In the search for wilderness and adventure, it's all too easy to set our sights on exotic and remote places far from home. However, in a city like Calgary, this certainly isn't necessary thanks to some amazing parks right within the city limits. By far the wildest of these is Fish Creek Provincial Park, which creates a clear path right through the city, bordering the Tsuut'ina Nation to the west, then following the southeastern trajectory of Fish Creek, and spreading both north and south where it meets the Bow River.
For wildlife, Fish Creek Provincial Park is an artery through the city, connecting the rugged foothills to the west with the expansive prairies to the east. Habitat fragmentation is a major challenge facing conservation in Canada, and parks like this are vital for the health of our ecosystems as they allow population flow that isn't otherwise possible through developed areas.
Over the past few years, I had the privilege of living in a house that backed onto Fish Creek Provincial Park, and I naturally spent a good portion of my free time exploring it. Fish Creek has over 80km of pathways, 30km of which are paved and heavily used. These paved pathways are a great way to get around the city - I could easily bike through the park to the gym, train station or grocery store. But the unpaved trails are used much less frequently, and on some of them, it's possible to disappear for hours at a time without seeing anyone else. This is what makes Fish Creek a truly special place.
Walking through the less used pathways in Fish Creek, one quickly forgets they are in a city with a million other people. In the winter, the snow is a catalogue of the park's users. The pathways are packed from heavy winter boots, and cross-country ski trails etch the creek. In more recent years, fat tire bike tracks are becoming commonplace as well. But far outnumbering the evidence of human activity are the tell-tale signs of other life, and death, in the park.
Coyote tracks loosely follow the trail systems, and occasionally a park-goer will stumble across their excrement, a territorial warning often left in the middle of a pathway. Ungulate tracks of varying sizes crisscross the entire park. The smallest are left by the spring's mule and whitetail fawns, still too young to leave their mothers. The largest of the tracks are from a wandering moose, although these are a less common occurrence.
Cougars move through the park often enough, in many cases leaving only tracks, although the occasional shadowy sighting results in excited news reports and the posting of warning signs at park entrances. Lynx are ever-present as well, often being mistaken for cougars. In one instance, a concerned homeowner in a bordering neighbourhood called the park office about 3 cougars sitting on their trampoline, although further questioning revealed that they were in fact lynx.
Smaller animals, such as hares, muskrats, beavers, squirrels and more slip quietly between the shrubbery and trees. Their shyness and the reason for it is perhaps best exemplified by that fact that I've come across the remains of more dead hares than I've seen alive in the park. This too is a testament to the health of the park - smaller city parks are overrun with small animals like hares, as they are too small and groomed to support the predators that would keep their populations down.
The birding in Fish Creek is in a class of its own. Some of the top destinations for birders from the surrounding area are within Fish Creek. Bebo Grove is a particularly popular observation ground and, on a walk through Bebo, you are likely to encounter the elusive and territorial Alberta Birder, perhaps hidden partially in camouflage, and almost certainly brandishing a giant lens from behind a khaki full-brim hat. Bebo Grove gained significant popularity around the time we first moved to our house on the park as a Varied Thrush was discovered to be wintering there. Its whereabouts were never hard to deduce thanks to the crowds that gathered around it to try and get a glimpse of the local celebrity.
Also in the area are a population of pileated woodpeckers, and in the spring you are quite likely to see a whole family of them in a single tree, always a fun sight to witness. Other birds you might meet in the park are Chickadees (Boreal, Black-Capped and sometimes even Mountain), Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks, Brown Creepers, Kingfishers, Redpolls, Ravens, Gulls, Terns, Kingbirds, Catbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, Great Blue Heron, a variety of Waterfowl, Warblers, Finches, Hawks, Merlins, Northern Flickers (who mainly seem to announce their presence by banging on our chimney), Dark-eyed Juncos, and many, many more.
During an evening or nighttime walk through the park, you may hear the distant call of owls or even see the silhouette of one perched atop a tree. Occasionally, these resident owls would come and land on the trees in or near our yard, and stay for a while hooting to their acquaintances across the valley. In our household, this always led to a great deal of excitement and a lot of crowding in front of the closest window.
Another nighttime beast that inhabits the park is the Northern Flying Squirrel. Although not uncommon, sightings are rare due to their nocturnal, squirrelly nature. One night late in the winter, a Northern Flying Squirrel patronized the bird feeder by our kitchen window for about 15 minutes, allowing us to get a close up look at his folded patagia and big buggy eyes.
