Canada holiday - advice please (1 Viewer)

[stuartg]

I am visiting Canada in late May - not all birding- I am with my wife. We have five nights in Calgary and then five in Vancouver. Any tips or advice welcome. Specifically 1) is it easy to hairs a car when in Calgary? 2) is it best to book pelagic/whale watching in Vancouver in advance or when there? 3) are there any guided bird walks etc in either location. Thanks in anticipation

 

[etudiant]

Been a long time since I was in Calgary, but it is large enough to have multiple car rentals.
Reality is that just getting around without a car is difficult, mass transit is thin on the ground.
Vancouver is separated from the Pacific by Vancouver Island, with the Juan de Fuca Straits, a long narrow tidal passage in between.
Vancouver whale watchers don't usually go out into the Pacific, they stay in the Strait for Orcas and Humpbacks.
If you cross to Vancouver Island, the very English city of Victoria offers extensive whale watching and is also afaik the only place in North America where Skylarks continue to breed.
There are sure to be birding walks and guides in both cities, the mountains and shores are both great habitat. One link from Fat Birder:

Birds, Birding Trips and Birdwatching Tours in Vancouver Island - Fat Birder

fatbirder.com

 

[AveryBartels]

You can book whale watching trips from Vancouver but you won't get much in the way of sea birds that you can't get from shore, though you'll probably get better looks at Pigeon Guillemot, Brandt's Cormorant etc. There are lots of great birding options in Vancouver including Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, George C. Reifel Refuge, Boundary Bay, Brunswick Point, Iona Island. Unfortunately, only really the first two are easily accessible without personal transport. That being said, virtually any medium or larger sized city park within or near the city will have many of the west coast songbirds, Anna's Hummingbird etc.

You could get in touch with Avocet Tours to see if they would have a guide available for day trips if you are interested. Contact Us | Avocet Tours

Otherwise you could try connecting with local birders via one of the local birding facebook groups or similar. For example Birds of BC | Facebook

Renting a car in both Calgary and Vancouver should be straight forward though expect pretty grim rush hour traffic in the latter (not sure about Calgary).

 

[cheshirebirder]

I am visiting Canada in late May - not all birding- I am with my wife. We have five nights in Calgary and then five in Vancouver. Any tips or advice welcome. Specifically 1) is it easy to hairs a car when in Calgary? 2) is it best to book pelagic/whale watching in Vancouver in advance or when there? 3) are there any guided bird walks etc in either location. Thanks in anticipation

Do you mean you’re flying between Calgary and Vancouver ? Shame if so because it’s a great drive between the two with good birding. We did that in 2019 at that time of year and took 5 days with 4 stops along the way.

 

[Oldnintheway]

You can book whale watching trips from Vancouver but you won't get much in the way of sea birds that you can't get from shore, though you'll probably get better looks at Pigeon Guillemot, Brandt's Cormorant etc. There are lots of great birding options in Vancouver including Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth Park, George C. Reifel Refuge, Boundary Bay, Brunswick Point, Iona Island. Unfortunately, only really the first two are easily accessible without personal transport. That being said, virtually any medium or larger sized city park within or near the city will have many of the west coast songbirds, Anna's Hummingbird etc.

You could get in touch with Avocet Tours to see if they would have a guide available for day trips if you are interested. Contact Us | Avocet Tours

Otherwise you could try connecting with local birders via one of the local birding facebook groups or similar. For example Birds of BC | Facebook

Renting a car in both Calgary and Vancouver should be straight forward though expect pretty grim rush hour traffic in the latter (not sure about Calgary).

I second all of Avery's suggestions. Whether you rent a car or book a guided trip you won't regret it. Starting with Reifel, and Boundary Bay. I used to live just across the border and frequented all of these places, I miss it!