style sheet Canada trip report

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Canada 2002 (April 29th to May 24th) by John and Pauline Moore

It is difficult to know what one should highlight in such a report, as we visited 3 very different areas of Canada, saw over 150 species of birds, the majority of which were "lifers" for us. Having been to Canada previously on a tour, we decided that this time we would go back and visit the areas that we had most enjoyed, but where we had not had enough time. Therefore we booked our flights through a travel agent, also our car hire, but all accommodation was booked over the internet at Bed and Breakfasts. More about this later.

To simplify matters, at this stage it is best to list those birds that were seen at practically every site we visited so here goes! American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Grackle, Starling, Mourning Dove, Killdeer, Great Blue Heron, American Crow and Raven. Not a bad list to become complacent about!

Having flown into Toronto and collected our car we made our way to Mississaga for our first night. A search of the golf course behind the B&B produced a Red Tailed Hawk and a Brown-headed Cowbird plus a Common Redpoll. In the trees behind the house we picked up a Northern Flicker.

Day 2 saw us making our way south to a B&B at Erieau situated on Rondeau Bay. At a lunch stop we heard and then located a Grasshopper Sparrow and to our amazement found several Horned Larks, (Shore Larks) in the same field. Later we learned that this was the most common lark in Canada and was really a very common bird!

Having settled in to our room, we had time to look out onto the lake and amongst many other birds that eventually became very commonplace, we found Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Buffelhead and Great Blue Heron. A walk around the village gave us Killdeer, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Purple Martin and House Sparrow. I mention the last because during our whole trip we saw very few of them.

Our main objective for this phase of our trip was to bird the Point Pelee area having heard about the wonderful migration that they get there at this time of the year. Unfortunately for us the locals said that it was an unusual year in that everything appeared to be about a fortnight late, a tale that was to be repeated at many other areas. What now Global warming? We were repeatedly told that the weather pattern had changed significantly over the last 7-10 years, as I think we all would agree. However, if this was a poor migration, it was wonderful in our eyes.

Point Pelee is by Canadian standards a smallish reserve - by UK standards huge! From the entrance we had to drive 5 miles to reach the Visitors' Centre and from here you were able to take a shuttle bus the remainder of the way to "The Tip" the southernmost point of Mainland Canada! The habitats ranged from Marsh areas to Beaches to Woodland trails to barren wastes where there were cactuses! To bird it properly would take at least a week and we only had 5 days.

The highlights of the first day were undoubtedly a good view of a Northern Cardinal, a noisy encounter with a Blue Jay, our first warblers on migration - Yellow , Black-and-white and Yellow-rumped - plus a Field Sparrow, Hermit Thrush and a Red-headed Woodpecker. On the beach we discovered Bonaparte's , Great Black-backed, Herring and Ring-billed Gullls, Forster's Tern, Red-breasted Merganser and Double-crested Cormorants. Leaving the reserve we called in at a board walk in the marshy area and had a good, if distant, view of a Wood Duck, a recent migration arrival.

Day 3 saw us back at Point Pelee where we had booked a hike for the afternoon with a resident birder who was very good and so we probably saw more than if we had gone around by ourselves. During the morning we made our way to the "Tip" and were pleased to add Palm Warbler, Mergansers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rufous-sided Towhee, Downy Woodpecker, Turkey Vultures and Rose-breasted Grosbeak to our ever growing tick list.

Whilst waiting for the group to assemble in the afternoon, we had a very good view of a Cedar Waxwing plus all the usual resident birds. The walk that followed proved to be one of the highlights of the week. We found 3 varities of Vireo, Warbling,Blue-headed and Yellow-throated, 2 Waterthrush, Louisiana and Northern, 3 more warblers added to the list,Nashville, Prothonotary, and Yellowthroat plus a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The Prothonotary Warblers were the most interesting and one of the handsomest birds we were to see. There was general excitement at the reserve because it looked as though the pair that were there might actually breed this year. As there are only about 12 breeding pairs in the whole of Ontario, everything was being done to encourage them. It did occur to me that the number of birders going to look at them was not conducive in encouraging them to stay! Nevertheless, they provided a great opportunity for photography and must have been the most photographed birds in the reserve!

