British Columbia Bird Watching - on foot or by jet boat
The Fraser River Valley offers spectacular Bald Eagle gatherings with up to 1,500 eagle sightings in a single day. We offer a new and unique method of bird watching, developed at our lodge called "Drift Birding" with packages from 1-14 days.
Our area features a large variety of birds. To find a complete listing of all the birds of our area please review our
Bird Checklist
Eagles
The mighty Fraser River and its tributaries, the Harrison and Chehalis rivers, offer some of the best and most scenic bald eagle watching in the world. These rivers also host some of the worlds largest salmon populations and when they spawn hundreds upon hundreds of eagles arrive to feast. In the late fall and winter months the eagle populations are most concentrated. It is an amazing sight to behold. See Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar and Big Leaf Maple trees full of eagles. One tree may have up to 30 eagles on it's large branches. The lodge is situated above the river and the bald eagles fly by at eye level.
Great Blue Herons
The herons nest in colonies and there is one colony just a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute car ride from the lodge. They are noisy when they get together and when they fly their wing span is comparable to that of the eagle. They are majestic in flight and growing up in this area it was a real treat to see these birds which now have become very successful in their breeding and are plentiful year round.
Trumpeter Swans
These are among the biggest waterfowl in the world and are long necked members of the duck family. These birds have white plumage with a long neck, a black bill subtly marked with salmon-pink along the mouthline, and short black legs. The cygnets (juveniles) are grey in appearance, becoming white after the first year. Their beauty and grace contradicts their grumpy and quarrelsome characters. These birds need at least 20 feet (5-6 meters) in order to take off into flight.
Pileated Woodpecker
The word 'pileated' means 'capped' which refers to the red crest on their heads. The male Pileated Woodpecker can be distinguished by their red moustache and a red crest that extends to his forehead; the red in the female is only in her topknot. This species' underwings flash white in flight.
These birds have longer necks and their bills grow continuously making them capable of chiselling out elongated holes/homes. Like a lot of Canadians, these birds like their space and one couple can enjoy a territory of approximately one square kilometre or more. They grow to about 16" or 41 cm and live year round in our area.
Belted Kingfisher
The belted kingfishers have a blue-grey band around their breast and the females have red on the belly as well. Once again this being a world class fishing area we attract these fine fishermen. Albeit a greater skill level is required of the birds as they often will hover mid-air like helicopters before plunging into the water headfirst after their prey.
These birds are loners and chase away any other kingfishers from their territory. Only at mating time will they tolerate each other. They nest in a burrow which has been dug in a sand or clay bank. They dig with their beaks and push the sand/dirt away with their feet. The female broods while the male fishes for both her and the babies until the young produce feathers. Then they are taught to fish by the adults dropping dead fish into the water. Once they get good at fishing everyone goes their separate ways.
Below is a listing of all the birds that can be seen from and around the Eagle Spirit Lodge.
