Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 15

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com. To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

OCT 11

GREATER SCAUP – 3 females on Glenmore Reservoir, Bill Wilson

OCT 12

PACIFIC LOON -middle of Glenmore Reservoir, Al Borgardt
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER – as above
LONG-TAILED DUCK – Lake Louise in Banff Nat’l Park, Linda Vaxvick
RUSTY BLACKBIRD – Irrigation Canal south of 17 Ave SE seen by BW; also a flock of 8-10 in Rotary Park by the Hwy 22X bridge by Rick Robb

OCT 13

PACIFIC LOON – Glenmore Reservoir, Bob Storms
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER – 2 at east arm of Glenmore Reservoir, David Pugh and BW
SURF SCOTER – female in east arm of Glenmore Reservoir, BW
RED CROSSBILL – flocks of 4 and 19, Votier’s Flats in west Fish Creek PP, Terry Korolyk

OCT 14

GREATER SCAUP – 4 female or immature at the dam at Chestermere Lake, TK
BARROW’S GOLDENEYE – a flock of 50 as above
SURF SCOTER – immature at Langdon Reservoir on Hwy 22X just east of Hwy 797, TK
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER – as above
RUSTY BLACKBIRD – 7 at south end of Eagle Lake, Dan Arndt
FRANKLIN’S GULL – 3, at southwest corner as above
THAYER’S GULL – Sunset Park at Chestermere Lake, TK

NORTHERN SHRIKE – several reports over the weekend
ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD – still appearing at a home in Bowness, phone Terry Korolyk at 403-254-1878

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thu Oct 18.

BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, 7:30pm in Room 211 of the BioSciences Building, U of C.

WEDNESDAY, NOV 7 AT 7:30PM – DANIEL ARNDT AND DAVID PUGH will share their experiences with technology in the world of birding.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 11

Oct13

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

A HUMMINGBIRD that has been coming to a feeder at a home in Calgary Bowness may be an immature female ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD as revealed through photographs. The bird was seen again Wed Oct 10; but no reports thus far today. For more information, call Terry Korolyk at 403-254-1878.

Several immature hybrid COMMON-BARROW’S GOLDENEYE were seen in a flock of 12-13 immature Goldeneye just offshore from the dam at Chestermere Lake on Mon Oct 9. At least 3 male and 2 female probable sibling hybrids were seen in the group by Terry Korolyk.

At a large slough in the northeast corner of the Hwy 560 – Rge Rd 283 junction Terry saw 17 TRUMPETER SWANS. He saw an adult SNOW GOOSE and an adult TUNDRA SWAN at McElroy Slough on Inverlake Road; then he saw 2 adult TUNDRA SWANS at the slough just east of Shepard on twp Rd 232.

Tim Hopwood watched a PALM WARBLER on the Chevron Pathway at Prince’s Island on Oct 9

Janet Gill saw a HARRIS’ SPARROW south of the main T-junction pathway at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Oct 9.

Corinne Griffin saw a SWAINSON’S THRUSH just NW of Linden Oct 9

Steve Kassai still had 3 EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES in his yard in North Haven on Oct 9.

Ron Kube saw 8 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS west of Hwy 22 northwest of Cochrane on Oct 8

A PACIFIC LOON was seen at Barrier Lake in Kananaskis Country on Fri Oct 5. The bird was seen by Joan and Malcolm Macdonald; it was just off the dam of the lake at 5pm.

Bill Wilson saw a male SURF SCOTER in the middle of Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary on Thu Oct 4.

Sun Oct 7, Steve Kassai observed a female HARLEQUIN DUCK at Beaverdam Flats. He found a total of 55 HOODED MERGANSERS while birding Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and the Irrigation Canal between 17 and 50 Ave SE on Fri Oct 5.

A goose that may have been a ROSS’S GOOSE was found by Ron Kube on Sat Oct 6 at Hwy 552 and Rge Rd 274

Andrew Hart reported 4,000 SNOW GEESE and 200 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at Stobart Lake southeast of Strathmore on Sun Oct 7.

