news&views Spring 2026 | Page 51

The next morning, we bailed on our B & B and checked in at an old United Church converted into suites for the rest of our trip. It was much safer and more satisfactory. While the national park is the main draw for most, don’ t neglect spending time in Val Marie. For one, it’ s home to the park’ s visitors’ centre, but the Prairie Wind & Silver Sage bookstore and coffee shop is also a must-visit. This bookstore hosts a charming collection of local history, natural history, books, and crafts. And of course, birds like to spend time in town as much as anywhere else( Swainson’ s thrushes and lark sparrows).

Gas stations are few and far between in this area, so make sure you have a full tank before setting off from town. We filled up in Shaunavon, a town about an hour northwest. Along the dirt road we passed through natural grasslands that featured many birds perched atop the nearby fence posts( horned larks, lark buntings, eastern and western kingbirds). But birds aren’ t the only wildlife to be found in the area: a highlight was a group of four pronghorn antelope crossing the prairie.

Returning to Val Marie for the evening, we walked to the hotel restaurant for dinner. While everyone is very friendly, Val Marie has seen better days since the railway left, steadily declining from the height of its popularity during the 1920s. The local K – 12 school had only thirty-five students this year.

On our final full day in the area, we hiked two of the many trails, the Riverwalk( brown thrasher, western meadowlark, northern harrier, great horned owl, various sparrows) and the Eagle Butte trails( rock wren).

Our last stop was back at the prairie dog colony in search of a burrowing owl. Success! Burrowing owls are endangered and don’ t actually burrow, but rather use old burrows made by prairie dogs and other creatures. Isabel said that they should be called“ borrowing” owls.

We enjoyed our trip to Grasslands Park, a jewel of preserved prairie, river valleys, rolling hills, and badlands. The adventurous traveller will find plenty of campsites and hikes for all abilities. We sampled only a small part of what the park offered. We returned home to Calgary happy, with a tally of ninety-five bird species, but it could have been higher— we missed“ easy” birds such as the great blue heron, bald eagle, osprey, and house finch, to name a few. Nonetheless, we’ ll save those for next time.

Tom Feasby is a neurologist and former Dean of the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary and a member of the Order of Canada. He’ s been an avid birder for many years.

Worthwhile pitstops while en-route from Calgary

Pronghorn Antelope Burrowing Owls

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