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Carburn and Southland Park Christmas Bird Count

Dec21

This year, I also did the Christmas Bird Count; I was assigned the S1 route, encompassing both Carburn and Southland Park. We started the morning birding from the Eric Harvie bridge in Southland, right beside the dog park, before splitting up, 2 groups going south along the river (one on each side) and 2 groups going north along the river. The day was off to a good start as we observed 2 adult eagles and 2 immature eagles flying low overhead; the rising sun was beautiful, adding to the good beginning and silhouetting the many ducks and geese on the Bow River.

We observed thousands of Mallards, Common Goldeneyes and Canada Geese throughout the day with several hundred Buffleheads as well. There were also several Barrow’s Goldeneyes in these waterfowl flocks.

The Common Goldeneyes weren’t quite as numerous as the Mallards however they were still present in large numbers.

We continued to walk further down the river, spotting Redpolls, plenty of waterfowl, Killdeer, magpies and… RUSTY BLACKBIRD!!! As we were hiking along the river, we flushed up a brownish-black bird about the size of a Robin from the bank. It landed nearby at the top of a poplar where we all got good looks at it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my photographs of this species! This blackbird, is an unusual bird in Calgary, explaining, perhaps, my excitement at the sighting (also, this was only my second time seeing this species).

We headed back to the meeting spot, the Eric Harvie Bridge, where we saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk and discovered that another group had found an American Wigeon. We then headed to our next stop, Tim Hortons! After warming up and getting refreshments at Tim Hortons, we headed out near the Glenmore bridge, where at a pullout, we walked out and did some more birding, turning up a Killdeer and a Hairy Woodpecker.

The next and final stop for our group was Carburn Park. Our goal at Carburn, was to find an American Pipit  that had been reported here a little while earlier. Though we couldn’t agree to the location where this bird had been seen, we did manage to find it. This happens to be the first pipit recorded on the Calgary CBC since its beginning, 59 years ago.

Also in Carburn, we found a pair of Great Horned Owls, that were extremely well camouflaged against the tree branches they were perched on, several more Barrow’s Goldeneyes and another juvenile eagle. I decided to head home early and only found out later that the rest of the group had also found a Northern Pintail and a Wood Duck in Carburn. I birded around my neighborhood, which was inside our count circle, and managed to add both species of crossbills, a robin and a Merlin to our list, among other species.

The pipit and the Rusty Blackbird were definitely the highlights of the day for me, however they were only two of the 33 species and 7924 individuals recorded by 10 counters in this particular area. Here are the complete results:

Canada Goose, 1500; Wood Duck, 1; American Wigeon, 1; Mallard, 3000; Northern Pintail, 1; Bufflehead, 150; Common Goldeneye, 2800; Barrow’s Goldeneye, 20; Common Merganser, 20; Bald Eagle, 5; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1; Merlin, 1; Killdeer, 5; Rock Pigeon, 25; Great Horned Owl, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 5; Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Northern Flicker, 3; Black-billed Magpie, 125; American Crow, 3; Common Raven, 12; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 3; White-breasted Nuthatch, 3; American Robin, 1; Dark-eyed Junco, 1; Rusty Blackbird, 1; House Finch, 4; Red Crossbill, 12; White-winged Crossbill, 26; Common Redpoll, 25; House Sparrow, 110; American Pipit, 1.

Posted by Matthew Sim

It’s good to be back…

Dec19

I flew in to Calgary from Houston last Friday night and was greeted by snow on the ground! Something that I haven’t seen since April. Never thought that I would be so excited to see snow. My first day back, Saturday, I took a walk around my neighborhood and was fortunate enough to see most of the locals; no not the neighbors, the birds.

First thing in the morning, I woke to see several Black-billed Magpies jumping and hollering about in the willow. Several Common Ravens flew overhead and 2 pairs of Chickadees visited the feeders. I was very happy to see the Black-capped Chickadees, nothing can compare with this species’ friendliness!

I have been following the reports from Albertabird still and I have seen all the reports of winter finches; I knew what a good year it was for these birds. I just didn’t know how good! In my hour or so walk, I saw more Crossbills then I did all last winter. I must have seen more than 100 crossbills!

Most of the crossbills were White-winged however there were a few Red Crossbills in the mix ( see photo above). I also observed many Pine Siskins that were flocking with the crossbills and feeding on the abundant cones.