| Common Residential Birds |
| American Coot |
American Robin |
American Goldfinch |
| Bald Eagle |
Black-capped Chickadee |
Brewer's Blackbird |
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
Brown Creeper |
Bufflehead |
| Common Goldeneye |
Common Merganser |
Common Raven |
| Dark-eyed Junco |
Downy Woodpecker |
Gadwall |
| Glaucous-winged Gull |
Golden-Crowned Kinglet |
Great Blue Heron |
| Grey Jay |
House Sparrow |
Hairy Woodpecker |
| Hooded Merganser |
House Finch |
Mountain Chickadee |
| North Western Crow |
Northern Flicker |
Northern Harrier |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
Pine Siskin |
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| Ring-necked Duck |
Red-tail Hawk |
Red-winged Blackbird |
| Rock Dove |
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet |
Ruffed Grouse |
| Song Sparrow |
Spotted Towhee |
Steller's Jay |
| Varied Thrush |
White-Crowned Sparrow |
Winter Wren |
| |
Wood Duck |
|
| Common Spring/Summer Birds |
| Barn Swallow |
Bewick's Wren |
Cedar Waxwing |
| Common Yellowthroat |
Marsh Wren |
Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Rufous Hummingbird |
Tree Swallow |
Violet-green Swallow |
| Wilson's Warbler |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
|
| Common Fall/Winter Birds |
| American Wigeon |
Canada Goose |
Lesser Scaup |
| Mew Gull |
Northern Pintail |
Northern Shoveler |
| Red-Breasted Merganser |
Ring-billed Gull |
Trumpeter Swan |
| Uncommon Residential Birds |
| American Bittern |
American Dipper |
American Kestrel |
| Band-tailed Pigeon |
Barn Owl |
Barred Owl |
| Belted Kingfisher |
Black-crowned Night Heron |
Blue Grouse |
| Bushtit |
Chestnut-baked Chickadee |
Common Loon |
| Common Snipe |
Cooper's Hawk |
Double-crested Cormorant |
| Evening Grosbeak |
Fox Sparrow |
Great Horned Owl |
| Green-winged Teal |
Harlequin Duck |
Horned Lark |
| Hutton's Vireo |
Killdeer |
Merlin |
| Mourning Dove |
Northern Pygmy Owl |
Northern Saw-whet Owl |
| Peregrine Falcon |
Pileated Woodpecker |
Purple Finch |
| Red-breasted Sapsucker |
Red Crossbill |
Ring-necked Pheasant |
| Savannah Sparrow |
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
Three-Toed Woodpecker |
| Townsend's Solitaire |
Western Screech Owl |
|
| Uncommon Spring/Summer Birds |
| American Pipit |
Black-headed Grosbeak |
Black-throated Bray Warbler |
| Black Swift |
Blue Winged Teal |
Bullock's Oriole |
| Caspian Tern |
Cassin's Vireo |
Cinnamon Teal |
| Cliff Swallow |
Common Nighthawk |
Eastern Kingbird |
| Great Gray Owl |
Great Heron |
Hammond's Flycatcher |
| Hermit Thrush |
House Wren |
MacGillivray's Warbler |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
Olive-sided Flycatcher |
Osprey |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher |
Red-eyed Vireo |
Sora |
| Spotted Sandpiper |
Swanson's Thrush |
Townsend's Warbler |
| Turkey Vulture |
Vaux's Swift |
Warbling Vireo |
| Western Tanager |
Western Wood-Pewee |
Willow Flycatcher |
| |
Yellow Warbler |
|
| Uncommon Fall/Winter Birds |
| American Tree Sparrow |
Barrow's Goldeneye |
Black-bellied Plover |
| California Gull |
Canvas Back |
Cattle Egret |
| Dunlin |
Eared Grebe |
Eurasion Wigeon |
| Golden-Crowned Sparrow |
Greater Scaup |
Greater Yellowlegs |
| Herring Gull |
Horned Grebe |
Lincoln's Sparrow |
| Northern Goshawk |
Northern Shrike |
Old Swan |
| Red-necked Grebe |
Rough-legged Hawk |
Sanderling |
| Sandhill Crane |
Snow Goose |
Tundra Swan |
| |
Western Grebe |
|
| Rare Residential Birds |
| Anna's Hummingbird |
Golden Eagle |
Gray-Crowned Rosy Finch |
| Long-eared Owl |
Short-eared Owl |
Spotted Owl |
| |
White-tailed Ptarmigan |
|
| Rare Spring/Summer Birds |
| American Avolet |
Black-chinned Hummingbird |
Calliope Hummingbird |
| Costa's Hummingbird |
Lazuli Bunting |
Long-Billed Curlew |
| Mountain Bluebird |
Nashville Warbler |
Purple Martin |
| Veery |
Western Kingbird |
|
| Rare Fall/Winter Birds |
| Gray Falcon |
Harris' Sparrow |
Lapland Longspur |
| Long-billed Dowitcher |
Canvas Back |
Snowy Owl |
| Western Meadowlark |
White-throated Sparrow |
|