On leaving the reserve a quick call was made to the Marsh boardwalk where I was lucky enough to catch a Sandhill Crane flying over. It is thought they are breeding somewhere on the marsh, but it is so vast and inaccessible that nobody has proved it as yet. A final bonus on Day 3 was to get lost! However it produced another raptor for us as we watched a Northern Harrier quartering a field and sending the Killdeer into hysterics.

Day 4 we decided to look at Hillman Marsh which is attached to Point Pelee reserve. Travelling along the road by the side of a drainage ditch, Pauline caught sight of a small bird at the near side which upon investigation turned out to be a Green-backed Heron. It was here that we teamed up with a Canadian birder who was most helpful as were all Canadian birders. He led us to Hillman Marsh and was delighted, as we were too, to catch sight of an American Avocet out on the water, his and our first sighting. Amongst other water birds were Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, Mallard, Gadwall, Ruddy Duck,Mute Swan (rare in Canada),and Common Tern. He then led us to a good view of an Osprey and a Belted Kingfisher perched in a tree. Further along the road was a Bald Eagle's nest with an adult sitting on eggs. Taking us on to Wheatley he showed us Great White Egrets, Caspian Tern, American Wigeon, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Common Tern and American Kestrel. Finally we searched the lake at the back of Days' Inn near Point Pelee and were able to find Willet, agreed by the several birders that were there.

On our return to Erieau I searched the bay and was lucky enough to spot Pied-billed Grebe, Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers plus Tree and Barn Swallows.

Day 6 saw us once again at Point Pelee this time booked on a coach trip that was led by 2 English/Canadian birders working for the Quest tour company.

Before boarding the coach we had a very good view of a Baltimore Oriole and a Swamp Sparrow. On the trip itself we saw most of the birds seen on the previous day but added Black-crowned Night Heron to our list plus a Pheasant.

The afternoon saw us birding by ourselves at Point Pelee on the Delaurier Trail where we saw the usual (by now) Sparrows, Warblers andTurkey Vultures which were circling overhead. Chasing a Sparrow into a thick bush, I suddenly realised that I was looking at a completely different bird that obviously considered itself so well camouflaged that it never moved. Grey head, grey body, hardly any eye ring, secretive at the bottom of the bush it could only be one thing - a Gray Catbird. Seeking confirmation at the centre it was agreed that it was this species and that it fitted in well with the pattern of migration as they had been expecting a report at any time.

This was our final day at Erieau and the next day we drove up to Mississauga to spend the night there before flying the next day to Calgary. In all we had seen 111 species of which 90 were "lifers". Not a bad start to our Canadian adventure.

The start of the second phase of the trip was certainly eventful. The temperature in Toronto was in the 70s Fahrenheit so we had packed all our warm clothing and anoraks in our cases as we would quite obviously not be needing them from now on! Wrong decision!! As we were waiting for the plane we heard an announcement that it was snowing in Calgary. No worry just a little flurry we thought. How wrong can you be?! It was soon clear that the pilot was none too sure about landing at Calgary and we eventually learned that they were closing the runway every 30 minutes in order to clear it of snow, and were then allowing a limited number of flights to land before clearing again. As we approached Calgary it became obvious that our "little flurry" was something more substantial and having eventually landed in a snow storm we were greeted by 40 cms of snow and a temperature of -6 degrees Celsius!!

Luckily we were being met by friends so we quickly picked up our car and drove to our Bed and Breakfast stop. The next day, now suitably attired in sweaters and Hellie Hansens, we made our way to Fish Creek. Here we had our first sight of a Magpie, which we later discovered was one of the most sought-after birds with many foreign birders! All the usual birds were seen but we had very good views of a Swainson's Hawk perched in a tree and later it gave a display of soaring before flying onto a telegraph pole that allowed me some video shots. A pair of American Kestrels caught our attention, the male being particularly handsome in his breeding colours. We noticed several Mergansers fly over as did several Franklin's Gulls. A flicker in a nearby tree proved to be a Northern Flicker and we also had a good view of a Downy Woodpecker.

