Campbell Valley Regional Park, BC

  I visited the Campbell Valley Regional Park, near Langley, for the first time and it was a complete delight.  It is beautiful and the wild birds seem to have little fear of humans.  I would recommend this as an outing to those who love nature, but have mobility problems.  In my opinion, the river loop trail, which is 2.3 km (about 1.5 miles), can be negotiated in a wheel chair.  There are also many benches where it is nice to listen to the bird song in the forest canopy and watch the birds foraging nearby.

Little River Loop Trail

The park is transected by the Little Campbell River.  The north entrance (off 16th Avenue) is built around the loop trail.  It is probably a second growth forest with some mature and old growth trees.  The south entrance of the park is off 8th Avenue and is part of the Rowlatt Heritage Site (a historic farm site), with meadows surrounded by forest remnants.

  

Little Campbell River

The Little Campbell River is a meandering stream, mostly hidden by grasses and willows this time of year.  There were Purple Martins flying over the water.  Nearer the stream, itself, were dragonflies.  

The understory of the forest is a lush, riparian habitat.

Nootka Rose

The understory is rich with Vine Maple, sapling Big Leaf Maples, and Alders.

The upper canopy layers are dominated by towering Cottonwoods, Douglas Firs, Red Cedars, and Western Hemlocks.

As I walked along the trail, I heard many calls of Swainson's Thrush, Robins, Black-Capped Chickadees, Spotted Towhees, and many others.

Douglas Squirrel.  These little guys will get right in your face.  They expect food.

Black-Headed Grosbeak

American Robin

Spotted Towhee

Black-Capped Chickadee.  

As I continued to come upon unafraid birds, it became apparent that they are being fed sunflower seeds.  The shells of sunflower seeds are scattered all along the 2.3 km of the trail.  

Song Sparrow

The south entrance of Campbell Valley Regional Park (off 8th Avenue) has a completely different feel.  There is a pond that reminds me of a small Japanese Garden or of Monet's Giverny.  It is planted with flowers for attracting butterflies.  There are meadowlands and an historic farm.  

Lorquin's Admiral: Limenitis lorquini

This butterfly's hosts are willow and cottonwood.  It is a feisty insect and will even defend its territory against birds.

The pond is host to two turtles and at least (judging by the croaking) six large bullfrogs.  

Rowlatt Heritage Site

Historic Farm

Barn Swallows Insect Hunting

I will be returning to Campbell Valley Regional Park.  I want to see it in the other seasons.  I hope that I have convinced you to look into this gem of a nature reserve.

Tree Quiz: Do you know trees by their bark?

Most of us are able to recognize our local trees by their leaves.  In the fall and winter, suddenly these same trees look unrecognizable.  It's possible, however, to know your trees all year round, if you know them by their bark.  As I walk my neighborhood or nearby park, I try to name all the trees.
This has given me a baseline for the ecology of the region.

Your bird watching will also improve immensely when you note the trees where the birds were found.  Writing in your field journal, "I saw a Purple Finch calling," doesn't say much.  How about, "Purple Finch made alarm calls 5 meters up the Red Cedar in the back yard.  He flies down, out-of-sight."  Now check your journal for past entries where Purple Finches appear.  You'll get a better idea where to find them in the future. (Also check for the local Sharp-Shinned Hawk that scared the finch.)

Here is a little quiz.  See if you can identify the trees by their bark.  Answers will be at the end of the blog.

1. Hint - Found in California

2. Northwest Native

3.  Northwest Native

4. Northwest Native

5. European Origin

6. Northwest Native; favorite of lumber industry

7. Northwest Native, traditional tree of the Salish Peoples

8. Northwest Native

9. Northwest Native

10. Northwest Native, a pioneer species

Hopefully you had some fun and the clues helped.

Answers:  1. Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) 2. Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) 3. Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)  4. Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis  5. Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha)  6. Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)  7. Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) 8. Big-Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)  9. Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)  10. Red Alder (Alnus rubra)

Merlins in the Field

     This spring I've been doing field observations of the Coastal Forest Merlin (Falco columbarius suckleyi).  You can find out more about this small falcon, including vocalizations and life cycle, by clicking on the link to the Merlin Falcon Foundation website.  Personally, I find this little falcon to be a huge amount of kinetic energy squeezed into a small body.  The Merlin's diet consists of small birds, usually caught on the wing.  Its courtship, territoriality, vocalizations, and hunting are all dramatic. 

  Female Merlin

     

There is another small falcon in this region: the American Kestrel, Falco sparverius.  It is the smallest of our  Falconidae, but to me, the most colorful.  This little guy is often seen hunting for large insects or small rodents.  I have seen one eating a vole and another Kestrel catching a small Garter Snake.

Male Kestrel

We also have Peregrine Falcons, some that winter in the Skagit Valley and some that migrate thousands of miles south...as far as South America.  For a few years, I helped take care of this non-releasable Peregrine at Sardis Raptor Center (See link to their website.)  This particular bird was always on the alert and became excited easily.

Falco peregrinus

Audubon Print of Peregrine Falcons

Back to Merlins.  The sequence of photos that follows shows two activities that are typical for this time of year: 1. preening. 2. territorial squabbles with crows.

1.  Preening.  This part of the breeding season, the female is testing the male to see if he is a good provider or not.  She hunts less and less and waits for her mate to deliver prey items to her.  She often preens, while waiting.  The male and female are already mating and should start nesting and laying eggs before the end of this month.  The male will hunt for his mate, his nestlings, and himself from now until the young become fledglings and disperse in late-summer. 

Female Merlin Preening

The male Merlin is smaller and darker than the female.  Perhaps this is why this subspecies has also been called the Black Merlin.  This male, below, just attempted a prey delivery to the female.  The prey exchange is extremely fast, like a hand-off in football.  Sometimes, they fumble and the prey item, which took considerable energy to obtain, tumbles to the forest floor.  Nobody is perfect, not even agile falcons.

  Male Merlin

2. Territoriality.  Merlins do not make their own nests.  They reuse old corvid nests.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, that means nests built by crows.  Naturally, there are territorial battles between crows and Merlins.  Sometimes crows, building their new nests, find that they are neighbors of Merlins, who are using old crow nests.  The crows try to drive out the Merlins and the Merlins resist harassment, sometimes chasing the crows.  Eventually, both crows and Merlins may stop the mutual aggression, as they concentrate on their young.

Female Merlin on a Prominent Perch

Photos taken at 300 meters

The crow attacks the female Merlin.  You can see the crow's left wing, as the crow flies by.

The female Merlin looks up as the crow readies itself to dive (stoop) on her.

The crow tries to drive the Merlin off her perch.

The Crow makes another pass and the Merlin has been driven off the perch.

The female Merlin has gone into the tree and the crow is staring at her.

When the crow left, the female Merlin returned to her perch to wait for the male, who was off hunting.  She  endured several attacks for more than an hour, before her mate returned with food.  One of the attacks was carried out by two crows, probably mates.   As you can see, both Coastal Forest Merlins and Northwest Crows live their lives intensely.