The birds and the bears

I’ve hesitated writing about Canada because it’s such a well trodden path. On the other hand, so many people opt for the easy option, buying a coach and tourist train package, that they’re likely to miss more than they actually see. So here are a few things that caught my eye.

Canada likes to take care of its wildlife. Dotted along the Trans Canadian Highway in Banff National Park are bridges, designed for the sole purpose of allowing wildlife – grizzlies, black bears, elk, deer  – to cross the road safely.

Sometimes, you’ll be alerted to the presence of wildlife by a knot of cars stopped by the side of the road. Here’s a black bear, rooting around in the trees near the road from Jasper to the sinister sounding Maligne Lake.

Taking a walk, you never know what you’ll come across. A muskrat goes for an evening splash in Scout Island at Williams Lake.

Further down the path a pair of ospreys sit on a nest at the top of a purpose built pole.

But ospreys don’t need to rely on custom made perches. A bridge, across the Fraser River at Lillooet, is ideal.

You can’t see the nest? Here’s a close up. One osprey guards the nest …….

While the other guards the bridge

And flaps his wings when I start to outstay my welcome.

A pile of fish bones on the bridge shows that they’ve been eating well.

But, to be honest, I’m hardly an intrepid traveller. I decide against using the roadside toilet near Kamloops when I see this sign.

And I’m decidedly apprehensive at the innocuous looking Island Park at Prince George, where a notice in the car park warns that bears are allowed to roam freely in the park.

That’s Canada  – bears roaming in a public park.