These Mountain Bluebirds are symbolic of our recent trip from Canmore - Waterton NP/Glacier(USA) - Cypress Hills.
It was almost the most commonly seen bird species of this trip. This photo was taken a few kms north of Cypress Hills park.
We recorded 60+ bird and 15 mammal species.
 Savannah Sparrow |  Vesper Sparrow |
En route to Waterton: at or near a favourite Canmore campground, we saw Savannah Sparrows, many Canada Geese feeding nearby, and a few hawks. In Waterton, we saw Vesper Sparrows, and north of the park we ran into the first of many groups of Mountain Bluebirds. These had some rufous colouring. |  Mountain Bluebird |
 Mountain Bluebird female Juvenile |
 White-crowned Sparrow (juvenile) |
 WCS with adult |
In Cypress Hills Provincial Park, there were more small bird opportunities. We were greeted by juvenile White-crowned Sparrows, juvenile Chipping Sparrows, Pine Siskins. |  Chipping Sparrow juvenile |  Pine Siskin |
 Red-breasted Nuthatch |  The "Bird" Tree |
Other small birds included Red-breasted Nuthatch. In the flat SW corner of the park, we found a lonely "bird" tree - we sat in the truck for several minutes while these three species came to the tree (Mountain Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Clay-coloured Sparrow). Also saw a worn House Wren by the lake. |  House Wren |  Yellow Warbler |
 Orange-crowned Warbler |  Wilson's Warbler |
At Cypress Hills, we met a group of bird-banders from the Calgary Bird Banding Society. They had well over 1,000 warblers, etc. in the 6 weeks there. We did later find an Orange-crowned Warbler with one of their bands. Also, an Alder Flycatcher and in the woods, a Brown Creeper.
Human Activities |
 Alder Flycatcher |  Brown Creeper |
