More stunning photographs of birds in the Calgary area, this time sent to us by Terry Chiddy. Thanks for sharing! Click pictures for a larger view.
American Avocet
Northern Flicker
Common Megansers
Osprey
Sunday Showcase: Calgary Birds
Archives
Bird Profile: Black-crowned Night-Heron
Herons are elegant birds, wading through water with their long legs, waiting to plunge their beaks into the water to spear their next meal, be it a frog a mouse or a small fish. Yesterday, I visited Frank Lake, near High River, south of Calgary. While I was there, I saw several Black-crowned Night-Herons; a mostly nocturnal heron with relatively large eyes. The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a small, stocky bird with a greenish black crown and long, thin, white head plumes. A colonial species, the Night-Heron can be found roosting in trees near its hunting grounds during the daylight hours.
This immature Night-Heron has yet to grow the fancier plumage of the adult.
Unfortunately, we did not find a colony of roosting birds; we did however, find two birds together in the same small pond. What struck me the most was the herons’ bright red eyes. They certainly looked like they would be able to see in the dark!!!
An adult Black-crowned Night-Heron in search of lunch.
That beak and those claws are pretty intimidating; especially if you are on this guy’s menu!
Posted by Matthew Sim
Rare Bird Alert: May 19
Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is a species on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the 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 May 19, 2011.
MAY 15
BLACK TERN – 6 reported by Dwight Knapik at the Calgary Zoo’s private facility just southeast of Calgary
RED KNOT – 2 by Richard Clarke at Kitsim Reservoir located in the southwest corner of the intersection of Hwys 36 and 539
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 130 as above
MAY 16
SWAINSON’S THRUSH – Peter Roxburgh had one in his yard in Lake Bonavista
MAY 17
CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD – one seen in Weaselhead by Dwight Knapik
ROCK WREN – at Kinbrook Island Prov Park near Brooks, by RC
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER ( Audubon subspecies) – Corinne Griffon saw a male at Rge Rd 35 and Twp Rd 320 NE of Cremona
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – reported by Bill Wilson at the west end of Glenmore Reservoir
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER – 6 reported as above
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER – 25 as above
CASPIAN TERN – Terry Korolyk saw 2 at Glenmore Reservoir
GOLDEN EAGLE – 1 on Nose Hill reported by Gus Yaki
TURKEY VULTURE – 2 reported flying over Willowpark subdivision, seen by Matthew Sim
GLAUCOUS-WINGED-HERRING GULL hybrid – 1st yr reported by TK at Glenmore Reservoir
MAY 18
RED KNOT – 30 reported by RC at Kitsim Reservoir
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 400 as above
LARK SPARROW – 1 reported at Kinbrook Island PP by RC
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH – GY and a Nature Calgary group saw one at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
BARN SWALLOW – several reports in the Calgary area
The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon May 23.
Swainson’s Hawk
While we were at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary doing our Big Sit, we came across a very interesting sight. There, perched on the ground, maybe ten feet off the path, was a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk. The dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk has a dark-brown colour over most of its body; the more common light morph has a brown bib contrasting with white underparts. This particular hawk had a Richardson’s Ground Squirrel clutched in his claws and was regarding all the photographers and interested visitors with a haughty look.
This Swainson’s Hawk intrigued many visitors to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.
And there he sat; for over an hour we were told, he had stayed in the same spot. He finally got tired of all this hustle and bustle, deciding to try to find a quieter place to enjoy his meal in peace. However, he had not counted on catching such a heavy meal…
Attempted take-off
After he couldn’t achieve lift-off by taking a running leap, he tried a different tactic: taking off from the spot where he stood.
Flap!!!
Well that didn’t work either…
The hawk then decided that, seeing as he wasn’t going anywhere with his meal, he might try to eat it right then and there. And that’s what he did. He hopped back a couple of feet with his meal, to a slightly more secluded area and began to eat.
Here, he shields his meal from potential thieves.
Hopefully his meal didn’t weigh him down too much after he ate it; otherwise, he might not be able to take off again!!!
Posted by Matthew Sim
Sunday Showcase: Loon Acrobatics
These gorgeous shots of a Common Loon were sent in by Rob English. Thanks for sharing! Click pictures for a larger view.
Big Sit results
A very windy morning was spent down at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary by us three bloggers; several people came by to join us. The large gusts of wind kept the birds down and hard to hear but we still had some great birds. From 8 -10 a.m., we counted birds down at the river recording 24 species of birds.