An afternoon trip into Calgary with friends provided us with good views of Osprey and on the Bow River we saw Great and Lesser Yellowlegs, American Wigeon and Mallard.

The following day we had arranged to be taken around the Weaselhead Nature Reserve by one of the locals , Brett Johner whom I knew through the Birdpix group on the internet. He apologised for the weather as it meant several areas that we would have visited were impossible to reach because of the depth of snow. However he took us to his favourite view point overlooking "The Delta" of the reservoir that was just one habitat of the reserve. Of the many ducks and water birds in the delta most noteable were Buffelhead, Red-necked Grebe, Canvasback, Redhead, Trumpeter Swan and a Hooded Merganser. Looking for a Great Horned Owl and Cooper's Hawk we ploughed through thigh deep snow but were unlucky although we did get a closeup of a Raven and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Returning towards the parked cars we looked in to an Aspen area and were rewarded with Pine Siskin, Redpoll, Boreal Chickadee and many Red-breasted Nuthatches although the White-breasted Nuthatch remained elusive. Further on towards the cars we had views of what must be one of Canada's most beautiful birds - the Mountain Bluebird. In all there were about 5 birds with a particularly bright male in breeding colours that conveniently perched long enough in the open for us to get good shots of them with our cameras.

Later that day we moved on to Canmore, a B&B with fantastic views of the Rockies and several new birds. Looking from our bedroom window we added Mountain Chickadee, White-crowned Sparrow and White-winged Crossbills, the latter being in a flock of about 6-7 birds feeding on the pine cones about 6 feet from our window!!

That afternoon saw us on our way to the Athabasca Glacier where we saw an Osprey circling over Banff, a Raven by the side of the road, totally ignoring us, and in a small lake Water Pipits. Additionally we had to wait on the highway whilst 2 mountain sheep made their way leisurely across the road licking the salt off the tarmac.

Convinced by the locals that the trans-Canada Highway would be clear of snow we started off to drive through the Rockies. The roads were clear but we decided to take a diversion as there was a 40 minute wait on Highway 1 due to roadworks at Golden. This turned out to be a lucky decision as it took us through the Columbia Wetlands where we saw several new birds. Bald Eagles circling overhead were now a common sight but the very large brown bird without a white head turned out to be a Golden Eagle.

Driving towards Golden we came across Reflection Lake a few miles outside the town, so we stopped for lunch. Between eating sandwiches and drinking coke I was able to take a close look at what there was on the lake. The first bird to catch my eye was a grebe that on closer inspection with the scope turned out to be an Eared Grebe. The scope also revealed a Tundra Swan and another Hooded Merganser. The Ruddy ducks were putting on displays, scooting around the water making it difficult to get good views of the grebe. We found our first Barrow's Goldeneye along with several Goldeneye plus the usual ducks although a Ring-necked duck did catch our eye. In the rushes at the side we had 2 Marsh Wrens and a calling Reed Warbler which we could not find.

Later that day we arrived in Revelstoke at our B&B overlooking Griffin Lake in the most beautiful situation you could imagine. An old furniture workshop had been converted into a beautiful house providing several bedrooms, a lounge and dining area, by Wayne and Heather who were still working on adding improvements although we wondered how it could be made any better!! Taking a walk along the trail that Wayne had recently cut through the wood, with our bear bells attached to our wrists to warn the bears we were around, but which also scared the birds of course, we saw very little on our way out. By now, Pauline was happy that there were no bears around so the bells were silenced on our way back and we were rewarded with a House Wren and a Pileated Woodpecker that showed its head from its nest hole before coming out to give us a good view of this largest Canadian woodpecker.

On the lake itself were Buffelhead and Common Loon, whilst in the surrounding trees we found Yellow-rumped warblers, Fox Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler and overhead we had the usual Bald Eagles an Osprey and a Golden Eagle. We learned later that these were regular visitors as the stream leading out of the lake was the spawning area for Rainbow trout, several we saw being well over 4lbs, and also the 5 species of Canadian salmon.

