Observing interesting wild animals in Alberta, Canada can be a good activity especially when you find these in their natural habitats.
In the six months that I was in Canada, I’ve stayed in Edmonton from late November 2024 to early April 2025. I’ve seen these animals mostly when me and my brother were traveling around. An exception will be the Canada goose, white-tailed jackrabiit and the black billed magpie which I’ve observed while in Edmonton. The animals below were sighted from February to April, when the season was starting to transition from winter to spring.
American Bison (Bison bison)
I never thought that I will get close to an American bison but there he was, standing still near a group of birch trees. It was my last week in Canada and me and my brother visited a distant relative in Camrose. When we headed back home, we passed by Vegreville Giant Easter Egg and then at Elk Island National Park. Although I was expecting a herd of bison, most that I’ve seen were just either solo or twos.
I was thinking that the bison is aggressive but it docile, just standing in place. I still kept my distance though.
Elk (Cervus canadensis)
This was my first sighting of a big mammal in the Americas and I got thrilled watching and observing a herd from a distance! We were entering the town of Banff to visit the national park when my brother told me that there was a herd of wild elks at the edge of the forest, feeding a few meters ahead of us. Vehicles were lining the road with some going out to admire these ruminants. I immediately grabbed my camera with a telephoto lens and quicky took images.
It would have been great if I saw one with really developed horns but the timing is not ideal as the approach of spring signals the start of horns jutting out.
Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)
It was in this same trip to Banff National Park that we chanced on these herd of Bighorn sheep along the highway. My brother slowed down when we saw these group, enough for me to take photos. Those curved horns are beautiful to look at. It would have been better If I photographed these with the snow capped mountains as the background but our position wasn’t that good.
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
It was after visiting the little church in Drumheller and heading to the Royal Tyrrell Museum that I saw this mule deer, one of the big animals in Alberta by the roadside scaling a small hill. My brother stopped and good thing that it looked in our direction and I was able to take a photo.
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
It was still January and snow was still covering Edmonton but I’ve already heard of the noisy bird call, that of a goose. Lo and behold, strutting and hanging out around the snow covered parking lot where my brother’s unit has a good view, this lone Canada goose was just around 10 feet from me!
From that time on, I often see one at the apartment roof or one or two flying high.
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)
I was walking around downtown Edmonton doing an Ingress mission when I chanced on this black-billed magpie hopping around a corner and into some bushes.This species is one of the few birds that stays for winter. It’s smaller than a pigeon with that colorful blue tail and wings topped by a black head. I often see this species around the city. It was just kind of hard for this to stand still enough for a good photo. I did got several blurred ones. 😀
White-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii)
This is another local mammal that can be seen during winter. One night, while looking out the window, I saw this jackrabbit (its actually a species of hare) hopping at the snow covered parking lot. Wasn’t able to take photos though because I was inside the apartment and the light outside was just too low for a good photo. Since it was winter, it had its winter, all white coat on.
There were other animals in Alberta I’ve seen but either these were too far to photograph or just passed by while I was outside or on the road. When we were heading to Vegreville, I was hoping to really see swans at one of the lakes near Elk Island National Park but we didn’t go there. A consolation, however, was seeing flocks of migrating birds from far away returning to Canada from their winter grounds south in the Americas. In Drumheller, I also saw one that looked like a pheasant but not just sure what bird was that. We were driving and just had no time to photograph as it disappeared into the landscape.
Canada is one massive country and, compared to the Philippines, the number of species just doesn’t compare, being a temperate country verus a tropical one. But then, seeing a bison is accessible enough. Or in the wide expanse along a Canadian highway, you can still see a mule deer. Or a wild goose and a hare in an urban environment is something else. Though I’ve seen a few wild animals in Alberta, it was a thrill to see these!
