Bats, Bees and Birds

Coming home is always fun. We were last here in winter. Now it's spring going on summer, even though Mother Nature is holding on to cold rainy weather. One exciting thing about coming home is checking for critters that return each year.

  Little Brown Bats

Every year we have bats at our cabin. They arrive in May and stay the summer.  One of the first things I do is check a favourite roosting spot under the metal roof of the propane shed. 

I found a Little Brown Bat had already moved in. It's probably male, because females group together under the cabin roof to raise their young. It's noisy at dusk and dawn as they wiggle out and in, but they keep the mosquitoes away. Here's the little guy under the shed roof. 

Mason Bees

I was worried my Mason Bees wouldn't have enough empty nesting blocks, but the enterprising bees cleaned out the old ones and are filling them up again. A few bees are still working away. My colony grew from two bees in 2015 to over 100 in 2019. 

Sadly, I lost the colony due to a long absence in 2020. Fortunately, a few native bees got me restarted last year. I love giving pollinators a helping hand. Here's more about my bee experiences:

Readying My Mason Bee Hotels 
Revitalizing a Bee Hotel
Drilling Nesting Blocks
Building a Simple Bee Hotel

 

Tree Swallows

Two Tree Swallows flew in and out of the birdhouse on my floating garden. They arrive in mid-May, followed by Barn Swallows in June. This year the occupants are Tree Swallows. 

 

Sometimes a pair of Violet-greens will get there first. Swallows fly all the way from their winter home in Mexico to raise families in Coastal BC. My arms get tired thinking about it.

 

There are lots more critters for me to enjoy around my float cabin home. What do you like to watch where you live? -- Margy

 

Visit Letting Go of the Bay Leaf for more Mosaic Monday.

Thanks for visiting my post this week. I'm linking up with Saturday's Critters. Check them out for more great animal pictures.

Shared with Your the Star at Stone Cottage Adventures. And Tuesdays with a Twist at Stone Cottage Adventures.

Summer Cabin Visitors

Winter is very quite up the lake at our float cabin home. By late spring, birds and critters start to return. Then as summer starts to settle in, so do they. They come to eat from the abundance in our forest and to raise their young to start a new generation. Two of my favourite visitors are the chipmunks and Oregon Juncos.

An Oregon Junco eating seeds on the bridge to shore

The chipmunks and Oregon Juncos have a symbiotic relationship. The birds flick seeds from my feeders that they don't like down onto our bridge to shore or into the lake.

One of the two resident chipmunks enjoying a snack.

The chipmunks (there's a pair) feast on the fallen seeds in two ways. The easiest is to eat the ones that land on the bridge. They also run along the breakwater logs floating nearby to scoop up the tasty treats that cling at the water's edge. They are so much fun to watch.

Do you have any special animals around your home? Which are your favourites? -- Margy

Coastal BC Animals: Chipmunks

Chipmunks

Joining the birds for a snack.

Up the lake at the cabin we have a pair of chipmunks that visit our float cabin almost daily.

If there is food in the bird feeder they stop by for a try to get their share. Consequently, the Juncos have to go without for a few days between fillings.

If the feeder is empty, they boldly come on the deck to see why we aren't attending to their needs. Many forest critters like to eat my crops growing in pots and containers on the decks. At least the chipmunks are polite about not digging into our growing food supply.

Visitors from Powell River report that there are few chipmunks left in town. They surmise that the growing gray and black squirrel population may be pushing the cute little guys farther into the bush.

Chipmunks can be distinguished by the stripes on their face and back. Their colouring is yellowish to brownish gray with black and white stripes. Often there is a reddish cast to their sides.

Chipmunks are very energetic and agile. We see them climb the nearly vertical granite cliffs next to the cabin.

There are four varieties listed for BC. I'm not sure which kind come to visit us. It might be a Red-Tailed. Can you help?

Here's a link to a good (and free) manual for identifications: An Identification Manual to the Small Mammals of British Columbia. -- Margy

References: BC Adventure (online) and Nature Canada (online).

Coastal BC Animals: Baby Buster

Garter Snake

Baby Buster hanging out in my thyme pot.

I've written about one of my cabin regulars several times, Buster the Garter Snake. He (or a look-alike) makes an annual appearance in May and hangs around until fall. This year, he showed up on the transition float a few weeks ago. It's a little late, but things seem to be happening slow this spring. I know it isn't last year's Buster because it's smaller, hence the name "Baby Buster."

You can read more about garter snakes at my other posts:

Buster the Garter Snake
Buster's Finally Back
Buster's Back... 
Coastal BC Reptiles: Common Garter Snake
 
Having a garter snake living on the garden float is good for organic gardening. Mice like to nibble nice tender shoots. Buster helps us keep them out of the garden area. Garter snakes also like to eat frogs. That helps keep the non-native bullfrog invasion under some control.

