Here are some birds that Tony LePrieur photographed at Frank Lake on April 27. All of these species can still be found there throughout the breeding season, along with dozens more. All photos by Tony LePrieur.
American Avocet, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. American Coot, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. Willet, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. Black-necked Stilt, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. Killdeer, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019.
The next day, after an overnight snowstorm in Calgary, there were quite a few migrating songbirds at Carburn Park. Tony was able to get some great shots of Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Carburn Park, April 28, 2019.
These are the Myrtle subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler. The Audubon’s subspecies has a yellow throat and lacks the dark mask. Most of the ones we see here are Myrtles heading for the boreal forest. Audubons breed farther west, but we do see both on migration.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Carburn Park, April 28, 2019. Yellow-rumped Warbler, Carburn Park, April 28, 2019.
There are still flocks of Yellow-rumps moving through the city now. Keep an eye out in parks and even in your yard!
Here is a wonderful opportunity to go to one of the birdiest places on earth and learn to photograph the local birds with an expert who is a native of Costa Rica. There are only three spots open for this trip so act now!
Costa Rica Bird Photography Workshop, December 2019
Conducted by Max Ortiz Aguilar
Resplendent Quetzal
Max Ortiz Aguilar is a professional Nature Photographer who lives in Calgary. Since 2014 he has maintained a website, www.photosbymoa.com, where he has his portfolio of photos available for sale and for licensing as digital downloads. Last year Max joined the Friends of Fish Creek birding course to learn more about the local birds, and he has since been contributing to this blog.
Keel-billed Toucan
You should plan to arrive to Costa Rica on December 3rd, and departure will be on December 15th. To give you the best customer service and to guarantee the best experience Max will be offering only 3 spots. In this way he will be able to give you his full attention and this will make things easier for everyone when you are in the field.
See Max’s website for a detailed itinerary of all the amazing spots you will visit during this workshop.
Black-crested Coquette
Included:
Photography mentoring by Max (in the field and post processing)
Online working sessions before and after the workshop
Multi-flash photography setup for hummingbirds
Single accommodation at all locations
All meals, including morning and afternoon snacks
Tours and park fees
Fees for local guides
Transportation (including to and from the Juan Santa María airport in Costa Rica)
Not Included:
Airfare
Macro photography sessions
Alcoholic drinks
Laundry
Insurance
Other Miscellaneous Items
Cost: Total cost per participant is $5,000 USD (all taxes included). To book, a 50% deposit is required. This deposit is non-refundable but it is transferable. The other 50% must be paid by September 15th, 2019. Please visit Max’s site for details, and contact him if you have any questions.
Here are some more of the amazing birds you can see and photograph in Costa Rica:
Yellow-throated ToucanGreen HoneycreeperKing VultureScarlet MacawOrnate Hawk-EagleBaltimore Oriole, one of the species you can see both in Calgary and Costa Rica.Red-headed Barbet
Tomorrow is eBird’s Global Big Day, during which birders all over the world are encouraged to submit their sightings on eBird to create a one-day snapshot of the state of the world’s birds. All you have to do is go birding anywhere and submit your sightings on eBird! Even a few minutes of birding will help to contribute to the Big Day. Click the link above to read all about it.
Last year over 30,00 people submitted lists, recording over 7,000 species of birds. Let’s see if we can top this!
The Cornell Lab has also started doing an eBird Big Day in the fall. The first one was on October 6, 2018. Over 6,000 species were recorded, including these rare Greater Sage-Grouse photographed by Gavin McKinnon. Gavin was the only birder to report this species on the Big Day.
Greater Sage-Grouse, undisclosed location. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Greater Sage-Grouse, undisclosed location. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Greater Sage-Grouse, undisclosed location. Photo by Gavin McKinnon.
You can see a band on the leg of the bird in the second photo. These birds are part of a program by the Calgary Zoo to try to at least help this species hang on to its very restricted range in Canada. Here is a news article about this program.
Not everyone will see a rare bird tomorrow, but every sighting of any species counts!
The City Nature Challenge is under way! From April 26 through to midnight on April 29 we need Calgary naturalists to take as many photos as possible of any and all wildlife (birds, mammals, fish, plants, lichen; anything!) within the city limits.
You will have until May 5 to upload all your photos to the iNaturalist website or phone app. No need to learn all the ins and outs of iNaturalist right away if you haven’t done so (the sooner the better of course, and it is very easy!), and no need to know what it is you are photographing – the site will suggest ID’s and the iNaturalist community will confirm them.
A Red Fox in Calgary two weeks ago. Now I have to find and photograph it again this weekend. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
There are many organized events planned for the challenge, including six today (Friday April 26) and many more over the following three days. See this page for all the events planned over the four days and come out and help us document the wildlife of Calgary. You can also participate on your own all day, every day!
Calgary is one of 163 cities worldwide taking part in this challenge, and is the northernmost city. We want to try to win the competition for most participants and most observations made. We are also having a friendly competition with Halifax, the only other Canadian city involved. So get outside!
