Bowman Family Saskatchewan Trip - June 19-30, 2026

June 27: Around Eastend

On this drizzly morning, we decided to go out for breakfast at Jack’s Café, a local eatery established in 1920. Jack’s serves traditional food that is appreciated by the locals, and it has a few Filipino specialties served by the current owners. It also features a fabulous mural about the local area. We enjoyed our treat.

The first area to check out for birding was Chimney Coulee, just out of town. Little remains of the Métis settlement, where Bison were slaughtered, nor of the North-west Mounted Police post that was a way station between Fort Walsh and Wood Mountain. The trail was largely overgrown, and only Craig and Bill braved the ticks to read the signs. The best bird was a Clay-colored Sparrow.

From there, we moved on to Pine Cree Regional Park, a small forested park popular with campers. It is known for it’s mysterious Hermit’s Cave. But the trail up to it was too steep for us seniors – only Pamela & Grant went up for a look. There was lots of bird song in the park, and we soon spotted the healthy population of House Wrens and Veerys. A pair of Swainson’s Hawks bade us farewell as we drove away.

It was time to head to Shaunavon for ice cream. But the ponds just west of town were amazing for all kinds of water birds, and we lingered there a long time.

Then it was back to Eastend to go to the reservoir. We were still hoping for a Clark’s Grebe, but had to make to with a cooperative Western Grebe.
We had a quick check on the absent Screech Owl, then went to the surprisingly good T-rex Visitor Centre. It was a more relaxing day for us.