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Swainson’s Hawks

May9

Swainson’s Hawks have started to arrive back in the Calgary region.  Now is a good time to reprint this article by Gus Yaki, which details the remarkable migration of these birds.  The article was written in February 2007 for the Bird Studies Group of Nature Calgary.  Reprinted by permission of Gus Yaki.

Meet the Species – Swainson’s Hawk

by Gustave J. Yaki

Right now (February 2007), almost all the Swainson’s Hawks of the world are in the Pampas, the treeless plains of South America, in central Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The few exceptions are individuals trapped in the two appendages of North America.

One group of perhaps 50 birds, having made a mistake in navigation, or were blown off course, attempt to spend the winter in southern Florida, SW of Miami, between Homestead and the east boundary of Everglades National Park. Here they feed on insects and rodents in the temporary vegetable fields waiting to be turned into subdivisions.

Another group — several hundred birds, perhaps recent colonizers of southern California — have ended up in Baja California, Mexico. There, near Ciudad Constitucion, south of Loreto, an amazing diversity of cacti and other plant species, adapted to less than three inches of annual precipitation, have been bulldozed in order to grow wheat. Here, farmers are doing so by pumping up and spraying the fields with fossil water. The hawks feed on the grasshoppers and other arthropods living in those harvested grain fields.

Swainson’s Hawk.  Photo by Pat Bumstead.

But the really big story begins about now, at the southernmost end of the Swainson’s Hawks’ winter range, at latitude 34 degrees South, about on par with the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

I thought that we’d begin by following an adult female, equipped with a satellite radio transmitter placed on her by Stuart Houston of Saskatoon, in 1996, near Kindersley, SK, not far from the Alberta border. This transmitter was programmed to send a signal, one to four times in eight hours, every sixth day. (C.S. Houston, Blue Jay 57:2)

This female had already begun her migration on 13 Feb. 1997, when she was making a short reconnaissance around the area where she had spent most of the winter.

Six days later, by 19 Feb., she had moved a straight-line distance of 325 km northward. We don’t know if she traversed that distance all in one day or flew every day for an average of 54 km a day. Remember, she had been relatively sedentary most of the winter.

However, by 04 March, she was in Bolivia, an additional 1570 km. If she flew every day, she averaged 158 km a day for this  segment. By 10 March, she was in the upper Amazon area of Brazil, near Peru, a further distance of 1330 kms — or an average of 221 kms daily.

Obviously, she couldn’t have flown on days when it rained, as it often does there — at least not very far, so some days she must have covered greater distances. An adult female, trapped near Hanna, AB in 1995, over a 7-day period in Oct. and 2-three day periods in early November averaged 536, 565 and 473 km/day (J.K. Schmutz et al, Blue Jay 54:2).

Because the satellites take a north-south polar orbit, they are widely dispersed in the equatorial regions. The next signal was not received until nineteen days later, early on 29 March when she was in Chiapas in southern Mexico, a total accumulated, straight-line distance of 6,475 kms. She probably had crossed the Equator about the first day of our spring. She then traversed the Andes Mountains over Colombia to find the Isthmus of Panama. Once there, she mainly followed the Caribbean side of Panama and Costa Rica, before crossing to the Pacific side of Nicaragua, probably El Salvador, Guatemala and into Mexico.

Backing up a bit — by the time she reached northern Argentina, she would have been joined by thousands of other Swainson’s Hawks. In 1972, Neal Smith counted 344,409 Swainson’s passing over Ancon Hill, at the south end of the Panama Canal, near Panama City, during the autumn migration (J.K. Schmutz et al, Blue Jay 54:2).

Now, when migrating, the “Buteo” hawks seldom flap their wings, except to get air-borne. They make most of this long journey by using SOLAR energy.

When the sun shines, it heats the ground. This results in the air immediately above the soil being warmed, causing it to rise. Once the air temperature is above 10 degrees C, the rising air column is strong enough to lift the hawks high into the sky — like riding an elevator. Having gained the maximum lift on this “thermal”, as the rising air mass is called, our hawk set her course northward, and glided on to the next thermal, perhaps ten kms further along — to again be elevated, to repeat the process throughout the sunny part of the day.

