The City Nature Challenge is unique in that anyone can participate anywhere in the area from April 26-29. But if you want to take part with an organized group there are many events being offered.
To contribute to the CNC you have to post your observations on the iNaturalist app or website. If you would like to learn how to use iNaturalist, or if you need a refresher or have any questions about the CNC, organizer Matt Wallace is offering a tutorial tonight, Tuesday April 23, at 7 pm. This will be done over Zoom. Here is the link to the meeting.
The CNC area includes Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Any iNaturalist obserations made in this area from April 26-29 will contribute to this project.
Matt has organized a number of events throughout the weekend. These include all-day blitzes, birding walks, and more specialized events such as pond study and a pollinator walk. Click the link below to see all the events!
For Nature Calgary members, there are three events on Sunday April 28 which are not full. These include a Birding Blitz on St. Patrick Island near the Zoo, a Bryophyte Blitz in the Weaselhead, and a Plant Walk in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. See this page to register.
More information from Matt Wallace:
April 26-29 take photos of wild plants and animals in your yards, neighborhoods, and favorite parks. Then upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or to iNaturalist.ca before Midnight May 5. This is the sixth year I have organized the Calgary CNC and it has grown immensely. There are over 700 cities involved worldwide and we are competing with them to see how many observations we can make, the number of species we can document, and the number of people we can get to participate. The two metrics I am most concerned with for our area are the number of observations and the participants.
My personal goal for CNC is that we can make a combined 10,000 observations or more during the four days. I also hope that we can make 250K observations by 2025 (We are currently at 169,000 observations just in Calgary). If each of us were to make even 10 observations over the weekend, we could make the CNC target and could be the top-performing Canadian city (49 participating Canadian cities this year).
The area which you can participate in during CNC includes: Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Participate in groups, at events or even go exploring on your own. Heck, make a “big day” out of the four days if you’re up for the challenge. I have helped to organize around 15 events across the region all happening Friday-Monday which can all be found on the website below.
Types of subjects we love to see shared on iNaturalist include Birds, Plants, Butterflies, Insects, Fungi, Lichens, Mosses, Mammals (pretty much everything and anything but NO people or pets).
The sixth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge is coming up soon. This four-day bioblitz is an effort to try to record as much of the Calgary and area biodiversity as possible. Cities around the world will be taking part in this effort, and competing to see who makes the most observations and records the most species. As usual, Calgary will be competing to try to increase our own participation and species numbers here.
From CNC Organizer Matthew Wallace:
The sixth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge takes place April 26-29! Over 650 cities worldwide will compete and collaborate to showcase their urban biodiversity! Participate by taking photos of wild plants and animals in your yards, neighborhoods, and favorite parks over the four days. Then, upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.ca!
There are several public events happening across the city which include pollinator walks, guided birding tours, and park bioblitzes. You can also just head out to explore on your own or with a group of friends.
Participate anywhere within the Calgary Metropolitan Region which includes Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Rocky View County, and Foothills County.
The deadline to upload your observations to iNaturalist is midnight May 5.
Cities will compete to see which can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people. Calgary aims to be the top-performing Canadian city with a goal of over 10,000 observations posted. Make as many observations as you can April 26-29 so get outside and help to put Calgary’s biodiversity on the map!
Check out all of the CNC resources on the following pages:
As birders, we can participate by taking as many photos of birds as we can over the four days. Any identifiable photo is good so don’t worry too much about the quality of your pictures. We also need to document everything, so don’t hesitate to photograph House Sparrows, Black-billed Magpies, and other common species. Then you have until midnight on May 5 to upload your photos to iNaturalist.
An adult Bald Eagle I photographed near the Inglewood Golf Course on the 2023 CNC. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
While you’re out there, you can also get photos of non-bird biodiversity with your camera. Maybe you won’t know what species you have, but iNaturalist has an artificial intelligence that can help with the ID, and even if you have no idea, other iNaturalist users will help to identify everything.
