A blast of summer among the snowy owls and redpolls! Rob English has sent us some Canada Geese photos that are not your usual view of these birds. He says “This was new to me as I’d seen them in poplars but never fir trees. They were scrapping over some old magpie nest they wanted for a perch and were really causing a commotion until the one drove the other off and it went to another fir tree about 25 yards away. I took these shots in Carburn Park last May.”
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, us 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.
This report was prepared on Monday February 6.
February 2
— GYRFALCON, 34 Ave east of Blackfoot Trail, Tony Timmons
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, 52 Ave & 69 St SE, Phil Cram, Mike Mulligan
— PRAIRIE FALCON, same, PC, MM
— HARRIS’S SPARROW, same, Joan and Malcolm McDonald
— WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, same, J & MMcD
February 4
— CACKLING GOOSE 2, flyover Mallard Point, Terry Korolyk
— VARIED THRUSH, SE Calgary yard, Bob Lefebvre
— HORNED LARK 2, 10 km south of Nanton, PC, MM
— RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 6, 52 Ave & 69 St SE, Bill Wilson
February 5
— WOOD DUCK, Bow River, Tony Timmons & CFNS group
— NORTHERN PINTAIL, same, TT etc
— TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE, same, TT etc
— SONG SPARROW, Carburn Park, TT etc
— NORTHERN SHRIKE, Fish Creek PP, Steve Kaffai(?)
— AMERICAN DIPPER, same, Bob & Dan Arndt
— GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, same, B & DA
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday February 9.
Rob English took these photos along the river at Lafarge Meadows in December. Click to enlarge.
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, us 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.
This report was prepared on Thursday, Feb.2.
January 15
–NORTHERN CARDINAL(f). Seen in the Brittania area of Calgary since at least Jan.15.No further details known.
January 29
–AMERICAN ROBIN, Lowery Gardens, W. of Edworthy Park, by Steve Kassai.
–PINE GROSSBEAK, 11 found in Edworthy Park, 13 in Lowery Gardens, by SK.
January 30
–TRUMPETER SWAN(2). Seen on the Bow River W.of Exshaw, by G. Gorden.
February 1
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK(2).One along the Elbow River, by GY, and one in the Sandy Beach are of the Elbow River, by Phil Cram.
–NORTHERN SHRIKE(2). One seen along the Elbow River by Gus Yaki et.al, and one seen in W. Bowness Park by Gary Malcolm.
–TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE(4).Along the Elbow River during the monthly Elbow River Survey, by GY.
–HARRIS’ SPARROW(imm).Seen along 51st. Ave, about 2km east of 52nd.Str.SE. by Yousif Attia and Ilya Povalyaev.
–WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW(1) same location and observers as above.
The next scheduled update of the bird alert is Monday Feb 6.
Marg Matheson and Alan Plumb are new to the hobby of photographing birds, and sent us some juvenile Bald Eagle pictures. They are quite proud of these shots, and have every right to be! Click to enlarge.
Rob English found this beautiful owl north of Turner Valley last month. Click to enlarge.
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, us 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.
This report was prepared on Thursday January 26.
January 22
— LESSER SCAUP, Carburn Park, Bow River (Calgary), Janet Gill, Bernie Diebolt, CFNS group
January 23
— GADWALL male, Fish Creek PP, Bow River (Calgary), David Lilly
January 24
— NORTHERN PINTAIL male, Carburn Park, Bow River, Gus Yaki, FFC group
— GYRFALCON, Hwy 8 west of Calgary, Richard Clarke
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday January 30.
BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday February 1. The program is titled “Understanding the Bird-brained: The Psychology of Bird Watching”, presented by Chip Scialfa. Dr. Scialfa is a professor of psychology at the U of C, a birdwatcher and a volunteer for the Alberta Wilderness Association.
Rob English has birds in his yard too – everyone’s favorite blue jays among them! Click to enlarge.
While I was in Calgary over the holidays I took some photographs of feeding nuthatches and I thought I would share them with you so as to illustrate some of the effort that these little guys put into this common daily activity!
Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the way nuthatches feed perfectly, ” an intense ball of energy “, is exactly what they are!
When they start hacking away, usually their legs are the only part of their bodies not moving!
Posted by Matthew Sim
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, us email us at zoxox@shaw.ca 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.
This report was prepared on Thursday January 19.
Since December 25
— VARIED THRUSH, SW Calgary yard, Bob Lefebvre
since January 10
— MOURNING DOVE, SW Calgary yard, Aileen Pelzer, Gus Yaki
recently
— COMMON GRACKLE, 2 MOURNING DOVES, SE Calgary yard, Pat Bumstead
January 14
— CLARK’S NUTCRACKER, Harvie Heights, Richard Clarke
— GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH 100+, Exshaw feeder, RC
— PINE GROSBEAK 10, Harvie Heights, RC
— PINE SISKIN 100+, same, RC
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday January 23.