Ian Halladay reported 150 SNOW GEESE and 35 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at the north end of Weed Lake at Langdon on Sun Oct 7. Andrew Hart saw 2 SWANS there on Oct 7

Terry Korolyk saw 3 SWANS at Lac des Arcs on Hwy 1 east of Canmore both Oct 5 and 7.

Bob Lefebre saw 14 COMMON REDPOLLS in St. Andrews Heights in NW Calgary Oct 4

Steve Kassai saw a PALM WARBLER and a HERMIT THRUSH in Beaverdam Flats on Oct 7.

Bill Wilson saw a HERMIT THRUSH and a SWAMP SPARROW at Confederation Park in NW Calgary Oct 6.

Ian Halladay found 34 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER at Weed Lake on Hwy 560 at Langdon Oct 5.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Mon Oct 15.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 4

Oct5

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

Bird Sightings:
Sept. 27
–WHITE-FACED IBIS(11), Namaka Lk.SE of Strathmore, by Clive Elliot.

Sept. 30
–ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK(2), Plateau Mtn. Kananaskis area, by Peter Roxburgh et al
–NORTHERN PYGMY OWL(1), same as above.
–HARRIS’S SPARROW,imm, backyard of Dorothy Johnston, Marlborough area, seen through Oct.2. Call her at 403-272-7916 if wishing to see the bird.

Oct.1
–SNOW GOOSE(60), NW of Linden, by Corinne Griffin.
–SANDHILL CRANE, several near Twp.Rd 314 and RR 270, by CG.
–RED-TAILED HAWK (HARLAN’S), Elbow River Survey trip, by Gus Yaki et al.
–HOODED MERGANSER,21 seen Oct.1 by Bob Lefebvre, and 34 by Bill Wilson on Oct.2, in the irrigation canal S. of 17 Ave SE off Deerfoot Tr.

Oct. 2
–CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD, possible imm. female,at a feeder in Bowness. ID tentative so far.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 1

Oct2

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

SEPT 27

PALM WARBLER – west Fish Creek PP, Richard Clarke
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW – in Calgary area

SEP 28

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER – 1 at slough on 304 St, SE 2 kms south of Hwy 552 – Richard Clarke
PECTORAL SANDPIPER – 100 as above
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 20 as above
AMERICAN BITTERN – slough on Twp Rd 273 just east of Rge Rd 261 southeast of Irricana – RC
HERMIT THRUSH – 2 at Confederation Park – Bill Wilson
SWAMP SPARROW – 1, as above

SEP 29

HERMIT THRUSH – at Confederation Park – BW

SEP 30

SNOW GOOSE – 4 adults at slough on 304 St 2 kms south of Hwy 552-Terry Korolyk
SANDHILL CRANE – 2 at a slough south of the Jumpingpound Gas Plant north of Hwy 1
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 34 at the slough on 304 St SE, 2 kms south of Hwy 552 – TK
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER – 1 as above
PECTORAL SANDPIPER – 50 as above, 25 at slough on 338 Ave and Hwy 799
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER – 2 as above
LEAST SANDPIPER – 3 as above, 3 at slough on 338 Ave and Hwy 799

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thu Oct 4.

BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, 7:30pm in Room 211 of the BioSciences Building, U of C.

WEDNESDAY, OCT 3, 7:30pm – IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS (IBAs) IN ALBERTA – Petra Rowell, Nature Alberta.

WEDNESDAY, NOV 7, 7:30PM – DANIEL ARNDT AND DAVID PUGH will share their experiences with technology in the world of birding.

Status of Landbirds in Alberta’s Boreal Plains

Sep28

The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) has released its latest report on the state of biodiversity in Alberta. The Status of Landbirds in Alberta’s Boreal Plains Ecozone reports on the status of common bird species that are monitored by the ABMI in Alberta’s Boreal Plains Ecozone (BPE).