Green-striped GrasshopperCanadian Beaver (signs of a species also count)Western Terrestial Garter SnakeHunt’s Bumble Bee and Golden Bean (two observations)CoyoteTansy
These were a few of the other species I saw on the 2023 CNC. I didn’t know some of the species identifications until I entered them into iNaturalist. (Photos by Bob Lefebvre.)
Since I have my phone with me when I’m birding, I can use it to get photos of other species which are difficult to get with a big camera (photos by Bob Lefebvre):
Elegant Sunburst LichenBrickwork WoodlouseWormwood Wallflower (not yet confirmed by the iNaturalist community)
I have found it to be a great experience to use iNaturalist to learn more about our overall biodiversity. Like most birders, I am interested in all of nature, not just birds.
Watch this short video about the 2024 Calgary City Nature Challenge:
Matthew has set a goal of having 10,000 observations made over the four days this year. In 2023 we had 9,301, so we are getting closer! We also hope to better our total of 762 species recorded last year.
So check out the project links above and plan to participate in an event, or just head out on your own!
Wanted: Plant, fungus, insect, and bacteria experts!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The 5th annual City Nature Challenge took place last week, from April 28 to May 1. The period for making observations has ended, but participants have until midnight on Sunday May 7 to upload their photos. Many of us are still working on that. In addition, all the observations need to be identified and have at least two people agree on the species to be considered Research Grade. You can help with this!
But first an update on where the challenge stands. Calgary is doing very well again, and has set new city records for the number of observations, species recorded, and participants. Matthew Wallace, the organizer of the Calgary CNC, had set a goal of 10,000 observations made in the Calgary area. Although we are not there yet, we are close.
Although the CNC is not really a competition between cities due to differences in climate, habitats, and human populations, nevertheless we should note that Calgary is among the Canadian leaders in total observations made, and may well finish with the most. On Monday evening Montreal was leading with 6,516 observation, with Victoria at 6,344 and Calgary in third place with 6,137. As of late Friday (May 5) Calgary has taken the lead among Canadian cities:
It’s interesting to look at the statistics for the Global CNC:
Over 64,000 observers made 1.75 million observations and identified over 55,000 species worldwide in the four days. The numbers from the leading city, La Paz in Bolivia, are staggering! Over 3,000 people made 122,000 observations and identified over 5,000 species! It shows the difference that climate and geography make, but it also shows what can be achieved with a year-round concerted effort to get people involved. La Paz has a metropolitan population of about 2 million, so it is comparable to Calgary.
Below are the statistics for Calgary as of late Friday. So far, 760 species have been reported by 336 observers. Identifications have been provided by 392 people.
Once again Matthew Wallace was extremely busy on the weekend, making over 1,100 observations and recording 214 species (so far). But many others have also made hundreds of observations and recorded over 100 species each.
As you can see above, the Prairie Pasqueflower (the familiar spring crocus) is by far the most commonly reported species. Usually it is Mallard in first place, but the unusually hot and dry weather this year means that there were more early flowering plants reported, and more insects as well. This is where you come in.
When a photo is uploaded to iNaturalist, the artificial intelligence will try to identify it, and the observer can accept one of the suggestions or, if they know the species, can write it in or override a suggestion. Then all the other iNaturalist users in the world are able to view the observation, and agree with the identification or suggest an alternate one. Once an observation is uploaded with date, location, and a photo or sound file (and is wild or uncultivated), it is labelled “Needs ID.” Observations become “Research Grade” once 2/3 of identifiers agree on a species-level (or lower) ID. These are then eligible to be used in research projects.
There have been many observations submitted for the Calgary CNC that do not yet have a species-level ID, so are not Research Grade (this is normal; we want to get the photos of every species we can, whether we can confidently identify it or not. Identification comes later). All of the yellow ones below (about 3,000 observations) need additional identification. (Casual observations are not eligible for Research Grade. An example is a captive animal or cultivated plant.)
Any iNaturalist user can help to identify our observations from the CNC, or from anywhere in the world at any time. To see the Calgary observations, go to the Calgary Project Page. Click on the Observations tab, then “Identify.”
