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Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Sept 30

Oct1

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 Friday September 30.

September 24
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (4), Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation site near Mount Lorette, Bill Wilson
— NORTHERN GOSHAWK, Mt. Lorette, BW
— GOLDEN EAGLE, (4) Mt. Lorette, BW

September 25
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (5), Plateau Mountain, CFNS Excursion led by Peter Roxburgh
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (2), Plateau Mountain, CFNS Excursion

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday October 3.
BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, Room 211, BioSciences Building, U of C.

October meeting is Wednesday, October 5. Birds of Prey – presented by Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation. Meeting time is 7:30pm.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Sept 26

Sep27

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 September 26.

September 22:
–BLACK VULTURE, Raymond, AB. Reported by Jocelyn Hudon. First confirmed record for Alberta. Photographed perched on top of the town hall.

September 23:
–AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, S.end Weed Lk, by Andrew Slater
–SANDERLING(13), same as above.
–TOWNSEND’S WARBLER(1), Confederation Park, by Bill Wilson and Ilya Povalyaev.

September 24:
–WESTERN SANDPIPER(Juv.) S.end Weed Lk, by IP et al.
–ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK(1), along Hwy.#22,just S. of the Water Valley turnoff, by Tim Allison.
–SNOW GOOSE(1), a pond along Hwy.#22x, just S. of Calgary, by Terry Korolyk.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday September 29.

BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, Room 211, BioSciences Building, U of C . October meeting is Wednesday, October 5. Birds of Prey – presented by
Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation. Meeting time is 7:30pm.

Digiscoping

Sep26

Digiscoping is the activity of combining a digital camera with a spotting scope to record images through the scope.  Anyone who has ever looked through a good scope knows how impressive they are at turning distant specks that can’t be identified, even with binoculars, into sharply defined birds.  The combination of big lenses and up to 60X magnification really brings faraway objects into close focus.  Scopes are especially useful for waterfowl far out on lakes, and shorebirds on distant shorelines.

Today’s post features some wonderful photographs taken using digiscoping by local birder and photographer Daniel Arndt.

Eared Grebe and juvenile, by Dan Arndt

Digiscoping can be done with any point-and-shoot or SLR camera (or even a camera phone) coupled with any scope or binocular, but it can very tricky to get to good quality pictures by just holding the two together.  Here is a White-crowned Sparrow I photographed in my yard this week, using my camera phone held up to my 8X42 binoculars:

It’s very hard to tell when you have the shot in focus.  It’s even hard to get on the bird!  You get a better shot with just a good camera:

The same bird, from the same distance, taken with an SLR and 400 mm lens.  Note the leg band.

Here is another shot I took (in the winter) of a House Finch, using a point-and-shoot camera held up to my spotting scope.

However, the birds in these examples were only about twenty feet away.  I could identify them with the naked eye.  If you are dealing with distant waterfowl and shorebirds, the thing to do to get good photographs is to get an adapter that fixes your camera to the scope.  Dan Arndt’s outfit, pictured below, consists of :

Pentax K-5 camera with T-mount adapter
Meade ETX-90EC 90mm Matsukov-Cassegrain Telescope
Meade #844 Advanced Field Tripod
Meade Electronic Focuser
Meade MT-64 Camera Adapter
Pentax 39892 Waterproof Remote Shutter Release

Photo by Dan Arndt

Here are some of the amazing photos Dan took this summer at Frank Lake using his digiscoping rig.

White-faced Ibis with juvenile, and American Golden-Plover, by Dan Arndt

Lesser Yellowlegs by Dan Arndt

American Avocet by Dan Arndt

Black Tern by Dan Arndt

Black-crowned Night-Herons by Dan Arndt

American Golden-Plovers by Dan Arndt

You can see all of Dan’s digiscoping pictures on his Flickr page here, and while you’re there, explore all of his other excellent photographs as well.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Willet (or won’t it)

Sep24

As colder weather begins to descend upon Calgary, it can be nice to reflect a little bit on some birds that we were familiar with during the summer months.

Many species of birds vary greatly from region to region. The Willet is one of these birds that are highly variable with two distinct subspecies, the eastern semipalmata darker, browner and thicker-billed than the western subspecies inornata that we see both in Calgary, and down here on the Gulf Coast.

A western inornata Willet

A large shorebird with a flashy black-and-white wing pattern seen in flight,  the willet was given its name thanks to its territorial call: pill-will-willet. A very vocal bird, the Willet, as biologist William Vogt wrote many years ago, has another call, a ringing kaaaty. When William Vogt studied a breeding pair of Willets back in 1938  he couldn’t help but call them Will and Kate, thanks to their calls.