How many bird species could you see in Alberta in a Calendar year? The answer is that an average of about 330 species have been reported in the province on eBird in recent years. Of course no one birder sees or hears them all, so only a very few birders, if any, get to a total of 300 species in any year.
It takes a special effort to see or hear that many species. You have to make sure you get all the regular birds, regardless of where in the province their normal range or migration route is, and still you have to chase some rarities to get to 300.
In 2019, Gavin McKinnon, a fifteen-year-old Calgary-based birder, is going to try to get to 300 species. He is already a very accomplished birder, who leads field trips for the Friends of Fish Creek and the Wild Bird Store. Last year he recorded 273 species in Alberta, so he knows what a challenge it will be. Gavin will also be travelling outside the province quite a bit, and you can miss some good birds when you are away.
Throughout the year we will be posting photos of some some of the birds that Gavin has seen and photographed. Here are the highlights from the first two months of the year, during which Gavin had about 75 species.
Long-eared OwlCommon MerganserRed-bellied Woodpecker, a rarity seen in Magrath, near the US border.Horned LarkNorthern Pygmy-OwlEvening GrosbeakShort-eared OwlSnowy OwlAmerican Three-toed WoodpeckerRusty BlackbirdTundra Bean-Goose, an extreme rarity seen in Lethbridge.Harlequin DuckPine SiskinCommon GoldeneyeBuffleheadBlack-capped ChickadeeTrumpeter Swan
The next Birds & Beers event in Calgary is on Thursday May 2, at the Horton Road Legion, from 6 to 9 pm. We will be in the big auditorium this month, and will have a special presentation: “The Raptor Allure of Windy Point” by Peter Roxborough.
Bald Eagle. Photo by Daniel Arndt.
Local birders are aware of the Golden Eagle migration monitoring that has been conducted for many years at Mount Lorette in Kananaskis country, but few are aware that Windy Point, in the Sheep River Valley west of Turner Valley, also offers fantastic raptor watching on migration. Peter Roxborough will do a presentation on this amazing birding spot.
The Legion is located at 9202 Horton Road SW. Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers. As is usual when we have presentations, these begin after 7 pm. So come at 6 pm (or earlier since the kitchen will be busy), order a meal and have a drink, visit with your fellow birders, and then stay for the presentation. If you can’t make it early drop in later for the show.
Upcoming Birds & Beers events are scheduled for Thursday May 30 and Thursday June 27, at the same time and place. There will be presentations at both of these events too.
CORRECTION: Yesterday’s post said that these trips were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The correct dates are Sunday April 21 for the Reader Rock Garden trip, and Monday April 22 for Britannia Slopes. Sorry for any inconvenience!
There are two opportunities in Calgary this weekend to go out in the field and learn how iNaturalist and the City Nature Challenge works before the actual competition on April 26-29. On Sunday April 21, join Gus Yaki and Calgary Challenge organizer Matt Wallace at Reader Rock Garden from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Learn how to take photos with your smartphone or camera and record the observations on the iNaturalist app on your phone or on the website on your desktop computer.
I took this photo at Pearce Estate Park during last week’s workshop. When I uploaded the photo, the iNaturalist artificial intelligence suggested it was in the Bulrushes and Cattails family, and another iNaturalist user later identified it as Broadleaf Cattail. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, Pearce Estate Park, April 13, 2019.
See this page for all the information on this workshop and field trip. No registration is required for these free events; just show up and join the fun!
On Monday afternoon, April 22, from 2 to 4 pm, join Gus and Matt at Britannia Slopes for another workshop/field trip. See this page for all the information.
If you can’t make it to the workshops but want to participate in the Challenge, get the iNaturalist app on your phone or open an account on the website, and you can learn to make observations on your own. Here is the iNaturalist Canada page.
There will be many events held during the challenge that everyone is welcome to participate in. See this page for all the events.
Any observations submitted within the city limits from April 26-29 will automatically be included in Calgary’s totals. So you can participate in the organized events, make observations on your own, or both. You don’t necessarily have to be able to identify the species you record, as the iNaturalist site will make suggested ID’s, and the iNaturalist community will follow up. The period from April 30 to May 5 will be used to try to finalize the identifications of all species identified in Calgary during the challenge. Any iNaturalist user can help with this.
Smartphones are excellent for recording photos of plants but if you are taking photos of mammals and birds you can usually get a better shot with a camera. Then you have to upload the photos to the iNaturalist site on your computer. When I went to the workshop last week, I used both phone and camera and took photos of birds, mammals, plants including fungi and lichens, and even signs of animals such as this:
This is recorded on iNaturalist as Canadian Beaver. Signs and evidence of wildlife are also included in the database. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, Pearce Estate Park, April 13, 2019.
Using iNaturalist is a great way to document our biodiversity, and to learn about our wildlife. This is from the iNaturalist.ca website:
“We can build a living record of life in Canada that scientists and environmental managers can use to monitor changes in biodiversity, and that anyone can use to learn more about Canada’s amazing natural history.