My neighborhood, for some reason, never seems to be popular with Common Redpolls, however this year, within my first 24 hours of being back in Calgary, I had already seen 2 in my community. Also, we hosted a Pine Grosbeak, which is unusual for us. At one point, I was privileged to see several crossbills, a redpoll and many siskins on the ground just feet in front of me, licking up some sort of salt or rock from the ground.

Then, later on in the day, I discovered why my feeders were so empty. Three Sharp-shinned Hawks were all together in a tree. When 3 raptors start calling your neighborhood home, there are definitely going to be some songbird declines.

All in all, it’s good to be back!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 15

Dec16

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 15.

recently
— DARK-EYED JUNCO, Oakridge (Calgary), Margaret Bruner

December 10
— WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL 6, Cedarbrae (Calgary), J. Weldtman

December 12 and succeeding
— RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, George Lane Park, High River, several obs

December 14
— KILLDEER, Hull’s Wood, Fish Creek PP, Terry Korolyk
— AMERICAN TREE SPARROW 2, same, TK

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday December 19.

Juvenile Raptor Identified

Dec16

Thank you all for your comments on my yard hawk!

The juvenile Cooper’s/Sharp-shinned conundrum is one of the greatest challenges in bird watching. The species are so similar that often a positive ID cannot be made when you see the bird for just a few minutes. In the winter months, you can add juvenile Northern Goshawk to the possibilities as well. With the additional help of photographs that can be pored over, feather by feather, it then becomes a matter of working your way through the bird guides.

I write for three different bird blogs, and when I was lucky enough to capture this beautiful hawk in pictures, I posted to all three, leaving the identification up to the readers. Guesses included Merlin, Swainson’s, Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shinned and Northern Goshawk.

Consensus is…a Sharp-shinned hawk. Here are the reasons given.

  • Young sharpies have yellow eyes, while young Coopers have light yellow to almost pearly white eyes. Your bird has distinctly yellow eyes.
  • based on size, as compared to the shepherds hook and feeder, the bird seems Sharpie-sized
  • coarse brown streaks on the breast and belly
  • thinner legs than on a Cooper’s and narrow white tip on the tail feathers
  • smaller head and neck than a Cooper’s
  • pale eyebrow, narrow white tip on tail
  • Coopers have thicker white band on tail tip
  • Immature Cooper’s have whiter, more finely streaked breast
  • Sharpie’s have brown upper parts with white spots along scapulars
  • Cooper’s tend to have warmer brown napes, where yours has a darker nape
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk, based on the straight tail bars
  • wing-tips in relation to the length of the tail – Sharp-shinned Hawks wing-tips end just posterior to the hips.
  • undertail coverts on Goshawk have dark streaks

Now that I’ve gone through all this, I have absolutely no confidence that next time I see one of these birds, I’ll be able to identify it! They are just too tricky, but do provide a wonderful challenge for birdwatchers to tackle. However, I did find a fantastic website to help with the Cooper’s Hawk vs Sharp-shinned identification puzzle, so next time I’ll know where to look.

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 12

Dec13

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 12.

December 8
— NORTHERN PINTAIL, Cave & Basin, Banff NP, J&M McDonald, Jerry Pilny
— WESTERN GREBE, Lake Minnewanka, same obs
— WILSON’S SNIPE, Cave & Basin, same obs
— SNOWY OWL, Lynnwood yard flyby, Pat Bumstead
— COMMON GRACKLE, Lynnwood yard, PB

December 10
— AMERICAN WIGEON, Pine Coulee Reservoir, Terry Korolyk
— NORTHERN HARRIER, east of Stavely, TK
— NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL, south of Water Valley, J&MMcD
— GREAT GRAY OWL, near Elkton, J&MMcD
— SHORT-EARED OWL, near Ovans Slough, J&MMcD
— AMERICAN ROBIN 5, Queen’s Park Cemetery, Bill Wilson

December 11
— RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, George Lane Park, High River, Peter Maksymiw
(second provincial record if accepted)

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday December 15.

Juvenile Raptor Identification

Dec13

Do you like a birding challenge? This beautiful raptor visited my southeast Calgary yard late in November. I thought I would post these pictures without identifying the species, to give you a chance to test your raptor identification skills. Leave us a comment below, and tell us what you think it is.