Our next stop on our drive through the Rockies was at Kamloops and as we were early arriving we decided to take a trip further up the mountain where we came across Lac du Bois, and what a fabulous find it turned out to be. Throughout our trip there had been a noticeable shortage of waders or Shore birds as the Canadians call them. Lac du Bois soon put this right.

Along with the usual Killdeer, Buffelhead and American Wigeon we also had several European species, notably Dunlin, Pintail and Shoveller ducks. However a wader at the far end of the lake attracted attention with the scope and proved to be something I had not seen before. Size is always deceiving but suddenly in the scope I had it alongside a Yellow-crowned Sparrow and realised it was the same size or possibly a little smaller. The only possibility was a Least Sandpiper and this was confirmed later as they are apparently quite common at this time of the year in this area. Also on the lake were Greater and Lesser Scaup, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs plus the usual Ruddy ducks. In the scrub around the lake we found Swamp , Golden-crowned, and White-crowned Sparrows. Pauline drew my attention to 2 waders that had appeared which at first sight appeared to be Black-tailed Godwits. However further investigation rejected this assumption and we settled for Long-billled Dowitcher in full breeding plumage.

Perhaps one of the best sightings of Hirundines was also here. We had Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Violet Green Swallow and Purple Martin. As we left we heard a bird singing on a stump which turned out to be a Western Meadow Lark. At the B&B we added Rusty Blackbird but were unable to locate the Grouse which had populated the hillsides. This finished the 2 phase of our trip with our tick list round about 140 species. Before we left Kamloops, sitting in the lounge of our B&B, we were able to see a black bird on the lawn which was identified as a Rusty Blackbird.

On leaving, we decided to take a last look at Lac du Bois to see if there were any more arrivals. Apart from the birds that we had seen the previous day there was now a Redhead present and in the surrounding scrub we located a Tennessee Warbler and a new tick in a Canada Warbler.

Now well on our way to Vancouver along the Trans Canada Highway we saw a collection of birds that were by now becoming commonplace but we did add Vaux's Swift to our list. Our B&B was situated just outside Vancouver at White Rock which is a delightful sea-side resort. Unfortunately our time here coincided with the tide being out otherwise I am sure we would have added quite a few sea birds to our list. As it was we were well rewarded at the Breakaway Motel, our B&B for that night, with good sightings of Golden-crowned Sparrow, Redpoll, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco, Purple Finch and Glaucous Gull, the 3 latter birds being new on our list. All these were on the lawn outside our accommodation.

The following day saw us making our way to Vancouver to embark on the "Norwegian Wind" for an Alaskan Cruise. Our brush with American immigration officials because we did not have a black pen to fill in their forms is best forgotten as it was the prelude to chaotic organisation for embarkation on the boat which took very nearly 3 hours!! The few days that followed were all at sea and although we saw quite a few seabirds we were unable to identify them all because of the distance away and the speed they were travelling at. It was not until we docked at Juneau and were on a tour with a local naturalist that we again encountered wild life.

We had a good view of a Humped-back Whale as it surfaced and spouted water several times. On the water there was a huge raft of Surf Scoter, Bald Eagles were in the trees along with many Ravens and also a Winter Wren that became our 147th tick.

From Juneau we made our way to Skagway where the town was inundated with Ravens and various hirudines. Later we moved on to Haines where we had booked a trip with a local naturalist whose assistant was a keen birder so we made ourselves known and she helped us to identify several new birds.

In the harbour were sea lions and several seals whilst on the rocks we had our first view of Harlequin Ducks. Our new found friend pointed out that the crows we were looking at, although resembling the American Crow, were in fact a separate species, the Pacific West Crow. In the bay were Loons, Barrow's Goldeneye, Shovellers and waders that were eventually identified as Short-billed Dowitchers. I brought to the attention of our new friend a bird that was moving around on a nearby rock at which she became quite excited. It was a Northern Waterthrush, a first for her and a bird that is not commonly seen in this region. However, probably the highlight of the evening was a sighting of an American Dipper on the rocks only about 10 metres away. What was even more interesting was that its nest was quite clearly seen on the side of the rock. The gulls that were now common were identified as Mew Gulls and were taking the place of the Ring-billed Gulls we had seen further south.

