Archives

Rare Bird Alert: May 26

May27

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 report was prepared on Thursday May 26.

May 19
— STILT SANDPIPER 4, pond east of Hwy 817 north of Strathmore, Isobel Anderson & Nimali Seneviratne
— LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, Boundary Rd near Weed Lake, IA & NS

May 23
— SNOW GOOSE 2, Twp Rd 312 near Linden, Corrine Griffin
— SABINE’S GULL adult, Glenmore Reservoir, Bill Wilson (also seen by Terry Korolyk)

May 24
— EURASIAN WIGEON male, Glenmore Res, Yousif Attia & Ilya Povalyaev
— WHIMBREL, Glenmore Reservoir, YA & IP

May 25
— SUMMER TANAGER 2nd year male, photographed, Cypress Hills PP, Jeremiah Kennedy — if accepted this will be the 6th record for Alberta

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday May 30.

Local gems: Fish Creek

May27

Most of us take Fish Creek Provincial Park for granted. We are, however, extremely lucky to have such a gem of a park in our city. One of the largest urban parks in the world at 13.48 square kilometers (5.2 square miles), Fish Creek has over 80 kilometers of trails, 30 of which are paved and encompasses three natural regions; grasslands, parkland and foothills forest.

The Glennfield area of Fish Creek is one of the many different sections of this amazing park.

The Bow river cuts through Fish Creek attracting fishermen, rafters and birds, lots of birds. Fish Creek is a haven for birds in a busy and bustling city, leading birds to flock here; more than 200 species of birds have been recorded here. Stretching through southern Calgary, Fish Creek also provides an easily accessible hotspot for birders.

There are many different sections of Fish Creek, some of the more well-known being Votier’s Flats, Mallard Point and Sikome Lake (a recreational lake that thousands of Calgarians visit each summer).

Canada Geese are common throughout Fish Creek.

 The Tree Swallow’s blue-green upper parts separate it from other species of Swallow.

Nature Calgary has many field trips to various parts of Fish Creek, see if you can attend one; you may find a very good bird.

Sat June 4, 8:30am: Birding Hull’s Wood FCPP, turn left off Bow Bottom Tr SE shortly after entering the park. Meet West end of parking lot. Leader, Howard Heffler, 403-284-2961.

Sun June 5, 8am: Birding Marshall Springs to Votier’s Flats area, FCPP. Meet at Marshall Springs parking lot on the south side of FCPP, just East of Sanderson Ridge condos, on North side of Fish Creek Blvd. Leader, Grant Brydle, 403-270-4957.

For more information on Fish Creek Park and to volunteer as well as participate in many activities, visit the Friends of Fish Creek at

http://friendsoffishcreek.org

Cinnamon Teal may be seen in Fish Creek.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert: May 24

May24

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 Alert was recorded on Monday May 23.

Bird Sightings:

May 18:
2 WHITE-FACED IBIS at wetlands on Hwy 567 between Airdrie & Hwy 791, John Corbin.
EURASIAN-COLLARED DOVE pairs at Patricia and Duchess, Lois Martin and Arlene Torkeson.

May 19:
2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS on Glenmore Res., Jeff Banks.
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK (or a hybrid ) between Airdrie and Irricana, Doug McQueen.

May 20:
4 CASPIAN TERNS at Glenmore Res., Bill Wilson.
A WILLOW FLYCATCHER, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, SWAINSON’S THRUSHES (10) at IBS,
banding project.
BLACKPOLL WARBLERS(3), SWAINSON’S THRUSH (7), ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, RED-EYED
VIREO, WARBLING VIREO, EASTERN & WESTERN KINGBIRDS, WESTERN TANAGER, CALLIOPE
HUMMINGBIRD between IBS and Glenmore Res, Bill Wilson.

May 21:
GLOSSY IBIS or GLOSSY/WHITE-FACED hybrid feeding with WHITE-FACED IBIS at Third Lake, 224 St SE approx. 1-2 km south of Hwy 552, Terry Korolyk.
BLACKPOLL WARBLER, TENNESSEE WARBLER at IBS, Bill Wilson.

May 22:
An unidentified HUMMINGBIRD at Priddis, unknown observer.
An albinistic SWAINSON’S HAWK, Hwy 560 east of Hwy 24, TK.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday May 26.

Sunday Showcase: Calgary Birds

May22

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

Bird Profile: Black-crowned Night-Heron

May21

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

May20

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

May15

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

Big Sit results

May14

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.

  1. Canada Goose
  2. American Wigeon
  3. Mallard
  4. Common Goldeneye
  5. Common Merganser
  6. Double-crested Cormorant
  7. Osprey
  8. Swainson’s Hawk
  9. Merlin
  10. Spotted Sandpiper
  11. Franklin’s Gull
  12. Rock Pigeon
  13. Belted Kingfisher
  14. Northern Flicker
  15. American Crow
  16. Common Raven
  17. Tree Swallow
  18. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  19. European Starling
  20. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  21. Song Sparrow (heard 5 minutes before 8a.m.)
  22. Red-winged Blackbird
  23. Common Grackle
  24. 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:

  1. Cooper’s Hawk
  2. Red-tailed Hawk
  3. Black-capped Chickadee
  4. Chipping Sparrow
  5. 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

May14

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