"There was a time when an estimated 60 million buffalo roamed the plains of southern Alberta. Excessive overhunting and a steady loss of habitat has dwindled those numbers drastically, placing bison on Alberta's endangered list. Just a short drive north of Waterton Lakes National Park entrance gate on Highway 6 is the Waterton Bison Paddock, where a protected herd of rare Plains Bison is kept for viewing as a reminder of their legacy as well as in attempt to aid in increasing their population size and advance their species."
"Waterton Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also an International Peace Park, and a Biosphere Reserve. No other park in the world has these three designations. Waterton Biosphere Reserve as it is officially called, was designated in 1979 under what is called the internationally recognized "Man and the Biosphere program" of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), that sure is a mouthful. Biosphere Reserves are designed to promote and demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature."
www.wediscovercanadaandbeyond.ca/2010/11/red-rock-canyon-...
These huge, powerful animals have a very keen sense of smell and can distinguish smells from 3 km away. The only way to see this herd is to drive the very short loop. No pedestrians or cyclists are allowed - the animals spook very easily. We drove the loop a couple of times on our first day in Waterton and went back again on the second day, and enjoyed both the animals and the beautiful setting. It was so cute to see one of the young Bison (Buffalo) come running down the hill to where several of the herd were grazing, and into the pond it went with a big splash and then straight back on to dry land.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_bison
Tags: Alberta Canada S of Calgary 3 hours drive Waterton Lakes National Park Bison Paddock nature scenery landscape rolling hills mountains hazy paddock animal wild wild animal wildlife protected herd Bison Buffalo Plains Bison Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Genus: Bison Species:Bison bison Subspecies: Bison bison bison Status: Near Threatened Explore interestingness# explore2014September05 annkelliott Anne Elliott Panasonic DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot
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NOOOO! IT'S SNOWING (1:15 p.m., 8 September 2014)!!!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas .... Not good news at all for all the different species of Warbler that are passing through at the moment. Maybe a high mortality rate?
Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, called in at the unique Prince of Wales Hotel so that I could take a few shots of it and the incredible view over the lake that is lined on either side with layers of "blue" mountain slopes and peaks. Strong winds were blowing, making it difficult to keep ones balance. Earlier that day, 27 August 2014, I took this photo showing how beautiful the hotel looks from a distance.
"Built in 1926-27 during one of Waterton’s windiest and snowiest winters, the Prince of Wales Hotel is the park's most recognized landmark.
During its construction the extreme weather conditions and poor access created many problems for contractors Douglas Oland and James Scott, from Cardston, Alberta.
On December 10 1926 hurricane-force winds (estimated at 145 km/hr) blew each of the hotel's wings about 7.5 cm off their foundation. The men managed to winch the sections back in line. Three months later winds reached speeds of over 129 km/hr, again pushing the building off its foundation. This time Oland feared structural damage if they tried to pull back the now fully-framed building so he decided to leave it slightly out of plume.
The hotel is named after Edward, Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VIII, and, like its namesake, it has a colourful history. If its Douglas fir pillars could talk they would tell you a tale of American imagination and money, built with Canadian grit and patience.
Today, many people recognize the Prince of Wales as a railway hotel, but few realize it was built by the Great Northern of United States ... and not the Canadian Pacific.
In February 1993 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board approved the Prince of Wales' designation as a National Historic Site, recognizing its architectural style (rustic design tradition, with peaked roofs, gables, balconies and timber-frame interior that give it an appearance of a giant alpine chalet) and its contribution to tourism in the mountains. On July 23 1995 a commemorative plaque ceremony was held at the hotel." From Parks Canada.
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul4.aspx
This morning, 8 September 2014, the temperature is 3°C (37°F) and apparently feels like -1°C (28°F). Mixed precipitation today and the next two days, and then things are supposed to improve! I got up very early to go on a bird walk, but when I saw the overcast sky and large puddles outside, I changed my mind. Will go later in the week, when the sun should be shining.
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta Waterton Lakes National Park lake water mountains building architecture hotel Prince of Wales overlooks Upper Waterton Lake near the Canada-United States border constructed between 1926 and 1927 a National Historic Site of Canada all-wood building architectural landmark beautiful impressive Explore interestingness#56 explore2014September09 annkelliott Anne Elliott Panasonic DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot
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This photo was taken at 6:48 a.m. on 28 August 2014, the last morning of a three-day trip to Waterton Lakes National Park with friends, Cathy and Terry. We were up and ready to leave very early, as we wanted to do a long drive eastwards before driving all the way back to Calgary. It's roughly a three-hour drive directly from Waterton to Calgary. Before leaving the park, we took a short drive along one of the roads, from where we caught the end of the sunrise. The mountains and clouds looked so beautiful, bathed in pink. You can see the road leading back to Waterton village towards the bottom of the photo.