The BPE represents 58% of Alberta’s total land area and covers a vast expanse of northern Alberta. Alberta’s BPE is rich in natural resources; it serves as a working landscape for industry, and is considered an integral part of North America’s “bird nursery”. The report highlights the status of individual species and landbird groups such as neo-tropical migrants, forest interior specialists, winter residents and species at risk.

the status of 74 landbird species in the Boreal Plains Ecozone were found to be, on average, 80% intact.
as of 2010, 21% of Alberta’s BPE has been directly altered by human activities including cultivation, forest harvesting, residential, commercial, energy, and transport infrastructure
agricultural cultivation represents the largest human footprint in Alberta’s BPE at 12%
protected areas in Alberta include provincial and national parks and National Wildlife Areas account for 11.3% of the BPE
the status of 74 common landbirds in Alberta’s oil sands region were found to be, on average, 85% intact. This region currently has a lower human footprint than the entirety of Alberta’s BPE and, therefore, a slightly higher intactness for landbirds.

Read the full report on the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Website

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Friends of Fish Creek Autumn Birding Course begins again – Week 2

Sep17

Posted by Dan Arndt

This fall, Bob Lefebvre and I are running one of the Sunday morning groups this year, and while this is the second week for the group, it’s my first week back from vacation.

Lafarge Meadows, one of the locations I always am finding new birds at, was our location for the day, and in our 5.75 km walk up and down the river bank, dodging golf carts and buses, we managed to see a pretty decent number of species. The annotated map shows our general route, as we headed from the Boat Launch, clockwise following the river, then back north along the paved path.

Our Route

On the ponds at the north end, we were given good close looks at a Great Blue Heron, seen here giving a brief lecture to some unruly Mallards that had taken over its roost. It flushed them away, or at least attempted to, before going back to its business of catching its breakfast.

Great Blue Heron giving a lecture

Attempting to frighten off the surly Mallards

Soon the heron realizes the futility of its ways and goes back to fishing.

As we looked over the pond, we were briefly interrupted by a small group of migrants, including Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned Warblers, and a few Lincoln’s Sparrows, before we looked back up over the pond to see some familiar faces (or familiar bills, perhaps?) The always entertaining Bufflehead, ever-present Lesser Scaup, and a lone American Wigeon even made an appearance.

Bufflehead

Lesser Scaup

American Wigeon

As we trekked southward, into the fray with golf carts whizzing by us and the noise of what seemed like hundreds of visitors to some other festivities in the park, we veered off toward the river, where we saw no small number of Double-crested Cormorants, Lesser Yellowlegs, and even at least two Osprey, hunting for fish over the Bow River.

Double-crested Cormorant

Lesser Yellowlegs

Osprey

Even deeper into the brush and further from the trail we happened across a few more warblers in the trees, including this Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a pair of House Wrens angrily chipping away at us.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

While we tend to focus on the birds on the blog, we all have a soft spot for butterflies, and this Milberts Tortoiseshell that posed quite nicely for everyone was no exception. It also marked the beginning of our trek back to the north, with the sun at our backs.

Milberts Tortoiseshell

As we were once again inundated with the golf carts and busy pathway, we kept our heads clear and our goals in sight, checking the ponds and sloughs on each side of the path as we went, and we turned up quite a few nice surprises. Each of them was more striking, with the Pied-billed Grebe surfacing now and again in an algae-choked pond, a pair of juvenile Ruddy Ducks in amongst the American Coots, and another Green-winged Teal flocking in with some more precocious Mallards!

Ruddy Duck

Green-winged Teal

Pied-billed Grebe

Finally, as the finish line was in sight and our long walk had ended, we found ourselves staring long and hard at this intrepid Cooper’s Hawk, soaring on the thermals in search of its next meal.

Cooper’s Hawk

Next week: Mallard Point!

Travel Tuesdays – Southeast Alberta Big-ish Day

Sep11

Posted by Dan Arndt

Alberta has such a wide variety of environments that I’m constantly finding new areas, new regions, and entirely new birds around the province. One area that I have never spent any significant time in was in the south-east corner of the province. In fact, the last time I ventured east of Strathmore was in 2005, when I visited Dinosaur Provincial Park in my under-grad to do some prospecting in some of the private access coulees with a friend of mine working on his Ph. D.