Here you can agree with the observer’s ID, or suggest another. See what the AI suggests. Where there are multiple photos of a species (like the Canadian Beaver, which has 3 photos) you can view them all. The filter set is the Calgary CNC region, but you can click that and set many more filters. For example, you might only be confident identifying birds, so you can set it to show only those. Birds are often quite easy to ID and there is a big birding community, so most of the bird observations quickly become Research Grade. But there are some unusual ones or less-than-perfect photos that still need ID for you keen birders. You can set a filter for “Needs ID” and only those will come up.
The Filters tab on iNaturalist. I set it to show reptiles that need ID and have photos.
If you are a plant, fungus, insect, or bacteria expert, there are many more observations that need to be verified. So if you think you can help, please open an account on iNaturalist Canada and give it a try! As I said, the project is complete at midnight on Sunday, but you can continue to contribute identifications (and observations!) to iNaturalist year-round. I find it is a lot of fun and a great way to learn to identify more species of all kinds.
For those of you who are interested in taking part in bioblitzes like the City Nature Challenge, the next such local event on iNaturalist is the Metro Calgary Biodiversity Challenge from June 8-11. See the project page for more information.
Take part in this Citizen Science Project in the Calgary area from April 28 – May 1, 2023.
From organizer Matthew Wallace:
The fifth annual City Nature Challenge Calgary event will take place April 28-May 1, 2023! After five years, we’ve seen the success that CNC can have for engaging Calgarians with their local environments and we hope to make this the biggest event yet! Expect more cities than ever participating from around the world.
April 28-May 1, be sure to get outside and make observations of flora and fauna by taking photos and posting them to iNaturalist (web or app). Observations must be posted by Midnight May 7 to be included. Cities around the world will compete to see which can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people! We need your help to activate your communities!
Encourage your friends, family, and neighbours to make as many observations as possible during the four-day window. We will be hosting public bioblitzes across the city with the support of local stewardship groups. If you have an interest in hosting, sponsoring, or simply participating in an event, please contact us at citynatureyyc@gmail.com and keep your eye on our website www.citynatureyyc.ca for all the information and news.
You can also follow news about the Calgary CNC on this Facebook page. Click the “Going” button and follow the group.
You can follow the progress of the Calgary effort from April 28-May 1 on this iNaturalist site.
Taking part in the CNC is as easy as taking pictures of any wildlife, and uploading the photos to iNaturalist. It is easy to use the iNaturalist app on a smart phone. You can spend the four-day challenge window taking photos, and then we have until May 7 to identify everything using the iNaturalist AI and the worldwide commununity of naturalists who use the site. If you are unable to participate or if you live outside of the Calgary CNC areas, you can still particpate by identifying everything that is submitted.
A poor photo of Grey Partridge I took in east Calgary during the 2022 CNC. But every species counts! Photo by Bob Lefebvre
The cities, towns, and other areas that comprise the Calgary region for the purposes of the CNC are Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Foothills County, Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, High River, Okotoks, Rocky View County, and the City of Calgary. Any observations made in these areas will count for the challenge.
The Calgary CNC Region for 2023.
Last year, there were over 460 cities all over the world taking part in this friendly challenge. Over 67,000 observers reported over 50,000 species in 1.7 million iNaturalist observations. It really is a great way to document and monitor the world’s biodiversity.
Matthew has set a goal for the Calgary region of 10,000 iNaturalist observations in the four-day period. He would like to have 1,000 observers so if we can reach that goal, we should easily get to 10,000 observations. Last year we had 6,200 observations with only about 200 observers. It doesn’t take long to take even 50 or 100 photos and submit them. So please plan to take part in your yard, in a park, or anywhere in the area.
If you have any promotional ideas or would like to host a CNC event or field trip, please email Matthew at citynatureyyc@gmail.com. I plan to lead an outing or two so you could also join me then.
I’ll have more on the City Nature Challenge closer to the event.
