Birding highlights of the Canadian Rockies Part 1: the mountains and valleys

As it is already August and I haven’t yet written anything on the birds I saw on my trip to the Rockies in April, I thought I would do so now in a short, fun post of mostly photos of some birds from the mountains and valleys of the main National Parks we visited (Yoho, Kootenay, Banff and Jasper).

Red-tailed Hawk soars high above the Paint Pots in Kootenay NP, BC

On a lovely hike to Wapta Falls in Yoho NP, a stirring in the bushes on a trail spooked me. Fearing a bear or some other large animal, I turned back to see this lovely Spruce Grouse much to my relief and surprise (and embarrassment that he scared me)! This was a new bird for me and I was quite happy to watch him hang out on the edge of the trail.

An alpine adventure to snow-capped mountains and glacial lakes

My blog has been a bit quiet lately as I have been away on an internet-free trip to the Canadian Rockies for the last two weeks. There’s not much I find more refreshing than a trip away to the outdoors without internet. To enjoy some peace and quiet and adventure in the mountains.

We saw glacial U-shaped valleys, glaciers, rushing rivers and waterfalls, quiet braiding rivers and wetlands, ice and snow, lakes frozen over with ice and lakes green with glacial silt.

A lake just outside Golden, BC which lies along the Columbia River in the Southern Rocky Mountain Trench just to the west of the Rocky Mountains.The Rocky Mountain Trench is the longest linear valley in the world.