If you love nature and wildlife viewing, then be sure to add the province of British Columbia, Canada to your destination list. This beautiful province is rich in wildlife viewing areas and has an abundance of extraordinary animal and bird species.

Bird Watching

If you enjoy bird watching, British Columbia will fulfill your wildest dreams. See Green Herons, Aise Swallowtails as well as Trumpeter swans and hundreds of other bird species. British Columbia is home to the Pacific Flyway. Over a million birds use the Flyway annually to migrate. Thousands of bird species live in the province year ‘round, so there are bird watching opportunities available in every season.

Pacific Gray Whales

Each year you can view Pacific Gray Whales migrate in the waters off the coast of British Columbia. The migration includes the entire global population of these magnificent creatures.

Other Wildlife Species

As you drive along British Columbia’s highways, you will see bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears, moose, caribou, elk and mountain goats. In certain areas you may even spot a Kermode bear, known as the Spirit Bear to the natives of the province. This rare species of bear is a rare subspecies of the black bear that carries a special gene that makes their offspring a honey color.

Vancouver Island Wildlife Viewing

If you are looking for the ultimate wildlife viewing experience, you will find it on Vancouver Island. Here you can watch diverse species of whales breaching, feeding, migrating and spy-hopping. Visitors can book a whale watching tour in any large town of the area.

Whales

If you are interested in watching gray whales migrate, visit the area in the spring. Gray whales migrate in March and April, although a few remain in the area off the west coast during the summer months. This allows visitors whale watching opportunities for the entire summer and into autumn, when the gray whales move to the Gulf of Mexico for the winter.

Orca whales, also known as killer whales, can be seen off the south coast of Vancouver Island from early May to late September. Off the north coast of the Island, they can be seen from July to the beginning of September.

The Salmon Run

The Fraser River has hundreds of tributaries and these are the scene of the largest salmon run world wide. Five species of Pacific salmon migrate up the Fraser and to the interior of the province every fall.

People from around the world come to this are to watch the salmon run. This magnificent species move up the province’s rivers and streams from the ocean to the interior, lay their eggs and complete their life cycle. Once the salmon die, a new life cycle begins. This sparks the natural instinct of bears, eagles and other species to gorge themselves on the salmon that provides them with essential nutrients to withstand the winter months.

Migrating Birds

Vancouver Island is located on the Pacific Flyway. Each year thousands of birds migrate as the seasons change. Bird watchers world wide come to the Island to view the migrations of birds and waterfowl.

Turkey Vulture Migration

Turkey vultures migrate in the fall, but most people pay little attention to these great birds. However, in the southern region of Vancouver Island, they can’t be ignored. It’s here that large numbers of this species come together and face the crossing of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The breeding ground of the turkey vulture is in the southern region of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. They are cousins to the stork and are no longer classed as birds of prey. Their flying prowess is weak and they use the warm air currents to keep them airborne as they search for food, which is ninety nine percent carrion. Turkey vultures have trouble crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca because cool air keeps warm wind currents at bay. Often, turkey vultures have to wait for weeks for the warm air currents. This provides bird watchers a unique viewing opportunity, for when the warm air currents move into the area, the turkey vultures take to the air to try their luck at the crossing. The air is filled with hundreds of these magnificent birds.

Turkey vultures are not the only birds that favor the warmer wind currents. Eagles, hawks and a variety of raptors favor the warmer wind currents to cross the Strait. These birds are able to cross the Strait under their own power and do not wait for warm air currents to move into the area.

Watching the turkey vultures and their raptor companions in the air is a spectacular sight. The peak viewing time is the last week of September, though these birds can be seen from mid-September until the end of the first week in October. The best place to view turkey vultures and other bird of prey is the Ayland Farm, which is located west of Victoria at the eastern end of Sooke Regional Park. Be there around 10 am for the best viewing.

Wildlife Viewing on Highway 20

Along Highway 20, you will see some of nature’s greatest wonders. Trumpeter swans spend the winter on Lonesome Lake, which is located in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park.

Be sure to check out the Chilanko Forks Wildlife Management Area, which is a protected marshland. It is located approximately 40 miles west of Alexis Creek. It is home to beaver, waterfowl, woodpeckers and hummingbirds, as well as fifty two species of other birds.

Punzi Lake, north of Highway 20 and a half hour’s drive from Alexis Creek is home to Trumpeter swans in the fall and is the white pelican’s feeding ground each spring. Other areas where these birds can be found include Anahim, Alkali and Pantag Lakes. Do not approach the nests of these bird species or disturb them when they are foraging for food, or they will abandon their nests. These birds are protected by law and heavy fines are imposed on those who infringe on the birds feeding and nesting territories.

Follow Farwell Canyon Road south of Highway 20 to view California bighorn sheep at the California Bighorn Sheep Reserve. The Reserve consists of 1,000 acres (400 hectares,) at the junction of the Chilcotin and Fraser Rivers. More than 500 bighorn sheep scale the sandstone river banks of the area and make up one fifth of the world’s bighorn sheep population.

Caribou Highway

To view eagles and osprey take a side trip to Green Lake. The area is reedy and shallow. The west end of the marsh is a migratory resting and nesting site.

Visit 100 Mile House and participate in Wildlife Watch, which has a viewing station behind the Information Center. Here you will see bald eagles, cranes, majestic moose and a diverse selection of thousands of waterfowl.

The Scout Island Nature Center at Williams Lake focuses on bird species of wetlands. A visit is definitely a great opportunity for birders. Focus your binoculars on yellow breasted blackbirds and other species native to the area.

Discovery Coast

Kayakers who visit the mid-coast will find themselves in the company of bald eagles, common loons, cormorant and kingfishers. Over 100 species of birds can be identified in Hakai Provincial Recreation Area, including auklets, black and ruddy turnstones, murres, black oystercatchers and ravens.

Marine life is abundant in the inter-tidal waters and tide pools of the area. View crabs, anemones, sea urchins, starfish, mollusks and a diverse variety of other creatures.

Marine animals of the area are also fun to watch. Otters put on a comical show with their antics. See harbor seals, orcas, humpbacks, beaver, mink, dolphins and porpoise, as well as black-tailed deer, wolves, black bears and, on the mainland, grizzlies.

If you have a desire to have an adventuresome and unique wildlife experience, visit beautiful British Columbia. It has the most diverse animal population in all of Canada.