This spring a family of Great Horned Owls nested in the Burnsmead area of Fish Creek Provincial Park. Max Ortiz Aguilar got these photos of the family after the young had hatched and were almost ready to start branching.
Great Horned Owls – mother with two downy young. Burnsmead, April 16, 2017.
Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.
Great Horned Owl, male standing guard by the nest, Burnsmead, April 16, 2017.
Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.
To see more of Max’s wildlife photos, go to his site, Photos by MOA.
Here are some photos of waterfowl taken by Michael Kim in the Canmore area this spring.
Hooded Merganser, Exshaw, May 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Hooded Mergansers, Exshaw, May 2, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Great Blue Heron, Lac des Arcs, May 6, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Great Blue Heron, Lac des Arcs, May 6, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Ruddy Duck, Exshaw, May 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Red-necked Grebe, Exshaw, May 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Bufflehead, Exshaw, May 3, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Northern Shoveler, Lac des Arcs, May 22, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Horned Grebe, Exshaw, April 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Barrow’s Goldeneye, Canmore, April 2, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Barrow’s Goldeneye, Canmore, April 4, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
In May we posted some photos taken by Lorraine Glass in Bowmont Park in NW Calgary (see this post). Gord Smith was inspired by these photos to go and see what he could find. Here are his photos from May 22 and May 27, 2017.
Western Tanager (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
White-breasted Nuthatch, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Flicker (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Yellow Warbler (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Yellow Warbler (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Gray Catbird, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Song Sparrow, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Flicker (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
If you have some photos of local birds you’d like to post here, send them to us at birdscalgary@gmail.com.
Correction: The unfortunate rodent is a Northern Pocket Gopher, not a Meadow Vole. Pocket Gophers are the ones that make mounds of loose soil above their underground burrows. The soil mounds are commonly seen, but the animals themselves rarely venture above ground. When they do, it is usually at night and they don’t go more than a few feet from the mound. Hence they are rarely seen – this is the first photo of one from the Calgary area that I’ve seen. – Bob Lefebvre
Tony LePrieur got this great shot of a Great Gray Owl with a captured Northern Pocket Gopher recently near Calgary.
Great Gray Owl, Turner Valley area SW of Calgary, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
In May, Ethan Denton completed his 2017 Great Canadian Birdathon to raise money for bird research and conservation. He was part of a team with Gavin McKinnon, called the Saw-it Owls. Here are just a few photos of birds the team saw on their birdathon.
Harlequin Duck (male), Lake Minnewanka, May 20, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Harlequin Ducks (female on left, male right), Lake Minnewanka, May 20, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Common Loons, Vermillion Lakes, May 20, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Sharp-tailed Grouse (male) on lek, southern Alberta, May 14, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Sharp-tailed Grouse (male) on lek, southern Alberta, May 14, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
You can read about Day One of their birdathon on Ethan’s blog, Bird Boy.
The Great Canadian Birdathon (formerly called the Baille Birdathon) is a program of Bird Studies Canada. Participants are sponsored to count as many birds as they can every May. You can contribute to Ethan’s personal donation page here. Gavin McKinnon’s page is here. Please help them to reach their fundraising goals!
Here are some photos of birds taken in South Glenmore Park on a Friends of Fish Creek birding course walk on April 29, 2017. All Photos by Max Ortiz Aguilar.
Red-necked Grebe.
Red-breasted Merganser (male).
Red-breasted Merganser (female).
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle subspecies).
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Intergrade of Audubon’s and Myrtle subspecies).
Cooper’s Hawk.
Downy Woodpecker (male).
Bufflehead (male).
Horned Grebe.
Osprey.
Song Sparrow.
Red-tailed Hawk.
Sandhill Crane.
Swainson’s Hawk.
Boreal Chorus Frog singing.
To see more of Max’s photos, see his website, Photos by MOA.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
For many years Nature Calgary has held a Big Day on the Victoria Day holiday – an attempt to find as many species as possible in one day, in this case all of them inside the Calgary city limits (we had 116 species this year). During the 2015 Calgary Birding Competition we decided to add a Big Day in the Calgary Region–the 80-km diameter circle centred in Calgary. We did the trip again last year. In both cases we saw lots of good birds (151 species in 2015, and 132 in 2016) but it is a long day with quite a few dead stretches of driving.
Great Gray Owl, one of two seen on our 80-km Circle Big Day in 2016. Horse Creek Road, June 18, 2016. Photo by Saravana Moorthy.
