2017.06.09 - Bow Valley Provincial Park - Wildflower and Bird Hike - Fri, Jun 9 2017 - (View Original Event Details) Event Coordinator(s): (To see who coordinated the hike, log in to the Member Area) Participants: (To see who hiked, log in to the Member Area)

Carpooling was from Valley Ridge with the trail head at the Middle Lake Day Use Area. We hiked the Moraine Trail then along the Bow River Trail. We had lunch at the Whitefish Day Use area. After lunch we hiked (deliberately!!) around the Many Springs Loop (still the "gem" trail for wildflowers!), then back to Middle Lake trail head via the Elk Flats trail.

Birds (documented as heard and/or seen) - Expert identifications courtesy of Lenora and Dick Flynn:
Chipping Sparrow, Common Loon, White-Crowned Sparrow, Killdeer, Mallard, Dark-Eyed Junco, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Lincoln's Sparrow, Robin, Common Yellowthroat Warbler, Swainson's Thrush, Wilson's Warbler, Bald Eagle, Great Blue Heron, MacGillivray's Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Spotted Sandpiper, Common Raven, White-Throated Sparrow, Orange-Crowned Warbler, Red-Winged Blackbird, Northern Waterthrush, Black-Capped Chickadee, Mountain Chikadee, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, ... about 25+

New bird learning for most of us: There are actually "local dialects" (the song sounds slightly different) for the same bird, depending on the area in which they are located... AND songs from many birds need to be listened to, often several times for proper identification, because many birds don't always voice their full song every time... AND we didn't hear or see as many birds as there may have been in the area because we were later in the morning / afternoon (birds are VERY early risers!) and a lot of the birds have already mated/nested so aren't as active or vocal.

Flowers / shrubs identified (most, but not all, in bloom) - Identification (documented when seen) by several participants in the group:
Aster, Wild Blue Flax, Puccoon, Field Chickweed, Sweet Vetch, Tall Fleabane, Shrubby Cinquefoil, Giant Ragwort, Yellow Hedysarum, Taraxacum (... ie, Dandelion... just checking to see if you were still reading...), Wind Flower (Cut-Leaved Anemone), Anemone Occidentalis ("hipppy on a stick"), False Solomon's Seal, Indian Paintbrush, Meadow Parsnip, Yellow Locoweed, Common Yarrow, Brown Eyed Susan (Common Gaillardia), Heather, Meadow Horsetail, Redosier Dogwood, Wild Rose, Limber Honeysuckle, Kinnikinnick (Bearberry), Old Man's Whiskers (Prairie Smoke, Three-flowered Avens), Northern Bedstraw, Longbract Frog Orchid, Bog Orchid, Star-flowered Solomon's Seal, Blue Violet, Pearly Everlasting, Wild Strawberry, Western Wood Lily, Columbine, Western Meadow Rue (male and female), Goldenrod, Yellow Lady's Slippers (++!!), Rock Jasmine, Wolf Willow (Silverberry), Saskatoon, Chokecherry, White Spirea, Shooting Star (++!!), Death Camas, Drummond's Mountain Avens (Yellow Dryad), Striped Coralroot, Roundleaf Orchid, Blue Clematis, Western Canada Violet, Baneberry, ... about 50+

Thanks to all participants for making this such a great day!

Coordinators: Lenora and Dick Flynn and John Morck