June 8, 2025: Great Crested Flycatcher

The dragon flies came out in full force with the warm temperatures this week which means it's feast time for the birds - no more need to go after tiny mosquitoes and black flies when there's much larger game available.  I mentioned recently the distinctive call of the Great Crested Flycatcher and on a paddle this week there was one calling loudly near me which I was able to locate perched on its branch waiting to attack whatever flew by its outpost.

Great Crested Flycatcher

In addition to the Phoebes which have been here for weeks, the Eastern Kingbirds now have a large presence around water as well.

Eastern Kingbird

All three of these flycatchers are quite noisy birds.  I also saw a couple of Belted Kingfishers this week.  

On the loon front, it appears the southern pair has decided to build a nest on a tiny hummock deep in Harris Cove.  It's well protected from boat traffic but won't have any protection from the sun which could be a problem for them.  At last check they weren't on the nest, so there probably wasn't an egg yet, but by today there might be.  If all goes well, mark your calendar for a chick just after the fourth of July.

One morning this week a pair of float planes landed on Wicwas.  

The two are the same model of pusher-plane with different paints schemes.

Note they have wheels as well as floats for water.

The loons were not pleased with these large noisy birds flying over them.

There are so many birds in the trees now feeding happily on flying insects as well as the crawling ones:  caterpillars.  One native caterpillar that has developed an excellent defense mechanism is the Tent Caterpillar.  

Tent caterpillars create a defense shield against predators.

Tent caterpillar are not a species at risk and since they can defoliate small trees there's generally no harm in removing them if you wish.

The bunchberry is booming now; I saw these up by Arbutus Hill Pond in the Hamlin-Eames property behind Lake Wicwas.

Bunchberry

More white flowers are adorning the False Soloman's Seal plants.

False Soloman's Seal

Later in the summer these will have large bunches of red and white speckled berries which are consumer by birds and rodents.  The Canada Mayflowers didn't quite live up their name this year, but they only missed it by a few days as they are blooming now in early June.

Canada Mayflower

And thank you Canada for giving us some gorgeous red sunsets this week.

That's about the only good that comes from those wildfires, but we might as well appreciate whatever we can!