This is my second try at finding birds to record at Kananaksis Lake, the first being a couple years earlier and being only of moderate success. I’m hoping despite the clinging of the last vestiages of winter, I might have some success finding some birdsong at cold climate lake.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production. Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter. The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062 Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

The Tennessee Warbler is a small, drab warbler with a thin pointy bill and a short tail.

They breed mostly in the Boreal Forest in Canada, but can also be found here in mountains of Kananskis Country.

Their song is a very (very) loud jumble of rapidly accelerating very high pitched notes that can sound like "ticka ticka swit sisisisisisi”.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production. Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions. Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

I’m continuing my hike along the Elk Pass Trail in Kananaskis Country, close to BC border. It’s a quieter and cooler climate than I’m used to, but the crossbills, wrens, thrushes and more don’t seem to mind the weather.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production. Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions. Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

The Pacific Wren is a tiny-yet-loud brown bird that can be found all year round in much of its West Coast range, though some of the more northern deeper interior populations in Canada make a short migration sound.

Their songs are a loud and tumbling cascade of bright musical phrases, lasting anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds on average, and sometimes even longer.

The species has a couple very similar sounding cousins around the world, namely the Winter Wren found more east in North America, and the Eurasian Wren in other parts of the world.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

The morning is beginning to draw to a close and I am wrapping up my first exploration of the Sibbald Meadows Pond. Things may be a bit quieter but that does allow for me to focus more on the sounds of individual birds.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Episode Notes

Notes go hereThe Common Yellowthroat is a loud and lively warbler found along the edges of marshes and wetlands.

It is one of the few warblers found nearly everywhere across North America every summer.

Males are known for their broad black masks, and unmistakable "witchety-witchety-witchety" song.

In this episiode, we continue our hike around Sibbald Meadows Pond.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

It’s a sunny mid-July morning and I’m continuing my exporation of the Sibbald Meadows Pond: a secluded wetland surrounded in all directions by mountains, and abundant with bird song.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

The Lincoln’s Sparrow is a very secretive songbird that looks almost like it’s got a tailored plumage: complete with the stripes, spots, and the streaks of typical brownish North American sparrow.

Most notably its chest is buffy coloured and has visible fine streaks.

The song of the Lincoln’s Sparrow is a song of jumbled notes, and to me is reminiscent of an abbreivated House Wren song.

This species is found almost everywhere in Canada except for southern Ontario, the south central prairies and the arctic. It can also be found in limited parts of the western United States.

For this species in focus episode I’ll be sharing my recordings of the Lincoln’s Sparrow from Sibbald Meadows Pond, Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest, and the Fullerton Loop Hiking Trail.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

In Alberta, many road and highways are actually called trails. One such trail I’ll be exploring at lot is the Sibbald Creek Trail, a very wide, winding gravel road that passes through a diversity of mountain habitats.

One of those habitats is the Sibbald Meadows Pond, a popular fishing spot surrounded on all sides by mountains, which also happens to be a fantastic birding location. For the next few episodes I’ll be sharing my experiences at this location during my first trip here in mid-July of 2023.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production. Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter. The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062 Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions. Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

About an hour’s drive west of Calgary, Alberta in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains is an area known as Kananaskis Country.

Within this nearly 1 million acres of land are towering mountains, alpine meadows, glaciers, forests, lakes, wetlands, grasslands, and thickets. Over 130 species of birds nest in Kananaskis Country, including many songbirds.

I’ve felt a draw to return to this place ever since I first camped here when I was 13.

The imagery of the mountains, sky, and forests have never left me. But I didn’t remember much about how it sounded.

Now, 30 years after I first visited Kananaskis Country, I’m back once again, this time with some field recorders and the skills and knowledge to help me identify the birdsongs I hear.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

The Eastern Warbling-Vireo is greyish olive bird that can be found in deciduous trees in open areas in the central and northeastern United States, and in the prairies and southern parts of Ontario and Québec in Canada.

Its name is quite descriptive of its song — a rapid and almost frantic warbling song that is loud enough that you are more likely to hear this bird than see it.

In 2025 this species was split from the Western Warbling-Vireo, which has a much more disjoined sounding song. I’ll be sharing its songs and sounds in future episodes.

For this species in focus episode I’ll be sharing a previously unreleased hike from the Bruce County Rail Trail in 2021.

Credits

Songbirding: Species in Focus is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Blackburnian Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Universfield.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support