Soaring Swainson’s.  Photo by Bob Lefebvre.

On clear days, at her starting point, latitude 34 South, she could have been aloft by 9 a.m. — and flown until 4 p.m. Nearer the equator, she could have been up much longer. I have seen hawks up, over Panama and Costa Rica in late March, flying as early as 7 a.m., and others still up at 5 p.m.

Once she had reached Panama, she was also flying with tens of thousands of Broad-winged Hawks and Turkey Vultures, as well as a few other species — a veritable river of raptors. By flying in a long column, the trailing hawks, watching the hawks ahead, are able to see where the next uplifting air mass is located.

As the day wears on and the sun begins to sinks in the west, the ground is no longer being adequately heated. The result is that the raptors lose their lift, and must descend to the earth for the night.

When 200,000 birds drop out of the sky into one area, there is no way that all can find food. So most hawks make the major part of this long journey on an empty stomach — as the lack of feces or whitewash below their nocturnal roost would suggest. However, uncomfortable as this may be, it can be advantageous. By not eating, birds are lighter, and therefore able to start flying earlier the next day — theoretically, getting to their destination sooner. They do, however, need to drink, to counter dehydration.

Having reached southern Chiapas in Mexico by 29 March, our female was next reported at Cotulla, just north of Laredo in south Texas on 04 April. Here, the hawks could spread out and feed again, if needed. No signal was received on 10 April, but by 16 April, she was at Lamar, Colorado. She was presumably still feeding and resting in this area, moving only another 170 km by 23 April. Perhaps there were no thermals or winds to assist her. Then a final jump of 1575 kms (a average of 263 km/day) brought her back to her previous year’s nest, where she was observed on 29 April.

She had completed a straight-line distance of 10,520 km in just under 11 weeks. Actually, her total journey would have been many thousands more kms if we could follow her compete path over the earth.

Not all the Swainson’s Hawks live in the nearby prairies. Some go on much further, to the Yukon and into the N.W. Territories to near the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Others go into eastern Alaska. Their migration is one of the longest in the bird world, certainly of the new world raptors.

Having reached her breeding area, presumably with her mate of previous years already there, being monogamous, she likely quickly re-mated, helped repair the old nest or build a new one, laid 2-4 speckled eggs, then began incubation — all within about two to three weeks. The earliest reported egg-laying date in Alberta is 06 May — the mean average date being 23 May (L. Priestly, Blue Jay, 63:1).  The eggs hatch 28 to 35 days later, usually between mid June and early July, with the mean date of 27 June.

The growing young, mainly fed young Richardson’s Ground Squirrels, remain in the nest — depending upon the weather and availability of food — for about another 45 days. They usually fledge in early August — the mean being 11 August — although young have still been in the nest as late as 03 Sep. The adults continue to feed the young for the next several weeks until they are able to successfully hunt for themselves.

In early September, Swainson’s Hawks begin to gather in small groups, in harvested grain fields. Here they now feed almost exclusively  on grasshoppers, averaging 100 of these a day. Accumulating in ever-growing numbers, they begin to slowly drift southward. By the end of September, virtually every healthy Swainson’s Hawk has left Canada, on average, a little over five months or 21 weeks after their spring arrival. In the case of Stuart Houston’s hawk, in 1996, she started her return journey, following a slightly different but parallel route, on 22 September and reached her wintering area by 30 November. There she spent the next eleven weeks — before starting the annual cycle all over again. Like other tropical migrants, she was experiencing Perpetual Summer.

Her spring migration equaled almost 11 weeks; the breeding season lasted almost 21 weeks; her autumn migration was 9 weeks; and her winter stopover was 11 weeks, for a total of 52 weeks. In total, she was in transit for 20 weeks, almost five months, just to have the opportunity to reproduce the next generation and perpetuate her species. — And just maybe, in the process — she filled those of us aware of her achievements, with awe and wonder!

Photo by Anne Elliott.

