On the weekend I paid another visit to Elizabeth Lake to see where the third duck nesting box had been placed. As I crossed the bridge at the outflow, I watched as a muskrat swam towards me, then dived underwater at the bridge. There was only one turtle visible, which didn't surprise me because it may have been mild, but there was a strong wind blowing. I wonder if they appeared later when the wind died down and the sun came out?

Today I rode along Rails to Trails as far as Wycliffe. I was rewarded with several colourful shots of the balsam root against a background of the Purcells and the Rockies, as I rode along the Mission-Wycliffe Road.



Looking towards the Purcells from near Wycliffe.

My next stop was at the St. Eugene Mission Resort to see whether the herons had returned. I spotted at least two, possibly three adults sitting on their nests. I had counted seven nests on my previous visit in late April. I'm assuming that herons use the same nest from year to year. I'm also wondering if the chirping I heard was from freshly hatched herons?


This nest is high in the cottonwood trees within 30 to 40 meters of the confluence of Joseph Creek and the St. Mary River.

Interestingly I found three different types of culvert on Joseph Creek as I returned to Cranbrook on the Mission Road, which runs beside the creek as far as the main Cranbrook/Kimberley highway. Watching how the creek flowed through each reminded me of Laura and Jim Duncan's workshop during the week using the stream trailer, and our experiments testing different types of culvert.


This is the largest type and can be found under the main road.

I spoke to the owner of this double culvert with an overflow pipe, who was concerned about this year's run off, which is late.


A second type of culvert

A third type of culvert found further upstream

Shortly after I saw my third red-tailed hawk of the afternoon, which left its perch on a tree near the creek, and rose on thermals to a height where it was difficult to spot it against the bright sky.

Today we talked about the eaglet whose leg is caught in a fishing line in the Sidney nest at Circle Time. There was a general acceptance that there is not much that can be done, given that the nest is high up in a dead tree. Jerrid suggested that one of the adults could have caught a fish with a line attached, and that is how the eaglet got caught up in it.

Great news about the eaglet being set free from the fishing line. It is amazing how things fell into place to make the rescue possible.