Churchill Trip : June 23 - July 11, 2019

Part 4 - Fort Smith and Peace River

July 5: Churchill by air

Once it cleared out, I was able to check out the area by air before following the coastline down to York Factory. You can see a pair of the red Adirondack chairs there.

cIMG_01799.JPG	pIMG_9272.JPG	Port of Churchill and granary	Cape Merry
Prince of Wales Fort	Knife River Delta	Ice out on the Hudson Bay.	Seal River Heritage Lodge
cIMG_9284.JPG	pIMG_9305.JPG	pIMG_9309.JPG	pIMG_9319.JPG
pIMG_9321.JPG	pIMG_9323.JPG	pIMG_9324.JPG	The Aurora Inn
pIMG_9332.JPG	pIMG_9334.JPG	Churchill Town Centre Complex	Looking north beyond Launch Road and Ithaca
Halfway Point	The Ithaca	Churchill Rocket Range	pIMG_9347.JPG
Churchill Northern Studies Centre	pIMG_9353.JPG	pIMG_9357.JPG	pIMG_9360.JPG
Cape Churchill	pIMG_9367.JPG	Broad River	pIMG_9373.JPG
pIMG_9377.JPG	Near Owl River	pIMG_9396.JPG	pIMG_9403.JPG
pIMG_9406.JPG	cIMG_9414.JPG	Owl River	cIMG_01851.JPG
Near Marsh Point	pIMG_9434.JPG	pIMG_9451.JPG	York Factory
pIMG_9461.JPG	pIMG_9467.JPG	pIMG_9471.JPG	Port Nelson
near Amery MB	Some serious power lines near Sundance	The dam near Long Spruce

July 5: Gillam MB to Fort Smith NT

After a fuel stop at Gillam and another at Lynn Lake, it was west to Fort Smith

Opachuanau Lake	Lynn Lake	A Linn tractor	Leblanc Island
Boland Lake and an esker	pIMG_01950.JPG	Le Blanc Lake and Tazin Lake	Pelican Rapids near Fort Smith
Fort Smith	Final approach

July 6: Wood Buffalo NP

West of Fort Smith along Hwy 5

Sandhill Crane and chick	pIMG_9501.JPG	pIMG_9502.JPG	Red squirrel
pIMG_9511.JPG	Sharp-tailed Grouse chick (?)	pIMG_9524.JPG	pIMG_9526.JPG
pIMG_9527.JPG	Salt crystals near salt mound	cIMG_01989.JPG	Saline spring and salt mound
Another pair of Adirondack chairs	cIMG_02002.JPG	cIMG_02006.JPG	pIMG_9538.JPG
Damselfly	Thread-waisted wasp	Tailed Blue	White Admiral
pIMG_9568.JPG	pIMG_9574.JPG	Salt Plains	Sharp-tailed Grouse
Sulfur butterfly	pIMG_9610.JPG	pIMG_9614.JPG	Little Buffalo River Falls
cIMG_02031.JPG	cIMG_02033.JPG	cIMG_9621.JPG	Ruffed Grouse with chicks
pIMG_9626.JPG	pIMG_9630.JPG	pIMG_9638.JPG	pIMG_9647.JPG
pIMG_9649.JPG	pIMG_9663.JPG	pIMG_9664.JPG	pIMG_9667.JPG
Black Bear	pIMG_9695.JPG	pIMG_9700.JPG	pIMG_9704.JPG
pIMG_9706.JPG

July 7: Slave River and Wood Buffalo NP

South of Fort Smith along Pine Lake Rd.

American White Pelican	pIMG_9717.JPG	pIMG_9724.JPG	pIMG_9725.JPG
cIMG_9728.JPG	pIMG_9740.JPG	pIMG_9752.JPG	pIMG_9768.JPG
Rapids of the Drowned	pIMG_9795.JPG	pIMG_9824.JPG	pIMG_9833.JPG
Pelican rookery at Mountain Portage Rapids	pIMG_9838.JPG	pIMG_9839.JPG	pIMG_9843.JPG
pIMG_9859.JPG	pIMG_9886.JPG	pIMG_9895.JPG	Bufflehead female
Pine Lake	Spotted Sandpiper	Common Loon	pIMG_9941.JPG
pIMG_9952.JPG	pIMG_9956.JPG	pIMG_9967.JPG	pIMG_9970.JPG
pIMG_9972.JPG	cIMG_9978.JPG	pIMG_9984.JPG	pIMG_9991.JPG
pIMG_9992.JPG	pIMG_0002.JPG	pIMG_0014.JPG	Salt River near Karstland Trailhead
cIMG_02100.JPG	cIMG_0018.JPG	Red-tailed Hawk	pIMG_0029.JPG
pIMG_0037.JPG

July 8: Wood Buffalo by air

There were showers in the area, but I managed to take an aerial tour of Wood Buffalo and Slave River before heading south towards a planned visit to Jasper. After a couple tries to get past the higher terrain towards Jasper, the weather finally defeated me, and I wound up in Peace River instead.

Near the Salt Plains Overlook	Some pelicans	Salt Plains Overlook and Access Trail	Muskeg habitat of the Whooping Crane
Pelicans again	pIMG_0080.JPG	pIMG_02144.JPG	Slave River
pIMG_02150.JPG	Oxbow near Garden Creek	Donnelly Airport, after waiting out some weather	Heading back to Peace River

July 9: Peace River, Alberta

The weather further south was no better the next day, so I explored the Peace River area.

cIMG_02238.JPG	Bufflehead with chicks	Red-winged Blackbird (female)	pIMG_0108.JPG
Black-capped Chickadee	Red-breasted Nuthatch	Grebe chicks	pIMG_0127.JPG
Red-winged Blackbird with a dragonfly	pIMG_0143.JPG	pIMG_0147.JPG	Great Blue Heron
pIMG_0166.JPG	pIMG_0173.JPG	(?) Warbler	American Robin
Start of the Mackenzie Highway in Grimshaw	pIMG_02243.JPG	pIMG_02246.JPG	cIMG_02250.JPG
Red-tailed Hawk	Cedar Waxwing	pIMG_0197.JPG	pIMG_0212.JPG
pIMG_0226.JPG	The Shaftesbury Ferry