Calgary’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC) takes place on Sunday December 18, 2022! CBC began in 1900 and is the world’s longest-running citizen science event. The count has been going on in Calgary since 1952 and is a valuable resource for understanding species and population trends of birds found in Calgary and around the world.
Matthew Wallace will once again be organizing the count and compiling the results. Lara Fitzpatrick and I will assist once again.
Please take a minute to fill out the Registration form here. Unless you are a Feeder Watcher who has already been assigned to a FW Captain, we are asking everyone to register, even if you have participated last year or in many past years. This helps to ensure we have the correct and most up-to-date contact information for each person and reduces the thousands of emails down to a more manageable size. It also helps Matthew to organize the required participant information that is submitted to Audubon and confirm that feeder watcher residences are within the count circle.
Calgary CBC Circle, from Google Earth.
Completing the form will ensure that you will receive information that will follow in the next few days. The form is required for both feeder watchers and field participants. It can be shared with anyone who may wish to take part this year. Please share widely. If you are not sure that you can participate, or if you would like more information about the count, please fill out the form so we can contact you.
Great Horned Owl photographed by Matthew Wallace on last year’s Calgary CBC. December 19, 2021, Tsuut’ina Nation, Calgary.
Count Week Birds: If you come across any interesting birds during count week (December 15-21), please send information to citynatureyyc@gmail.com including any notes, counts, or photos you may have.
Baby White-tailed Jackrabbit. Photo from the CWRS.
This is not primarily about birds, but the arrival of the Avian Flu virus has put more of a strain than usual on the resources of wildlife rehabilitation organizations in Alberta. White-tailed Jackrabbits are ubiquitous in Calgary, and every spring the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (CWRS) has many baby hares brought to them, most of which are perfectly safe and healthy. We also have Snowshoe Hares, and this applies to them as well. Read to the end where there is also advice on handling baby birds, which are beginning to be seen in the area.
CALGARY WILDLIFE REHABILITATION SOCIETY CLOSE TO CAPACITY FOR BABY HARE INTAKE
Calgary, Alberta- Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society has nearly reached its capacity to take in baby hares just as the busy baby season starts. Calgary Wildlife is currently caring for 35 baby hares that were brought to the wildlife clinic by well-meaning individuals thinking the babies needed help. But in reality, the majority of the hares did not need help. Of the 35 babies brought to Calgary Wildlife, only three had injuries that required attention, the remaining 32 were unintentionally taken from their mothers. Often well-meaning individuals see a baby hare by itself during the day and assume the hare has been orphaned or needs help. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Hares are born with their eyes open and the ability to hop within hours of birth. Their mothers leave them during the day as a way of protecting them from predators but always come back to feed and forage with them. Baby hares can easily camouflage into their surroundings and freeze in place, which makes them nearly invisible to predators. In general, hares are very difficult animals to rehabilitate due to their extremely high-stress levels and delicate gut bacteria. Sadly, healthy baby hares brought into rehabilitation centres have a much higher mortality rate than if they were left on their own in the wild. The best advice during the baby season is, “if you see a baby hare you should leave it there”. If the public is unsure if a baby hare needs help, they can call the Calgary Wildlife hotline at 403-214-1312 for advice.
A shareable PSA about baby hares can be viewed here:
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (Calgary Wildlife) is a registered charitable organization that was established in 1993. Calgary Wildlife provides expert compassionate care to injured and orphaned wildlife in and around the City of Calgary. As an accredited veterinary hospital (ABVMA), Calgary Wildlife is open 365 days a year and is the only wildlife rehabilitation centre located within the city. Calgary Wildlife also provides valuable outreach and educational services to the community. For more information, please visit www.calgarywildlife.org
Baby White-tailed Jackrabbit. Photo from the CWRS.
Media Inquiries: Beki Hunt Executive Director Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society calgarywildlifeinfo[at]gmail.com 587-890-5349
And here is another video on the Calgary Wildlife channel about How to Help Baby Birds:
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society is dedicated to treating injured and orphaned wildlife, providing valuable outreach and education services to the community and engaging all volunteers in motivational work and skill building experience.
