Our last day in Banff was an open day, meaning no planned group events as a group. While the other went to explore the town, it shopping, food and search for the famous Banff sign, I went birding.  From my ebird.org research I selected two places to visit, Fenland Nature Trail and The Cave & Basin Historic Site, and my target bird was the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis).  This was supposed to be a common bird, but it was proving difficult to locate.  These two locations were going to be my best chance for the trip as it is not a common bird in Calgary.  I planned to bird the Bow River Trail until reaching the Fenland Nature Trail.  My first journey to the trial started at 6:40am. It was very cold, even though I was insulated with my many lays of clothing.  I started in Central Park, just behind The Banff Park Musem and worked my way along the trail. I was happy to find the two Common Yellowthroats (Geothlypis  trichas).  About 45 minutes in I came upon of mix species quickly moving through the trees. Made up mostly of Yellow-rumped Warblers (Setophaga coronata) but I found a couple of Tennessee Warblers (Leiothlypis peregrina) among them. After birding the area for over an hour I return to the hotel for Breakfast to finish pack and checkout. 
At 11:00 am, I rejoined the group for our visit to the Cascade of Time Garden. This beautiful botanical garden featured vibrant flowers, well-manicured lawns, and ample walkways. I had hoped to spot a hummingbird species but was surprised by the lack of birds. 
After our visit, we split up - main group headed through town to the Banff sign, while I birded along the Bow River Trail to Fenland Nature Trails. The highlight birding that trail was a close-up encounter with a Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) which made a low pass overhead as I watched a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) feed her noisy chicks. As I continued along the trail, I encountered train tracks and then the entrance to Fenland Nature Trail. A sign warned of a high possibility of running into bears attracted to the fruiting shrubs and berries in the area. That sign ended my Fenland plans. 
On my way back to the town center, I met the others heading to the Banff sign, which was near Fenland. We all went to the sign, and the group decided to join me on the Fenland trail for safety in numbers. It was the fastest and tensest birding I’ve ever done, with everyone on high alert for bears. We reached a bridge over a river leading to a picnic area, marking the end of the trail. I saw or heard no birds and was quite disappointed. However, as we exited the trail into the picnic area, I spotted a bird hanging around some people at a table. It was gray with a white head and dark nape—the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis), lifer!

Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to visit my second planned stop, the Cave and Basin Historic Site. Around 8 PM, we boarded a Go bus for the hour-long journey back to Calgary. I thoroughly enjoyed my three days in Banff - the beautiful town, stunning scenery, delicious food, excellent service, and even the cold weather, yes even that, and of course, the understated birding opportunities were the icing on the cake. I'm definitely planning to return to Banff in the near future.

Trip Stats
New Trip Species:  2 | Lifers for the Day: 1| Total Trip Species: 107 | 
Total Lifers: 16 | World: 395 | Banff e-bird Trip Report