“Every piece of information on a species, combined with the vast network of citizen scientists can give a big picture of Canada’s natural history and can be a key contribution for conservation decisions.”
CORRECTION: A previous post said that these trips were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The correct dates are Sunday April 21 for the Reader Rock Garden trip, and Monday April 22 for Britannia Slopes.
There are two opportunities in Calgary this weekend to go out in the field and learn how iNaturalist and the City Nature Challenge works before the actual competition on April 26-29. On Sunday April 21, join Gus Yaki and Calgary Challenge organizer Matt Wallace at Reader Rock Garden from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Learn how to take photos with your smartphone or camera and record the observations on the iNaturalist app on your phone or on the website on your desktop computer.
I took this photo at Pearce Estate Park during last week’s workshop. When I uploaded the photo, the iNaturalist artificial intelligence suggested it was in the Bulrushes and Cattails family, and another iNaturalist user later identified it as Broadleaf Cattail. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, Pearce Estate Park, April 13, 2019.
See this page for all the information on this workshop and field trip. No registration is required for these free events; just show up and join the fun!
On Monday afternoon, April 22, from 2 to 4 pm, join Gus and Matt at Britannia Slopes for another workshop/field trip. See this page for all the information.
If you can’t make it to the workshops but want to participate in the Challenge, get the iNaturalist app on your phone or open an account on the website, and you can learn to make observations on your own. Here is the iNaturalist Canada page.
There will be many events held during the challenge that everyone is welcome to participate in. See this page for all the events.
Any observations submitted within the city limits from April 26-29 will automatically be included in Calgary’s totals. So you can participate in the organized events, make observations on your own, or both. You don’t necessarily have to be able to identify the species you record, as the iNaturalist site will make suggested ID’s, and the iNaturalist community will follow up. The period from April 30 to May 5 will be used to try to finalize the identifications of all species identified in Calgary during the challenge. Any iNaturalist user can help with this.
Smartphones are excellent for recording photos of plants but if you are taking photos of mammals and birds you can usually get a better shot with a camera. Then you have to upload the photos to the iNaturalist site on your computer. When I went to the workshop last week, I used both phone and camera and took photos of birds, mammals, plants including fungi and lichens, and even signs of animals such as this:
This is recorded on iNaturalist as Canadian Beaver. Signs and evidence of wildlife are also included in the database. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, Pearce Estate Park, April 13, 2019.
Using iNaturalist is a great way to document our biodiversity, and to learn about our wildlife. This is from the iNaturalist.ca website:
“We can build a living record of life in Canada that scientists and environmental managers can use to monitor changes in biodiversity, and that anyone can use to learn more about Canada’s amazing natural history.
“Every piece of information on a species, combined with the vast network of citizen scientists can give a big picture of Canada’s natural history and can be a key contribution for conservation decisions.”
I’ve had Eurasian Collared-Doves in my SE Calgary neighbourhood since 2009, and they have nested in the area for several years. For the last three years a pair have nested within sight of my house.
The doves are non-migratory but do gather together in small flocks in the winter, and I don’t usually see them around the yard. The nesting pair arrived back on March 17, and perched in our apple tree for a while.
Eurasian Collared-Dove pair, March 17, 2019. Photo by Bob Lefebvre Eurasian Collared-Dove pair, March 17, 2019. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
I have since seen the pair around quite a bit and heard the male calling and displaying. They nest at mid-level in spruce trees and I think I know which spruce they are nesting in, but it’s very hard to find the nest. I’ve never yet seen the nests or young of this species.
Eurasian Collared-Dove pair, March 17, 2019. Photo by Bob Lefebvre Eurasian Collared-Dove pair, March 17, 2019. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
A really fun and exciting event will be taking place in the city from April 26-29: The City Nature Challenge. This is a bioblitz in which participants will attempt to document all wild living things inside the city limits.
Over 160 cities are competing in three categories: Number of species recorded, number of observations made, and number of participants. It will be hard to match some of the tropical locations for species diversity, but Calgary can certainly compete in the number of participants and observations.
The Challenge uses the iNaturalist website to record and identify wildlife. As a participant, all you have to do is take a photo of a species and upload it to the website on your desktop or smartphone. The international community of iNaturalist users help to identify the species.
The Calgary effort is being organized by Matthew Wallace. See the Calgary website here and read about the competition and upcoming events. The first workshop, where you can learn how to use the phone app and use it in the field, is coming up at Pearce Estate on April 13. Here is the link to the Facebook page which lists all the workshops.
The iNaturalist app and website are very easy to use. You can begin making observations right away, and continue to use the app anywhere and any time to contribute to our knowledge of species distribution and diversity.
I will post more information about this challenge soon on Birds Calgary but please go to the website and read all about it.
Here is my latest upload to iNaturalist. This White-tailed Jackrabbit was sitting by our mailboxes so I snapped a photo with my phone, and ten seconds later it was on the iNaturalist site. Easy!
White-tailed Jackrabbit, iPhone photo, Calgary,April 8, 2019. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
