April 05, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Dawson Creek, Bird Watching
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Everyone knows one of the best things about spring is birds.
Here in the
Peace River Country we love birds. Both the birds who make their permanent homes here and the ones who have been elsewhere over the winter and come here to nest and raise their families.
In fact we do an annual bird count.
Dawson Creek has several great places to view birds. There is a terrific wetland just minutes northeast of town where more than 100 species have been sighted. It's called
McQueen's Slough and it is free of charge and a must see while visiting. We take our out-of-town visitors to the slough as a regular part of the hometown tour.
There is a long wooden boardwalk along the edges of the slough where you can be in the midst of the marsh life without compromising the integrity of the natural habitat.
It is common to see ducks and Canada Geese and other water birds (I saw trumpeter swans one time). Of course, it's always fun to be scolded by a protective redwing blackbird that thinks you are too close to his nest in the bulrushes.
There are plenty of other places to get close to the birds and the Visitors Center at the N.A.R. Park has a free brochure on the local species and viewing sites.
Make sure you have fresh batteries for your camera and some mosquito spray, because birds, marshes and mosquitoes go together.