Birdwatching

Photo: Girish Panicker

Northern Alberta is where multiple bird migration paths meet, and the Lac La Biche Region is a birdwatcher’s paradise. The area was declared a Bird Sanctuary in 1920 and is also considered an Important Bird Area. Migrating water birds are the region’s greatest claim to fame, but you will see (and hear!) hundreds of others from eagles to finches to woodpeckers in the forests and meadows.

Pelicans migrate to our region’s waters every summer to breed. Bring your binoculars and look for them on the aptly named Pelican Islands, visible from the main island of Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park.

Birds of prey are frequent visitors. Eagles and ospreys circle the lakes, owls swoop through the trees and hawks soar over the grasslands.

Water birds like grebes, herons and terns are common sights in the warmer months. Some spend the winters on the coast, or as far away as South America, but they return to the northern lakes year after year.

The old-growth forests on the islands of Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park provide habitat for more than 200 bird species, large and small. How many can you spot in one outing?

THE BASICS