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NATURE
· Rich Wetlands in the Creston Valley
FIRST PEOPLES
· Yaqan Nukiy, People of the Water
HISTORY
· Too Much Water
This is a link to a map of the waters of British Columbia with optional close-ups of the Southeastern Valleys and Vancouver Island's West Coast.

FOCUS  Southeastern Valleys -- Fresh Waters

Rich Wetlands in the Creston Valley
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This is a photograph of the marshes at Duck Lake, in the Creston Valley, with clouds reflected in the water.
An abundance of wildlife lives in the marshes at Duck Lake, including such provincial rarities as Leopard Frogs and Forster's Terns. Douglas Leighton.
Tucked between the Selkirk and Purcell mountains, the Creston Valley is one of few wide, flat valleys in southern British Columbia.
Between the mountains, the mighty Kootenay empties into the deep basin of Kootenay Lake. For millennia, it has overflowed its banks with every spring freshet, dropping its rich silt over the valley floor, creating a 16,000-hectare floodplain around Creston.
Riverside forests of Black Cottonwood line some reaches of the Kootenay River in the Creston Valley. Sydney Cannings.
This is a photograph of riverside forests of Black Cottonwood along the Kootenay River in the Creston Valley.
Marshes and shallow lakes support fish, frogs, waterfowl and dragonflies. Smaller streams tumble in water and nutrients from the mountains. The diversity of streams and rivers, deep and shallow lakes, ponds and marshes make this area an excellent example of British Columbia's many freshwater ecosystems.
An abundance of shallow-water fish attracts many Ospreys to the Creston Valley. Douglas Leighton.

Hear the Osprey

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Bird sound
This is a photograph of an Osprey about to land on a nest, with an audio button to hear its call.
Hear the Great Blue Heron

Audio button to hear call of Great Blue Heron./p>

Bird sound
Hear the Western Grebe

Audio button to hear call of Western Grebe.

Bird sound
The valley hosts many migrant birds. About 6,000 Tundra Swans fly through each spring, accompanied by Canada Geese. In the fall, 70,000 waterfowl gather. Fewer remain to breed, but large numbers of Black Terns (450 or so) nest here, and it is the only place where Forster's Terns breed in British Columbia. This valley is home to one of only three breeding colonies of Western Grebes in the province, and the Great Blue Heron colony is the largest in British Columbia's interior region.
Rich Wetlands in the Creston Valley - 
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