Longevity & other statistics

A Swainson’s Hawk banded as a nestling by   Edgar T. Jones of Edmonton, at Cereal, AB on 17 July 1988, was found dead at Quemu Quemu, LaPampa province, Argentina, in Feb. 2007. Having made 19 trips southbound and 18 northbound, Stuart Houston calculated that it would have travelled a minimum distance of over 400,000 kms during its migrations. (Blue Jay, 65:3, p.164)

Most Swainson’s Hawks do not nest until three years of age (B. Woodbridge et al, J. Raptor Res. 29), after having made three round trips.

A Swainson’s Hawk banded in California was still alive after 24 years (C.S. Houston, Blue Jay 63:1).

Swainson’s Hawk’s wingspread is 51 inches, compared to 49 inches for Red-tailed Hawks, which migrate only as far as Southern USA. The average Swainson’s weighs 855 g, compared to 1080 g for Red-tailed Hawks. (D.A. Sibley, 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds, New York, Alfred A. Knopf).

In early 1996, Brian Woodbridge of California followed his radio-equipped hawks to Argentina. He thereby happened upon 700 dead hawks, killed by eating grasshoppers sprayed with the pesticide Monocrotophos, made by Ciba-Geigy. Two assistants, who visited sites of other radio-equipped birds also happened on massive kills. From 4847 carcasses examined, nine carried bands, seven of them from Alberta and Sask (C.S. Houston, 1996, Blue Jay 54(2). There was apparently a similar kill the year before, with at least one other banded bird from SK.

Harlan’s / Light Phase Red-tailed Hawk

May8

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Recently Terry Korolyk spotted an interesting hawk on Hwy 549 just west of Hwy 773, south of Calgary.  Terry says it is an intergrade Harlan’s light phase Red-tailed Hawk.

Terry says:

Thought some Birds Calgary viewers might like to see what this bird looked like. The underparts are obviously a mix of both subspecies. The underside of the tail is obviously white with duskiness near the tip. The upperside of the tail was, in reality, white with a reddish subterminal band and 2 narrower wavy reddish bands adjacent to that.

Photographed by Terry Korolyk on April 6, 2012.  Click to enlarge.

To fully appreciate the bird in the photo, look at images of adult Harlan’s Hawks and of adult Eastern Red-tails, then look at my bird again. Rather than blackish underparts with a white streaked throat like a Harlan’s Hawk, or, rather than having white underparts with a strongly streaked belly like an Eastern Red-tail, you have a bird with underparts markings that meet in between. The upperparts are clearly blackish like a Harlan’s Hawk, but they also have that Eastern Red-tail brownish cast. The tail was white like a Harlan’s Hawk, but, rather than having a dusky tip, it had 3 narrow wavy reddish lines there indicating normal light-phase Eastern Red-tail association.

As Terry says, the usual Red-tailed Hawks here are the Eastern subspecies, and “Harlan’s” Hawks are considered to be another subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk.  At one time, Harlan’s Hawk was considered to be a separate species entirely. Intergrades like the one above indicate that they are varieties of one species (many people believe that Harlan’s is a separate species; perhaps genetic testing will settle this question).

The Harlan’s Hawk is very different from all other Red-tailed Hawk subspecies.  In both its dark and light forms it has black and white plumage, lacking the reds and browns of other Red-tails.  The tail, however, can have a wide variety of patterns.  Harlan’s Hawk breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada and winters on the southern great plains.  We see them occasionally in Calgary in the winter months, when most other Red-tailed Hawks are absent.

Postcards from Texas: The highs and lows of birding

May5

Posted by Matthew Sim

Sometimes, birding can exceed your wildest hopes. For me, this happened last year when I stumbled upon a Northern Hawk Owl on a midday walk in Fish Creek. Sometimes though, birding can let you down. For me, this happened just last week on a birding trip with the Houston Audubon down to the Texas coast.

Spring migration in Texas is world-famous among birders. Millions of  neotropical birds crossing the Gulf of Mexico heading north to their breeding grounds land at various spots along the Texas coast, exhausted from their non-stop trip across the gulf. When the weather is right, a fall-out can occur, in which many different species of migrants all drop into the trees of the first bit of land they see after the trans-gulf flight. This trip with the Houston Audubon down to the coast was supposed to witness one of these fall-outs. Except the birds never came.

