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Awesome Snowies!

Jan10

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

Jan9

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

Jan8

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

Jan3

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

Dec27

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

Dec24

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

Dec23

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

Dec22

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

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