CALGARY WILDLIFE REHABILITATION SOCIETY CELEBRATES WORLD WILDLIFE DAY BY KICKING OFF ITS ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST.
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (Calgary Wildlife) is a registered charitable organization that was established in 1993. Calgary Wildlife provides expert compassionate care to injured and orphaned wildlife in and around the City of Calgary. As an accredited veterinary hospital (ABVMA), Calgary Wildlife is open 365 days a year and is the only wildlife rehabilitation centre located within the city. Calgary Wildlife also provides valuable outreach and educational services to the community.
In celebration of World Wildlife Day, an annual event that raises awareness about the plight of wild animals around the globe, Calgary Wildlife is resuming its annual wildlife photography contest, Eye For The Wild.
In its third year, Eye For The Wild photography contest is open to all amateur photographers to submit their best untouched photos of Alberta wildlife in their natural habitats. With over 500 species of wildlife that call Calgary home, natural habitats could include backyards, parks, and other city or natural spaces.
“This year’s World Wildlife Day celebrations seek to draw attention to the conservation status of endangered wild animals, and here in Alberta, we have a few,” says Melanie Whalen, Director of Animal Care at Calgary Wildlife, “including the Burrowing Owl and the Little Brown Bat. We hope that our Eye For The Wild contest will help draw attention to all the wild creatures that we are lucky enough to share space with here in Calgary,” says Whalen.
A ten dollar entry fee is required per photo and amateur photographers can submit up to three photographs. All proceeds raised from the contest go to helping injured and orphaned wildlife. This year’s winners will be chosen by The CBC Eyeopener’s David Gray, Norberg Hall co-director Shannon Norberg, Calgary artist Dean Stanton, professional wildlife photographer and videographer Darryl MacDonald, and Canadian artist and photographer Elyse Bouvier. Winners will be featured in Calgary Wildlife’s new print publication, its 2023 calendar, and on social media. The winners will also be awarded prizes donated by the following generous sponsors; Vistek, Donna Mac, Pandora’s Framing, The Camera Store, and The Wild Bird Store.
The Eye For The Wild contest runs from March 3rd until April 15th. For full contest details visit https://woobox.com/75gr7c
The counting and correcting is done, and here are the final results of the 2021 Calgary Christmas Bird Count (CBC). I helped out with the Feeder watchers again this year. Matthew Wallace coordinated the count and finalized the results. Lara Fitzpatrick created the spreadsheets that organized the data. It was a fun learning experience for us, and many emails were exchanged and many hours spent in Zoom meetings.
First, watch this summary video of the count results presented by Matthew:
The 2021 count was held on Sunday December 19. The temperature ranged from about -13 C to -10 C, with some light snow and winds of 10 to 20 kph. So the conditions were pretty good.
We had good participation this year, with 136 people out in the field (pretty much as many as we could manage with Covid protocols and the number of leaders we had) and 177 Feeder Watchers counting in their yards at 125 addresses (we can definitely add more Feeder Watchers).
Bohemian Waxwings seen on the 2021 Calgary CBC. Photo by Arthur Wieckowski
The final total on count day was 73 species, plus another four species seen during Count Week (December 16-22) but missed on Count Day. The total number of individual birds recorded was 71,468. (All numbers have been corrected to account for possible double-counting.)
