Springtime ~ Spring Blossoms ~ Kamloops, BC

Is it Springtime yet?  Spring is coming to Kamloops, as it does every year but we just aren’t sure when !  We know that the official first day of spring has come and gone and that snow has all but disappeared from the corners of our great city but do we know when Spring blossoms actually arrive?  Some things we do know.

 

Mt. Paul and Mt. Peter ~ Kamloops, BC

We know that there is beauty in ever season and we are fortunate to have all four seasons in Kamloops.  When winter is done, it takes awhile for the cold to leave the ground and allow the new growth to happen.  We will have green on our hills once the sunshine has time to warm it all up and we’ll be thrilled to see the green before the heat of the summer sunshine turns it brown again.

 

Tree lined path of Albert McGowan Park ~ Kamloops, BC

We know that the deciduous trees will grow new leaves and dress the branches that were bare and cold all winter.  We will soon hear the robins sing their songs.  The trees will give the birds places to build their nests to lay their eggs then when the time is right, they will teach their babies to fly.

 

Spring blossoms in Kamloops, BC

We also know that the blossoms will explode one day soon on our flowering cherry or plum and other trees and color our tree lined streets and walkways.  This will give the bees places to buzz around and get their nectar and to pollinate the blossoms for us.

 

Spring at Miss Wende's Adventure Golf ~ Kamloops, BC

Blossoms bring beauty to any tree like this beautiful tree at Miss Wende’s mini golf on Summit Dr. and plays dress up with the gorgeous pink blossoms. The shame is that the blossoms don’t last long so we shall enjoy them while they’re here.

 

Roadside flowers on Tranquille Road ~ Kamloops, BC

We know the trees are the stars of the blossoms but there are flowers blossoming all over town.  The crocuses are one of the first ones to pop out of the ground and tell us all that spring is coming.  These tiny flowers line the roadway on our drive out to Tranquille Wildlife Management Area.

 

Albert McGowan Park ~ Kamloops, BC

City parks like Albert McGowan have a great assortment of trees, and this park is not as old as some of the others so the trees are not as large or mature as in other parks but they sure do put on a great show of color in the spring.

 

Springtime blossoms ~ Kamloops, BC

Spring will arrive and we can all hope that Mother Nature has decided that time has come and that all her spring wardrobe is ready to come out of her winter closet and show us her beautiful blossoms once again.

 

Brown-eyed daisies in Westsyde, Kamloops, BC

We know that many more plants and flowers will pop up on the hills when Spring does get here.  The hills over the North Thompson River are dotted with hardy brown-eyed daisies to brighten up our days.

 Kamloops, BC

We also know the warmer weather soon allows the winter snow to runoff the distant mountains which will raise the water level of the Thompson River and bring so much more to life. The sage on the hills comes alive and we will once again see green hills surrounding Kamloops.

What we do know is that Springtime is almost here. Mother Nature knows what she is doing and she is very busy making Spring happen! Now let’s just sit back and enjoy the wonders to come in our hometown of Kamloops, BC.

Tranquille Wildlife Management Area ~ Herons ~ Pelicans ~ Kamloops, BC, Canada

We love Kamloops for all that it has to offer and that includes the visitors that we get. We were enjoying a nearby park recently and I was surprised to find one of those visitors, who flew up into a tree while I was looking at the flowers ! I did not know what he was, but was taking lots of pictures and now I was on a mission to find out. The first thing I had to do was get my pictures onto my computer to get a better look at him. The next thing I would do is put the binoculars in the car for future surprise visitors !

 

Visiting heron on McArthur Island

What I had taken a picture of was a visiting heron. He wasn’t exactly the color that I was familiar with but then, I hadn’t seen herons in Kamloops before. There are more than one kind and this one appears to be a different color from the Great Blue Heron (clik here to read more) that we had seen on our RV adventures.

Tranquille Wildlife Management area in July

We had visited the Tranquille Wildlife Management area in July and the water covered a much larger area then. In 1989 there were 245 hectares of land designated as the Tranquille Wildlife Management Area in order to manage valuable wetland habitat for waterfowl and other species that were dependent on the wetlands. 

Tranquille WMA with high water

This area 18 km (10 mi) west of Kamloops where the Thompson River enters Kamloops Lake, is typically flooded from mid May to mid July due to the spring runoff into the Thompson River and is part of the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected area.

Canada Geese sit on fencepost

The Canada Geese were using fence posts to perch on due to the high water in July.  They are regular visitors, if not residents at many places in Kamloops. Typical fowl found in the wetlands aside from the Canada Geese are swans, mallards, Goldeneye and Wood Ducks.

Canada Geese and goslings in July

With the water so high, it came close to the roadside. I was able to see the Canada Geese and their young as they swam over the fence ! The best birdwatching time at the Tranquille WMA is March, April, May, Sept, Oct., and November but it looks like we have visitors during summer months, too.

 

Tranquille WMA with low water in August

Now that we knew the park visitor was a heron, we were on our way out to see the Tranquille Wildlife Management area again as my search for answers had said that there were visiting herons out there. Now we know where the visiting heron was likely headed to, he had just missed his target by 18 km (10 mi) !

A flock of heron at Tranquille WMA

We found the rest of his flock, hopefully he did, too. The article (clik to read that article) I found said that there were Great Blue Herons out there, and this was written by Rob Butler, so I will believe they were gray herons. The same article said there were other visitors out there, too and this I had to see with my own
eyes !

Pelicans at Tranquille WMA

These wetlands are resting areas for spring and fall migration but nothing would have made me expect these visitors in the middle of our summer months, let alone these ones. There were four large white pelicans swimming around the pond.

 

Visiting Pelicans in Kamloops, BC, Canada

It isn’t possible to get close to the pond so it was difficult to get pictures of the pelicans. They were busy diving for food and were swimming very quickly but I did manage to get some proof that they were really visiting Kamloops on this August afternoon. The only other time we’d seen white pelicans was on our visit to Texas during our RV adventure.

We know that Kamloops is the chosen destination for many visitors but these ones are here without many people knowing it, and I am glad to be one that does.

This tells another reason why we love Kamloops ~ there is just no place like home.