6:30 am found me at Burnmead. My goal this morning was to explore the
trails on the Burnmead side of the river. The last two days I crossed over to the other
side of the Bow, to be honest, I was staying away from the golf course side so that
I would not run into the lady that gave me the birdseed. My goal was to go to a location called The
Ranch. I heard that a family of Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) can normally be seen in that area.
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| Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) |
Before hitting the trail, I made a quick check of the ponds
at Burnmead and got my first lifer for the day.
It was a Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), one of, if not the prettiest ducks in the world. This one though was an eclipse male so it did
not show its true colors. On the trail
to The Ranch, I added a few more lifers California
Gull (Larus californicus), Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) , Savannah
(Passerculus sandwichensis) and Chipping
Sparrow (Spizella passerine). I
continued following the trail from Burnmead along the bank of the river, Bow
River, then the trail turned inland into a woods of what appeared to be mainly deciduous
trees. I can only imagine its beauty
during autumn. An Osprey, probably a
juvenile was calling loudly from a perch over the stream that flowed from the
inland toward the river. The trail
continued winding in and out of trees, with many birds singing and calling,
before coming to a small bridge over a stream, which opened up into a
meadow. That path led to the car park of
the Ranch facility.
The Bow Valley Ranche
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| The Ranche House |
The Bow Valley Ranche was like an Oasis in the forest of Fish Creek. It was home to the visitor center, a
museum, restaurant, café, open WIFI,
bathroom facilities, etc. As I was
approaching the car park, a large woodpecker flew overhead and into a neaby
tree. It was a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus
pileatus), another lifer. I spent
just a short while looking for the owls but did not see them, so I decided to
call it a day since I had other plans that morning. I made plans to return the following day to
fully explore this part of Fish Creek.
Day 3 added 7 new birds to my growing checklist 6 of which
were lifers.
New Species for the Day: 7
New Lifers for the Day: 6
Total Species for the Trip: 57
Total Lifers for the Trip: 42
New Lifers for the Day: 6
Total Species for the Trip: 57
Total Lifers for the Trip: 42
Wood Duck;
Greater Yellowlegs; California Gull;
Forster's Tern; Chipping Sparrow; Savannah Sparrow; Pileated Woodpecker
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| Savannah Sparrow |
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| Savannah Sparrow |
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| Visitor Centre @ The Ranch |
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| Bow River |
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