Baby Buster sunning on the deck.

Baby Buster is only about 50 centimetres (20 inches) long. He can grow up to about 1.5 metres (3.5 ft) long. His distinctive coloring is yellow stripes on a dark brown body. Always alert, his bright red forked tongue flicks out to monitor the surroundings. If disturbed, he slides through the cracks of the float to the shelter of the logs underneath. From there he can watch and listen for a quieter time to resurface and get back to soaking up the warm rays of spring sunshine.

Or take off for an undulating swim in the lake below. Click on the video above to watch him go.

Do you have garter snakes where you live? -- Margy

Coastal BC Animals: Velella Velella

Velella Velella
(By the Wind Sailors) 

In May I had a wonderful three day trip to the west coast of Vancouver Island in Coastal British Columbia. I went with my good friend, Yvonne Maximchuk. She lives up the coast in remote Echo Bay. She's an author, artist and potter. An amazing woman!

She met me at the Comox Ferry Terminal and we drove to both Tofino and Ucluelet on the west side of the island.

Long Beach at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

In the middle we stopped at Long Beach, part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

Velellas washed ashore.

As we walked the sandy beach, we discovered hundreds of thousands of small chitinous bodies. They were bunched together at the different high tide marks and quickly drying out. These were the remains of Velella velella commonly known as sail jellyfish or by-the-wind sailors.

Velella velella are in the Phylum Cnidaria and are related to anemones and jellyfish. Velellas are small, about 4-8 cm long. They have a flat oval body made of concentric circles of gas filled chitin chambers and an upward structure that serves as a sail to transport them across the ocean surface.

Interestingly, some Velellas have a right leaning 45 degree angle sail, and others have a left leaning sail.

Below the surface are specialized polyps for feeding, reproduction and defense. In this way, they are similar to the large jellyfish known as a Portuguese Man of War. Except Velelas are so small they don't have much of a sting.
  

They typically live far off shore, feeding on plankton. Occasionally redirected warm currents and/or strong winds will bring them ashore to die in massive amounts.

Yvonne holding a dried and fresh Velella velella.

So if you're walking a sandy beach and see what looks like oval bits of plastic, don't despair. It may not be litter, just the remains of small but numerous by-the-wind sailors. -- Margy

Coastal BC Animals: Banana Slug

Banana Slug

Banana slug on Stella Lake Road.

During summer, Wayne and I took our quads over to Vancouver Island to ride on logging roads and trails. We camped at Stella Lake northwest of Campbell River.

One evening while taking a walk along Stella Lake Road near the campsite we stumbled upon a large Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus) making it's way slowly along the shoulder of the logging road.

While some are yellow, they also come in brown, black and mottled colours. In fact, they get their common name from their shape rather than their colouring.

Banana slugs are large, up to 25 cm (10 inches) long. Wayne used his foot to give a reference point. This one looks about 8 inches in length.

The forward part is called the mantle. On the right side there's a large circular opening. This is the pneumostome.  The slug breathes through this opening.

The head has two upper optical tentacles for vision and two lower sensory tentacles for feeling and tasting. The mouth on the underside has 27,000 teeth called radula. Banana slugs eat plants, decaying matter and animal feces. They digest all of these things and return the nutrients to the soil.

The back portion is called the foot.  Undulating motion and mucus (slime) allow the slug to move across the forest floor and over vegetation.

While I don't appreciate slugs in my garden, this particular variety provides a needed service in the ecology of the forests of the Pacific Northwest. -- Margy

References: "Banana Slug" on Sierra Club BC (online), "Banana Slug" on Tryon Naturalist Notes (online), and "Banana Slug Diet" on animals.mom.me (online),

Coastal BC Animals: Western Toad

Western Toad

A Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas)

You don't think of toads being on the endangered list, but that's exactly where the Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) sits. They remain fairly common in British Columbia, except their population is declining in the southernwest region. Declines are even more dramatic in its southern United States range and in Mexico. For that reason, it was red-listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1996.

Living life dangerously crossing a logging road.

Western Toads are the sumo wrestlers of the amphibian world. They have stocky bodies with short legs. With less leg power, they tend to be walkers rather than hoppers. Thick, bumpy skin ranging from pale green, to grey, to dark brown, or even red, protects them while living way from wetlands.

Western Toads breed in permanent and temporary bodies of water. Adults then migrate to forests or grasslands.  They prefer moist environments, but I found this one in the middle of a dusty, dry logging road. They also dig or adopt burrows to go underground.

Look for Western Toads in forests and grasslands.

Eggs are laid in the spring and tadpoles develop quickly. By the end of summer, they transform into small toadlets, continue to develop for an additional two years, and can live up to ten years or more.

