Registration is on-line only, opened at 9am April 2, and is limited to 12 participants, first come first served. Registration is now closed.
Cost for Extension Trip: $160.00 per person, not including meals and accommodation. Cost includes a contribution to the BCFO Conservation & Education Fund.
Pre-Conference Extension Trip Details
The tour will begin in Cranbrook where participants will meet the leader on Tuesday June 4th evening. Meeting location will be provided to all participants at a later date. Expect to spend three nights, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Cranbrook. Field trips will begin early on the morning of Wednesday June 5th.
This trip will involve walking 5-6 km each day over uneven terrain; therefore good mobility is required & hiking footwear is recommended.
Leader: Lyle Grisdale
Lyle Grisedale lives in Kimberley BC and is an Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) Guide who spends his summers leading hikers in the Selkirk, Purcell, and Rocky Mountains. He is an enthusiastic birder, an avid photographer, and naturalist who spends as much time as possible exploring the mountains, wetlands, and grasslands of the East Kootenay area of British Columbia.

Trip Overview:
The focus of this tour will be the East Kootenay area around Cranbrook and Kimberly. There may be the opportunity to make a few stops on our way to Creston on Friday. Participants will need to arrive at the Ramada Hotel in Creston in time for conference registration at 5:00 PM Friday June 7th.
In the following, the tour is described without reference to specific times. This approach allows for maximum flexibility. Once in the field we will be able to access more precisely a schedule, and the accessibility of each site. Expect sunny warm conditions (but come prepared for occasional wet conditions), wear sturdy waterproof footwear, pack plenty of snacks, and expect early morning hours (in June 6:00AM departures are necessary), some irregularity of meal stops, and the flexibility to deal with the occasional “natural” comfort break. Apply insect repellent to discourage mosquitoes and wood ticks.
Participants should bring binoculars as well as scopes if they have them. The trip leader will also have a scope.
Participants will be carpooling; high clearance vehicles are not required.
This trip will involve walking 5-6 km each day over uneven terrain; therefore good mobility is required & hiking footwear is recommended.
On the first day, there is no opportunity for lunch along the way so come prepared with food, water, and snacks. Limited food can be purchased at the Wasa Store.
On the second day, we can get lunch in Cranbrook.

First Field trip day Wednesday June 5:
Start at Bummers Flats. along the Highway between Fort Stelle and Wasa, to see Sandhill Crane, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, and marsh birds – possible Sora, American Bittern.
Next Wasa Slough where we have the possibility of many waterfowl, songbirds, Osprey, Sandhill Crane, and shorebirds with White-faced Ibis and Black-necked Stilt possible
Next Cameron Pond for Trumpeter Swan, Tundra Swan, mergansers and assorted waterfowl.
Next Wasa Lake to look at waterfowl and shorebirds.
Next Wolf Creek Wetlands and Road where we will see a variety of hawks and falcons, songbirds, American Bittern, wrens, flycatchers, waterfowl, and if we are lucky, owls!
Next Skookumchuck pull out to check the Kootenay River, could see River Otters, Bald Eagle , Killdeer.
Finally Skookumchuck Important Bird Area for Long-billed Curlew, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Common Nighthawk, and if we are lucky, Common Poorwill.

Second Field trip day Thursday June 6:
Start at Cranbrook Irrigation Fields Gate #2 for Bobolink, hawks, waterfowl, Western Meadowlark, sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird, and others.
Next Irrigation Fields Road for a wide variety of grassland birds, Brewer’s Blackbird, bluebirds, and waterfowl.
Next Irrigation Middle Dam for shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds. 189 species have been recorded here.
Next possible stop at the North-end of North Pond.
Next to Cranbrook to Elizabeth Lake where 216 species have been recorded.
Next possibly Idlewild Park.
Next Cranbrook Community Forest where 162 species have been recorded.
This will provide two full days of birding. The following day participants will head westward to Creston.