Welcome to the City of Calgary and CFNS Bird Alert. This report was
prepared on Thursday,March 31, at 10pm. To report a bird sighting,call
403-221-4519 and leave a message after the recording.
SIGHTINGS FOR:
Monday, March 28
–FRANKLIN’S GULL(2),Frank Lake
–AMERICAN COOT(1), same as above
–LESSER SCAUP(1m), same as above
–RING-NECKED DUCK(1m), same as above
–VARIED THRUSH(1m), North Haven backyard
–SHORT-EARED OWL((12), Frank Lake
–PRAIRIE FALCON(1) Frank Lake
Tuesday, March 29
–GLAUCOUS GULL(1st.yr.), Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL(1)Votier’s Flats, Fish Creek PP
Wednesday, March 30
–WOOD DUCK(1), Elbow River, Votier’s Flats,Fish Creek PP
–PRAIRIE FALCON(1) south cliffs of Bearspaw dam, Calgary
–EUROPEAN STARLING(10,000-20,000) 4 km. north of High River
Posted by Pat Bumstead
The Mountain Bluebird is an early migrant to our area, arriving in mid to late March. There have been a few sightings in the countryside recently, and one was reported in the Tuscany subdivision on March 25. In Calgary, you might see them in Weaselhead, North Glenmore Park, Fish Creek Provincial Park or Nose Hill Park.
Read more about this beautiful bird and report any sightings on the Weaselhead Society website.
As 2011 began, the Northern Saw-whet Owl was right at the top of my list of Birds I Must See. I had heard them singing in the spring before in both the Weaselhead area and in Bowness, but I had never seen one. They are very small, about eight inches (20 cm) high, and active at night. They spend the daytime roosting in tree cavities or dense conifers. So although they are quite common, they are rarely seen.
…….
On Saturday, March 19, the Friends of Fish Creek Park Society outing was at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, where we were looking for returning gulls and waterfowl. Before starting, the leader, Gus Yaki, mentioned that a Northern Saw-whet Owl had been reported a few days previously at the sanctuary. We would look for this little bird near the end of our walk, in the row of spruce trees that run north from Walker House.
…….
However, as we turned north by the lagoon, I noticed a pair of Black-capped Chickadees that seemed quite agitated. Two of us hung back to investigate as the rest of the group went ahead. After a couple of minutes a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches arrived, and then a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches and another pair of chickadees. All the birds were noisy, flicking their tails, and making short sweeping flights into the tree. I have seen birds behave like this before – they are trying to drive away a predator. Still, despite circling the tree a couple of times, I could see nothing. Finally, from a spot right under the tree branches, I found the owl:
Then he found me back:
……
…….
These owls sit still when confronted, and this one barely moved, except for batting his eyes, as you can see in the video.
The Ellis Bird Farm has set up a live stream video of a great-horned owl nest on their property. Once you sit through the annoying commercial at the beginning, you can follow the life of this bird, and be there when the eggs hatch. A warning though – these owl nest cams are completely addictive. As it gets closer to hatching time, you might as well give up trying to do anything but park yourself in front of your computer.
The stream is color during daylight hours, and has gray-scale pallet of near infrared artificial illumination during the night.
Great-horned owls are early nesters, and this poor girl appears to be sitting on eggs while covered with snow today. Yet another reason to need some real spring weather in this province!