I had hoped to visit Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park this summer, or at least Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park, time got away from me and other priorities came up. Thankfully, fellow blogger David Pugh, over at “A Calgary Birder” had some free time on his hands and asked me along to visit some spots he had heard good things about.

Our route was planned, and we headed out at just after 4:30 in the morning with plans to visit Kinbrook Island Provincial Park, Many Islands Lake, Cypress Hills, Pakowki Lake, and a few other stops along the way.

We arrived at Kinbrook Island Provincial Park campground at just after sunrise. The sloughs on each side of the road in were buzzing with insects, and a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds as well as the ubiquitous Red-winged Blackbirds were feasting. We managed to spot some early peeps for the day, along with some Spotted Sandpipers, a few Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and we even managed to find some Long-billed Dowitchers in the early-morning light.

After a brief drive through the campground listening for warblers, we stopped at the south end to look over the lake. American White Pelicans, hundreds of eclipse plumage ducks, and even a Common Loon were visible from the point, but I think one of the best birds of the day (so far) was this lone Brown Thrasher, who was mixed with a small flock of Yellow-headed Blackbirds feeding on insects beside the road.

Brown Thrasher – My second ever sighting of this impressive bird.

One final stop at the far south end of the campground was a row of low brush along the lake front, which was inhabited by no less than ten Western Kingbirds, the same number of Eastern Kingbirds, some Wilson’s Warblers, and a few other species of flycatchers, like this (seemingly dark) Western Wood-Pewee.

Western Kingbird

Western Wood-Pewee

Eastern Kingbird

After a very successful first stop, we moved out and headed further east to Medicine Hat and points eastward. Just outside of Suffield, I spotted what appeared to be a raptor in the field sitting on the ground, presumably dispatching its prey. I hesitated only for a moment, but thought it would be a great photo opportunity, so we turned around to get a closer look. On the second pass, David and I scanned the field like hawks ourselves, until we both, almost simultaneously blurted out “Burrowing Owl!?”. The brakes were applied liberally, and as we both scrambled with our gear, it seemed our sudden stop had spooked a few of them, who flew off in various directions. Two brave holdouts remained, with one coming quite close to inspect us, then returning to the burrow. The other, a juvenile, attempted to hide in the tall grass at the edge of the clearing.

Burrowing Owl – This brave owl inspects the curious trespassers.

Can you spot the second owl in this photo?

After spending about a half hour watching these beautiful little owls from a distance, we decided it was time to continue onwards. We rolled through Medicine Hat without incident, spotting many different birds as we drove, but nothing new for the day until we turned north. The terrain was visibly different than even the farmers fields near Calgary, and the birds present were distinctly “prairie” species, unlike those nearby which are a mix of boreal, grasslands, and foothills species. The first major indicator of this was the massive Ferruginous Hawk that we passed as we headed to Many Islands Lake. Sadly, I didn’t get any shots of the bird until it was too far off to distinguish. As we got onto some of the side roads though, we did find a small slough, along with its iron-fisted dictator overseeing its subjects, which included Mallards, Northern Pintails, and Green-winged Teals primarily. The dictator of which I speak is the majestic and impassionate Peregrine Falcon, ruler of these wetlands.

Always managing to look regal, Peregrine Falcons are one of my favourite raptors.

As we neared Many Islands Lake, the variety of the sparrows was made up of old familiar faces, some less familiar ones, and some brand new ones to both David and I. First, the Savannah Sparrows were numerous, but nowhere near as widespread as the Vesper Sparrows. Topping off the list though were no small number of Lark Buntings, which we were certain were some strange morph of Vesper or Lark Sparrows… turns out we were both dead wrong! Another old familiar face were the many and numerous Horned Larks, always posing perfectly for the camera.

Savannah Sparrow

Lark Bunting

Horned Lark

And while we tend to focus on the birds we see on our outings, one cannot ignore the sheer number of Pronghorn Antelope at the SE corner of the province. In the span of the day, we saw no less than 40 of these beauties, but none came quite as close as this large male.