When we arrived at the tiny but well-known Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, the treetops (which should have been swarming with warblers, orioles, buntings, flycatchers and tanagers) were silent. Completely silent. We soon discovered that the strong south wind was blowing the migrants right on by. You see, with a powerful wind at their backs, these birds can conserve energy and travel faster; so why stop? Realizing that we weren’t going to see much we started to leave, seeing both Brown-headed Cowbirds and Bronzed Cowbirds (neither is a migrant) on the way out.

Brown-headed Cowbird

Bronzed Cowbird

Just as we were exiting, things started to pick up a little and we saw an Eastern Kingbird, 2 female Orchard Orioles and a very brief glimpse of a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, meaning that things weren’t too bad.

Female Orchard Oriole, saving the day for songbird migration!

From there, we headed down to the beach and jetty, where we were happy to see all 8 species of terns commonly seen on the upper Texas coast. As our group toured the surrounding beach, we observed many different species of shorebirds including pretty Black-necked Stilt, many Sanderlings, striking Ruddy Turnstones in breeding plumage and intriguing Dunlin. We also were given an opportunity to view Wilson’s and Semipalmated Plover and tried our hand at the tricky identification of Western And White-rumped Sandpipers. All of these were just out of camera range but were beautiful up-close in our spotting scopes.

After gobbling down a quick lunch, our Houston Audubon group decided to explore the nearby Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge to see what else we could see. Brazoria, a refuge of grasslands and salt marshes quickly yielded up a lifer for me, a Least Bittern, which flushed from some reeds. We also saw Snowy Egret, White Ibis, Black-necked Stilt and good views of Sora (though the same cannot be said for the photos!)

Snowy Egret

A very poor shot of the Sora

As our group drove the auto-tour loop, we saw some more great birds such as Dickcissel. One car had 3 handsome male Bobolinks singing. We even managed to spot a female Magnificent Frigatebird, which is always a highlight.

Female Magnificent Frigatebird

We finished our trip with about 80 species and though the songbird migration was definitely a low, the shorebirds and the activity at Brazoria were definitely highs and the trip was well worth it.

Birds and Beers (or, getting to know your fellow birders)

May2

Posted by Dan Arndt

As a relatively new “serious” birder, I have a confession to make. Until about a year ago, I couldn’t tell you the difference between a Gadwall and a Northern Shoveler, a Bohemian Waxwing and a Cedar Waxwing, or in most cases, a Red-tailed Hawk and a Swainson’s Hawk. A lot of my job entails a lot of detail oriented work, that can be relatively monotonous, and I found that listening to something helped while away the time. I stumbled across Sharon Stiteler’s Birdchick podcast, and immediately knew that I’d found something great.

It’s not for everyone, and can sometimes get a little “blue”, but I find that it covers a lot of great birding news and information in North America, and it’s incredibly funny too. One of the things that Sharon has been great at promoting is the idea that birders really should just get to know each other better. Whether it be just to chat, share stories and experiences, or just as importantly, to be approachable not only to each other, but to folks who are completely inexperienced and who want to become more “serious” birders.

One of the greatest ideas for this is her “Birds and Beers” meetups, which are held semi-regularly, and generally well attended. I’m involved in a similar sort of meetup here in Calgary, with another group that I am involved with, the Calgary Skeptics, and we’ve run these events solidly for the past three years with good success and good turnout.

I agree with Sharon. Birders, especially those with a ton of experience, can be a little intimidating to talk to. Gulls, flycatchers, warblers, shorebirds, and many, many other groups can be very hard to identify properly, and no one wants to say “Hey, look at that Tennessee Warbler!” when you’re not entirely sure if it’s a Tennessee, a Nashville, an Orange-crowned, or even just a female Wilson’s Warbler. That goes doubly so when you’ve got incredibly experienced birders around who, one might expect, would be quick to chastise you for making an incorrect ID. What I’ve learned though, is that EVERYONE misidentifies birds. Even the most experienced and revered birders in the Calgary community have made mistakes, and will continue to make mistakes in the future. It’s really one of the only ways to get better!

But don’t take it from me. Come out to Calgary’s inaugural Birds and Beers on Thursday, May 10, 2012. We’ll be meeting at the Joyce on Fourth Irish Pub at 7:00 PM, and I definitely hope to see you and many others in Calgary’s birding community out there!

