Article by: Julia Shewan, Conservation Programs Assistant, CVWMA

 

Hey there folks. I’m sure you are, like me, just waiting to see what’s going on with the Leach Lake double-crested cormorant and great blue heron colony, am I right?! Well, wait no longer, we have completed our annual nest count and crunched through the numbers. For those of you who might not know this survey, we use a drone to take aerial photos across the colony in late June and then review the photos and count the visible nests.

 

Nest counts for cormorants and herons were roughly 182 and 48, respectively. Compared to previous years counts, the number of cormorant nests declined in 2025 while heron number were relatively stable. We plan to continue monitoring to see if these trends continue in the future, so you can be sure to check back next year for an update!

 

It has been interesting to watch the changes in the spatial distribution of nests over time. Historically, most nesting took place right adjacent to Kootenay River. Over time, the core of nesting activity has pushed inland right up to the interior edge of the riparian area. We speculate that spatial shifts have been in part caused by loss of nesting trees. Trees that are used repeatedly for nesting are weakened or eventually killed as excrement builds up, so over time limbs are lost, and entire trees fall over.

 

 

 

 

Article by: Marc-Andre Beaucher, Head of Conservation Programs, CVWMA

 

As summer is quickly winding down, I was going through some of the photos I took over the season and was reminded that it was a spectacular and productive year for many organisms. Spring and early summer brought on a pretty good flower bloom show and noticeably some of the non-native plants appeared to do quite well. Last year’s hot and dry year and this year’s mix of hot and rainy weather probably had something to do with it!

 

As summer progressed, blossoms turned into colourful fruits and berries and as I walked along Wildlife Road near our office, I could not miss noticing the abundance of bitter cherries and blue elderberries, as well as red-osier dogwood berries. Some red-osier dogwoods were still blooming in mid-September! Other species of plants I have noted to have abundant berries were Oregon grapes, roses, and bearberries.

 

While looking at plants, one cannot neglect observing the many species of colourful butterflies foraging from flower to flower. Again, walking along Wildlife Road offers numerous butterfly encounters though getting good pictures of these is much more challenging then getting good pictures of flowers and berries!

 

I hope something colourful and wild caught your attention this past summer as well!