Pronghorn Antelope

At Many Islands Lake we saw hundreds of ducks, shorebirds, and even managed to separate out a pair of Hudsonian Godwits among the numerous Marbled Godwits out on the islands, along with a few Willets, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and Killdeer. Unfortunately they were too far out, and the sun far too hot, to allow for any acceptable photos. Atmospheric aberration at 500mm on a 30+ degree day is stunningly messy.

From Many Islands Lake, we headed south through Medicine Hat, and decided for a brief stop at Red Rock Coulee, between Medicine Hat and Pakowki Lake, turning up a few more Horned Larks, Rock Wren, and our first distinctively clear looks at a Lark Sparrow.

Rock Wren

Vesper Sparrow

Between Red Rock Coulee and Pakowki Lake, we stopped at a few drainage ditches that ran under the road through culverts, and came across a pair of Loggerhead Shrike. Another bonus bird for the day!

Loggerhead Shrike

Pakowki Lake gave us good views of Pectoral, Baird’s, and even a lone Stilt Sandpiper. It was a fortunate find, but not so fortunate for the bird who appeared to be suffering from a broken wing. Out on the lake further we spotted Western Grebes, American Avocets, many more Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Killdeer, and Willets.

Stilt Sandpiper

Leaving Pakowki Lake, we stopped in at Foremost to fill up for gas and spotted a kettle of Common Nighthawks flying overhead. I had no idea they grouped up into such large groups to migrate. David and I estimated at least 40 individuals flying overhead, and at least half that many had already passed before I looked up to investigate that odd “PEENT!” call that they’re so well known for.

We finished the day at Frank Lake in the fading light, adding Clark’s Grebe, Great-horned Owl, and a few others to our list before calling it a day and heading home. In total, our species list came to 104 for the day, with a handful of lifers for the both of us, and many great new places to explore!

Travel Tuesday – Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation, Coaldale, AB

Aug28

Posted by Dan Arndt

One of my favourite trips in the wonderful book “Day Trips from Calgary” by Bill Corbett, is the magical and amazing Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation, located in Coaldale, Alberta. The drive itself is wonderful and offers plenty of opportunities for birding the dozens of lakes, sloughs, and fields in the two and a half hour trip into southern Alberta, but the grounds of the visitor centre would turn any non-birder into a confirmed bird lover.

You don’t even have to go in to the centre to get your bird fix. Surrounding the visitor centre are a series of ponds and marshes that are home not only to shorebirds, but also to passerines, flycatchers, and even large numbers of waterfowl.

A few of these Common Yellowthroat were seen just outside the visitor centre just before it opened.

Three or four Greater Yellowlegs were picking food out of the water just west of the visitor centre.

“But neither of these are birds of prey!” I hear you shouting. You’re right, they’re not. So, without further ado, on with the show!

Last year, the visitor centre housed a juvenile Swainson’s Hawk, which was penned near the front desk.

Juvenile Swainson’s Hawk

This year though, we were greeted by Basil, the Burrowing Owl, who cooed and huffed, but investigated us with as much curiousity as we had about him.

Basil the Burrowing Owl

There is a huge portion of the Birds of Prey Foundation that is devoted to rehabilitation of injured or orphaned birds of prey. Some of the current residents are recovering from their injuries, such as the Broad-winged Hawk and the Rough-legged Hawk in their care. Both of these birds are recovering from wing injuries, and will require rehabilitation for quite some time before they can be released back into the wild.

Broad-winged Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

A few others birds on display are of unknown affinity, and I wasn’t able to track any of the volunteers down to ask them for clarification, but they’re beautiful birds nonetheless.

Northern Harrier

Long-eared Owl

Ferruginous Hawk

Great Gray Owl

Others are permanent residents of the centre, and are part of breeding programs that are incredibly successful. Both the Merlins and Burrowing Owls are successful parents, and have regularly fledged offspring for quite a few years.

Merlin

Burrowing Owl

Arguably just as important as the rehabilitation, breeding, and even the care of these gorgeous raptors are the educational animals that they keep on hand, (and in some cases, in hand!) for public events, or even just for a private moment or two with visitors to the Birds of Prey Foundation visitors centre.