South Glenmore Park – Birding the Glenmore Reservoir

Apr30

Posted by Dan Arndt

 

One of the places that I enjoyed watching birds doing what birds do has always been the Glenmore Reservoir. Even before I made the transition from photographer, to nature photographer, to serious birder, it was always somewhere that I could find something interesting and inspiring to shoot. This week was certainly no different.

 

Starting at the parking lot, we headed east along the bank of the reservior to the point, then headed west along the banks before heading up the hill into the woods and returning via a trail that runs parallel to the bank about half way up the hillside, then up to the multi-use pathway before returning to the parking lot and dispersing for the day.

South Glenmore Park - April 29 Route

South Glenmore Park - April 29 Route

A huge number of species had been reported all week, and I was itching to get out there and get some new birds for the year, and get some new species photographed for the blog. While I didn’t see all the ones I had hoped for, we did get some fairly close looks at quite a few great birds.

 

The stretch between the parking lot and the point turned out to be one of the most productive of the morning, giving us looks at at least one Red-necked Grebe, our only Ruddy Duck of the day, and four Common Loons, along with the usual Mallards, American Wigeon, and Lesser Scaup which have been regular sightings for the spring course so far. Out beyond the range of my camera lens were dozens of Franklin’s Gulls, Bufflehead, and even more Lesser Scaup, in impressive numbers, with a few Common Goldeneye mixed in. After reaching the point, we took a look around and spotted a few American Coots near shore, which was another new bird for our group this year.

If you're a black-capped diving duck with a rusty colored neck, you might be a Red-neck...ed Grebe.

Red-necked Grebe

Ruddy Duck (far left) with Mallards

Ruddy Duck (far left) with Mallards

Common Loon

Common Loon

After we passed the the canoe club, we were greeted by a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, another new year-bird for me!

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Further along the path we decided to pause and take stock of the birds across the shore from our position before we turned and headed into the forested area. Along with a dozen or so Trumpeter Swans, we spotted a half dozen Northern Shoveler, a pair of Greater Yellowlegs, and a huge number of Franklin’s Gulls, as well as getting is fairly close to a contingent of Horned Grebes which posed very nicely for the paparazzi.

Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe

A few moments later, this Cooper’s Hawk flew overhead carrying something in its claws while being pursued by a trio of American Crows.

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk

From there, we headed into the woods, where we got a few familiar species onto our list, the Red-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadee, but the trail was extremely quiet. We elected to head up to the main multi-use pathway, and we were glad we did! A Savannah Sparrow, Tree Swallows, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow were added to the day list thanks to some of our more keen-eyed and eared attendees! Another heard a lone Boreal Chorus Frog in a nearby water hole, but we couldn’t get very close to it, and it wasn’t until we were once again near the parking lot before we heard them again and decided to investigate. These little frogs are incredibly loud for their size, and here are a few scenes I managed to capture.

Boreal Chorus Frog

Boreal Chorus Frog

And here’s what they sound like:

 

 

 

Spring Birding in Carburn Park – What a difference a month makes!

Apr24

Posted by Dan Arndt

It seems like it was only yesterday that the Friends of Fish Creek Birding Course visited Carburn Park. While it has been a little over a month, the differences are astounding. The ice on the river has almost completely cleared up, and all three ponds are completely ice-free and full of waterfowl and gulls of all kinds.

After a couple of weekends away, it was nice to get back into the city and back to a place that is always full of surprises, and Carburn Park was just what the doctor ordered.

With a few fresh faces, and plenty of old familiar ones from the Winter Course, we started out bright and early at 7:30AM and got off to a great start.

We decided our best course of action would be to head south to the bridge, then follow a trail as far south as we could before turning back north and following the river with the sun at our backs, both for the best photos, but also for the best light to view the birds at.

