Spring Trip 2010 – Day 20 – Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park

May 11th was another beautiful day….in fact it was so nice we actually broke out the shorts!

There are number of trails in Sir Winston Churchill Park, and that morning we set out, prepared to walk some of them…we were just about to set out when I spotted….

a Boreal Chickadee…..this is a species I’ve only seen very rarely and had yet to get a picture of….

there was a puddle of water here and he was intent upon a bath….actually there were several birds using this bathing spot….

We had just set off down the trail when Shantz spotted a couple of critters ahead….

Some more of those Snow Shoe Hare…..we saw so many of these guys that day we gave up keeping track!

here is another section of the well defined trail…

In a clear area we came across this White – throated sparrow….this picture clearly shows the ‘white throat’…

Red Squirrels here as well…

and ahead on the trail….Swainson’s Thrush…now on the coast where I come from, we often hear Swainson’s Thrush, but seeing them is another matter…..so I found this very exciting…however as the trip progress’s you’ll find, as we did, that seeing Swainson’s Thrush in these parts is a very common occurrence!

at one point, an Osprey with a fish flew over head…

On the far side of the park, we came across a large flock of mixed Warblers….this is a Palm Warbler…

and this a Yellow rump….Myrtle variety….we also saw Blackpoll and Orange crowned but were unable to get pictures…or at least any that turned out…

This is a view of Lac la Biche from the north side of the park…way out there, that white on the water is a rock that, when we were here before, was covered in Pelicans, Cormorant and nesting Gulls….this time, there was still ice at the far end of it….

this is from the same spot, looking eastward…there is a viewing platform just visible in the trees …

and from the same spot, looking west.  It is possible to walk out right to the tip of the land…..we didn’t make it that far this trip….it was getting hot and we were getting hungry….

In the afternoon I wandered back to the beach area that I had visited the day before….this view is looking directly across to where the town of Lac la Biche is situated…

This pair of Common Merganser were always hanging around in this particular spot….the male on the left and the female on the right ~ unfortunately the sun was definitely in the wrong position….

I found Common Merganser to be quite spooky so it isn’t too often you can get close pictures of them.

A Spotted Sandpiper showed up as well….the first we’d seen on this trip.  Since this is a species that you see absolutely anywhere that there is water….I assume they were just arriving….

Looking east along the beach towards the campground….we figure that it must be the action of the ice that builds up the sand in the way shown here….

looking back the other way….the big black clouds never really amounted to anything….

This Song Sparrow posed nicely for a picture….

There were actually a lot of different Butterflies fluttering around that day….this one is a Mourning Cloak…

saw more of those Franklin Ground Squirrels too…..

and of course those Snow shoe Hare….

this poor guy is really infested with ticks….  What we didn’t get a picture of was the trio of Moose that went crashing right through the campsite while Ernie was sitting outside reading in the sunshine!

During the course of the day, a number of large flocks of geese had flown over, heading north….this was another one that flew over during the evening.

Thus another day drew to a close….now out of water….we’d be moving on tomorrow.

Bird List: Swainson’s Thrush – 5; Yellow rump Warbler – 25; Palm Warbler – 2; Blackpoll Warbler – 1; Orange crowned Warbler – 6; Spotted Sandpiper – 1; Common Merganser – 10; Red Breasted Merganser – 6; Common Goldeneye – 12; Canada Geese – 100; Northern Flicker – 2; Hairy Woodpecker – 2; Magpie – 1; Song Sparrow – 5; Red Breasted Nuthatch – 3; White throated Sparrow – 20; Boreal Chickadee – 5; Tree Swallow – 1; Black Cap Chickadee – 3; Green Wing Teal – 2; Mallard – 6; Downy Woodpecker – 1; Osprey – 2; Common Loon – 1; Ring bill Gulls – 12.

Spring Trip 2010 – Day 14 – Dinosaur Provincial Park

OK folks, I’m back on the desktop, back using the Live Writer program so please bear with me while I remember how to use it!

Now, back to May 5th….where we woke up to ~ you guessed it ~ SNOW

at least somebody was happy about it!

at this point, I must admit, we found it a bit novel.   It was now day 14 of our trip ~ we’d been on the road for two weeks and hadn’t gotten anywhere we’d planned to go ~ but might as well make the most of it…so we bundled up and set off for a morning walk.  At least the wind had died.

 

 

 

This robin was one of many that didn’t look too thrilled……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and there were lots of White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows sheltering under the picnic table….you can see the snow was continuing as we set out…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our destination was the Badlands Trail ~ I hoped to find some Prairie Crocus in the snow.

 

 

 

 

 

We’re looking back now at the 3 km long circle road that runs through the badlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Prairie Crocus up here were buried but we did find some of that Owl Clover

Here is Ernie and Shantz up on top ~ we didn’t risk going any further from this point as it involved a steep downhill….a little risky in these conditions….  headed back to the road and continued on as Ernie had seen a lot of Prairie Crocus further up….hadn’t gone too far when I spotted something at the side of the road…..

That’s me…….

and this is what I had spotted ~ a Western Meadowlark….

Worked my way closer…..

and closer….to get some of the best pictures I’m ever likely to get!

Pictures like that made the whole thing worthwhile!  Oh, and far as Prairie Crocus went…..

Well we did find a few, but between the wind and rain of the day before, and then the snow, the poor things were pretty battered and bruised!

 I’ll throw this one in, just because I like it….and we’ll continue on…..

While we’re looking at things in the snow….thought I’d show this one Ernie took while on the walk, of a Cactus in the snow…

Back in the campground, remember a few posts ago I mentioned to keep in mind the level of Sandhill Creek?  well this is why….look at it’s level now!  You’ll notice that the snow is disappearing as the day goes on although it did continue to come down ……the radio station we were listening to had a name for it ‘Snizzle’  half snow/half drizzle!

There was actually a lot of bird activity….here is one of the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers…..

and a closer look at one of the White-throated Sparrows….

Since it was obvious we were going to be spending another night here, we elected to move sites ~ again! and this time decided to splurge on a powered site ($27 per night as opposed to $21)

So here we are, in the late afternoon, set up in the newest spot ~ we had the campground completely to ourselves as even the campground hosts, who must live close by, had left their rig but vacated the park and the tenters had finally given into the elements as well….this spot was right beside where I’d seen the rabbit.

Shantz was happy in the new spot as she had a good view all round….although I think she missed her beaver….

took a walk down to the river after supper…..the ‘Snizzle’ continued…

I took this picture of a Saskatoon Shrub in full flower….just to prove that it really was spring!

The deer also showed up again in the evening….

here is a closer look at one of the deer…..and so ended day 14.

Bird List:  White-crowned Sparrow – 8; Starlings – 6; Spotted Sandpiper – 1; Killdeer – 2; Tree Swallow – 1; Ring neck Pheasant – 3; White throated Sparrow – 8; Northern Flicker – 6; Western Meadowlark – 5; House Sparrow – 5; Brewer’s Blackbird – 6; Canada Goose – 7; Black cap Chickadee – 1; Hairy Woodpecker – 1; Black billed Magpie – 7; American Kestrel – 1; American white Pelican – 21; Mallard – 2; Northern Pintail – 1; Yellow rump Warbler – 2; Raven – 1; Yellow bellied Sapsucker – 4; Mourning Dove – 2.