The creek itself is the lifeblood of the park, and very beautiful all year round. Although shallow in most spots, the beaver dams and deeper pools are home to a few species of trout, which by some fishermen's accounts grow to a rather remarkable size. Also in the park is a garter snake hibernaculum, and cyclists should take care in the spring as the sleepy snakes enjoy sunning themselves on the pavement. I have hustled many a stray garter snake off the paths and into the safer grass in my time!
As you can probably guess by now, Fish Creek Provincial Park means a lot to me. Being able to slip into nature and get away from the grind of the city is an extremely important part of living a balanced life. After a while, we came to recognize the local wildlife and watching their lives unfold in the park made for exciting dramas that even gave Netflix a run for its money and frequently had us sitting on the edges of our seats looking out the window, our screens and devices cast to the side.
In some small attempt to give back for all that I have taken away from living near the park, as well as bring awareness to the experiences that await the intrepid Calgarian who explores here, I recently answered a call for volunteers by the Friends Of Fish Creek to help record the history of the park by filming the various tours that the Friends operate. Wayne Meikle, tour guide and founder of the Friends of Fish Creek, is a wealth of information about the history of the park thanks to his lifelong career as a parks employee heavily involved in the management and design of Fish Creek.
One of the best things about Wayne's tours is that they are always slightly different, as he draws on years of history and first-hand experience to cater the tour to the interests of the audience and themes of the day. However, this also makes his tours very challenging to replicate and therefore puts a limit on the number of people who can experience one. The primary goal for this project is to record several tours that can then be transcribed, turning some of Wayne's vast, and largely unrecorded knowledge into scripted tours that other volunteer guides can deliver. The secondary goal is to then use the footage collected to promote the Friends of Fish Creek and their programming, creating more awareness of the great work they do in the park. This will be done through the production of recap videos of tours, as well as short social media videos.
I expect this project to be ongoing, and over time hope to be able to contribute a lot to it. For now, we have filmed 2 tours, with my wife Lucy assisting with a second camera angle for close-ups on park features while Wayne is talking, and my mom Jayne giving me a hand with the editing of the finished videos. You can see the first tour recap video we created by following this link.
As well, you can learn more about the Friends of Fish Creek or check out the ways you can support them by visiting their website.
And most importantly, take the time for a stroll through Fish Creek!
For wildlife, Fish Creek Provincial Park is an artery through the city, connecting the rugged foothills to the west with the expansive prairies to the east. Habitat fragmentation is a major challenge facing conservation in Canada, and parks like this are vital for the health of our ecosystems as they allow population flow that isn't otherwise possible through developed areas.
Over the past few years, I had the privilege of living in a house that backed onto Fish Creek Provincial Park, and I naturally spent a good portion of my free time exploring it. Fish Creek has over 80km of pathways, 30km of which are paved and heavily used. These paved pathways are a great way to get around the city - I could easily bike through the park to the gym, train station or grocery store. But the unpaved trails are used much less frequently, and on some of them, it's possible to disappear for hours at a time without seeing anyone else. This is what makes Fish Creek a truly special place.
Walking through the less used pathways in Fish Creek, one quickly forgets they are in a city with a million other people. In the winter, the snow is a catalogue of the park's users. The pathways are packed from heavy winter boots, and cross-country ski trails etch the creek. In more recent years, fat tire bike tracks are becoming commonplace as well. But far outnumbering the evidence of human activity are the tell-tale signs of other life, and death, in the park.
Coyote tracks loosely follow the trail systems, and occasionally a park-goer will stumble across their excrement, a territorial warning often left in the middle of a pathway. Ungulate tracks of varying sizes crisscross the entire park. The smallest are left by the spring's mule and whitetail fawns, still too young to leave their mothers. The largest of the tracks are from a wandering moose, although these are a less common occurrence.
Cougars move through the park often enough, in many cases leaving only tracks, although the occasional shadowy sighting results in excited news reports and the posting of warning signs at park entrances. Lynx are ever-present as well, often being mistaken for cougars. In one instance, a concerned homeowner in a bordering neighbourhood called the park office about 3 cougars sitting on their trampoline, although further questioning revealed that they were in fact lynx.