Field Observers
Feeder Watchers
70 species
36 species
65,640 birds
5,828 birds
Great Horned Owl, December 19, 2021, Tsuut’ina Nation, Calgary. Photo by Matthew Wallace
Below is the bird list and the number of each species reported:
Cackling Goose
4
Canada Goose
18,954
Trumpeter Swan
5
Tundra Swan
1
Wood Duck
3
Gadwall
1
Mallard
17,251
Green-winged Teal
1
Canvasback
2
Redhead
18
Ring-necked Duck
5
Greater Scaup
2
Lesser Scaup
5
Harlequin Duck
4
Bufflehead
144
Common Goldeneye
554
Barrow’s Goldeneye
3
Hooded Merganser
2
Common Merganser
86
Ruddy Duck
1
Sharp-tailed Grouse
3
Gray Partridge
58
Ring-necked Pheasant
11
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
1,450
Eurasian Collared-Dove
2
American Coot
1
Wilson’s Snipe
1
Sharp-shinned Hawk
4
Northern Goshawk
6
Bald Eagle
55
Rough-legged Hawk
6
Great Horned Owl
9
Snowy Owl
1
Northern Saw-whet Owl
1
Belted Kingfisher
3
American Three-toed Woodpecker
2
Downy Woodpecker
264
Hairy Woodpecker
41
Pileated Woodpecker
4
Northern Flicker
419
Merlin
24
Gyrfalcon
1
Northern Shrike
8
Blue Jay
138
Black-billed Magpie
2,529
American Crow
65
Common Raven
649
Black-capped Chickadee
2,218
Mountain Chickadee
7
Boreal Chickadee
7
Golden-crowned Kinglet
2
Red-breasted Nuthatch
199
White-breasted Nuthatch
114
Brown Creeper
17
American Dipper
3
European Starling
326
Townsend’s Solitaire
18
American Robin
82
Bohemian Waxwing
15,676
Cedar Waxwing
11
House Sparrow
7,394
Pine Grosbeak
79
House Finch
2,015
Common Redpoll
294
Hoary Redpoll
2
White-winged Crossbill
41
Pine Siskin
50
American Tree Sparrow
3
Fox Sparrow
1
Dark-eyed Junco
91
White-crowned Sparrow
1
White-throated Sparrow
9
Song Sparrow
2
Other: Sp./Slash/Hybrid
5
The four Count Week birds were Varied Thrush (a continuing backyard bird that failed to show on Count Day), a Killdeer seen in Griffiths Wood Park, a Prairie Falcon seen in the east end on December 18th, and a Greater White-fronted Goose reported and photographed on the Elbow River at Sandy Beach, also on December 18.
Some of the notable birds this year were the two swan species and the Ruddy Duck (all continuing at Carburn Park), the three Sharp-tailed Grouse seen in the Tsuut’ina Nation in the SW, a Wilson’s Snipe and Snowy Owl at Carburn, a White-crowned Sparrow in the Weaselhead, and a Gyrfalcon.
We also had one species that had never been reported in the 69 previous Calgary counts – a Fox Sparrow in the yard of one of our Feeder watchers. This brings our cumulative total of all species reported on Calgary CBC’s to 143.
Fox Sparrow, Calgary. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
Matt Wallace, the count coordinator, has used the data to create some very interesting maps. (The maps below, and many more, will be posted on the Nature Calgary site when they are all complete.)
The Count Circle is divided into Sections, and here you can see how many species were found in each Section, and how the geography of the city influences species density.
Number of Species seen in each Section.
Due to the open water here, we get a lot of Mallards and Canada Geese overwintering. We also often have big flocks of Bohemian Waxwings in the winter. As a result, we tend to get really high numbers of total individual birds reported. This year, 71,468 individual birds were counted. This is one of the highest totals (and possibly the highest) of any of the CBC’s in Canada this year. It is far higher than the totals for the Edmonton or Toronto counts, for example.
Total number of individual birds seen in each Section.
Below is a map that shows all the Feeder Watcher addresses (the white dots). Some areas have quite a few, but we can definitely use more!
Distribution of Feeder Watcher addresses within the Count Circle.
A Black-capped Chickadee photographed by a Feeder Watcher, Calgary, December 19, 2021. Photo by Raman Brar
It’s interesting to look at some individual species. Bald Eagles:
The 55 Bald Eagles reported on the Calgary CBC.
Bald Eagle, Calgary, December 19, 2021. Photo by Arthur Wieckowski
The Eagles are concentrated along the lower stretches of the Bow River, where they feed mostly on sick or injured Mallards.
Here is the Mallard map:
Mallards on the Calgary CBC.
