Carburn Park April 30, 2025

 OH What a.....

.....to Carburn Park this morning!

The trails were clear and dry, the sun was shining bright and music filled the forest!  Spending time here and covering kilometres was the perfect way to end April.  Just short of eight kilometres of birding today brought me to 702 kms covered so far this year.  I better pick up the pace if I want to surpass last year's lofty distance.  What a difference a few days makes!  Since my last visit here, many more species have arrived for their seasonal stay. Many more birders have arrived too.

Right from the start I heard familiar songs that I last heard last season.  I saw numerous sights that I last saw last season.  At times the many songs were over-whelming and I had to make a conscious effort to focus on one at a time, that took a great amount of effort.  Off and on, I used my app to ID what I was hearing so I would know what to look for.  In no particular order, the photos below show some of what made today's welcome to Carburn Park extra special. 

Solitary Sandpiper

Common Goldeneye

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Song Sparrow

American White Pelicans

House Sparrow

male American Wigeon

his partner

Double-crested Cormorants

I checked out the Carburn Bald Eagles.  The bottom red star on the left marks the nest, the red star just above it marks one Bald Eagle and the red star at the far right marks the second Bald Eagle.  I am not sure why the Bald Eagle is out of the nest.  

American Robin

Black-capped Chickadee

Yellow-rumped Warbler

male Mallard Duck

Kananaskis Road Trip

Kananaskis was calling when I needed to be off my property for the entire day. The weather forecast was so-so and I was feeling a bit on the lazy side so I planned for a car trip.  With more sitting than walking and loads of photo opportunities, I hit the section of Kananaskis off Highway 40 where life begins.  There was nothing stopping me along the way, only sights to slow me down which was fine as this was meant to be a slow day anyway.  This Bighorn Sheep was savouring the salt in the middle of the road, he was going no where.  I slowly detoured around him with window down and camera in hand.  

 

The first stop was at Wedge Pond which is also one of my favourite picnic spots, yet that would be when the weather is warmer and the Pond is ice free. It looked grey with cloud cover off in the distance to where I was headed. I did not linger long here, I'll save that for another time. 

a smaller Bighorn Sheep on the side of the road

(this is probably a female)

was with this big brute

When I arrived deep into Kananaskis at Upper Kananaskis Lake, which was as far as I was going and as deep in as I could drive, it was cold, windy and feeling very much like a winter day.  The lake is still frozen with gigantic ice chucks pilled up along the shore.  Once again I did not linger long, I opted to be back in my car and aim for where I could see blue sky.

 a very small section of open water

a Stellars Jay

I left the deeper sections of Kananaskis behind and ventured up to Kananaskis Village to walk The Rim Trail.  It was spring-like up here and much more enjoyable.  It was a busy place, lots of people on the trail, construction sights & sounds, the Park Pass inspection vehicle monitoring the parking lot, then other people who looked somewhat official of some sort in some way.   

views along the Rim Trail

I could see grounds keepers down on the golf course working their magic.

Dark-eyed Junco

The crocuses were plentiful and I enjoyed photographing them 

with snow covered mountain peaks in the background.

You may have heard of Kananaskis or Kananaskis Village in the news this past while.  It is the location for the G7 Summit in mid June.  I believe the construction sights & sounds I heard were related to getting the area ready.  I was somewhat surprised at some of what I saw!  I snapped some shots, zoomed in on certain spots.  I will keep the photos for myself.  A very wide swath will be closed off if it is not already.  The thought that came to mind was I pray for a safe, successful, summit!

Next along this Kananaskis Road Trip was a stop at Mount Lorette Ponds.  By now I was wishing I had some fire wood and my hammock.  I would have settled into one of the picnic spots and stayed awhile.  The birds were singing, the air was fresh and the sun was feeling warm.  

path beside the Ponds 

male Barrow's Goldeneye

his partner

The final stop was at Barrier Lake.  Would you believe that is ice!  The lake is still fully frozen.  I picked a picnic table and just sat and looked at what was in front of me, that beautiful shade of ice with the mountains as the backdrop.  Once again I saw the Park Pass inspection vehicle monitoring the parking lot.  

I had some hot beverage still left to savour!

Yes!  Kananaskis "where life begins"!

all of nature wild and free

 all of nature wild and free telling stories as they live their lives

Between yesterday's visit to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and today's trip to Carburn Park, I came away with many wonderings of what stories were being told. I attempted to decipher the birds, ducks, geese, eagles and even the coyote's actions and looks.  Sometimes I like to add a twist to reality by adding my own interpretation to what is happening before my eyes!  

interpretations

After returning from my visit to The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, I created three watercolour interpretations from photos I took.  I tried to pay extra attention to the head slant and the eye thinking that would help with portraying a look that they were each giving some kind of a look.  I can actually see in each painting, they have a look of intent but I am not sure what their story might be!

Tree Swallow

female House Finch

Merlin

the chase

It was the ruckus on the river at Carburn Park that caught my attention. I did not know whether to capture photos or take a video when I realized what was transpiring.  Taking photographs was the automatic response but they do not convey the urgency of the ducks and geese to fend off the coyote.  I think I have it right with my deciphering of what took place.  

coupling up

They are free to pick who they want to be with year after year, although some species mate for life. That being said fights still take place to preserve relationships already in place and also amongst the single crowd who are still making a choice.  The males do their best to impress, in a way that seems wild.  These days it appears many have already coupled up while others are still searching for a significant other for this season.    

Common Goldeneyes

Northern Flickers

Common Mergansers

standing guard

While enjoying my time at both Inglewood and Carburn, I noticed a particular type of activity.  At times the vocalizations became more frequent and also frantic-like as I approached.  I stopped, I listened, I looked and then I saw the birds were standing close to nests.  I assumed it was the males standing on guard while the females were in the nest.  That's my interpretation of what story they were telling but I could be off as I am not able to identify a male from a female in the Chickadee family nor the Sparrow species. I snapped my shots and then took off!

Black-capped Chickadee

House Sparrows

Of course, I checked in on the Carburn Bald Ealges, the Carburn Canada Geese and the Inglewood Bald Eagles.  Lots of standing on guard was going on.  All activity appears to be as it should, progressing in a positive direction.   

male Carburn Bald Eagle standing guard

female Carburn Bald Eagle in the nest

Carburn Canada Geese both in the nest

female Inglewood Bald Eagle in the nest

These are my photos used as references for the paintings at the beginning of this post.