June 28 - Dinosaur Provincial Park

In the morning we left Medicine Hat and headed towards Calgary. About halfway in between, and a bit to the north is Dinosaur Provincial Park, set on the Red Deer River. There is a campground in the valley that we stayed at back in the 90's.



The first view of the park from the west entrance is spectacular.



Edith wanted to spend some time in the museum and I set out on the Cottonwood trail along the river. Although I put mosquito repellant on, I was surrounded by the little buggers for the last half of my walk.

The first bird seen was the familiar Eastern Kingbird.

Eastern Kingbird - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

I heard Brown Cowbird calling and when I found them they were in the middle of some dirty business.

Brown Cowbirds - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

After the interlude, they pretended nothing had happened, but it was time to find a host (or hosts) to brood the eggs and raise the chicks.

Brown Cowbirds - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

I heard a Flicker in the area and got this shot of it.

Northern Flicker - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

My most exciting sighting of the day was not a bird. I had not seen a Monarch Butterfly since I was a kid in Alberta (one possible sighting in Ryder Lake near Chilliwack a couple of years ago).

This one was unmistakeable.

Monarch Butterfly - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

I walked back near the campground and found some interesting birds there. It reminded me that there had been many birds when we camped there years ago. 

First up was a Cedar Waxwing.

Cedar Waxwing - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

I heard a bird high up in a nearby tree squawking and whistling like there was no tomorrow. At first I though it was a Northern Mockingbird, but it did not match the photo on my bird app. I finally realized it was a Brown Thrasher, another noted noisemaker. I'd seen one the previous day, this one was more in the open.

Brown Thrasher - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

There were many swallows flying around and I remembered that there were Cliff Swallows nesting here in the past. All the nests were under a bridge over a small stream. It was impossible to get a decent photo as they came and went too fast. This was my best effort.

Cliff Swallows - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta - 2017 Bird #177

Finally, one of my favourite birds to see is the Common Nighthawk. Like yesterday, they were flying around in the daylight, making their Bzzzt sound. It was hard to catch up with them with the camera, but I had a few successes.

Common Nighthawk - Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

It was time to leave the park and make our way to Calgary to visit family.  I'd squeeze in some birding there as well.