Another western Willet

Several years ago, before I was a big birder, I traveled out east for vacation. I observed my first Willet out there and now I have the chance to compare photographs of eastern and western Willets.

While the shots of the Western Willets are winter plumaged birds, you can still see the smaller size, darker color and stouter bill in the eastern Willet pictured above.

I always find regional variations in birds intriguing and the Willet is a bird with an easily visible difference, making it a good subject to view and compare from the east to the west.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Sept 23

Sep23

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 September 22.

September 18
— BLACK-NECKED STILT (20), Weed Lake, Terry Korolyk

September 21
— COOPER’S HAWK, Hull’s Woods, Fish Creek Provincial Park, TK

–AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, Weed Lake, Ilya Povalyaev

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday September 27.

BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, Room 211, BioSciences Building, U of C

October meeting is Wednesday, October 5. Birds of Prey – presented by Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation. Meeting time is 7:30pm.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Sept 19

Sep20

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 Albert was recorded on Sep 19, 2011.

SEP 17

BROAD-WINGED HAWK – over North Haven subdivision, by Steve Kassai
VARIED THRUSH – north end of Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Bill Wilson
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER – numerous over weekend, seen by many observers
WILSON’S WARBLER – as above
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER – as above
COMMON LOON – immature reported by TK at Chestermere Lake
WHITE-FACED IBIS – 19 at 338 Ave and Hwy 799, TK
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 8 at Weed Lake, TK

SEP 18

NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL – seen in Weaselhead by Steve Kassai. For more details, phone Steve at 403-289-1351
COOPER’S HAWK – as above
SWAMP SPARROW – Bill Wilson saw one in Confederation Park by the creek
BLUE-HEADED VIREO – as above
BLACKPOLL WARBLER – 2, as above
HERRING GULL – 1st – 2nd year, seen by TK at Weed Lake
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER – 12 at Namaka Lake, seen by David Pugh

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu Sep 22.

Sunday Showcase: Osprey With Lunch

Sep18

Rob English has sent us this absolutely stunning sequence of photographs he took at Bankside in Fish Creek Park. (Click to enlarge.)

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Sept 15

Sep16

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 Albert was recorded on Sep 15, 2011.

SEP 12

Orange-crowned Warbler – 21 banded at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary banding station

SEP 13

Orange-crowned Warbler – 17 as above
Pine Siskin – numerous flocks of 20+ seen coming into North Glenmore Park by Terry Korolyk

SEP 14

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 30 seen by TK at Hull’s Wood in a short space of time
Blackpoll Warbler – 1 as above
Tennessee Warbler – 1 as above
Wilson’s Warbler – 1 as above

SEP 15

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 30 seen by Bill Wilson and Ilya Povalyaev at Confederation Park
Tennessee Warbler – 2 as above
Orange-crowned Warbler – 8 as above
Blackpoll Warbler – 1 as above
American Redstart – 1 as above
Wilson’s Warbler – 7 as above
Palm Warbler – 1, as above
Pine Siskin – 30, as above

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon Sep 19.

Bird-brained

Sep16

Who ever said birds were stupid? They were quite wrong. Many birds are quite intelligent and we get a fine chance to observe this intelligence in the migration of geese.

Everybody can associate geese flying in a ‘V’ formation with fall; the geese head south for the winter and are most often seen flying this way. Down here in Texas, we can often see Cattle Egrets flying this way, demonstrating their often overlooked wisdom. There is actually an intelligent method behind this flight, showing us that birds are smarter than we think.

Birds fly in a ‘V’ to save energy; by traveling this way, they render themselves as a group, more aerodynamic. If these birds were to fly in an unorganized group, flying would be a lot harder. Picture it this way; which car is more aerodynamic, a sports car or a dump truck? The sports car is by far the more aerodynamic of the two, its sleek form enabling it to reduce drag, therefore allowing it to go faster. When the geese and the egrets fly this way, they render themselves more aerodynamic, reducing the wind they have going against themselves and therefore applying less energy into flying. The bird flying at the point of the V though, has all the wind going against him, however this is not permanent. Studies have shown that after flying at the point for some time, upon becoming tired, the lead bird will drop to the back where flying is the easiest, and take a well-deserved break. This just goes to show that birds are a lot smarter than we think.

Posted by Matthew Sim