Strathcona Bird Count

The annual Strathcona Bird Count hosted by Strathcona Wilderness Institute took place this weekend. Most birders counted at the Buttle Lake area of Strathcona Park, but a couple of us went up to Paradise Meadows this morning. There is still a lot of snow on the trail, so we only did the boardwalk loop.
We counted the following birds :

Common snipe: 2 (bird of the day! in the meadow area in the photo above)
Red breasted sapsucker: 1
Pacific slope flycatcher: 3
Olive sided flycatcher: 3
Steller's jay: 1
Gray jay: 8
Common raven: 1
Chestnut backed chickadee: 7
Winter wren: 3
Golden crowned kinglet: 6
Ruby crowned kinglet: 1
Hermit thrush: 6
Varied thrush: 6
American robin: 6
Spotted towhee: 2
White crowned sparrow: 6
Chipping sparrow: 2
Dark eyed junco: 30
House finch: 1
Pine siskin: 26

Hermit thrush (photo above) have an ethereal song which seems to convey the cool solitude of our northern woods. They are usually more elusive than the gray jays (commonly called whiskey jacks - photo below).

The creeks are rushing with snow melt, the meadows saturated and full of marsh marigold.

Yellow swamp lantern & pink bog-laurel continue to add colour to the meadows.
New flowers blooming within the last few days are yellow violet (viola glabella), shooting star (dodecatheon jeffreyi), and globeflower (trollius laxus).Globeflower has flowers very similar to marsh marigold, but can be distinguished by the leaves: marsh marigold has oval smooth-edged leaves (lower flowers in photo), while globeflower leaves are divided into toothed segments (upper flower in photo).

Among the other wildlife were a black-tailed deer, and numerous tree frogs singing in the ponds. Several people were out on the trails already, also eager for summer to begin! The Wilderness Centre opens next Saturday, July 3.