Carburn Park - April 22, 2012

One major difference that stands out to my mind between winter and spring birding, at least before the leaves come out and change the game entirely, is that the birds that overwinter here in Calgary are fairly large-bodied overall. Sure, we get Common Redpolls, various finch species, and even a few odd sparrows here and there, but for the most part the overwintering birds are roughly robin-sized or larger. Geese, ducks, a few killdeer here and there, as well as the hawks, owls, and woodpeckers make up the bulk of the birding biomass in the winter. Spring, on the other hand, is when the smaller birds make Calgary home. Song Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, along with Warblers, Vireos, and Pipits of all kinds make getting just the right light and just the right angles vitally important for a positive visual identification, since these birds are relatively tiny, generally between 10 and 20cm from tip of the bill to the tip of the tail.

The first couple sightings of the day were well known to us already, with a Red-breasted Nuthatch working away at a nest hole, and a Northern Flicker calling out to proclaim his territory.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Northern Flicker

Northern Flicker

After spending some time on the bridge, Bob Lefebvre and I discussed the best route to take, to which I suggested the south leg of the walk, and then returning with the sun at our backs. I even suggested we might get lucky and find a Savannah Sparrow in the grassy area just east of the river, or maybe a Ring-necked Pheasant. It was a mere moments later that this beautiful little Savannah Sparrow popped out into the open to give me the my first sightings of the year for this species.

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Along the trail to the south we heard a number of Song Sparrows and possible Lincoln’s Sparrows calling from an island in the center of the Bow River, but over the din of the Canada Geese, Franklin’s Gulls, and American Robins, it was hard to make out any that we could completely confirm. We did manage to get some good views of some Bufflehead on the Bow River, and this Red-tailed Hawk that decided to keep itself a healthy distance away from the group.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Heading back north along the river seemed a lot quieter than the last few times, but as the river opens up and the ice melts off, the concentration of birds on the river is much more dispersed. Add to that the increased number of people fishing both in, and on, the river tends to flush any large groups of birds, even at 7:30 in the morning.

We cut over to the get a couple of looks at the ponds before cutting back to the river when we noticed a few pair of Redheads on the furthest south pond, along with an industrious beaver taking a break on the north shore.

Redheads

Redheads

Heading back over to the river, we heard our first clear Lincoln’s Sparrow song of the day, and shortly after that, our first Tree Swallows flitting about overhead. A few Franklin’s Gulls decided it was a good morning for a bath, and allowed great views of their bright red bills and white eye-ring that are great markers for the species’ breeding plumage.

Franklin's Gulls having a bath

Franklin's Gulls having a bath

A little further north gave us a couple of great views of a Song Sparrow, singing high up in a tree, and hopping from branch to branch before flying off once we’d all gotten near.

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

A search of the dense woods by the river for the Northern Saw-whet Owl came up empty, but not before this pair of patient and camera-savvy Common Mergansers hammed it up and posed nicely for us.

Common Merganser

Common Merganser

Another nice surprise was this pair of Canada Geese perched in Calgary’s oldest Water Birch. This legacy tree is massive, and at over 100 years old, is home to a number of nest holes for Mergansers, Flickers, and likely many more in the higher boughs that aren’t easily seen from the ground.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

We continued heading north to the last pond, but not before stopping to check across the river for a Bald Eagle pair that has regularly nested, and were given a few glimpses of the female sitting on the nest, poking her head up, but at such a distance that my lens didn’t show much more than a spot in the distance. I tried to make up for it with a nice close-up shot of this American Robin with a mouth full of… sludge? I guess what they say about one person’s trash being another’s treasure is true even for birds! I’d imagine he’s taking this back for nesting material.

Sludge! Delicious sludge!

American Robin

At the third pond we had a couple of good views of a Common Loon, had a low flyover of a Northern Goshawk, and saw what must have been a flock of 150 or more Franklin’s and Ring-billed Gulls both on the lake and above it, chasing down a flurry of freshly hatched insects. It was quite the feeding frenzy!

A Cold Morning In Hull’s Wood

Apr20

Posted by Bob Lefebvre.

Week Two of the Spring session of the birding course with the Friends of Fish Creek saw us exploring Hull’s Wood and the boat launch area, at the east end of Fish Creek Park.  It was quite cold at 7:30 a.m., about minus 4 degrees Celsius, with a north wind and light snow, and the conditions didn’t change much over the three hours.  Nevertheless, we did manage to see some spring migrants.  Once again, the photos were provided by Paul Turbitt and Glenn Alexon.