Note how closely the Mallard distribution mirrors that of Bald Eagles. Mallards rest on the river, and go out to farmer’s fields to feed. There was also a huge concentration of 6,000 birds in the bit of open water at the northeast corner of Elliston Lake. Perhaps this is a safe place for them to rest, where there are fewer eagles around to prey on them than along the Bow.
The Canada Goose numbers were even higher than the Mallard numbers, with a similar distribution.
Canada Goose distribution on the Calgary CBC.
Black-billed Magpies are probably the most visible bird in Calgary, as they are found in all habitats and are very vocal. Many residents find them too aggressive and noisy to be likeable, but they are fascinating, beautiful, and intelligent birds. Like other urbanophiles (American Crows, House Sparrows, House Finches, and Rock Pigeons for example), they are doing very well in the urban environment.
Black-billed Magpie distribution.
The total number of Magpies reported on the CBC continues on a long-term upward climb:
As in the Magpie example above, we can use the CBC data to produce graphs of long-term trends of the overall results and of the numbers of individual species. The next graph shows that the number of participants and party-hours has steadily increased over time, as has the total number of birds recorded, but the number of species seen each year has plateaued.
The 73 species we had this year is the third-highest total ever, but it is line with a pretty flat graph since the mid-1980’s:
Below is an interesting graph that shows the number of Sharp-tailed Grouse reported. We had three this year, and three in 2016. But that’s it for the last twenty-plus years. They used to be found on Nose Hill and other areas at the city’s edge. But Nose Hill is now surrounded by development and the city has expanded to most edges of the Count Circle.
Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tsuut’ina Nation, Calgary, December 21, 2021. Photo by Chris Durtnall
The results of the Calgary Count and several other nearby CBC’s were presented at the January meeting of Nature Calgary’s Bird Study Group. The meeting was recorded, and a replay will soon be available on the Nature Calgary site here.
The next Calgary CBC will be on Sunday December 18, 2022. If you haven’t taken part before and are interested in participating, either as a Field Observer or a Feeder Watcher, email me at birdscalgary[at]gmail.com.
Many thanks to Matt Wallace for all his hard work in organizing the count and producing the maps, to Lara Fitzpatrick, who created the spreadsheets that captured all the data, and to the photographers.
Here is a link to an article about the Calgary Count results on CBC news, including a video interview.
Be sure to subscribe to Matthew’s Citizen Blitz channel on YouTube to keep informed about upcoming citizen science events in Calgary – and to see more great nature videos!. You can also follow him on Twitter (atcitynatureyyc) and on Instagram (atcitizenblitz).
The Calgary count on May 29 and 30 still has some areas that need surveyors.
The May Species Count is an annual event in which birders count the number of birds of each species within the 80-km diameter circle centred in Calgary. The circle is divided up into many smaller territories, and there are a few that so far are not covered this year.
Area 2: FCPP Bridge 6 to Macleod Trail (Votiers Flats)
Area 3: FCPP Macleod Trail to Bridge 13 (Glennfield)
Area 4: FCPP Burnsmead South to Lafarge Meadows
Area 31: Irricana
Area 37: Acme/Carbon
43b: Confluence Park – pending
43g: Pine Creek Water Treatment Plant
43j: Nose Hill Park – pending
The Calgary count circle with the rural territories marked. The city is also divided up into many territories.
If you are an experienced birder and want to participate by covering one of the areas above, contact John McFaul at alpglow[at]telus.net. He will provide details of the procedures and a description of the territory to be covered.
One of the best things about winter is seeing all the animal tracks in the snow. It’s fun to go out after a light snowfall, when you can see signs of all the mammals that have passed. Sometimes there are bird tracks and wing-prints too.
Hare Tracks, November 2018. Photo by Rodney Nicholson.
These are likely the tracks of a White-tailed Jackrabbit. It was travelling from right to left, the opposite direction of the “arrow” the tracks make.
So far we haven’t had much snow this winter, but we should still get plenty of opportunities in the new year to see all kinds of animal tracks.
