More excellent photos from Rob English, who took these stunning snowy owl shots northeast of Strathmore earlier this month. Click to enlarge.
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My not-so-Common Redpolls
This topic has come up a lot this winter; all the wintering finches here this year. I am going to add on to this topic once again.
My yard in southeast Calgary has gathered a fairly respectable list; about 90 species of birds have visited it in the last 10 years. The Common Redpoll is on this list, having been seen in my yard once in 2009 for all of about 10 seconds. For whatever reason, my community is not favored by redpolls. This year, though, they were everywhere, including my yard.
On December 23, I had a redpoll in my yard for almost half an hour. And not only was it in my yard, but it visited my feeders as well.
We have been seeing so many finches this winter likely because it is an irruption year; a year when food sources (such as catkins and cone crops for finches and lemmings for Snowy Owls) are hard come by on these birds’ normal wintering grounds.
It’s neat for me to be able to see birds I don’t usually see in my backyard, such as the not-so-Common ( in my neighborhood) Redpoll.
Posted by Matthew Sim
Awesome Snowies!
Jim Walling has sent us some truly outstanding Snowy Owl photographs. The rest of us can only hope to ever get shots like these!
Male Snowy Owls are almost pure white.
Females and juveniles have the dark bars and spots, with the heaviest markings on immature birds.
According to Lillian Stokes, “this is a clear Snowy Owl irruption year, although not for the usual reason of their food source, lemmings, having a population crash. There were an abundance of lemmings during this breeding season, leading to now an abundance of young Snowy Owls who cannot compete with adults for food on their wintering grounds, so these owls head south.”
They have been recorded as far south as Kansas and Missouri this winter, and birders in the Calgary area are putting in many hours on country roads to join in the Snowy Owl bonanza. Our Snowy Owl Sightings page is currently the most popular one on the blog, and it’s updated with each reported sighting.
Posted by Pat Bumstead
Calgary Area Bird Photos
Blog reader and photographer Duane Starr has sent us a couple of links to his beautiful bird photographs.
You can see his collection at Northern Hawk Owl slide show or view a variety of Calgary birds here, including some great shots of the tiny Brown Creeper.
Thank you Duane, for sharing your work!
Posted by Pat Bumstead
Sunday Showcase: Red-bellied Woodpecker
Rob English managed to get some great shots of the rare woodpecker living in High River this winter. Click to enlarge.
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Jan 2
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 Monday Jan 2.
Bird Sightings:
–RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER (1) – seen by many observers in High River’s George Lane Park or coming to Karen Scott’s feeder at 506 – 4 St (bordering the park)
Sunday, JANUARY 1
–SNOWY OWL (many) – 18 seen by Ron Kube on a trip to Rockyford and return to Calgary (route was E on Hwy 564 to Rockyford then return W on Hwy 9 and back roads, S on RgeRd 253 to NW of Strathmore, then returning to Calgary on Hwy 564 and RgeRd 262; 4
owls seen by Terry Poulton on TwpRd 262 between RgeRds 242 and 254; another owl seen independently by both Terry and Eddy
Matuod on Country Hills Blvd and Barlow Tr in NE Calgary; and finally a Snowy seen by Eddy on Symon’s Valley Rd, 800 m S of Big Hill Springs Rd
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – corner of 144 Ave NW and RgeRd 15 by EM
–NORTHERN HARRIER (1) – Calgary Zoo’s private facility SE of Calgary by Dwight Knapik
Saturday, DECEMBER 31
–SNOWY OWL (7) – between Beiseker and Drumheller by David Pugh
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL (1) – Hwy 596 just W of Turner Valley by Daniel Arndt
Friday, DECEMBER 30
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary by Jim Walling
–AMERICAN DIPPER (1) – Fish Creek PP just east of Macleod Tr by Bob Lefebvre
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK (1) – Fish Creek PP, just S of Bebo Grove by Bill Wilson
Thursday, DECEMBER 29
–LESSER SCAUP (1f) – channel on W side of Bow River just SW of Glenmore Tr bridge by BW
–NORTHERN PINTAIL (1m) – S of Deerfoot Tr, N of Beaverdam Flats by BW
–DUCK sp (1) – unusual duck somewhat like an American Black Duck but with a white speculum and white throat with few markings seen near the footbridge to Prince’s Island Park by K O’Connell
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday, Jan 5, 2012.
BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday January 4. The program will be a review of local Christmas Bird Count results.
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 26
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 Monday December 26.
Bird Sightings:
October – December 26: –RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: Around since October 2011, the woodpecker continues to be seen in the same location as previously reported, in High River.
Dec. 24:
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL: Just west of Turner Valley along Hwy.546. Seen previously on Dec. 19.
–NORTHERN SHRIKE: Glenmore Reservoir, south escarpment W.of yacht club. By Bill Wilson.
–EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE: Deer River Green, SE Calgary, by Dave Breckon.
–PEREGRINE FALCON: W. of Black Diamond.
–TUNDRA SWAN(1): Frank Lake. Previously reported from the High River CBC.
Dec. 25: –VARIED THRUSH:(1), seen in yard of Bob Lefebvre in SE Calgary.
Dec.26: –SNOWY OWL(3), east of Calgary, by Terry Korolyk.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday, December 29.
Winter Killdeer
Last weekend on the Christmas Bird Count, I came across a very photogenic Killdeer. These abundant shorebirds, usually only stay the summer in Calgary, several birds, however, also stay the winter.
Despite our frigid winters, these hardy Killdeer seem to manage all right, we see them throughout the winter which must mean that they are surviving. They are definitely finding food, as can be seen in the photo below.
This Killdeer seemed to be finding enough food
At one point, I even saw this particular bird with a small morsel of food clenched in its beak.
This Killdeer was fearless and approached me; which is quite a nice change as a photographer! It also engaged in the species peculiar method of moving; they run for a few feet, stop, look around, flick their tail up, bob their head up and down a couple times, and then repeat this cycle over again.
Just finished a short run, the Killdeer stops, looks around and...
Bobs it's head out of the photo, leaving the photographer with an unusual result; but a good story!
Each year, Killdeer are seen wintering in Calgary, somewhere on the Bow River. Though it may seem like a daft idea to many of us, this species obviously are doing just fine!
A Merry Christmas to you from all of us here at the blog!
Posted by Matthew Sim
Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 22
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 December 22.
Bird Sightings
Several Christmas bird counts over the last week produced some interesting birds as follows:
December 18, Calgary bird count produced 69 species, including the following species of interest: AMERICAN PIPIT (first ever for the count); GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-INCH ( second ever for the count); CANVASBACK, PIED-BILLED GREBE, NORTHERN HARRIER, HARRIS’S SPARROW, RUSTY BLACKBIRD, COMMON GRACKLE, RED-TAILED HAWK, LONG-TAILED DUCK, HARLEQUIN DUCK AND AMERICAN DIPPER.
December 20, High River count produced a record 56 species, including the following species of interest: RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, TUNDRA SWAN, PEREGRINE FALCON , and COMMON MERGANSER, all a first for the count. Five species of owls included LONG-EARED AND NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL.
December 18:
–KILLDEER: Up to 12 different birds were seen by three different parties along the Bow River; near the 22x bridge; at Policeman’s Flats; and two at Griffith’s Woods along the Elbow River.
December 19:
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL(1), just W. of Turner Valley along Hwy.546; by Andrew Slater
–GOLDEN EAGLE (imm), 1km. S. of Turner Valley along 208 Str., by AS.
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday, December 26.
Schoolyard Swainson’s
Last July, right before I moved to Texas, I was treated to an incredible sight: a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk perched on a fence in a school parking lot. This hawk was incredibly close to the sidewalk and allowed for some great photos, all the while sitting calmly on its perch.
This hawk didn’t seem to be injured, it just seemed to be very tolerant of people. Supposedly, Swainson’s Hawks are accepting of human activity and tolerate even more in areas where this activity is more frequent. This species will often become accustomed to disturbance from humans, thus the higher level of tolerability. This hawk, however did still seem to be giving me the evil eye!
After a couple minutes, the impressive raptor, slowly turned away (above) and resumed its activities as if I wasn’t even there.
This is not the first time this year that a Swainson’s Hawk has allowed me to get very close to it, back in May, while we bloggers were doing the Big Sit, we observed a Swainson’s that allowed us to watch it from merely several feet away http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/swainsons-hawk/.
This was definitely one of the cooler birding parts of the summer!
Posted by Matthew Sim