birding...

Great-horned Owl Bubo virginianus © Brian Wolitski http://www.bmwphoto.com

From alpine meadows to prairie potholes, from the northern forests to the southern badlands, Alberta`s range of habitats, with a bird list of 385 species, offers a wide variety of places to explore for both serious and amateur birder alike. For our most rare species, Alberta contains the breeding grounds of the endangered Whooping Crane, in Wood Buffalo National Park, on the northern border of the province. This is the only migratory flock of these beautiful cranes, and they annually migrate to Aransas National Wildlife Reserve on the Texas Coast each year. From a low of only 20+ birds in the mid 1900s, the population has rebounded to just under 200 migratory birds that arrive in Aransas each fall.

Beaverhills Lake, just east of Edmonton, is possibly the best birding location in Alberta. Located at the intersection of the North American Central and Mississippi flyways, the lake comes alive in the spring with several hundred thousand Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, Sandhill Cranes, American White Pelicans and innumerable waders heading for their northern breeding grounds. Extensive Mountain Bluebird trails around the lake are responsible for re-introducing this species into northern Alberta. Vagrants that have shown up at Beaverhills in the last year include Snowy Egret and White-faced Ibis.

During the last ice age, the prairie landscape was scoured by glaciers, leaving thousands of shallow potholes which fill with water as the winter snows melt. This area, stretching from Alberta through Southern Saskatchewan and into North Dakota, is often referred to as the Duck Factory of North America. Through this range, the farming landscape is bisected by Township roads every two miles north and south, and Range roads every mile east and west. A few hours touring around these back roads in the spring will find that every pothole contains waterfowl busily getting about the business of courting, breeding and raising young. Ducks, grebes, geese, loons (divers); gulls, terns, coots and teal are every where you look, all dressed in their courtin` clothes!

Alberta`s mountain National Parks of Banff and Jasper, and the eastern slope foothills offer an entirely different set of birds, in the midst of some of the most incredible scenery on earth. Birds such as breeding Harlequin and Wood Ducks, Common and Barrow`s Goldeneye, American Dippers and other waterfowl haunt the mountain streams and lakes, while White-tailed Ptarmigan, Townsend`s Solitaires, Grey-cheeked Rosy-finches, and a wide variety of sparrows make their home in the alpine meadows above the tree line. Swainson`s, Red-tailed and Ferruginous Hawks, Golden and Bald eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Great Grey and Great Horned Owls and other raptors share these protected areas with bear, moose, deer, wapiti, coyotes, wolves, beaver and other mountain wildlife.

Southern Alberta offers some desert species like Burrowing Owls in the Badlands area of Drumheller through to Medicine Hat, and extensive populations of partridge, grouse and pheasant species in the Lake Newell area in the southeast corner of the province.

Alberta`s capital city, Edmonton, is the Peregrine Falcon capital of Canada, with birds returning year after year to nest on the downtown high-rises. Edmonton also has the highest concentration of Merlin in North America, according to the Christmas Bird Count - possibly because it also has an extremely high population of Bohemian Waxwings that over winter in the area. Common and Hoary Redpolls, Snow Buntings and an annual infusion of Snowy Owls join these winter specialties. Woodpecker aficionados can find Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Three-toed, Black-backed, and Lewis`s Woodpeckers, along with Yellow-bellied and Red-breasted and Red-naped Sapsuckers throughout the province.

For more information (& checklist) on Alberta Birding, visit my Website page: http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/caalberta.htm, as well as more details on Alberta birding locations, birding festivals, rare bird alert information and books on birds and birding in Alberta.