Little did we know that this was such a different sight from the one we were to encounter late in the afternoon, when we saw a menacing cloud approaching and bringing with it a mesocyclone! We were soon engulfed by it when it came down to ground level, bringing pounding hail and tremendously strong winds.
Tags: Alberta Canada S of Calgary Waterton Lakes National Park 3-hour drive from Calgary nature scenery landscape mountains hills trees pink sunrise light pond wetland clouds early morning light not far from US border Explore interestingness#32 explore2014September10 annkelliott Anne Elliott Panasonic DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot
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From 26 to 28 August, I was lucky enough to go with friends Cathy and Terry down to Waterton Lakes National Park and then further east on the third day. Fantastic scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including Burrowing Owls and a family of Dusky Grouse, a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), and a few different insect species. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators.
The weather forecast that I saw before we left Calgary said that we were in for three beautiful days of sunshine. So, luck was on our side, giving us warm, sunny days - until the BIG STORM hit! We had driven eastwards from the park, hoping to see Yellow-bellied Marmots and, if we were really lucky, a Burrowing Owl. The storm was approaching very fast, around 5:00 p.m. just before we started our return trip to Calgary. It was like nothing I had ever seen before - a menacing cloud that was travelling fast and furious. This photo was taken one minute after the photo in a comment box below. Despite trying our best to get away from it, it eventually engulfed our car, surrounding us with more or less zero visibility, pounding hail, thunder and lightning, and tremendously strong winds. There was nothing to do but stop the car and sit tight, hoping that the hail would not break the car windows and that this severe thunderstorm would not develop into a tornado! This storm was very scary, but at the same time, exciting (only because all turned out OK in the end!). Fortunately, we weren't caught in the very centre of it. Our road trip sure went out with a bang! Later, I contacted the Alberta Tornado Watch and posted a photo for them to see. They said the storm that happened that day was a mesocyclone.
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta near Skiff nature scenery landscape sky clouds ominous storm storm clouds farm fields major storm weather Severe Thunderstorm Warning thunder lightning strong winds hail shelf cloud? menacing appearance mesocyclone Explore interestingness#299 explore2014September13 annkelliott Anne Elliott FZ200 Lumix
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The hamlet of Waterton is some distance off this photo, to the left. This is just one view taken from along the Chief Mountain Highway in Waterton Lakes National Park, on 27 August 2014. This park is about 276 km south of Calgary and roughly a three hour drive. During the time we were there, we explored all four drives in the area: the Akamina Pathway that leads to Cameron Lake; the Red Rock Parkway; the Chief Mountain Highway which takes you up to the US/Canada Customs; and the Bison Paddocks. This was a driving trip, not a hiking trip - which is just as well, as a young woman was attacked on one of the days that we were there, by a Cougar on one of the trails!
During three days away (26, 27 and 28 August 2014) with friends Cathy and Terry, we saw so many things, including breathtaking scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer (including several that we saw in the town of Waterton, where we stayed for two nights at the clean and friendly Bear Mountain Motel), Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including my first wild, endangered Burrowing Owls (way east of Waterton, on our last day), a few wildflowers, several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), a few different insect species, and a family of Dusky Grouse that are uncommon in the park. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators. Oh, and we got caught in a storm like nothing we'd ever seen before - a mesocyclone, apparently, according to someone with the Alberta Tornado Watch.
"In 1932, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was formed from Waterton and Glacier. It was dedicated to world peace by Sir Charles Arthur Mander on behalf of Rotary International. Although the park has a lot of diversity for its size, the main highlight is the Waterton lakes—the deepest in the Canadian Rockies—overlooked by the historic Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site.
In 1979, Waterton and bordering Glacier National park in the US were designated as World Biosphere reserves, preserving mountains, prairie, lakes and freshwater wetlands ecosystems. Habitats represented in the parks' range include: prairie grasslands, aspen grove forests, alpine tundra/high meadows, lower subalpine forests, deciduous and coniferous forests.
The park is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, designated as World Heritage Site in 1995 for their distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean hydrographical divide. They are areas of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterton_Lakes_National_Park
Tags: Alberta Canada southern Alberta Waterton Lakes National Park near the Canada-United States border nature landscape scenery valley mountains hills trees forest Explore interestingness# explore2014September18 annkelliott Anne Elliott Panasonic DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot
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