Walmart Wetlands

Nicola Lake roadside view

Refreshing fragrances waft from the lakeside and brushes alongside Nicola Lake through the screened windows on our bus. 

It's early morning and we are enjoying a breakfast to prepare us for the trek to Kamloops to visit family. 

View from Big White window

Frank's grandson and his mother have purchased a house and he is now preparing a magnificent back yard garden. The first thing we inhale when we step out onto the back porch is the dynamic fragrance of lilacs. Our visit with them is filled with lively chatter and full meals. They are a pleasure to be with.

We arrive mid-day in Salmon Arm and experience a most disturbing event. We sit outside our bus at the Walmart parking lot and our conversation is interrupted by the sound of barking squawks emanating from the bushes at the edge of the wetlands. My research into the sounds doesn’t clearly identify its source. It sounds a great deal like a Black-crowned Night-Heron.

Coyote ~ courtesy of  Clive Byson

I put the binoculars to my eyes and begin scanning the horizon. A Coyote stares back at me. He releases his gaze and directs his attention to the ground in front of him. Within a few seconds, he captures a gray mouse in his teeth and devours it. I watch him trot across the grass back into the protection of the bushes. I’m impressed because it’s the closest I’ve ever been to a Canis latrans.

Coyote at Walmart

I set my field glasses down and see near us an adorable quail strutting along the fence line. She disappears cloaked in her famous camouflage into a small cluster of beige bushes. 

Grouse ~ Clive Byson

Earlier that day, we walked along the Salmon Arm docks to observe the calm glide of grebes and the dynamic plunge of an osprey as it grabs food from the lake and sits on a wharf post, feasting on his find.

Nature is the ultimate reward between house and pet sits.