Memories of Taylor Landing, Canada

My 2022 expedition to northwestern Canada included two visits to Taylor Landing. Once while traveling north, and again on my return, headed south. Each visit was memorable. Following are the notes I recorded.

2022-06-02 Taylor Landing At Peace River

White-Throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis — I met White-Throated Sparrows at Taylor Landing. It was good practice to compare their songs with the similar sounding Black-Capped Chickadees. I fell in love with the Boreal Forest that lined the Peace River next to the Alaska Highway during my north-bound journey a month earlier.

I plotted several stops for my trip to Saint John’s, only an hour’s drive north on the Al-Can Highway. The only significant stop I made was at the Peace River Bridge, in a wooded grove called Taylor Crossing. The towering broad-leaf trees must have been a hundred feet tall. I could hear singing from on high, but my only hope for capturing bird images would be from species that prefer a slightly less-elevated life-style.

I was lucky in this location. Birds like the White-Throated Sparrows, Swainson’s Thrushes, American Redstarts, and Black-Capped Chickadees all make their livings closer to my eye-level. These species had graced me with close encounters at many of the places I visited in northern Alberta. The high point of my morning’s stop at these woods was when a Black-and-White Warbler dropped in to look for bugs near me. I knew these birds were around, but until now, they’d eluded me on their breeding grounds.

Very near to Fort Saint Johns is Charlie Lake, a place I stayed while traveling north on my 2005 trip to Alaska. While I’m here, I’d like to visit this location, but I don’t think I will need to camp. I can boondock somewhere nearby. Walmart is always an option.

2022-06-28 Taylor Landing Once More

Black-and-White Warbler - Mniotilta varia — On my drive from Dawson Creek (British Columbia) to Fort Saint John, I stopped at a wooded grove next to the Peace River, called Taylor Landing Provincial Park, where I finally got to meet Black-and-White Warblers on their breeding grounds.

It is only a 20 minute drive south from Fort Saint John to Taylor Landing, on the banks of the Peace River. I discovered this place white driving north on the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek in British Columbia. I met some lovely birds on that visit, but finding my first Black-and-White Warbler on its breeding ground made my day. When I said goodbye to Fort Saint John and Charlie Lake on Thursday, I knew where my first stop would be.

I didn’t find the Black-and-White Warbler on my second visit, but there were American Redstarts, Black-Capped Chickadees, Lincoln’s Sparrows, MacGillivray’s Warblers, Mourning Warblers, Red-Eyed Vireos, Swainson’s Thrushes, White-Throated Sparrows, and Yellow Warblers. These were enough to satisfy my appetite for bird meetings.

For me, the nicest surprise was discovering among the images, both the MacGillivray’s Warblers and Mourning Warblers. Neither bird lingered long, nor did they venture as close as I’d have liked. But they at least gave me the chance to get an “ID Quality” image. I’d met both species before, so it was not a ‘first encounter’ moment. But I didn’t have them on my radar, and so, the surprise.

When I finished with the birds at Taylor Landing, I gathered my gear and got back on the Alaska Highway. Dawson Creek is at “Mile Zero” of the Alaska Highway and only a few more miles away.