Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 9 – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

Posted by Dan Arndt

After last week’s debacle, I won’t be complaining about flat light, poor light, or a little cold weather every now and then. This week’s walk was in the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, and while the skies were overcast, the weather was above freezing and there were plenty of new migrants in abundance on the Bow River. The Northern Flickers were displaying and staking out new territory, Ring-billed and California Gulls were back on the river, and we even spotted a surprise American Wigeon amongst the thousands of waterfowl along the banks of the river! Spring is on the way!

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

These next few weeks are both incredibly sad, but also incredibly exciting for birders in Canada. With the temperatures warming, it means not only more hours of sunlight to allow greater opportunities to see more birds, but it also means the arrival of all the species that have been gone since September, October, or as late as November for some. It also means, sadly, the departure of our winter guests. Snowy Owls, Common and Hoary Redpolls, American Tree Sparrows, Rough-legged Hawks, and usually, the White-winged Crossbills back to either more northerly latitudes, or to higher elevations, until fall returns. One of the best places around town to find new arrivals in the spring, summer, fall and winter, is at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. For various reasons, it has just the right combination of trees, bushes, and prey species that make it the perfect habitat for many of our summer residents.

On our walk this week, we were greeted at the beginning of our route by a lone Mule Deer. Some years, there are between six and twelve Mule Deer that call this place home, much to the disappointment of many ground nesting birds, as the deer are known to be completely oblivious of nests and in many cases walk right over them.

Mule Deer

Another species in abundance on our walk were the Common Ravens. At times there were four or five of them grouped together calling back and forth and generally causing a ruckus. These birds typically don’t nest in the sanctuary, so either they were drawn to something along the river, or just choosing this place to air their grievances with each other.

Common Raven

The original administration and maintenance building of the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is the Colonel Walker House. Originally built in 1910, and home to Colonel James Walker of the Northwest Mounted Police. You can read more about the house and Colonel Walker here.

Colonel Walker House

Colonel Walker House

Just outside the Walker House, we were treated to the sight of some recently emerging Richardson’s Ground Squirrels. The first to awaken in the spring are the males, looking to build up their fat stores in anticipation of the upcoming breeding season, to better fight for and defend a mate in the coming months.

Richardson’s Ground Squirrel

These weren’t the only animals looking to make the upcoming breeding season a productive one. We could hardly walk for a few minutes without hearing the calls of one of the many Northern Flickers announcing their territory with their distinct vocalizations, or raucous drumming.

Northern Flicker

Even the Black-capped Chickadees were calling, defending their territory, and were a little bit less forward with us than they have been in the past few months, their attention also on other matters.

Black-capped Chickadee

As we reached the southernmost point of our walk and turned back up the river, we were treated to the sight of over ten thousand waterfowl in the course of our walk, split between the Mallards and Canada Geese, with a few Common Goldeneye thrown in, and a pair of female American Wigeon for good measure.

Mallard

Canada Geese

American Wigeon (center) surrounded by Mallards

The real treat for those of us who’d been reading the reports all week was the return of the gulls. California Gulls had been reported all week. On Tuesday, only one was seen, but those numbers had swelled to over 30 individuals by today, and a trio of Ring-billed Gulls were also present.

California Gull

California Gull

As we tore our eyes away from the river and began the final leg of our walk back to the start, a few of us straggled behind and were treated to the sight of a pair of Northern Flickers calling, challenging, and displaying at each other by fanning out their tail feathers and trying to simply look bigger than their rival.

Northern Flickers fighting over territory

On our way back out, we also found a second Richardson’s Ground Squirrel, this one a bit bigger and a bit more vibrant, also gathering food and preparing his own part of the sanctuary for his future mate and offspring!

Richardson’s Ground Squirrel trying to hide. Completely unsuccessfully, I might add.

Here’s hoping your birding week is as successful as ours was! See you next week!

Sunday Showcase: Great Grays of Grand Valley Road

Mar10

Grand Valley Road northwest of Cochrane has been a really good place to find Great Gray Owls. Logan Gibson photographed this one while it was snowing on February 25:

On March 2, Brett Mahura found three different Great Grays on Grand Valley Road:

Wednesday Wings – Short-eared Owls

Mar6

Posted by Dan Arndt

Last Saturday evening I made a quick trip to Frank Lake and managed to find a pair of Short-eared Owls displaying and posing in the late day sun.

male Short-eared Owl

female Short-eared Owl

male Short-eared Owl

male Short-eared Owl calling in flight

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 8 – Beaverdam Flats – Snowed Out!

Mar4

Posted by Dan Arndt

The week was beautiful leading up to Sunday’s walk. Much of the snow had melted off, migrating European Starlings and American Crows were arriving regularly, and temperatures were as high as 10 degrees Celsius some days! I was looking forward to a full walk in Beaverdam Flats, though it was predicted to be a snowy, wet day. When I left the house, about 2 centimeters had accumulated, but by the time we arrived at Beaverdam Flats, this is what the scene looked like.

