This trip was a short break away from the summer heat and humidity of Texas and not specifically a birding trip, but as birders, my husband, John, and I never go anywhere without our binocs and cameras. We hoped to see a few new birds, even though this was our 4th visit to this beautiful area. We flew from Houston to Calgary, rented a car and drove west on Hwy 1, to Canmore, which is located just to the south of Banff National Park. The drive takes about 90 minutes from Calgary airport.
Over the 6 days, we logged 64 species, including 4 lifers. We also had some wonderful wildlife encounters, the best being the opportunity to watch a family of Common Loons for about 45 minutes, while the 2 parent loons repeatedly dived under the clear water of a mountain lake to find food. When one of the adults swam some way down the lake, the other began to call in that eerie, haunting sound that we've only ever heard in the movies!! Photo of one of the adults, below.
The second great experience was when a coyote came down out of the woods, while we were driving along the Smith-Dorian/Spray Trail, a dirt road in Kananaskis Country. He loped along, marking his territory, as we kept up with him in the car, and he even stopped to drink from the drainage channel alongside the road. Fortunately, we had the 70-300mm IS zoom lens on one of the cameras and l got some great shots - one attached below.
Our third magic moment and great photo op. was watching a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers feeding their young. The nest hole was in an aspen very close to a picnic area, giving us superb views. I can't post a nest photo here, unfortunately, so I've posted one of a nestling looking out of the nest hole on the World Photography Forum - here's a link:
[size=2][color=#800080]http://www.worldphotographyforum.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=8182
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Here's a brief run down of where we went and what we did:
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Emerald Lake, Yoho NP: walked around the lake and had fantastic up close looks at an American Three-toed Woodpecker, which was our first lifer of the trip. Also Violet-green Swallows which were nesting in the eaves above the patio, at the Cilantro on the Lake Restaurant - photo posted on WPF: [size=2]http://www.worldphotographyforum.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=8183
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Hiked from Lake Louise to the Plain of the Six Glaciers. Went as far as we could up the Victoria Glacier valley, enjoyed tea and homemade bread at the Victoria Teahouse, and returned to Lake Louise via the Highline Trail - a 10 mile roundtrip. Not a very birdy day, but did see a MacGillivray's Warbler (lifer) on this trek.
Next day - drove along Bow Valley Trail, into Kananaskis Country, with a short hike on the Marl Lake Loop (mostly drive-birding today, due to aching muscles from the 10 mile hike the previous day!)
Johnston Canyon to Upper Falls - on previous occasions we've seen American Dipper here and once a fleeting glimpse of a Black Swift, but dipped this time. Good looks at a Cordilleran Flycatcher made up for it. Later drove along Vermilion Lakes road, where we had our only sighting of Bald Eagle this trip. Beautiful scenery - see photo of Mt Rundle from the Vermilion Lakes, below.
Lake Minnewanka - hiked the Stewart Canyon trail. Finished the day with a hike around nearby Johnson Lake - Common Loon family seen here.
Local birding around Canmore, including the Policeman's Creek Trail System - lots of Yellow Warblers here.
Bird species list - 64 (includes species seen en route between Calgary and Canmore)
Common Loon
Canada Goose
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Rufous Hummingbird
American Three-toed Woodpecker (lifer)
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Hammond's Flycatcher (lifer)
Cordilleran Flycatcher (lifer)
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Winter Wren
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Varied Thrush (heard only)
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Black-billed Magpie
Clark's Nutcracker
American Crow
Common Raven
European Starling
House Sparrow
Warbling Vireo (heard only)
Pine Siskin
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler (lifer)
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark (heard only)
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Mammal species seen:
Coyote (Kananaskis Country)
Moose (Kananaskis Country)
Elk (Bow Valley Parkway)
Bighorn Sheep (Lake Minnewanka and near Banff)
American Mink (Lake Louise)
Hoary Marmot (on the moraines below the Victoria Glacier)
Columbian Ground Squirrel (Kananaskis Country)
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Johnston Canyon)
Red Squirrel (Johnston Canyon)
Please feel free to contact me via PM if you want any more information on locations.
Helen,
Great photos and a pretty good list of birds. I enjoyed reading your report.
Great visit.