This bird isn't injured, he's just wearing some of his lunch.

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Tips on Bird Photography

Dec12

I think it is safe to say that most of us here have an interest in birdwatching. Some of us are also interested in photographing birds, documenting what we see and also enabling others to enjoy these sightings . Bird photography can be very tricky though and doesn’t always come out the way we want it to. Through trial and error as well as tips from other nature photographers, I have slowly learned different tricks of the trade and am still learning. Here is one trick that I have found helps me a lot.

Take a look at the picture above. Probably doesn’t do much for you, right? Just a killdeer photograph, nothing exciting about the shot itself. What could have been done to make this a better photograph? I have found that getting low can often drastically improve the photo. Get down at eye level with the bird, you can often create better eye contact with the bird, bringing the viewer into a connection with the photo. The Killdeer will then seem more interesting, not only because of the lower angle, but because of the  change in the depth of field of the shot.

Depth of field (also known as DOF), is the term for the amount of distance between the closest and farthest objects that appear sharp in the photograph. In the second picture above, a shallower depth of field (meaning a blurry background) makes the photo less distracting and more pleasing to the eye. In the photo pictured below, I took it one step further, instead of simply kneeling, I lay on my stomach, creating a very shallow depth of field and therefore, a picture that is more likely to catch your eye than the first photo.

Changing the depth of field is a remarkably simple technique but incredibly powerful in the way a photo comes out. By getting low, chances are you can improve your bird photography.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 5

Dec6

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 Bird Alert was recorded on Monday December 5.

Bird Sightings:

Dec. 1

HORNED GREBE, Lake Minnewanka, Banff National Park, Malcolm and Joan McDonald

WESTERN GREBE, same, MJM

GREEN-WINGED TEAL (9), second Vermilion Lake, Banff, NP, MJM

TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE, Vermilion Lakes Drive, Banff NP, MJM

GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH (200+), Barrier Mountain Drive feeder, Exshaw, MJM

Dec. 2

CANVASBACK, above weir at Carseland, MJM

GREATER SCAUP, same, below weir, MJM

PEREGRINE FALCON, field on W side of Frank Lake (6 km. E of High River on HWY
23)

HERMIT THRUSH (probable), HWY 546 W of Turner Valley, woods between hwy and
Sheep River, Jeff Bennett.

Dec. 3

RED-NECKED GREBE, Lake Minnewanka, Phil Cram, Brian Elder, Ray Woods

WESTERN GREBE (4), same, PC, BE, RW

TUNDRA SWAN (probable, bird was an adult), Policeman’s Flats, end of Bow Riverbottom Trail, off Dunbow Rd., just SE of Calgary, Terry Korolyk

GADWALL (male and female), same, TK

NORTHERN SHOVELER (female), same, TK

REDHEAD (male and female), Elliston Park, E Calgary, TK

GREATER SCAUP (female), Policeman’s Flats, TK

LONG-TAILED DUCK (imm. female?), Elbow River, upstream up 25th Ave. bridge, MJM

HOODED MERGANSER (2 male, 1 female), Elliston Park, TK

GYRFALCON, HWY 532 just E of HWY 799, (bird was a gray morph), TK

BROWN CREEPER (4), Fenland Trail, Banff NP, PC, BE, RW

TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE (2), Vermilion Lakes, PC, BE, RW

Dec. 4

AMERICAN WIGEON, Beaverdam Flats, Bow River, Kingsley Blades on behalf of the
Nature Calgary field trip

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday Dec 8.

BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, Room 211, BioSciences Building, U of C except June through August when field trips replace the meetings.

December meeting is Wednesday,December 7. Topic will be “Birding in Brazil”, presented by Rob Worona. Meeting time is 7:30pm.

Sunday Showcase: Calgary Corvids

Dec4

Corvids, which are crows and jays, are classified by their harsh voices and their aggressive manner, both of which draw attention to themselves; large and often very gregarious birds. Most corvids have bristles on their nostrils, located on very powerful, all-purpose beaks built specially for handling their varied diet ( berries, fruits, seeds, invertebrates, small mammals and carrion). Here are most of the species that you may see in the Calgary region, the only one missing, is the colorful Steller’s Jay.

American Crow

Blue Jay

Grey Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Common Ravens

Black-billed Magpie

Posted by Matthew Sim