Arrow Lakes, BC

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 24 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

A Very Cooperative Hoverfly

On a recent canoe ride, heading south from our favourite Taite Creek campground, we stopped at a deserted apple orchard a few kilometres from the Taite Creek bay. Biene spotted an abundance of apples in the abandoned orchard and being the inveterate gathering she started picking claiming they make excellent apple sauce. Myself being inspired by my blogging friend Steve Schwartzman was eagerly looking for some wildflower. But all I could find was a bedraggled daisy with its petals curved downward. Great was my joy when I discovered a hoverfly sitting down for a late pollen dinner. She was so preoccupied with feasting on the pollen that she paid no attention to my camera a mere five cm away from the flower. Here are five photos of the same insect and the same flower. Enjoy.

Thank you my little hoverfly for being so cooperative!

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 20 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Our Hike to the Real Waterfalls

In the past few weeks, my wife and I crossed the Arrow Lake and the Needles Ferry Path a number of times. I proudly announced that we travelled up the Whatshan River to the waterfalls. When I recognized that I had made a mistake and heard that the waterfalls were far more inland, I invited my wife to go exploring. Attempting to climb the steep embankment almost turned into a disaster. Biene struggled very hard on all fours to inch her way up to the top from which I could only shout words of encouragement. When she finally stood on safe and stable ground, she was very happy that she did not give up. We were both rewarded with a splendid view and hike to the elusive waterfalls, which is the content of the video below. Enjoy!

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 39 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

The Four Seasons Country

Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis – Ovid

The days are getting shorter, the air is crisp in the early morning hours, bees and bumblebees slumber longer on our sunflowers, the redfish are spawning, the signs of autumn are written on Nature’s colourful pages. As we journey from one season into another, it is seems fitting to devote a blog post to the eternal cycle of our four seasons country. I selected a few images from my archive presenting Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter in that order. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 36 Comments

Rescued Beetle on a Lettuce Leaf

A beautiful beetle was drowning in a sprinkling can. I filled up the can, so the beetle was able to crawl out. It was so exhausted from floating in the water for such a long time that it lay still on the top giving me time to study that poor little thing. I quickly got my movie camera and placed the beetle on a lettuce leaf. By now it had become active and was looking for a way to get off the lettuce leaf. Much later when I was editing the video clip, I discovered that apart from almost having drowned in the sprinkling can, the beetle also suffered from an invasion of lice that were roaming all over him. I wanted to help it get rid of these little pests but when I returned the next day to the garden the beetle was gone.

Does anyone know the name of this beetle?

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 33 Comments

Nature – The Greatest Artist

Let your eyes roam over a beautiful landscape and you will discover nature’s artwork in a stunning mountain scenery, in a cascading waterfall, in the undulating waves of the ocean, or in the small world of flowers and insects visiting them. Today, my focus is on the driftwood sculptures shaped by the natural forces like wind, sun and frost. These photos were all taken on a recent excursion to ‘our’ island. Enjoy.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 25 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Captured on the Way to the Waterfall

This is canoeing time. At our age especially when it is very hot we prefer our electric motor over the paddles. It also allows us to shoot images with greater precision concentrating on the beauties of nature all around us. At the Fauquier boat dock, we have the gulls relaxing on the log booms, one of our favourite themes. Past the island we visited last time, we navigated into the mouth of the Whatshan river. We needed to be careful, as the river banks are quite steep and there was no place to safely pull the canoe ashore. Lush vegetation greeted us, where ample moisture promoted plenty of growth. Surrounded by a carpet of daisies, a solitary mullein flower (Königskerze in German) attracted our attention. Finally, we arrived at the waterfall cascading into the bay of the Arrow Lake. The picture of the butterfly is a bonus taken in our garden. Enjoy.