Blizzard in Beaverdam Flats

In addition to the terrible weather, one of the main roads leading to the park was closed due to a fallen power line, and with both of these contributing factors, our small group of three decided to make a quick trip of it. We pushed through the wind and snow to find a few hardy Bald Eagles, many hundreds of Mallards, and a couple hundred Canada Geese, with a small smattering of smaller birds. Needless to say, none of my photos of the birds turned out in any recognizable way, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to share a few photos of the regular visitors to my bird feeders this winter.

female Red-breasted Nuthatch

male Red-breasted Nuthatch

This pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches are regular visitors to my feeders all year long. They roost in the spruce tree in my neighbour’s back yard each night, and forage around sunrise and sunset mostly, but on bad weather days, they’re active all day long.

male Northern Flicker (intergrade)

Northern Flickers absolutely love the suet I put out. I find that they are very skittish and fly at the first sign of danger, but shooting from out of a window they hardly even notice me.

male Downy Woodpecker

This male Downy Woodpecker is one of a pair that have been regular visitors to my feeders since I put them out. This SquirrelBuster nut feeder has been incredibly helpful at keeping the squirrels out. I’ve gone from filling the nut feeder two or thee times a week to maybe once a month!

male Common Redpoll

While Common Redpolls have only started showing up at my feeders in the last month or so, there are half a dozen or so on an average day, and are regular visitors to my feeder with nyjer and black-oil sunflower chips.

I hope this makes up for the lack of my usual update today!

Sunday Showcase: Bald Eagle Fledgling

Mar3

Rob English got these photos of a recently fledged Bald Eagle in Carburn Park in early August 2012. The bird had just recently left the nest across the river.

There was one of the adult eagles with this young one:

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 7 – Weaselhead Natural Area

Feb25

Posted by Dan Arndt

With the beginning of the second half of our Winter Birding course, the weather once again made for a beautiful day to be out in Calgary’s parks. It certainly felt like spring was in the air, or at least well on its way, with the bird activity high, many of them singing their little hearts out, and others calling out on their territory that they’ll soon begin nesting and breeding on.

: Weaselhead Natural Area

Weaselhead Natural Area

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the largest flock of Blue Jays we’ve seen in all of our walks so far. A total of six individuals came to investigate us newcomers right as the walk began, giving us what might have been the closest and best views I’ve ever personally had, and the closest photo opportunities as well. It was quite a treat to start off the day.

I’ve never noticed before just how many different shades and hues of blue are in the patterns on their back.

Blue Jay

They sure love to dive bomb each other.

Blue Jay

As we headed down into the river valley, we had flock after flock of Bohemian Waxwings fly overhead. Both into, and out of the valley floor they flew by the hundreds, their high trills being the only warning before a small black cloud of them would dart overhead. At both sets of feeders there were good numbers of Common Redpoll, Black-capped Chickadees, and even a pair of Pine Grosbeaks, but not the American Tree Sparrow or Ruffed Grouse that we often hope for this time of year. At the bottom of the hill, we were able to get some good light and close visits of the Common Redpolls, some of them even posing for us.

Common Redpoll

Crossing over the Elbow River, we stopped briefly as we had a close flyover of a Blue Jay and what we tentatively identified as a Townsend’s Solitaire, but what really stole the show for the few that got to see it was this Snowshoe Hare. Unfortunately I was lagging behind as the group came upon it, but at least someone did!

Snowshoe Hare.
Photo by Paul Turbitt

We headed into the woods with much excitement, as the light was holding steady, the birds were active and patient, and everyone’s spirits were high. In our usual mixed grove of spruce and poplar where we reliably have good sightings of Boreal Chickadees, we were not disappointed. Three of the beautiful little brown birds came in to accept our offering of black oil sunflower seeds, and shortly after, a small flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets also came to investigate the commotion.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Boreal Chickadee

Winding our way through the deer paths and game trails back to the path following the river, we heard the distinct and melodious songs of a number of male House Finches. While they’re a species we usually expect up on the top of the ridge, the sheer number of them down in the valley was quite surprising.

male House Finch

Our circuit continued along the usual route, connecting back with the main pathway after a fairly quiet stretch of pathway, interrupted by brief, but clear views of a juvenile Northern Goshawk, and many flyovers both near and far of Common Ravens and Black-billed Magpies. Our final highlight was this lone Pine Grosbeak eating quietly at the feeder, completely at ease with both our close examination, along with the many runners, walkers, and other folks enjoying the park on this beautiful day.

Pine Grosbeak, completely at ease.

Pine Grosbeak chowing down on some seeds

Pine Grosbeak

I think this is the Grosbeak equivalent of the raspberry.

