White-Tailed Ptarmigans Showcase the Changing Seasons

The resident camouflage experts here in the park are hardy grouse-like birds called white-tailed ptarmigans.  They are amongst our toughest critters, as year round, they live at high elevations, usually above tree-line.  In summer, they sport mottled feathers, and blend in with the rocks and lichens of the alpine tundra.  In winter, they are as white as snow, right down to feathers growing out of their feet!

Feathered feet of a ptarmigan in winter plumage.

We've been keeping an eye open for ptarmigan all summer – with no luck – but in the last two weeks, we've seen three large families.  They are a magical sight, as they are in “transformation” mode: new white feathers are coming in, and the darker feathers are moulting out.

September 19: winter and summer plumage in one package.

Their timing is perfect, as the first snows have been falling in the high country, and the landscape is now a cross between rocky and white, just like the birds.



Speaking of timing, our summer hiking season ended  a couple of days ago, and by the photo below, you can see that there wasn't much “summer” left here in the Lake Louise area.  At Consolation Lake on September 30, seven guests earned their ptarmigan merit badges that day – even without the camouflage – for toughing out fresh snow, strong winds, and a 0º Celsius high!

September 30: Ptarmigan merit badge recipients at Consolation Lake.

Cone Crop of the Century

If you've been hiking in the Rockies this summer, you've probably noticed something: the evergreens are loaded with cones.  The subalpine fir and the Engelmann spruce in the higher parts of Banff and Yoho parks are covered with cones, and in our twenty plus years here, this is only the second time we've seen this.

Bumper crop of subalpine fir cones ripening in mid-August

It's called “masting”, and has been observed in other tree species around the world. Biologists think that when big mast years, like this one, are paired up against years of almost no cone production, then predators of cones – like squirrels – can never reach a consistent population level where they can eat all the seeds in all the cones.

It's the trees' defence system: starve the squirrels one year, and overwhelm them with food the next.  It guarantees that some of the seeds in the cones will get to the ground to germinate, which is what the trees want.

Fir cones shedding their seeds last week.

The big question is, “how do the trees do it?”  How do they synchronize, between individuals and across species, the big mast years and the years of low cone production?  We haven't been able to find the answer, but if anybody out there knows, we'd love to hear about it.

In the meantime, you can enjoy the crop through photography, and you can watch the red squirrels in their collecting frenzy.  In the last couple of weeks, we've been beaned in the head by cones that the squirrels are throwing down to the ground to collect for winter.

Cones clipped by squirrels for winter storage.

The Summer of Fire, Ten Years After

Now that summer is on the wane, and the Numa Fire burning in Kootenay National Park is settling down, we can turn our attention to the summer of 2003, ten years ago, when it felt like much of western Canada was ablaze.

On July 31 that year, a large lightning storm in Kootenay (just south of Lake Louise) started several fires.  Two of them eventually grew into one enormous fire which burned over 17,000 hectares of the park.  It didn't rain for 42 straight days, so every morning we'd wake up to blue skies, but not to the south: behind Mount Temple, the signature peak in the village of Lake Louise, it would look like a nuclear bomb was going off, as smoke from the fires rose to 20,000 feet.

By mid-September, rains and some bold back-burning finally put out the blaze, but since then, life has returned.  We've been watching and photographing the changes in Kootenay, so here's a ten year anniversary montage in images...

August, 2003.  At the height of the 2003 Kootenay wildfires, firefighters take a break after working to save historic Kootenay Park Lodge from the flames.  Photo by park warden John Niddrie.

July 2005. Two years after the fire, the forest floor near Stanley Glacier is covered in arnica flowers.

August, 2007.  Four years after the fire, the Stanley Glacier trail erupts in fireweed.

August, 2013.  Ten years after the fire, young lodgepole pine are now taller than a person near Marble Canyon.

August, 2013.  Burnt trees and pink wildflowers stand in beautiful contrast on the trail through Prospector's Valley. 

Bears Caught on Candid Camera

Living in Lake Louise gives us a better chance of seeing grizzly bears than most people, but often we only get a quick glimpse.  It makes us wonder how the bear is spending the other 23.9 hours of its day.  What if you could be a fly on the wall in the day of a bear?  Or how about three bears?  Wouldn't that be great?

Remote wildlife cameras throughout the national parks are the proverbial “fly on the wall.”  We've written about them before, but they are worth repeat posts because of the images they capture.  Recently, Kananaskis Provincial Park released stills from one of their cameras, located at a “rub” tree.  Trees like this are where bears and other animals leave their calling cards.  Think of them like the Post Office for wildlife.  These pictures have since been a hit all over the world, and if you haven't seen them yet, sit down for two very enjoyable minutes.

Bear Shows at the Lake Louise Inn

This summer, we've partnered with the Lake Louise Inn to present our bear show “Grizzly Groceries: A Gourmet Tour.”  Thankfully, people aren't on the menu, but foods like buffaloberries, salmon, and carpenter ants are, and these delicacies reveal fascinating stories about grizzly bear biology and conservation.  The shows are open to everyone, so until mid-September, join us on Wednesday nights at 8:30 at the Peyto Room at the Lake Louise Inn, in “downtown” Lake Louise.  For directions or information, call the Lake Louise Inn at 403-522-3791.

Grizzly bear teeth tell you a lot about what they eat!

Osprey Webcam Now Broadcasting Live!

Of all the birds here in the Rockies, ospreys are the most willing to put their private lives on display: they hunt for fish over rivers and lakes, and they nest on top of dead trees or power poles, so they're really easy to observe.

Osprey nest on the Bow River Bridge at Castle Junction, Banff Park.

But now you can have an intimate view at the family life of ospreys, courtesy of a webcam near Exshaw, just outside of Banff National Park.  The webcam was installed by the power company Fortis, and went live in early May when a pair of ospreys returned from migration.  Since then, they've spruced up the nest, laid three eggs (between May 8 and May 14),  and taken turns incubating. The real excitement started a few days ago, with the birth of the first chick. Currently, it looks like there's one egg left to hatch, the two newborn chicks are enjoying a post-natal diet of pure sushi!

If you are in Banff or Lake Louise, and want to see osprey in a live setting, our most celebrated pair of  “fish eagles” have a nest on the Bow River Bridge at Castle Junction.  Just take the connector road between Highway #1 and #1A and look at the bridge's western iron girder.

Changing of the Bear Guard

Retired human / wildlife conflict specialist Hal Morrison.

We've been living in Lake Louise long enough to see lots of people come and go. Two weeks ago, the town of Field, just west of Lake Louise, hosted a big sendoff for Hal Morrison and his wife Janice.  Hal had been the head of the human / wildlife conflict team in Lake Louise and Yoho for many years, and did a great job of keeping animals – mostly bears – and people safe.  He was a great storyteller too, sharing stories with many of us locals about how bears behave, and how we should behave around them.

Taking over for Hal is Brianna Burley.  She's been working with Hal for the last six or seven years, and therefore has lots of experience with wildlife.  She's also an academic, and is currently working on her Master's degree from the University of Alberta.  Using cameras mounted on locomotives, she's studying how bears get hit by trains, and what can be done to prevent these collisions.

Brianna Burley takes over as head of human / wildlife conflict team.

Keeping people and bears safe is serious work, but every once in a while, the staff get to have some fun.  A few years ago, Hal and Brianna headed up Panorama Ridge to find a radio collar that had come off grizzly bear #72 during hibernation.  Collars are valuable, so they retrieved it by tracking the signal.  They also got a first hand look at a recently vacated grizzly bar den, which is a rare experience in these parts.

Happy retirement, Hal and Janice, and welcome to your new job, Brianna!