Western Toads eat insects and small invertebrates such as spiders, slugs and worms. If one comes into your garden, encourage it to stay. Tadpoles eat algae and plants in their aquatic environment.

You will find Western Toads from spring through fall. They do hibernate, especially in high elevations or colder climates, from November to April.

A distinctive white or cream dorsal stripe.

Why are these toads on the endangered list? You wouldn't think so, but they are under pressure due to habitat destruction, pollution, the spread of disease, introduction of non-native aquatic predators to their breeding areas, and road traffic during migration. Here in BC, the Western Toad is on the Provincial Yellow List, making it an animal of concern.

What can you do? Share information about Western Toads. Advocate for habitat preservation. Monitor breeding sites. Report sightings to the B.C. Frogwatch program. And in case you are wondering, after taking his picture I moved the little critter off the road a safe distance. Logging trucks and toads don't mix. -- Margy

References: Nature BC by James Kavanaugh, B.C. Frogwatch Program (online), and Species at Risk Public Registry: Government of Canada (online).

Coastal BC Spiders: Cross Orbweaver

Cross Orbweaver

The other day I went out to work in my garden and found this Cross Orbweaver spider using my lean-to as its new home.

Lately, I've been seeing more spiders around the cabin and they are a welcome sight. Anything that catches pesky flying insects is a friend of mine.

The Cross Orbweaver (Araneus diadematus) is also known as the Garden Spider. This is a female, distinguished by her large oval abdomen. Males have a smaller, thinner abdomen. 

Cross Orbweave spiders can be found in gardens and fields in many states in the U.S. and provinces in Canada. Females lay up to 800 eggs in a sac near the web from late summer to fall.  After hatching, spiderlings can travel to unexpected locations by "ballooning" through the air on silken threads. I see this quite often on Powell Lake. Landing on the water must make for a rude awakening.

These spiders weave large, vertical orb shaped webs. They either reside near or right in the center of the web. Either way, they are connected by a thread to determine if a meal has landed. An unlikely fact I learned is that the spider usually eats the web at night, and recycles the proteins contained within to create a new web the following day. That's a lot of work!

Here's a tasty meal all wrapped up for consumption. It's hard to tell, but it looks like a yellow jacket. We get a lot of those around the cabin. Can't say that I feel bad about it getting caught. -- Margy

References: www.Spiders.us (online), Post Defiance blog by Katy Evans (online), and Cross Orbweaver at Bugguide.net (online)

Coastal BC Animals: America Bullfrog

American Bullfrog

An American Bullfrog on Powell Lake BC.

Invasive species? Illegal immigrant? Whatever you want to call it, the Bullfrog is not native to British Columbia, and it's not benign. Here in Powell Lake we have the American Bullfrog.

Bullfrogs are native to eastern North America from Canada to Florida. Much like fish farming, Bullfrogs was imported to farm for their meaty legs. From there, they spread throughout the southern mainland and southeast Vancouver Island.

Females are larger than males and can grow to be 20 cm long and 750 grams in weights (8"/1.5 lbs). Males have a large tympanum (ear) behind the eye. Females have a smaller one. This is probably a female.

One way to distinguish a Bullfrog from a Green Frog (also invasive) is the fold of skin over the typanum. A Bullfrog's wraps around the tympanum, but the Green Frog's forms a long skin fold along the back.

Bullfrog tadpoles are large, dark-green, and can grow up to 15 cm long. They can stay in the tadpole stage for up to two years. For this reason, Bullfrogs need to breed in water sources that remain filled all year. Bullfrogs can live up to ten years.

The biggest problem with Bullfrogs is that they take over the territory of native species, often by eating their rivals. They are voracious and will eat anything that will fit in their mouths. That would include the beautiful little Pacific Chorus Frog I saw earlier this summer. Large Bullfrog tadpoles also present a problem, taking food sources away from tadpoles of native frog species.

You can help their further spread. Do not transport either live adults or tadpoles. If you notice a new colony of Bullfrogs developing, contact BC Frogwatch. -- Margy

Reference: B.C. Frogwatch Program (online)

Coastal BC Animals: Western Alligator Lizard

Western Alligator Lizard

I don't often see lizards around Powell Lake, but on a warm summer day we discovered one along the sandy shore of Chippewa Bay.

Our friend John loves critters, large and small. Looks like the feeling is mutual.

The Reptiles of British Columbia website says there are four varieties of lizard in BC. I had a hard time deciding, but I'm pretty sure this one is a Northwestern Alligator Lizard. The other option was a Western Skink, but this one didn't have a blue tail or white stripes.

Northwestern Alligator Lizards often flee, bite, or lose their tails if threatened. This one was quite docile and even let us pick it up for a posed shot. It then proceeded to climb John's arm to perch on his warm shoulder. Once back on the ground, it posed for a few more shots before heading off into the rocks.