- Canada Goose
- American Wigeon
- Mallard
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Merganser
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Osprey
- Swainson’s Hawk
- Merlin
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Franklin’s Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- Belted Kingfisher
- Northern Flicker
- American Crow
- Common Raven
- Tree Swallow
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- European Starling
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Song Sparrow (heard 5 minutes before 8a.m.)
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
At 10a.m., due to the frigid wind, we moved base to the Walker house ( we were there 10:30-12:15) where we added:
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Chipping Sparrow
- House Finch
All and all, not a bad morning to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day; a grand total of 29 species of birds from within the count circles. There were also some good birds from outside the circles; right after we called it a morning and took down the circle, an American Kestrel showed up. We also saw White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, House Wren, Warbling Vireo, Northern Pintail and a Barn Swallow. One of the highlights was a Swainson’s Hawk less than twenty feet off the path, with a kill. A story will follow shortly!
Posted by Matthew Sim
Bird Songs 101
Ever heard that beautiful song coming from deep inside a dense bush, but don’t know what exactly is the source of that amazing sound? You can check out this great site to help you match the song with the bird.
http://www.natureinstruct.org/dendroica/
The Blackpoll Warbler gives a very high-pitched song that can be inaudible at times.
Dendroica.com is a great site; whether you are a novice and just learning the songs, or you are a seasoned pro and brushing up for the spring migration. Photographs of the bird are provided on this site, as well as a description of the song or call and then the song itself. Once you have gotten familiar with the sounds, you can go out into the field with this newly-found or rediscovered knowledge, and be able to identify that beautiful song coming from deep inside the bush.
Posted by Matthew Sim
Rare Bird Alert: May 12
Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is a species on this Reportable_Birds list (PDF), please report it to the 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, email us at 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 Thursday May 12 at 10 am.
Bird Sightings
Early May (1?):
WESTERN PALM WARBLER at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Spring Migration Monitoring/banding.
May 6:
GRAY CATBIRD, IBS as above.
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (3), Kitsum Reservoir, near Brooks, Dwight Knapik.
May 9:
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, FCPP, Votier’s Flat, Terry Korolyk.
SAY’S PHOEBE, CINNAMON TEAL, 2 WESTERN GREBES at South Glenmore Park, Gus Yaki
May 10:
SPOTTED SANDPIPER, Hull’s Wood, WESTERN WOOD PEEWEE, Mallard Pt. FCPP, TK.
LEAST FLYCATCHER, Bowmont Pk, Dwight Knapik.
EURASIAN WIGEON, west end Glenmore Reservoir, GY
May 11:
GLAUCOUS GULL(adult), THAYER’S GULL (1st yr)west end Glenmore Res., TK.
HOUSE WREN, IBS, as above.
BROAD-WINGED HAWK, flying over Talisman centre, Ian Halliday.
SAGE THRASHER, near Taber, Lloyd Bennett.
May 12:
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS (11), YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS(45), LINCOLN’S SPARROWS (12), IBS as above.
The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon May 16.
Backyard Birds: White-crowned Sparrows
It’s a sure sign of spring in my yard when I see the White-crowned Sparrows are back.
A fairly large sparrow at 5 1/2-7″ (14-17 cm), White-crowns don’t fit the miscellaneous sparrow category of LBJ’s – little brown jobs – that are hard to distinguish from one another. These dapper little sparrows are always in bright white and black, and easy to identify.
The white crown has two black stripes, they have a black eye line (a line going to the back of the head from the eye), and a yellow-orange bill. They have white streaking on a brown back and wings, and their underparts are pale grey. Males and females look alike.
Small flocks of White-crowned sparrows pass through Calgary in late April to May, and then again in Sept-Oct. Their spring visits to our city are just a stopover for their trip to their breeding habitat in the northern boreal forest. They prefer open environments with shrubby meadows, alpine and willow shrubs, and build cup nests in shrubs or small conifers.
These sparrows are tireless singers, and are known to even sing under the light of a full moon.
Sparrows forage on the ground, usually in fairly open areas, and fly up into a small tree or hedge when flushed. We have a dedicated bird area at the back of our yard, and spillage from the hanging bird feeders provides an excellent sparrow feeding ground. Like other sparrows, the hyperactive White-crowns make quick jumping back and forth movements, scratching the ground to expose insects and seeds.
If you have White-crowned Sparrows in your yard right now, enjoy them while you can. They won’t be here for long, and then we’ll have to wait for their re-appearance in the fall.
By the way, the bird singing in the video background is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which I’m still attempting to capture with my camera.
Posted by Pat Bumstead
Sunday Showcase: Skating Geese and more
These stunning shots were sent to us by Rosanna Evans. Thanks for sharing! Click pictures for a larger view.
Taken at Carburn Park, Calgary:
Taken at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary:
