Kootenay SW Parks
4750 Hwy 3 A V0X 1N1 Nelson, BC, Canada

There are Mountain Bluebirds at Kokanee Creek! I watched them from a distance this week - I am not really able to hobble out on trails yet. But here is one of my favourite bluebird photos from this time last year. Bluebirds at Kokanee Creek are a wonderful spring event!

https://vimeo.com/534130664 A very short video showing a very large Black Bear at Six Mile - out looking for food after a long winter hibernation

https://vimeo.com/533621611 They are back! A bear and a cougar up at Six Mile this past couple of weeks. And! A Bobcat(s?), a Snowshoe Hare, Coyote, White-tailed and Mule Deer and Elk (one noisily investigating the trail camera). Enjoy the video!

https://vimeo.com/533188107 Six Mile was slowly waking to spring on these trail cam videos taken from mid March to early April. The videos show a Bobcat prowling the woods, White-tailed Deer eating and chasing each other, Coyotes hunting for the next meal, Mule Deer browsing and stotting, an Elk sauntering by, Snowshoe Hares (still snow white) nibbling and hopping and Turkeys trotting and gobbling. All captured on video by our trail cameras - enjoy!

Turtles! Basking in the sun! The first turtles (Painted Turtles) I have seen this year. Spring just keeps getting better! I know. We have no turtles at Kokanee Creek - probably because we don't have the right over-wintering muddy habitat for them. But I thought you'd like to see them!

I have been able to go out and find some spring lately! A Mourning Cloak Butterfly sunning after spending a long winter "asleep"; a Skunk Cabbage spreading the perfume that will attract those wonderful pollinators, a Muskrat looking for some fresh spring greens and, of course, an American Dipper between dips. And spring has just begun!

https://vimeo.com/531984883 I love American Dippers! I love following their bubbly song at any time of year to find the sturdy little songster in the rushing glacial water. I love the way that same little grey songbird swims underwater and then emerges to wink a white eyelid. And I love the way they dip. Enjoy this little dipper songster. Happy Spring!!!

Kokanee Creek Provincial Park especially the wildlife needs our help. You might be forgiven for thinking that, on some days, Kokanee Creek Provincial Park has become an off-leash dog park. The park is not, nor has it ever been an off-leash area at any time of year. Dogs are not allowed on the main beach at all. Many birds and animals regard dogs as predators. And enormous harm can be done to young birds and animals by dogs. And -there is a $115.00 fine for having your dog off-leash in the park. Do your part keep your pets on a leash whenever you visit Kokanee Creek Provincial Park. Our amazing wildlife - and its home - are relying on you!

https://vimeo.com/530123758 Red Squirrels are very, very common at Kokanee Creek. We were lucky to video capture this Bobcat hunting among the rocks where the squirrels often hide. Does the hunter catch the hunted? Maybe not this time but not for want of effort by the cat!

https://vimeo.com/528057599 The coyotes at Kokanee Creek have persisted in checking up on the skunks at the skunk den. Curiosity? or waiting for a culinary opportunity?

Join us for a spring clean-up at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park Provincial Park! Friends of Kootenay Lake is facilitating a #beachcleanup on March 26th and 27th... from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM to remove garbage and polystyrene (Styrofoam) from the shoreline. In order to ensure that we are following provincial guidelines for outdoor gatherings we have limited each clean-up day to 8 volunteer spots. Click the link below to Register!

Kokanee Creek Nature Centre trail camera update. Great News! Timberland Consultants in Nelson B.C. have offered to replace the stolen trail cameras. We do indeed belong to a wonderful community. Thank you!!

https://vimeo.com/505008461 Coots are waterbirds (in the Rail family). You can see "rafts" of coots on Kootenay Lake. They are distinctive birds with white bills (with a small red shield) and black plumage. They have very interesting feet that are not webbed but have lobes on the toes and allow them to swim but also walk easily in marshes. So...what was a Coot doing walking uphill on the snow on a six mile track in the forest??? This trail is about a km from open water, or a wetland. Ponder that for a bit as you also watch Coyotes, a Bobcat, Snowshoe Hares and White-tail Deer and their on-camera cameos. Enjoy the video!

Birding is great in winter. I found a Downy Woodpecker excavating tree bark for insects. I was standing in warm sunshine watching an American Dipper standing on a pedestal of ice lit up by that same sun. Amazing birds surviving just fine in a season of ice and cold!

https://vimeo.com/503940337 Winter is in full swing - and a Ruffed Grouse, some Snowshoe Hares, Whitetail Deer does and bucks, a Bobcat, the coyotes and a couple of elk are caught on the trail cameras at six mile. No sign of Bernie.... Enjoy the video!

The dippers are happily singing, chasing each other and foraging in Kokanee Creek. These photos show a dipper pausing in its winter solo and another with a fishy treasure (probably a sculpin). A day when I see a dipper is a much better day!

https://vimeo.com/502415742 What's Happening at the Park? Well, an ermine in its white winter fur zipped by on the beaver lodge looking, perhaps, for the rodents also zipping by the camera! The beavers are still working away at adding sticks and plastering the lodge with mud. A Saw-whet Owl kept watch on a trail at night, a skunk came out of the den for a look around, a Raccoon ate something off a branch over the spawning channel (maybe lichens?) while two Raccoons disappeared into a large hole on the bank ( a new Raccoon den?). And of course the Snowshoe Hares are active in their winter suits - zooming by the camera too. Enjoy the video!

https://vimeo.com/500621711 A Grey Wolf has spent a couple of days up top at Six Mile - a rare and usually transient visitor. Wolves are much larger than the resident coyotes (wolf tracks are squarish and about 4" across and coyote tracks look longer than wide and are about 2" across). Wolves have much shorter ears than coyotes. Coyotes have a sharper, muzzle compared to the thicker muzzle of a wolf. We have resident coyotes who may not be comfortable in the presence of a wolf. Wolves have been known to prey upon coyotes Enjoy the video!