The Enthusiastic Birder: Calgary, Alberta – Day 11 - August 11th

Banff

August 11^th was a day I looked forward to, it was the day we went to Banff. I had heard sooo much about the beauty of Banff, its rivers and lakes, snowcapped mountains, and wildlife, not just birds, but also bears, wolves, and deer. My targeted birds were Mountain (Poecile gambeli) and Boreal Chickadees (Poecile hudsonicus), White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) – a bird that continued to evade me in Calgary, White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and the Kinglets, Ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula) and Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa). Since it was a one-day family trip I decided not to get a birding guide but I stayed with the family and birded along the way.

We took an On-It Regional Transit bus from Somerset. This bus then made a stop in downtown Calgary before heading for Banff. It was a long but very scenic ride, and the bus was very comfortable. I saw many birds along the way but was only able to identify some of the raptors, mainly Red-tailed (Buteo jamaicensis) and Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). I also saw a few Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) as we got into Canmore. My uncle and aunt pointed out a few places of interest along the way like the Olympic Park, Three Sisters Mountains, and a theme park of which I cannot remember the name. Sadly we saw no Bears or Wolves.

We got into Banff City around 11:30 am. I was surprised not to see many birds around, just the poster birds of invasive species worldwide Rock Pigeons (Columba livia) and

House Sparrows

House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) the latter were everywhere throughout the Banff Town area. We took a bus to Lake Minnewanka passing many points of beauty along the way but none of them could have prepared me for the supreme, almost heavenly beauty of Lake Minnewanka. I had lunch, then went off birding. I was a bit weary after eavesdropping on a park ranger explaining to a family that was going off to hike the trails, how to use bear repellent and mentioning the fact that encounters with bears were more likely at that time of the year because fruiting plants were prevalent which brought the bears out to feed. From then on I made sure I was never alone in any area.

The most common birds I saw at Lake Minnewanka were Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronate) and Alberta’s gull of choice Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis). I did see a few lifers Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) and Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) but the star of the show was not a bird but a very photogenic chipmunk. It was so cute it was unbelievable! Another highlight was my first time seeing snow. It started to form on the mountains right before my eyes and in an instant, the temperature began to drop. We spent an hour and thirty minutes at Minnewanka, which was longer than we had planned, thanks to the birder in the group who was nowhere to be found when the group was ready to go.

Our next place of interest was a massive mid-evil-looking castle, now the hotel of Fairmont Banff Springs. Not many birds were seen there, but it had an interesting history. We visited the terrace that looked over Banff, and also a few of the shops and an art gallery before heading back to get the bus back to Calgary. In the city, I wandered off in search of the two targeted sparrows on my list but could not find them. I added another first for the trip while on the bus to Calgary – an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius).

Banff was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen and a must-stop on my return to Canada but next time I will stay for a few days. The Banff excursion added just 3 new birds to my checklist, a lot less than expected, 2 of these new birds were lifers.

Trip Tally

New Species for the Days: 3
New Lifers for the Days: 2
Total Species for the Trip: 97
Total Lifers for the Trip: 66