Sorry for taking so long to get this post out, but we've had a busy summer with my brother getting married.
We started out Monday morning for Canmore Alberta, to meet up with Ethan (Birdboy) for some birding. This was the first time I'd seen the Rockies, so I took a few pictures before moving on.
We met up with Ethan at Elevation Place, from there we would walk a nearby trail.
One of my target species was a Rufous Hummingbird, we walked along the trail to get to the place where the hummingbird is often seen. Along the way I added a couple lifers, Violet-green Swallow, Mountain Chickadee. We made it to the area with the Rufous Hummingbird, but it was nowhere to be seen.
On the way back, Ethen stopped by his house to get a ride with his mom, while me and my friends walked back to Elevation Place. While we waited for Ethen to arrive, we stopped for lunch. I had a sandwich in my mouth when I saw Ethen running up to me telling me that there was a Harlequin Duck at a nearby pond. I rushed to get my camera and hopped into his van and drove off. Another lifer.
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| Harlequin Duck (eclipse plumage) |
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| Harlequin Duck (eclipse plumage) |
After taking 50 pictures or so, we drove back to Elevation Place, and from there, to Bow Valley Provincial Park.
I was in a vehicle with my friends, behind Ethan and his mom, we saw them pull over on the side of the road scanning a lake for birds. While Ethan checked out the lake, I checked out the mountains, and I spotted this Bighorn Sheep, a new mammal for me.
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| Bighorn Sheep |
We arrived at the park and started hiking the trail, it allowed me to get some photographs of the common White-crowned Sparrow.
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| White-Crowned Sparrow |
Here was something different for me, a Red-shafted Northern Flicker
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| Northern Flicker (red-shafted) |
The trail offered me three more lifers, Townsend's Warbler, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and Willow Flycatcher.
On the walk back I saw an eagle fly over, I was hopeful for a moment that this might be a Golden Eagle, but a quick look dashed those hopes.
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| Bald Eagle |
We went back to Ethan's house, as his family had kindly invited us for supper. We ate a delicious supper and dessert, and headed back to High River. I missed the Rufous Hummingbird, but there was hope. My friends said they wanted to come back the next day to go swimming, so Ethan and I decided to meet up again for one last chance at the Rufous.
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| Brown-headed Cowbird |
It once again looked like a no show, we were there for almost ten minutes before Ethen heard the buzzing of the hummingbird. We walked up slowly in and got some decent pictures.
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| Rufous Hummingbird |
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| Rufous Hummingbird |
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| Rufous Hummingbird |
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| Rufous Hummingbird |
We walked around looking for other birds before we left, but there were no more lifers to be had.
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| Northern Waterthrush |
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
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| Mountain Chickadee |
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| Mountain Chickadee |
Thank you Ethan for taking me out birding, and helping me add birds to my life list. Thank you to the rest of the Denton family for hosting my friends and I, we had a wonderful time. Thanks to Ethan, I got my lifer count up to 13 on the trip, where it remained all the way home.
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