Memories of Fort Nelson

I have had the pleasure of visiting Fort Nelson on three occasions. All three fell in June. My first visit came in 2005, while heading to Alaska. Because I left Alaska by ferry, there was no second visit on that trip. Seventeen years later, I returned. I took a land route home in 2022, so I enjoyed a third visit as I headed south again. Following are some notes from these times.

2005-06-12: Fort Nelson, BC

On leaving Fort St. John yesterday, I traveled through alternating drizzle, rain, and threats thereof for most of the way. Just before reaching Fort Nelson, I broke out of the poor weather and finished the trip under partly sunny skies. At the RV camp where I settled, I learned they had been dry for four days.

I searched for birds in the area and had some luck on a wooded hillside across the road from the campsite. There seemed to be better opportunities at the edges than in the interior of the woods. I found Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, Northern Flickers, and Western Tanagers for sure. I think I saw a Fox Sparrow briefly and a fast moving warbler with black side stripes, but I got no photos and could not be sure of the ID.

2022-06-05 Sunday In Fort Nelson

Sunday, I spent time in Fort Nelson in northwestern British Columbia. There is a managed woods at the edge of town, called the Fort Nelson Demonstration Forest that I visited in 2005, and I made a point of visiting this place once more. The high point of my walk along its trails was meeting Canada Jays. I had met them briefly on other occasions, but never with the intimacy I had hoped for.

I followed some trails that wove through the tall, broad-leaf trees. It seemed the high canopy-loving birds had no interest in attending the lower elevation, but a Hairy Woodpecker enjoyed foraging nearer to my eye-level, and provided me with some good looks. The only other birds I could get into focus were a Red-Breasted Nuthatch and a Tennessee Warbler. I have collected better images of these species in the past, but these were the only birds within my reach. My meeting with the Canada Jays made the time I spent there well worth it.

2022-06-24 Fort Nelson Once More

With every visit to Fort Nelson, including my time in 2005, I have explored the woods at the northeastern corner of town that the locals call the Demonstration Forest. I have never felt short-changed by the time I’ve spent there on its trails. This visit this past Friday, was perhaps the most rewarding of all.

My afternoon tour gave me, among others, Canada and Magnolia Warblers. I was beginning to believe I might not get a picture of the Canada Warbler on its breeding grounds. It was a brief visit, but one where I could capture a few images. American Robins are the most common bird I saw in northern Canada. These trails were no exception. Though some older literature calls them Gray Jays, Canada Jays haunt these woods. Chipping Sparrows in northern Canada are not hard to find, and they are denizens of this woodland. Hairy Woodpeckers shared this forest with Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers. Magnolia Warblers, Tennessee Warblers, Ovenbirds, and Northern Waterthrushes were among the warbler species I met along the trails here. It was in 2005, that I met my first Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers here. It seemed fitting that these birds would show up for me on this visit.

After spending time at the Demonstration Forest, I found a quiet place in a vacant lot, near the town center to settle for my two-night stay. I had a ring-side seat to enjoy a parade in honor of the newest high school graduates. It was a joyful crew of kids riding on the semi-truck flatbed trailers that blasted their air-horns on their drive through town, while the kids hooted and hollered, and the proud families on the street hollered back. 

Banners lined the streets, emblazoned with pictures of some of their graduates. I loved the way the community embraced its newest citizens. While it is a different world into which this generation embarks than the one I faced all those years ago, the exuberance and enthusiasm I saw in these young adults was something that my peers and I truly shared when it was time to face our own futures. Many of my generation seem to have left behind youthful optimism; a casualty of our march through life.

As much as I enjoyed Fort Nelson, it was time to continue my journey south. Saturday morning I launched myself back on the road, and headed south to Fort Saint John, which is where I find myself as I finish spinning this yarn. I’ve had a couple of enjoyable days here, and I will tell you about them in the next edition of this chronicle.