June 24 - Manning Park and Princeton

Edith and I left home fairly early on this Saturday morning. Our destination was Grand Forks which is only a 7 hour drive from home. We'd make a couple of stops along the way to stretch it out.

Our first stop was Manning Park. Rather than do the usual Resort stop, we headed north up to the Cascade Lookout. This is an 8 Km paved road with many switchbacks. When you reach the lookout, here is the view. The markings on the bench identify the names of all the mountains visible to the south and west.



There were some people here who were feeding peanuts to the Chipmunks and Clark's Nutcrackers.

Clark's Nutcracker - Cascade Lookout, Manning Park BC

They shared some peanuts with us and Edith gave it a try. She had a Nutcracker on her hand shortly.

We went down and I made a quick tour of the Beaver Pond. It was quiet today, I only saw the usual Mallards and this Dragonfly. I don't think I can identify it.

 

We continued on to Penticton and made quick stops at Wayne and Swan Lakes. Wayne Lake had the usual collection of Ruddy Ducks and Coots, but none came close to shore. There were nesting Blackbirds nearby. Here's a shot of a female Yellow-headed.

Yellow-headed Blackbird (F) - Wayne Lake, Princeton BC

We stopped next at Swan Lake and I took a half-decent shot of a Western Meadowlark. It's not great quality, but beats what I took in April. Some years I get brilliant photos of this species, this year it's been tough.

Western Meadowlark - Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, Princeton BC

I was hoping to get my first House Wren of the year here and was successful almost immediately. I'd see more in Alberta in the days to come.

House Wren - Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, Princeton BC - 2017 Bird #167

I saw another small bird nearby and grabbed a couple of shots. It was a Chipping Sparrow. Both of these birds are fairly common in the Okanagan, they cause more of a stir on the coast. Luckily, the sparrow stayed nearby as I snapped some excellent shots.

Chipping Sparrow - Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, Princeton BC - 2017 Bird #168

Chipping Sparrow - Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary, Princeton BC

That was it for birds on this first day, we'd see more as we headed east.

June 25 - Creston Barn Swallows and Cranbrook Water Birds

Our second day of travel involved a fair amount of driving. We left Grand Forks quite early and set out for Wycliffe, a very small town located between Kimberly and Cranbrook.

There are two places I like to visit in the Kootenays, the Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area and Elizabeth Lake near Cranbrook. When we arrived at the Creston location there were warning signs for Grizzly Bears, so I didn't venture too far from the visitor centre!

On the entrance boardwalk I heard a familiar call and snapped one shot of a Western Wood-pewee.


Western Wood-pewee - Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area, Creston BC

At t back of the visitor center is a covered deck with some picnic tables. At this time of year it is taken over by Barn Swallows. There are four to six nests in the area with three or four nestlings in each. The parents are darting in and out continuously with food for the young.

This is the first nest we saw as we entered the area.


Barn Swallows - Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area, Creston BC

Here's a parent taking a respite from the feeding activity.



I caught sight of a small bird hopping around on the picnic tables. It turned out to be a Song Sparrow.


Song Sparrow - Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area, Creston BC

There were some hummingbird feeders in the area, but traffic was sparse. I was hoping for a Calliope Hummingbird, but the only bird I saw was a Rufous male.


Rufous Hummingbird  - Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area, Creston BC

I went out into the open to walk the short trail around the center. It was almost noon now and there was little bird activity except for the Swallows



I did spot an Eastern Kingbird near a small creek. It was a struggle to get a good exposure in the noonday sun.


Eastern Kingbird - Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area, Creston BC

I headed back in and took a zoom shot of one of the other Swallow nests. It looks like the two on the left side of the photo think it's their turn next.


Barn Swallows - Creston Creston Wildlife Management Area, Creston BC

I did a quick tour of the gift shop and admired some of the taxidermy on display. This photo shows the size difference between a Sharp-shinned (left) and Cooper's Hawk.



We left Creston and drove east to Cranbrook. Just to the south of Cranbrook is a small wildlife area name Elizabeth Lake Sanctuary. The lake sometimes provides close-up views of Ducks and Grebes. It was fairly quiet on this day but there were a few waterbirds on the lake.


Ruddy Duck - Elizabeth Lake Sanctuary, Cranbrook BC


Lesser Scaup - Elizabeth Lake Sanctuary, Cranbrook BC (Female at back)

Farther out as an Eared Grebe, perhaps performing a mating display.

Eared Grebe - Elizabeth Lake Sanctuary, Cranbrook BC- 2017 Bird #169

We stayed the night at a fantastic Bed and Breakfast overlooking the St. Mary River in Wycliffe BC. The last bird of the day was a Robin just before sunset.

American Robin - Wycliffe BC

My last photo of the day was this interesting cloud formation:

June 26 - Return to Waterton National Park

After a great breakfast at our B&B, we left Wycliffe, but not before spotting an Eastern Kingbird on a wire as we pulled out.


Eastern Kingbird - Wycliffe BC

We'd decided to visit Waterton National Park again for a couple of reasons:

• the Cameron Lake Road was closed last year
• we didn't take the Lake Cruise due to fatigue (on my part)

This year, we booked a place in Pincher Creek for about half of what we paid in Waterton last year. It's only a 40KM drive to get to the park. 

After buying our boat tour tickets, we had some time to kill and headed up the Cameron Lake road. The first critters we saw were these Bighorn Sheep on the side of the road.

Bighorn Sheep - Waterton National Park, Alberta

Further on up the road,  I heard some bird noises and parked to go have a look. I didn't get too far as something came lumbering out of the forest.