The next call was to Glacier Bay, and I must admit the sight of the glaciers and the sound of them calving was more distracting than looking at any birds. However we did see Black-legged Kittiwakes that had a colony on the glacier, Killitz's Murrelet, identified by the park ranger who had joined the ship, Black Oystercatchers that flew by and the usual Mew and Bonaparte's Gulls plus a Glaucous-winged Gull. During the remainder of the cruise we saw very little although any sea bird expert would probably have had a field day!

Following disembarkation, almost as chaotic as embarkation, we were able to get to our ferry to take us to Vancouver Island with about an hour to spare. Our accommodation here was in a B&B situated on Shawnigan Lake. However the only birds on the lake appeared to be a pair of Mergansers. Nevertheless we were not to be disappointed as from our lounge window we caught sight of a Stellar's Jay in the tree opposite about 20 feet away. What a brightly coloured bird, almost as colourful as the Mountain Bluebird! As if this was not enough what looked like a large bumblebee appeared on the next door neighbours feeder - our first sighting of a Rufous-sided Hummingbird. At first we thought it to be a Ruby-throated Hummingbird as when it turned its hear it showed a brilliant red throat as the sun caught it, but the green in the wings proved it to be the former rather than the latter.

The next morning as we sat having our breakfast a hummingbird came to the feeder outside the window and we had a great view of it hovering about 3 feet away from us, drinking from the sugar water put out for it.

We decided a visit to Simenos Marsh was our next port of call and from a specially built rampart we were able to see two swallows - Tree and Violet Green both within easy photographing distance and perching on their man made nest boxes. The marsh provided no waders at all but we did see Shovellers, Yellow Warblers, Savannah, Swamp and Fox Sparrows, Yellowthroat, Purple Finch, Cowbird and Bald Eagles.

Moving on to Cowichan Bay we had excellent views of a Rufous-sided Towhee, Brown Thrasher and dozens of Hummingbirds perched on the electric wires. Mill Bay Nature reserve, in the same area was a wooded pine forest with some deciduous trees in addition. Here we added Chestnut-backed Chickadee to our list.

Making our way back to Shawnigan Lake we decided to take a walk along the recently constructed Trans Canada Trail which when complete aims to go from East to West all the way across Canada. Nothing extra was added but once again we had excellent views of Steller's Jay, White-crowned Sparrow, Cowbird and Purple Finch.

May 22nd was our last day on Vancouver Island so as we made our way towards Victoria to catch the ferry we looked in at Witty Lagoon, just outside Victoria. In the first glade, deciduous trees, we spotted Brown Creeper and a new one for our list, Willow Flycatcher. As in previous days we were becoming a little complacent about seeing such birds as Belted Kingfisher, Killdeer, Dark-eyed Junco, Rufous-sided Hummingbird and Chestnut-backed Chickadee, but we did add a further bird to our list - Brewer's Blackbird.

Prior to leaving on the 24th we again stayed in White Rock and decided to bird the Willy Ross Trail which was right in the middle of a residential area but had been specially saved by the local residents from development. Again we saw all the usual sparrows and chickadees, wrens and bald eagles but we did add a final bird to our list - Wilson's Warbler.

So finally we returned our car and headed for the airport for our return flight. We had travelled across Canada seeing a variety of habitats, had seen well over 150 different species the majority being lifers. We had experienced the hospitality of all our B&Bs, the friendliness of Canadian birders and some really beautiful birds. The highlights? Difficult to say but probably what sticks in the memory were the views of the Prothonotary Warbler at Point Pelee, the Mountain Bluebirds at Weasel Head Nature Reserve, the Hummingbirds and Steller's Jay at Shawnigan Lake. A further thought was how different and attractive were the sparrow species we had seen, very different from our rather drab species. So our trip was over, but I am sure we will be back again, possibly looking at the North East this time, which is apparently even more spectacular than the Rockies.

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