The lizard's diet includes insects and spiders. We have plenty of those. They also thrive in cool, wet climates. We have plenty of those too. Because of their wide choices of habitat, you will find them in forests, grasslands, banks of streams and lakes, and even ocean beaches.

Alligator Lizards hibernate underground in the winter and remain nearby all year long. Females use live birth for 4-6 young in the late summer every other year. It takes that long to recover from the live birth process. Their primary predators are snakes, birds of prey, and even house cats for city cousins.

Summer is basking time, so if you are walking on a sandy beach keep your eyes on the ground. You might find a photogenic Northwester Alligator Lizard posing just for you. -- Margy

Coastal BC Animals: Black Slug

 Black Slug

There's lots of moss, sticks, leaves and other debris lying on the forest floor. That's called duff. I found this slimy visitor taking advantage of this buffet of blow down.

Slugs are in phylum mollusca and genus gastropoda. The Black Slug (Arion ater) is from Europe, but was introduced into British Columbia in 1941 and has been considered a serious pest since 1962. They can grow up to 18 cm, pretty big for the slug world.

They are characteristically black in colour, have tentacles (eyes and sensory organs) at the front, and tubercles (rough projections) on their back. They have the distinction of being hermaphroditic and can self-fertilize. This makes reproduction quick and easy. They start at about three months and lay about 150 small round eggs at a time. During their 1-2 year lifespan, they can produce a tremendous amount of offspring, and so on, and so on, if you get my drift. That is one of the reasons they are such a tremendous pest.

Touch one and they roll up into a ball and sway from side to side.

I haven't found any in my garden, only up on the cliff or out in the forest along shady trails. They typically feast on feces, dead animals, fungi, algae, lichens and decomposing plant matter. That sounds pretty beneficial, but they also enjoy ingesting live plants and can dramatically alter the ecosystem. Eradication is near impossible, with mechanical removal the most successful method. That may work in a small garden, but not in the open forest. I guess that means they're here to stay. -- Margy

Coastal BC Reptiles: Pacific Chorus Frog

 Pacific Chorus Frog

We have lots of critters up at our float cabin on Powell Lake. Most of them are annual returnees, but this year I saw my first Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla). I went to water my zucchini plant and there he was, sunning himself on one of the large leaves.

A Pacific Chorus Frog on a matching zucchini leaf.

The Pacific Chorus Frog is common in Southern BC west of the Rockies and on Vancouver Island. It can be found in the woods, meadows, and even in urban areas. They come in light grey, tan, bronze or bright emerald green. You can see which kind I found.

This colour is great for camouflage on summer plants.

They are small frogs, up to 5 centimetres in length. A distinguishing mark is the mask-like stripe that starts at the nostrils and continues all the way to the shoulder.

This view shows the sticky toe pads on their feet to assist in climbing.

Pacific Chorus Frogs breed mostly in temporary water bodies that dry up later in the summer months. This prevents enemies such as fish and bullfrogs from raiding their eggs and young. Powell Lake has a good sized population of invasive bullfrogs, garter snakes and trout, so breeding here must be a challenge.

Mating season comes in the spring. Next year I'll have to listen more carefully for their krek-ek song. -- Margy

Reference: B.C. Frogwatch Program (online)

Coastal BC Animals: Freshwater Sponge

Freshwater Sponge

Last summer I discovered an unusual growth on the steel cables used to anchor our float cabin to shore. I am not 100% sure about my identification, but I think it is correct. If anyone reading this post has other ideas I would love to hear them.

Freshwater sponge on steel anchor cables in Powell Lake, BC.

Freshwater Sponge (Spongilla lacutris) looks like a plant because of it's green branched structure, but it is a member of Phylum Porifera that includes fresh and salt water sponges. Sponges are part of the animal kingdom. While they may be capable of some movement, they are essentially stationary.

Water flowing through sponges provides them with and food, and carries away waste. Inside specialized cells with flagella (whip like appendages) keep water flowing. Sponges control the amount of water flowing by opening and constricting small pore openings. Sponges feed on bacteria, small bits of organic matter, and algae.

Freshwater Spongilla sponges reproduce asexually by forming buds (gemmules) prior to winter and these develop into adults in the spring. They also reproduce sexually in the summer with larvae moving about freely using cilia to reach their new habitat. They can be found in clean lake waters and slow flowing streams.

I've never seen freshwater sponges at the cabin before. I've watched them throughout the winter. I wonder if spring will bring more. And I wonder what effect they might be having on our steel cables. - Margy

References: Pioneer Union Elementary School District Virtual Zoo (online), A Snail's Odyssey: a journey through the research done on west-coast marine invertebrates (online), and The Phylum Porifera Project (online).