Smaller animals, such as hares, muskrats, beavers, squirrels and more slip quietly between the shrubbery and trees. Their shyness and the reason for it is perhaps best exemplified by that fact that I've come across the remains of more dead hares than I've seen alive in the park. This too is a testament to the health of the park - smaller city parks are overrun with small animals like hares, as they are too small and groomed to support the predators that would keep their populations down.
The birding in Fish Creek is in a class of its own. Some of the top destinations for birders from the surrounding area are within Fish Creek. Bebo Grove is a particularly popular observation ground and, on a walk through Bebo, you are likely to encounter the elusive and territorial Alberta Birder, perhaps hidden partially in camouflage, and almost certainly brandishing a giant lens from behind a khaki full-brim hat. Bebo Grove gained significant popularity around the time we first moved to our house on the park as a Varied Thrush was discovered to be wintering there. Its whereabouts were never hard to deduce thanks to the crowds that gathered around it to try and get a glimpse of the local celebrity.
Also in the area are a population of pileated woodpeckers, and in the spring you are quite likely to see a whole family of them in a single tree, always a fun sight to witness. Other birds you might meet in the park are Chickadees (Boreal, Black-Capped and sometimes even Mountain), Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks, Brown Creepers, Kingfishers, Redpolls, Ravens, Gulls, Terns, Kingbirds, Catbirds, Downy Woodpeckers, Great Blue Heron, a variety of Waterfowl, Warblers, Finches, Hawks, Merlins, Northern Flickers (who mainly seem to announce their presence by banging on our chimney), Dark-eyed Juncos, and many, many more.
During an evening or nighttime walk through the park, you may hear the distant call of owls or even see the silhouette of one perched atop a tree. Occasionally, these resident owls would come and land on the trees in or near our yard, and stay for a while hooting to their acquaintances across the valley. In our household, this always led to a great deal of excitement and a lot of crowding in front of the closest window.
Another nighttime beast that inhabits the park is the Northern Flying Squirrel. Although not uncommon, sightings are rare due to their nocturnal, squirrelly nature. One night late in the winter, a Northern Flying Squirrel patronized the bird feeder by our kitchen window for about 15 minutes, allowing us to get a close up look at his folded patagia and big buggy eyes.
The creek itself is the lifeblood of the park, and very beautiful all year round. Although shallow in most spots, the beaver dams and deeper pools are home to a few species of trout, which by some fishermen's accounts grow to a rather remarkable size. Also in the park is a garter snake hibernaculum, and cyclists should take care in the spring as the sleepy snakes enjoy sunning themselves on the pavement. I have hustled many a stray garter snake off the paths and into the safer grass in my time!
As you can probably guess by now, Fish Creek Provincial Park means a lot to me. Being able to slip into nature and get away from the grind of the city is an extremely important part of living a balanced life. After a while, we came to recognize the local wildlife and watching their lives unfold in the park made for exciting dramas that even gave Netflix a run for its money and frequently had us sitting on the edges of our seats looking out the window, our screens and devices cast to the side.
In some small attempt to give back for all that I have taken away from living near the park, as well as bring awareness to the experiences that await the intrepid Calgarian who explores here, I recently answered a call for volunteers by the Friends Of Fish Creek to help record the history of the park by filming the various tours that the Friends operate. Wayne Meikle, tour guide and founder of the Friends of Fish Creek, is a wealth of information about the history of the park thanks to his lifelong career as a parks employee heavily involved in the management and design of Fish Creek.
One of the best things about Wayne's tours is that they are always slightly different, as he draws on years of history and first-hand experience to cater the tour to the interests of the audience and themes of the day. However, this also makes his tours very challenging to replicate and therefore puts a limit on the number of people who can experience one. The primary goal for this project is to record several tours that can then be transcribed, turning some of Wayne's vast, and largely unrecorded knowledge into scripted tours that other volunteer guides can deliver. The secondary goal is to then use the footage collected to promote the Friends of Fish Creek and their programming, creating more awareness of the great work they do in the park. This will be done through the production of recap videos of tours, as well as short social media videos.
I expect this project to be ongoing, and over time hope to be able to contribute a lot to it. For now, we have filmed 2 tours, with my wife Lucy assisting with a second camera angle for close-ups on park features while Wayne is talking, and my mom Jayne giving me a hand with the editing of the finished videos. You can see the first tour recap video we created by following this link.
As well, you can learn more about the Friends of Fish Creek or check out the ways you can support them by visiting their website.
And most importantly, take the time for a stroll through Fish Creek!
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