Belted Kingfisher Aerial ballet

Introduction:

During the Easter Weekend, I spent four wonderful days along the Kitimat River at Kitimat, BC. Bird watching and photography were my interests and activities. The picturesque setting and its wildlife were the source of consolation as I dwelled on its beauty. 

However, my twenty years of residence (1972-92) in Kitimat and my personal experience of its industrialization provoked deeper personal reflections on the movement for sustainable development. I thought back to 1992 when I walked away from the comforts of easy street provided by Eurocan Pulp and Paper. I did not like the disrespect shown by the pulp and paper industry of Canada to aboriginal ownership of forests and traditional lands.

As it turned out, Kingfishers and Mergansers were the most common birds at my river location. It was a few kilometres upstream of the estuary at the head of the Douglas Channel. This fjord, one of the largest on earth, extends southwestwards to the Pacific Ocean.

During the four-day interval, I set up my photography blind location on the east side of the  Kitimat River. It was almost five kilometres directly north of the river estuary.

From 1970 to 2009, treated Kraft mill effluent flowed into the river at the head of an oxbow, a former river channel. The blind location was about 100 meters upstream of this former outfall location.

Effluent had been treated in two stages. Solids were settled out from the Kraft mill effluent; and the effluent had been aerated in an aeration lagoon before its release into the river. The Kraft pulp and paper mill, formerly owned by Eurocan Pulp and Paper Co., had been shutdown and dismantled three years ago. The paper machines were sold and shipped to a mill in Indonesia. Currently, the former Eurocan mill has become a new location for LNG infrastructure.

Aerial dance:

A male and female Kingfisher had established a nest burrow on the west-side of the river. The nest hole was one metre below the top of the sandy, vertical bank and two metres above the river surface. 

The nest was 75 meters across the river from the blind. So, the photographs and videos are not high quality closeups. Nevertheless, they provide important information about Kingfisher habits gained during four long days of birdwatching.

The couple had mated, fished, and travelled up the river and the Eurocan oxbow during my visits. I noticed the couple doing an aerial mating ritual during the previous day. However, it was done too fast for me to make sense of it. Their antics were similar to hummingbirds buzzing each other. So, I decided at the next opportunity to take still photos of the ritual at extremely high shutter speeds.

Already the Kingfishers worked diligently, taking turns digging a burrow for their nest. So, the initial, food gift-giving by the male to the female would have been completed already. 

When one of the Kingfishers entered the burrow, the other one waited patiently nearby perched on a tree. It was about 10 metres downstream at the edge of the river.

During the rainy, dark morning (10:30 AM), the Kingfishers suddenly took a break from digging. They paired up close to the nest in the air. Then they did an incredible aerial dance at a high rate of speed.

During the dance, their call was a quick rattle or buzz. They faced each other about 3 metres above the river. They spun and whirled downwards until they both briefly hit the river surface. Then they rocketed straight upwards 3 metres. 

At their highest point, they spun to face each other. Then they whirled so they were back-to-back. Both birds spiralled downwards onto the river.

 During the two minute aerial dance, they rose to bank height then plunged to the river surface three times. View the still photos in sequence to see their dance.

Concluding thoughts:

Recently, a slide show could be made in blogger simply by adding the photos to a blog post. Now slideshows cannot be made this way. Therefore, presently, I am trying to make a slide show so that the photo sequence would be easier to view.

The lower part of the Kitimat River where I was birdwatching has been the site of intense industrialization during the past six decades. The following industrial facilities have utilized and continue to use the the river today: a city sewage treatment facility, a concrete plant, an asphalt plant, an aluminum smelter, a Kraft pulp and paper mill, a methanol manufacturing plant, and now Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) infrastructure.

The Ocelot Chemicals (now Methanex Corp) methanol plant established in 1987 has gone out of business. The plant location has now been taken over by LNG Canada. So, wildlife, birds, and fish will have new threats at the river location where I enjoyed the merganser and Kingfisher show.

As a result, of the large industrial manufacturing plants, the Haisla, the indigenous people whose traditional territory encompasses this area, began refusing to consume eulachon after Eurocan began operations in the 1970s. This small ocean fish spawns in the spring in the Kitimat River near city centre. However, the river is still a magnate for salmon fishers and wildlife.

As I sat for days in my photography hide watching the coming and goings of the birds, I had plenty of time for reflection. Birds dutifully prepare the way for their next generations totally oblivious to the threats to their food supply. The power of their innocence deepened my reflection about industrial exploitation at the Kitimat River.