel (that flows into Duck Lake),and are very vulnerable to mortality caused by vehicles. During that period, people are welcome to walk or bike on the dike. Thank you for your cooperation and for giving the frogs a break!
Learn more about this important species on our website: CVWMA
Thank you for your interest and support. Have fun out there!
Alyson Brda
Office Administrator CVWMA
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Reclusive Reptiles!
By: Julia Kaczkowski
Conservation Programs Assistant, CVWMA
If you have walked the Balancing Rock trail recently, you may have caught a glimpse of a solo figure wearing a red backpack, off trail, staring intently at the ground and turning over rocks. That’s me, Julia. No, I haven’t lost my keys (or my marbles) - I have been surveying for reptiles!
Reptile species that call the CVWMA home include the Western Painted Turtle, Northern Alligator Lizard, Western Terrestrial Garter Snake, Common Garter Snake, Rubber Boa, and Western Skink. The Western Skink, Rubber Boa, and Western Painted Turtle are all federally listed as species of Special Concern under the Species at Risk Act. With its eastern exposure, open grasslands, and rocky outcroppings, the hillside above the CVWMA Administration Office and the Balancing Rock trail area provide ideal habitat for snakes and lizards. However, this habitat is experiencing encroachment by vegetation, which degrades habitat quality. Encroaching vegetation also presents a wildfire hazard by acting as ladder fuel. The CVWMA has received a grant from Environment and Climate Change Canada (Community Nominated Priority Places for Species at Risk) through Kootenay Connect (https://kootenayconservation.ca/kootenay-connect-priority-places/) for a project that will both help restore habitat and mitigate fire risk. In order to help plan this project, we have been conducting surveys weekly since May 2024 to map out where reptiles are located. It’s been so interesting to learn about the habits and habitats of these unique species. Here’s some fun facts about our scaly friends:
- Northern Alligator Lizards are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day. While walking the Balancing Rock trail on a warm sunny day, take a minute to slow down and look closely at crevices in the rocky outcroppings – if you’re lucky, you might spot a basking lizard. These lizards are docile, but we don’t recommend trying to capture them. Capture often causes lizards to drop their tail as a decoy (autotomize), which can have negative impacts on their growth and survival. Northern Alligator Lizards have thick, ridged scales that resemble those of an alligator – hence their name.
- Western Skinks have vivid blue tails, particularly as juveniles. They share habitat with Northern Alligator Lizards, but they seem to be much more elusive – often my sightings of them would consist of just a quick movement and a flash of blue out of the corner of my eye. It was impossible to get any photographs! Western Skinks can grow to over 20cm in length, but they are often much smaller. I was very happy to find one individual that was at least 20cm.
- Rubber Boas are a species of boa constrictors that are native to North America – pretty cool! They have loose skin with small, smooth scales, giving them a rubbery appearance. Their heads are very small and their tails are blunt, which can make it difficult to determine which end of the snake is which. This is actually part of the Rubber Boa’s preferred hunting strategy – when invading the nest of a rodent, the snake will use its tail as a decoy and a club to ward off the mother rodent while it constricts and consumes the nestlings. While it is a fearsome predator to mice and shrews, the Rubber Boa poses no threat to humans and is indeed the most docile of all British Columbia’s snakes. They are mostly nocturnal, with some activity occurring at dawn and dusk. I located the den of one individual and found that I would only see this individual out basking when starting my survey at 6:30AM. Any later, and the snake would have already retreated to the safety of its den for the day.
While conducting the reptile surveys, I was also lucky enough to come across several Common Nighthawk nests. Nighthawks are ground-nesting, cryptic birds that are incredibly well-camouflaged against their surroundings. They often resemble a piece of wood or a rock when they are on the ground. You might walk past one and not even know it was there! Nighthawks are known for their characteristic “booming” sound, made by air rushing through the feathers of a male’s wings as he dives during aerial displays. They are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. The Common Nighthawk is federally listed as a species of Special Concern as well. The reptile habitat restoration project will also help improve habitat for these secretive birds.
Next time you’re out on the Balancing Rock trail, enjoying the view from the bench below the Ponderosa pine, keep your eyes peeled for a quick scamper in the grass or a flash of blue – you might be rewarded! Let us know what you see, and as always, have fun and happy trails.
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CVWMA Administration Office Hours
Regular business hours are:
Monday to Friday
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
(office closed from 12:00pm-1:00pm daily)
Questions? Call or email - 250-402-6900
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