Barn Owl – though not considered “native” to Alberta, they are occasionally reported here.

The Short-eared Owl is quite possibly my favourite owl species.

Spirit, the blind Golden Eagle

Lauren and Alex Jr., one of the Burrowing Owl mascots of the Birds of Prey centre.

Don’t we just look SO happy together?

It’s hard to narrow down from the dozens of pictures that I took here to figure out just which ones are the best and which ones to post. Even looking over the post now, I know I’ve missed a few species and quite a few great photos that would represent them, but really, it’s worth going and visiting for yourself. They’re open this season until September 10, 2012, and will reopen to the public early next May. Why are you still reading this? Get down there and visit them for yourself!

Travel Tuesday – Elk Island National Park

Aug21

Posted by Dan Arndt

While this blog usually focuses on the birds in and around Calgary, many folks travel for work, for pleasure, or just to see new great birds in other areas of the province. In the last year, I’ve been up to Elk Island National Park twice, and each time has been absolutely amazing. I look forward to my next visit, and hope it’ll be sooner than next summer, but time is always fleeting and it can be hard to justify a trip without other things to do up there. Plus, with the Friends of Fish Creek Autumn Birding Course starting up in a few weeks, many of my weekends are spoken for!

The Beaver Hills region of Alberta, which includes Elk Island National Park, are a unique topographical area formed by the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. As they melted and stagnated, they formed what is known as “kame and kettle topography”. Why is this important to birds, you might ask? These kettle lakes are home to tens of thousands of gulls, shorebirds, and a water source for the surrounding boreal forest that established along the top of the “kames” which are regional topographical highs. In many cases, these are up to a hundred meters higher than the surrounding landscape, and gently sloped on either edge, forming something similar to the foothills style landscape that we’re so used to around Calgary.

Over Heritage Day long weekend, we spent three days up there relaxing by the lake, enjoying the calm, serene waters, and weathering the sometimes frighteningly extreme weather.

This storm cell over Astotin Lake was so severe that we were asked to evacuate our campsite and take shelter in our vehicle.

Thankfully, the weather lightened up over the next two days allowing for some good sightings of some beautiful and amazing birds, some of which paid us many visits at our campsite over the weekend. This juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was part of a family group that spent every day in the trees nearby.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Western Tanagers are some of the most colourful birds we get in Calgary, and it was great to find not one but two breeding groups on hiking trails in the park.

Western Tanager

The main campground is located a stone’s throw from Astotin Lake, which is home to dozens of Red-necked Grebes. Last year, there must have been nearly two-hundred just near the shoreline in late September, but this year, since it was a bit earlier, the numbers weren’t quite so high. The population was still healthy this August, as this adult shows.

A Red-necked Grebe finds his favourite fish breakfast.

Shorebirds were present in small numbers as well, though I would expect by this time, their numbers are much higher, and will continue to climb until late September as migration steps on its perpetual course. A few Semipalmated Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers seemed to be flocking with, and stalking, this Long-billed Dowitcher, who in turn followed around a Greater Yellowlegs every time it was startled and flew off in another direction.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Greater Yellowlegs

Semipalmated Sandpipers (centre, left) and Least Sandpiper (front right).

One of my favourite shorebirds was present on the shores of Astotin Lake, and seemed to be the mother (or maybe father?) of at least three juveniles that tentatively poked their heads out of the long grasses every few minutes. This Killdeer kept a wary eye on me and would fly away any time I moved toward it, or toward the young ones, so I simply sat on a picnic table and waited for him to come to me.

Killdeer

Some of the other birds present in good numbers were a couple of flocks of American White Pelicans, Song Sparrows, and even a few Eastern Phoebe made their presence known.

American White Pelican

This Eastern Phoebe looks downright evil with the flash reflection in its eye!

By far though, the flocks that outnumbered all other birds combined were the huge numbers of Barn Swallows swarming over the lakes, and the massive flocks of Franklins and Bonaparte’s gulls, both quickly losing their breeding plumage and entering their winter molts.