Black Bear - Waterton National Park, Alberta

I backed off and the bear ignored me, but stopped to make a deposit on the grass instead of in the woods.

We later learned from the guide on the boat trip that the Bears here are smaller than the ones on the West Coast. Their diet is almost exclusively berries. As usual, if you leave them alone, they won't bother you.

We reached Cameron Lake, the view was worth the drive.

Cameron Lake - Waterton National Park, Alberta

We returned to town for our boat tour. The cotton from the Cottonwood trees was everywhere. There's some debate if they cause allergies, it did not affect us.

There's not too many birds in the townsite, but it is popular with Crows and Magpies.

American Crow - Waterton National Park, Alberta

Black-billed Magpie - Waterton National Park, Alberta

After a year's wait, we boarded the tour boat that would take us from Waterton Town Centre south and East to Goat Lake Montana. Of course, as we were boarding it started to rain. Undeterred, we sat on the upper deck out in the open.

Our tour guide was a very well-informed young man who had studied at the University of Lethbridge, my home town. He had to be smart and interesting. This video is quite large, I hope it shows properly.

About 10 minutes into our trip I spotted a Common Merganser. I did not point it out to anyone as this was not a birding cruise. We'd need something like a Bald Eagle to spark interest.

Common Merganser - Waterton National Park, Alberta

As we neared the Eastern side of the lake, we spotted a Moose family, a cow and two calves. They were a bit shy of the boat but the Nikon super zoom paid off. By this time the rain had completely stopped.

Moose (F) and two calves - Waterton National Park, Alberta

We reached the end of the lake and disembarked for a brief stop at Goat Haunt, Montana. There's a border station here with staff from both countries. The tour company also transports hikers to this destination and they must clear customs. That's the tour boat on the left.

Here's a rare photo of the two of us taken by a fellow tourist.

I believe this is Mt. Cleveland in Glacier National Park, named after Grover Cleveland, a former president of the US.

 

Here's some interesting mountain peaks that I can't remember any of the information we were given on the tour.

Finally, we saw a bird that everyone got excited about. Since the tour was about 90% American, that's not too surprising.

Bald Eagle - Waterton National Park, Alberta

This next photo is a rock formation that Edith really appreciated. It shows the uplift forces that caused the rock to be forced into these layers.

After the tour we went for a nice meal at the Waterton Chophouse Restaurant.

This final photo reminds me of an old cartoon character named Gumby, desperately fighting the pull of the lake. Maybe it's just me...

June 27 Part 1 - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

We left Pincher Creek early in the morning, heading south and east through Cardston and then east towards Milk River. On the second leg we saw more gophers on the road than I've ever seen in my life.  They'd dart out to the median, hunch down and hope the cars would not hit them. The road was not too busy so their chances were good.

Apparently Hunter S. Thompson has an answer, I leave it to the reader to Google his quote.

It was past noon by the time we reached the park and we were booked into a 2:00 PM tour. This left me some time to look for birds down in the campground along the river.


Near the campground at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

At first I was disappointed as there didn't seem to be much bird life. But I wandered into an empty group campsite near the Milk River and found something to look at. The first bird was the familiar Magpie.

Black-billed Magpie - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

The next sighting was a Gray Catbird, and it wasn't too concerned about my proximity.


Gray Catbird - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

This shot shows the rufous undertail coverts.

Gray Catbird - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

Across the river, I could hear a Belted Kingfisher. It may have had a nest in a cavity in the riverbank.


Belted Kingfisher - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

I'd exhausted the area around the river and decided to tour the campground. It was a weekday, so there were many empty campsites.

I was very excited to see the next bird, even though it is common in the Okanagan and can be seen on the coast. It was my first Mourning Dove of the year. It can be told from the Eurasian Collared Dove by the pointed tail, the single mark on the cheek (each side), and the richer colours.


Mourning Dove  - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta - 2017 Bird #170

Another first sighting of the year flew over, it was a Common Nighthawk - 2017 Bird #171. I couldn't get a photo, but would the next day at Dinosaur Provincial Park (see subsequent posts).

As I walked through one campsite, I flushed a large reddish-brown bird. I immediately thought of a Brown Thrasher. It did stay around and I took a couple of poor shots. I'd see one again the next day as well.


Brown Thrasher - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta - 2017 Bird # 172

This shot shows the face, the large yellow eyes give this bird a sinister look. The Thrasher is about 11.5 inches long and has a 13" wingspan. Thrashers like semi-arid habitats, they are related to Mockingbirds and Catbirds.


Brown Thrasher - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

A more common bird is this immature American Robin.

American Robin - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

Here's a close-up of a Rabbit that was wandering around the campground. It may be a Mountain Cottontail.

Mountain Cottontail?  - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

The last good shot was of a singing House Wren, if you can call the chatter they make singing.

House Wren - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

It was time to return to the Visitor's Center for our tour, a short introduction to the Rock Art of the Park. It also gave us some views of the Milk River and the Hoodoo formations in the park. You can see how the river gets its name.


Milk River - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

Of course, I'm always on alert for birds or butterflies, there were many of these Swallowtails flying around.


Anise Swallowtail - Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta

I thought this rock looked like a giant petrified Frog, but no one else mentioned it.



Here's some of the rock art we saw. Most of it is about 300 years old.



This one depicts a hanging of a native person for a murder. It's hard to see.

There has been some graffiti added over the original artwork.



One last look at the Hoodoos and it was time to move on.


Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta