More wonderful Rob English photos of a Great-horned Owl, Horned Larks and Snow Buntings taken near Blackie, AB the last week of December.
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Bird Studies Group Meeting Tonight
Just a reminder that the Bird Studies Group of Nature Calgary will be meeting tonight, Wednesday January 9 (instead of the first Wednesday of the month). The presentation will consist of the results of various Christmas Bird Counts held in the Calgary region. Â Phil Cram will present the results of the Calgary Count.
The meeting is at 7:30 pm in Room 211 of the Biological Sciences Building at the U of C. Doors open at 7:00. Â See this page for a map and more information.
Sunday Showcase: Black-backed Woodpecker
The highlight of the 2013 New Year’s Day Bird Count in Fish Creek Park was the rediscovery of a Black-backed Woodpecker, first reported in the area on December 19, 2012. These birds are seldom seen in the Calgary region – I believe it is at least five years since the last one was seen inside the city. On the afternoon of January 1st, I went to the Marshall Springs area to look for it. Luckily for me, Ursula Krol, who had found it in the morning , had returned and found it again.
Photos by Bob Lefebvre
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Jan 3
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
Bird Sightings:
A NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL was seen and photographed by Robert Brown in the Shannon Terrace area of Fish Creek Park on December 30.
A CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE was seen in the Waterton Townsite on Monday Jan 31. The bird was seen by Joan and Malcolm Macdonald. It was in the neighbourhood of 101 Fern Street. A YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER appears daily in the yard of Jo Nemeth at 8525 Wentworth Dr. SW in Calgary and a female BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER has been seen once again in west Fish Creek in Calgary. Counters on the Fish Creek PP New Years Day count saw the bird, then in woods southeast of Bridge 5 in the Marshall Springs area. The bird was still present in the afternoon of January 1. A leucistic ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen by Matthew Sim at the Hwy 8 – Range Rd 40 junction west of Calgary on Wed Jan 2.
REDHEAD ducks have survived the winter in fairly good numbers thus far. New Year’s Day counts included 7 at Policeman’s Flats by Terry Korolyk; 3 at Beaverdam Flats by Andrew Slater; 4 there by Bill Wilson; then 5 at Carburn Park by Bill Wilson. Andrew Slater saw a GREATER and a LESSER SCAUP at Beaverdam Flats while on Dec 29, Terry Korolyk observed either a GREATER SCAUP or a
GREATER-LESSERSCAUP hybrid at Elliston Park in southeast Calgary, January 1. Terry saw an AMERICAN WIGEON at the slough in the SW corner of the Hwy 2A-Hwy 22X junction.
Observers in the area can be on the lookout for wandering NORTHERN GOSHAWKS this winter. There have been many reports thus far, both in Calgary and in the surrounding area. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK was seen in the Bebo Grove-Marshall Springs area of west Fish Creek PP on New Year’s Day.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday, January 7.
Finding Birds with eBird
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Note: You don’t have to be an eBird user or have an eBird account to do this. Anyone with an internet connection can use eBird as a resource, so please read on.
eBird, the online database of bird sightings, has many useful features that birders can use to study patterns of bird movements in time and space. The one I use the most is the Interactive Range and Point Maps. This shows a map of all sightings reported for a particular species for any place and time specified. You can set the time period to be as long or as short as you like, and thus see the distribution of the bird.
By setting a short time period of the most recent month or two, you can find out what is being seen in your birding area right now. I will run through an example of the process to show how you can easily find out exactly where your target bird has been seen.
Step 1: Go to the eBird Website home page. (In the example it is eBird Canada, but you could also use the US site.) Your screen will look something like this:
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Step 2: Click the “Explore Data” tab. There will be three choices: Range and Point Maps, Bar Charts, and Line Graphs.
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Step 3: Select “Range and Point Maps” to bring up the world map.
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Step 4: Specify the date range for your search.  Click the “Date” tab (which is defaulted to “Year-Round, All Years) to select a time period. In the example, I set it to December only of the current year. It was early December when I did this example, so only sightings from the previous few days would be shown. Then click “Set Date Range” in the green box.
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Step 5: Select the target species. A new screen has come up with the date range set to “Dec-Dec, Current Year”. Go to the “Species” box and type in the bird. I used “Snowy Owl” in the example. As you type, various species possibilities that fit what you have typed so far will show in the blue box below. Once the correct species name appears in the blue box, click it to select the species.
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Step 6: Zoom in on the map to see sightings in your area. You could also at this point set the location (to Calgary, for example) in the upper right-hand box, but it is just as easy to zoom in on the Calgary area by double-clicking your mouse or scrolling your mouse wheel until you get close. Any area that is purple on the map will have at least one Snowy Owl sighting.
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Below, I have zoomed in to the Calgary area. Paydirt! Snowy Owls have been reported inside the two purple rectangles. Now I just have to zoom in a little closer on them to see the exact locations.
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Step 7: Get the sighting data from a point location. The two red teardrops show the exact locations reported for Snowy Owls. By clicking on them, you bring up the sighting information. In the example, I clicked the westernmost teardrop and discovered that it was Daniel Arndt who reported one owl on December 1. You could now scroll in some more to see a close-up map of the area with the names of the roads. But you can also get more information from Dan’s checklist.
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Step 8: See the checklist from the reported sighting. Â Click “Checklist” next to the name of the observer, to bring up all the particulars of the sighting. If there had been other species seen at that location, they would have been listed there.
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Step 8: See the location on a Google map. On the above screen, click “Map” at the end of the location line to get a Google map with the precise location and GPS coordinates. You can now drive to the exact spot where Dan saw this owl, where, if you’re lucky, it will be still be sitting on the same pole.
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Give this a try to see how easy it is to find out what’s being seen in your area. Of course, the only sightings you’ll find are those submitted by eBird users, so the more people using eBird, the better!
Links:
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 31
Compiled by Terry Korolyk
Bird Sightings:
Dec 27:
GLAUCOUS GULL, Cactus Corner Truck stop east of Hanna, Gerald Romanchuk, Trevor
Roper.
SHORT-EARRED OWL (3), Hwy 23/RRd 25 , Joan & Malcolm MacDonald, Eddy Matoud.
HORNED LARK (60-80), Hyw 23/RRd 264, J&M M.
GREEN-WINGED TEAL, Vermillion Lakes, Banff, Andrew Don.
Dec 28:
SNOWY OWL, Hwy 1, west of Calaway Pk, Andrew Hart.
(also 4 seen on Cochrane CBC)
Dec 29:
SNOW BUNTING (400), Hwy 55/RRd 255, Terry Korolyk.
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, at entrance to Wyndham-Carseland PP., TK.
Dec 30:
SONG SPARROW, Votier’s Flats, FCPP, Bob Lefebvre.
VARIED THRUSH, feeder in Dalhousie NW Calgary, has been seen for at least 3
weeks, BL.
GLAUCOUS GULL, as above, J&M M.
GOLDEN EAGLE/EAGLE sp., slough McLeod Tr/Hwy 22X. TK.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday Jan 3.
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 27
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
Ongoing: VARIED THRUSH, male, coming to feeders in a yard in Dalhousie in NW Calgary for the past three weeks. Until recently there was a female as well. For information email birdscalgary@gmail.com
Dec.22
SHORT-EARED OWL, east of Frank Lake, by V.Wong and L.Gibson
Dec. 26
SHORT-EARED OWL, near Seven Persons in SE Alberta. Two seen by B.Velner and
five seen by M.and E. Spitzer in the same area.
SNOWY OWL, several seen by several observers spread over a wide area. Four
near Seven Persons, one N.of 22x just E. of Deerfoot Tr., and one near 42Ave. SW
off McLeod Tr.
REDHEAD(9), Bow River at Policeman’s Flats, by Terry Korolyk
GREEN-WINGED TEAL(F),NORTHERN SHOVELER(M), GADWALL, Weed Lake just east of
Langdon, by TK.
EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE(5+),Parkside Dr./Parkview Way intersection, in SE
Calgary, by TK.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Mon.Dec. 31.
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 24
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
Dec ongoing:
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER visiting feeder daily in SE Calgary, Jo Nemeth.
SONG SPARROW in Bearspaw NW, last seen Dec 20, Sally Quon.
SONG SPARROW in FCPP, Phil Quinn.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, RED CROSSBILLS, AMERICAN CROWS, being seen in good
numbers.
Dec 20:
LESSER SCAUP pr, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, SW corner Mcleod Tr/Hwy 2A, Terry Korolyk.
Dec 21:
WILSON’S SNIPE in west FCPP, bridge 8, PQ.
AMERICAN DIPPER in NW Griffith Woods, PQ.
Dec 22:
GRYFALCON, PRAIRIE FALCON, GOLDEN EAGLE, SHORT-EARRED OWL, SNOWY OWL,
GREAT-HORNED OWL, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, Okotoks, vulcan, Lake Mcgregor areas.
Dec 23:
NORTHEN SHRIKE Southview Calgary, Carol Coulter.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday Dec 27
Wednesday Wings: Short-eared Owl
These spectacular Short-eared Owl photographs were taken by Logan Gibson and Veeanna Wong about a half an hour east of Frank Lake earlier this month.
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 20
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
Dec. 15
CLARK’S NUTCRACKER, Hawkwood area in NW Calgary.Observer unknown.
Dec. 16
The following are highlights of species seen during the Calgary CBC on the 16th.:
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER; BOHEMIAN WAXWING(17,000); REDÂ CROSSBILLS(237);WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS(1101);COMMON REDPOLLS(1940); NORTHERN
GOSHAWK(8);MOURNING DOVE(4);TRUMPETER SWAN(2);GADWALL(1);REDHEAD(23);LESSERÂ SCAUP(9);
Dec. 17
RING-NECKED DUCK(1),Policeman’s Flats, Bow River,
Dec. 19
GREATER SCAUP(2),Bow River,Beaverdam Flats, by Terry Korolyk
NORTHERN PINTAIL(M),Bow River,Beaverdam Flats, by Bill Wilson
TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE, BROWN CREEPER, PILEATED WOODPECKER, Fish Creek PP, Ravens Rock area, by Phil Quinn.
BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER(f), Fish Creek PP,south of creek between bridges 5+6, by Andrew Slater.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Mon. Dec.24, 2012