Pine Grosbeak

Next week we’re off to Beaverdam Flats! Good birding, and see you here next week!

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 6 – Lafarge Meadows

Feb19

Posted by Dan Arndt

Some weeks are diamonds, and other weeks are coal. Or maybe just cold. And windy. After another week of warm, beautiful temperatures, it was about time for Old Man Winter to come charging through to assert his dominion over Calgary. Our visit to Lafarge Meadows was a cold one, and cut a little short due to the wind, keeping the bird activity to a relative minimum.

: Lafarge Meadows, Fish Creek Provincial Park

Lafarge Meadows, Fish Creek Provincial Park

Starting at the Boat Launch parking lot, we were treated to quite the show of four adult Bald Eagles flying over the river to the north, flushing up Mallards, Goldeneye, and even Canada Geese by the hundreds. All the while, the ducks and geese along the river near to us stayed put and granted us one gift of a Barrow’s Goldeneye.

We headed south under the bridges, and were once again treated to close flybys of an immature Bald Eagle, flushing up a few Mallards here, but nowhere near as many as the show the adults were putting on to the north.

immature Bald Eagle

One of our target birds was a lone male Northern Pintail, which had been seen in the company of Mallards just south of the bridges all week. While we didn’t get good views of it on our way south, a couple of us were given some very good looks on the way back north. Another immature Bald Eagle made a pass over the Mallards and Northern Pintail as our group passed them by, but after a few minutes, they all settled back down near the gravel bar to return to their rest. Unfortunately, many of our group opted to head for the shelter of the wooded areas around Sikome Lake to get out of the biting wind, but for those that missed it, here ‘s the Northern Pintail we saw today.

immature Bald Eagle buzzes the Mallards and Northern Pintail

Just a few of the thousands of Mallards seen on, or flying over, the river today

Wait a minute… those aren’t all Mallards!

And here is the standout Northern Pintail after preening and settling back down to rest. (Look at that bold bronze speculum!)

We still had another bird we were hoping to find. A pair of Killdeer had been seen just about every day this week along the south stretch of the river, and we trekked on, despite the cold, but in the end, and after a good kilometer of searching and scanning the gravel bars and the far shore in vain, we admitted defeat. While I didn’t get a photo of it, we did get an incredible addition to our list, but our views were all to brief. A Prairie Falcon made a quick dart over the eastern valley wall, scanned the environs below, and after only a minute or two, headed back to the east.

As we began our trip back into the protection of the woods, a few of our old favourites made their appearances. The ever-present Black-capped Chickadees, a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches, and even a lone female Downy Woodpecker came to visit as we finished up our time with the Northern Pintail. I suspect she may have been waiting for the right time to photobomb the waterfowl!

White-breasted Nuthatch

Downy Woodpecker

See you again next week!

Sunday Showcase: Snow Bunting

Feb17

Michael Pott saw this Snow Bunting posing nicely on a fence post on Dunbow Road last week, just SE of the city. These birds are usually seen in here in the winter in large flocks, in open rural areas.

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 5 – Votier’s Flats

Feb11

Posted by Dan Arndt

After a week of unseasonal sun and warmth, the mercury dipped down below zero again this morning, and with a bit of a north wind, made for a chilly trek through the park. Bob and I arrived a bit early to try to find signs of either the Northern Pygmy Owl or the American Three-toed Woodpecker that have been seen in the area but unfortunately came up empty handed, but were able to scout and find some signs of a few other species that we found with the larger group later on. We headed west from the parking lot, while Gus took his group south to look for some Pine Grosbeaks that had been seen earlier, only meeting up at the very end, despite following almost the exact same route.

The route through Votier’s Flats and Bebo Grove

On our scouting trip, Bob and I found a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers working a series of dead poplar and spruce trees, and when we returned there with the group, they were joined by a third Pileated Woodpecker, which was quite an unexpected sight. There must have been some good eatin’ under the bark of those trees!

Pileated Woodpecker

After incredible views of the Pileated Woodpeckers, along with a few Downy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees, and Red-breasted Nuthatches, we headed down the trail along Fish Creek in search of Townsend’s Solitaire’s which had been seen there the day before. We weren’t disappointed, as we spotted not one, but two individuals. This one, up above our heads, appeared to be displaying. As it flew off, the second one, not six feet away from us at waist level, followed it across the creek over into some low scrub.

Townsend’s Solitaire

As these two flew off, we soldiered on, exploring the edge of the creek a little further west. One of our sharp-eyed attendees spotted a Northern Goshawk that flushed up from the creek bank, and we weren’t the only ones that spotted it. As it lighted on the far side of the river, it was almost immediately mobbed by a large contingent of Common Redpolls and House Finches.

