The scenery on our tour nearly equals the birds—and both are spectacular. Photo: Gavin Bieber
For many of us, the Canadian province of British Columbia evokes images of huge conifers towering over a dense understory of fern and moss-covered logs, while in the near distance the Pacific thunders among rocky headlands and exhausts its strength on narrow sandy beaches. This lovely image is indeed in the offing on this tour, but we’ll also explore the magnificent Coastal Range, with boreal forest ringing crystal blue lakes and alpine tundra in full bloom; the drier interior valleys of grassland, pine, and sage; the basalt cliffs of the Okanagan; and such picturesque cities as Vancouver and Victoria. Out on Vancouver Island, the introduced Skylarks will be in full and glorious song over grassy fields, American Dippers will swim in cool rocky streams, and we’ll enjoy some of the most magnificent scenery anywhere.
Our tour covers the Okanagan Valley, Manning Provincial Park, Vancouver, and Vancouver Island, all at the season when resident bird populations are near their peak.
Day 1: The tour begins at 6:00 pm in Vancouver. Night in Vancouver.
Day 2: We’ll spend our morning visiting a few of Vancouver’s lovely parks and the surrounding mountains, seeking Band-tailed Pigeon, Vaux’s Swift, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and Black-headed Grosbeak in forests of fir, hemlock, and cedar. In the afternoon we’ll leave Vancouver and cross the Coast Range en route to Manning Provincial Park. Night in Manning.
Day 3: Just north of the international border and North Cascades National Park, Manning Provincial Park is characterized by glacial landscapes and extensive forests of pine and fir, interspersed with alder- and willow-lined streams, Beaver ponds, and alpine meadows. Manning is an excellent place for such mountain forest species as Red-naped Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Clark’s Nutcracker, Boreal Chickadee, Townsend’s and MacGillivray’s Warblers, Pine Grosbeak, and possibly White-winged Crossbill. Three species of grouse—Spruce, Sooty, and Ruffed—occur in the park, and we have a particularly good chance of seeing Sooty. Night in Manning Provincial Park.
Days 4 and 5: After some morning birding, we’ll leave Manning Provincial Park to head east towards the Okanagan Valley, where we’ll spend the next two nights. On the way we’ll pause in the Princeton area, where open forest, lush meadows, and small lakes support Barrow’s Goldeneye, Pygmy Nuthatch, Black-billed Magpie, and Mountain Bluebird. The Okanagan Valley is located in the rainshadow of the Coast and Cascade Mountain ranges; parts of the valley receive as little as 10 inches of precipitation a year, creating a semi-arid steppe climate unique to Canada. Canada’s “Pocket Desert” is a place of mesmerizing beauty, with huge rocky outcrops, large lakes, sagebrush, riparian woodland, and dry ponderosa pine forest at lower elevations, while there are spruce and fir forests higher up. Species of interest here include Chukar, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Calliope Hummingbird, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Hammond’s and Dusky Flycatchers, Say’s Phoebe, Canyon and Rock Wrens, Lazuli Bunting, and such “eastern” species as Veery and Bobolink. Nights in Osoyoos.
Day 6: We’ll spend the early morning in the Okanagan Valley region before making the drive back to Vancouver, making stops along the way for any missed species. We should arrive in Vancouver in time for a first taste of shorebirds; we might also explore the shoreline of Boundary Bay to look for Barn and Short-eared Owls. Night in Vancouver.
Day 7: After some early birding around Vancouver, we’ll catch a mid-morning ferry to Vancouver Island, a scenic route providing views of many Bald Eagles and our first alcids, then drive to Victoria, with a stop near the airport to look for Sky Lark. Then we’ll explore this handsome city’s lovely parks and woodlands in the search for Anna’s Hummingbird, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Hutton’s Vireo, and Bewick’s Wren. Night in Victoria.
Day 8: Not unexpectedly, Victoria is an ideal place for waterbirds, and we’ll search Clover Point for Pelagic Cormorant, alcids including Marbled Murrelet, gulls possibly including Mew, rocky-coast shorebirds such as Black Oystercatcher, and Northwestern Crow. We’ll also return to some lush forest in search of any breeding landbirds we might have missed. Some independent time in the afternoon can be spent touring the attractive harbor area, visiting the famous Butchart Gardens, or taking a whale-watching trip in search of Orcas. Night in Victoria.
Day 9: The tour concludes this morning in Victoria.
Updated: 06 October 2009
Prices
- 2012 Tour Price : $3,450*
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $650
Notes
This tour is limited to five participants with one leader.
Note that this tour begins in Vancouver and ends in Victoria. Transportation to the Vancouver Airport is available for an additional charge.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.