For this year, we decided to try something new: A Big Week instead of a Big Day in the 80-km circle. There will be a series of field trips offered from June 4 to 10, and we will try to reach a cumulative total of 175 species on these trips.
Most of the trips will be led by myself, Andrew Hart, and Rose Painter. We will kick it off with a day-long trip to the northwest corner of the circle, around Water Valley, on Sunday June 4. The final day will feature another long trip to the south and southwest. Both of these trips require registration because car-pooling will be required and spaces will be limited.
There will also be several field trips offered during the week, including trips inside the city to the Weaselhead and Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. A couple of other trips will be Twitch ‘n’ Tours, our term for for a field trip with a known starting point but for which the destinations are not decided until the last minute, so that we can chase rare birds or ones we have not been able to find so far.
If you want to see how many species you can find in the Calgary region in one week in June, join us for some or all of these outings. See the Nature Calgary field trip page for details and to register.
Some birds photographed at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in Calgary by Navroz Sunderji. Navroz used a Canon SX50HS camera.
Common Merganser (male), Inglewood Birds Sanctuary, May 20, 2017. Photo by Navroz Sunderji.
Tree Swallow, Inglewood Birds Sanctuary, May 20, 2017. Photo by Navroz Sunderji.
Tree Swallow, Inglewood Birds Sanctuary, May 20, 2017. Photo by Navroz Sunderji.
European Starling, Inglewood Birds Sanctuary, May 20, 2017. Photo by Navroz Sunderji.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
More birds from my backyard. The White-throated Sparrows were around for just a couple of days in the first week of May (although I heard one singing in the neighbourhood this morning, possibly a late migrant grounded by the strong winds and rain we had yesterday). Chipping Sparrows passed through last week, and I counted up to thirty in my yard one day, along with a few of the closely-related Clay-colored Sparrows.
White-throated Sparrow, Calgary, May 7, 2017. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
White-throated Sparrow, Calgary, May 7, 2017. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
The above photo shows the sharply contrasting white throat patch and the yellow lores that are keys to identifying this species. Some White-throated Sparrows have tan and black rather than white and black head stripes, but they should always show the white throat and a least a little yellow on the lores.
The tan and black variation is a colour morph which some White-throated Sparrows have throughout their lives. It is not a juvenile characteristic, like the tan and gray head stripes of the White-crowned Sparrow. All White-crowns have tan stripes as juveniles, and white stripes as adults. Here is an old photo of an adult White-crowned Sparrow. Besides the lack of a white throat and yellow lores, note the clean gray breast and spotted back feathers which are quite different from the White-throated Sparrow. The pale bill (pink or yellow) also stands out.
White-crowned Sparrow, Calgary, May 10, 2010. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Below are a few of the Chipping Sparrows that were in my yard. There were thousands in yards all over the city that week.
Chipping Sparrow, Calgary, May 18, 2017. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Chipping Sparrow, Calgary, May 18, 2017. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Chipping Sparrow, Calgary, May 18, 2017. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Both of these species breed in the city. White-throated Sparrows are common in the Weaselhead, the west end of Fish Creek Park, and other parts of the city where the boreal forest intrudes. You can hear their beautiful song there right now. Chipping Sparrows breed throughout the city, even in suburbs in low numbers. Their song is a long, dry, steady trill, which is sometimes mistaken for an insect sound.
Other birds I’ve had pass through my yard recently on migration include White-crowned Sparrows (in pretty low numbers this year) around the end of April and first week of May, Ruby-crowned Kinglet at about the same time, and a Baltimore Oriole briefly on May 21.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Lorraine Glass photographed these birds in Bowmont Park in Calgary on May 18.
Killdeer, Bowmont Park, May 18, 2017. Photo by Lorraine Glass.
The Killdeer may have been nesting right by a busy pathway. They lay their eggs right on the gravel, but the eggs are very hard to see, and the parents are really good at not giving away the nest location, and at distracting predators.
Osprey, Bowmont Park, May 18, 2017. Photo by Lorraine Glass.
The Osprey is carrying material to line the nest, even though they probably have already laid their eggs. Ospreys will often add to the nest throughout the summer.
Black-capped Chickadee, Bowmont Park, May 18, 2017. Photo by Lorraine Glass.
This appears to be a recently fledged chickadee, begging for food.
House Wren, Bowmont Park, May 18, 2017. Photo by Lorraine Glass.
House Wrens are back in the city in their usual huge numbers. You can hear them singing all along the river valleys and in many residential neighbourhoods too. They have a big voice for such a tiny bird.