I fell in love with Alberta the minute the train crossed the border. Rolling, open ranges with folds of grasslands, and miles and miles of emptiness - though I imagine there were things - just not seen.

I spotted some deer and three times I saw creatures which I took to be large coyotes- though one may have been a wolf but the speed of the train made it hard to definitively identify anything.

I think the one thing that surprised me the most was how very few birds I saw on the entire trip. I know migration has begun but I saw so few birds I was stunned. Then I read an article in the Globe which revealed the very low population numbers of a great many common species.

I did see a flock of snow geese, gaggles of Canada geese, a few hawks, ducks (unidentifiable), crows, and that was all.

I covered four provinces and have hawk eyes and a passion to sight birds so I look carefully.

And really what else was I to do for 2 3/4 days on the train. (The train was late - it was only meant to be 2 1/2 days).

It was a stunning trip visually. Great swaths of forests, lakes, rivers, and more lakes. 

One could cure insomnia counting the leaves on the innumerable trees just in Northern Ontario.