Northern Goshawk

As we continued on in search of our target species, we explored the next couple of bridges, and entered a large stand of old, tall spruce, which is where the American Three-toed Woodpecker was seen earlier this year. Sadly, we missed out on both that bird, as well as the Northern Pygmy Owl, so this posing Red-breasted Nuthatch will have to make up for that.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

On our trip back to the parking lot, our luck seemed to wane. The birds we saw were either in the distance, in the shade, or simply a little too out of the way to view properly, let alone photograph. As we neared the parking lot, a small herd of Mule Deer grazed along the hillside quite content to stare back at all the folks pointing their binoculars at them.

Mule Deer

Once we got back to the parking lot, we thought it might be a good idea to go searching for those Pine Grosbeaks that were mentioned earlier. While we didn’t manage to find them, we did spot a couple of other woodpecker species that had eluded us earlier; the Hairy Woodpecker and the Northern Flicker, both working away at constructing nesting holes in the same dead tree.

Northern Flicker

Hairy Woodpecker

In our futile search, and as we neared the end of our walk, I heard the telltale wheezy “chick-dee” of the always welcome Boreal Chickadee. After playing a couple of recorded calls, a trio of them swooped in, investigated us for a few minutes, and then just as quickly flew off.

Boreal Chickadee

Next week we’ll be heading to the deep south of Lafarge Meadows, in the south east corner of Fish Creek Provincial Park in search of even more new species. See you then!

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 4 – Carburn Park

Feb4

Posted by Dan Arndt

A week after our visit to Griffith Woods and the weather in Calgary has taken a turn for the better. We were greeted this morning by blue skies, above-zero temperatures, and a mild winter’s day with plenty of birds, which was a nice change from last week!

We took our usual route, heading south from the parking lot to the bridge crossing to the Southland Dog Park, continuing a bit further south to get a good look at some of the waterfowl in the clear morning sunlight.

Carburn Park

View from the bridge

Our first birds of the morning were a group of White-winged Crossbills hanging out in the trees near the parking lot, quite likely the same ones that Tim Hopwood was able to get some gorgeous photos of recently.

female or juvenile White-winged Crossbill

As we reached the bridge, it seemed that iridescence would be the word of the day. With the low angle of the sun, and the weather giving us a hint of the warmer spring soon to come, it seemed like every bird was showing off its brightest colors, including this normally drab Rock Pigeon.

Rock Pigeon

The real prize of the day were these Buffleheads, showing off their iridescence that we so rarely get to see in our dull grey winters. It certainly was a beautiful sight to see!

Bufflehead

Male Buffleheads in the morning sun

We headed south from the bridge after pausing to investigate some birds near the gazebo at the east side of the river. We spotted a Barrow’s Goldeneye at the far south end, and quite a number of Common Goldeneye as well. This female was kind enough to allow some decent flight shots, and the huge number of Canada Geese and Mallards on the river banks was too good to pass up.

female Common Goldeneye

Canada Geese, Mallards, and a few other waterfowl

We headed back north and followed the river around the bend, stopping a few times to watch some distant Bald Eagles on the far side of the river, but were also treated to some rather unusual activity from a group of Northern Flickers foraging around in the gravel at the edge of the river.

Northern Flicker

Another great bird to find in Calgary in the winter are the American Crows, which have been overwintering in Carburn Park for a number of years now, in ever-increasing numbers. Our group saw no less than 20 individuals during our exploration of the banks of the Bow River today.

American Crow

With that said, waterfowl watching is not for everyone, but we did manage to spot a few unusual winter ducks in our excursion. This pair of Redheads gave us quite the views, and we were also treated to a pair of either Lesser or Greater Scaup a bit later on, though the ID is still up in the air on those ones.

Redheads

A little more common around here, but still a welcome sight, are the Common Mergansers. This group of four males appeared to be trying to woo this lone female, who would have nothing of it, by all appearances.

Common Mergansers fighting for a female

It was clear that spring was getting just that much closer as we saw many birds beginning their preparation for the new breeding season. Northern Flickers were drilling out nest holes, Black-billed Magpies were displaying and pursuing each other, and this pair of male Downy Woodpeckers were flitting about, displaying and attacking each other in a fight for territory.

male Downy Woodpeckers

Next week we head back to Votier’s Flats in search of American Dippers, Wilson’s Snipe, and American Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers.

Good birding!

Birds Calgary

A birding blog for Calgary, Alberta and area

Archives

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 9 – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

Sunday Showcase: Great Grays of Grand Valley Road

Wednesday Wings – Short-eared Owls

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 8 – Beaverdam Flats – Snowed Out!

Sunday Showcase: Bald Eagle Fledgling

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 7 – Weaselhead Natural Area

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 6 – Lafarge Meadows

Sunday Showcase: Snow Bunting

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 5 – Votier’s Flats

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 4 – Carburn Park

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