Franklin’s Gull.  Photo by Paul Turbitt. 

We saw about 75 of the black-headed Franklin’s Gulls over the river.  As you can see in the photo, these gulls often have a pinkish tinge to their breast feathers in the spring.  Several gull species show this feature when they arrive on their breeding grounds, and it is thought to be a result of carotenoids in their diet.  In the case of Franklin’s Gulls, it is caused by their consumption of shrimp on their wintering grounds off the coast of Venezuela.  By fall it often fades away.

Canada Geese are nesting in broken treetops in the area, where they are safe from coyotes and dogs.  Here a male stands guard near the nest.

Canada Goose.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

We walked north along the river, and scoured the rocky banks for American Pipits.  Up to 80 had been seen in the area earlier in the week.  We weren’t able to locate any, but I’ll get back to the pipits later.

We saw two bald eagles along the river:  one adult, and one juvenile which put up all the waterfowl as it flew over.  There were also at least two Red-tailed Hawks.

Red-tailed Hawk. Photo by Glenn Alexon.

 A White-breasted Nuthatch was busy excavating a nest hole.  Here he is removing some wood from the nest.

As we neared the mouth of Fish Creek we watched a flock of over 200 European Starlings repeatedly flying down to the water and back up to the trees.  Then we noticed another huge flock of small birds, which turned out to be Tree Swallows, working their way north along the river.  I estimated about 100 in the first flock, which was followed immediately by another of the same size, then another, and another.  It was really just one huge flock numbering up to 800 birds.

We then turned away from the river, and out of the wind, to check out the two Great Horned Owl nests in the area.  The young owlets have been seen in one of the nests, but when we were there we weren’t lucky enough to see them.

Adult male Great Horned Owl standing guard near the nest.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

Near the second owl nest we found a pair of Wood Ducks sitting in a tree.   These birds nest in tree holes so maybe they will nest in this area.

Male Wood Duck.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

 

Female Wood Duck.   Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Photo by Glenn Alexon.

We finished up by checking the pond near highway 22X.  There wasn’t much there, but we were treated to Red-winged Blackbirds, a first of the year for some of the participants.

Red-winged Blackbird.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

Finally, as we arrived back at the boat launch parking lot, we were treated to a Great Blue Heron flyover.

Great Blue Heron.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

That was a great way to finish the day for me and most of the others, but three people went back along the Bow to see if they could scare up some American Pipits.  By walking right near the shore, they did manage to find them.  These birds can hide quite effectively in the rocks and grass.

 American Pipits.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

Photo by Glenn Alexon.

When they were watching the pipits, a Mountain Bluebird appeared, then flew across the river.

Mountain Bluebird, from across the Bow River.   Photo by Paul Turbitt.

One of the photos that Paul took of the pipits showed a bird that I was sure was not an American Pipit, but couldn’t identify.  Gus Yaki has identified it as a Sprague’s Pipit.  This is a bird of the prairies which is rarely seen in the city.

Sprague’s Pipit.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

 I will be heading back to this area regularly in the next few weeks to watch the development of the Great Horned Owlets.

Photo by Glenn Alexon. 

Glenn Alexon’s Flickr page.

Paul Turbitt’s Nikonians page. 

Random Birding Photos – Calgary catch-up day, Easter in Jasper

Apr20

Posted byDan Arndt

Aside from co-leading one of the weekend walks with the Friends of Fish Creek, I do like to get out and get some birding in while I’m away on vacations, trips, or even after work once the evenings get a bit longer. In my attempt this year to reach 200 species in Alberta (which is about the same number as I had on my total life list in January) I signed up for a number of alerts on eBird to assist me in getting the birds I hadn’t seen so far for the year. In early March, I took a Saturday morning to catch up on some species that had been plaguing me for quite some time: Gray Partridge, Harris’s Sparrow, and some overwintering Cedar Waxwings were on my “Needs” list, and I was able to get all three, along with a couple of bonuses; American Tree Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco.

Gray Partridge

Gray Partridge

Harris's Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

Then, over the Easter weekend, the better half and I took a trip up to Jasper. As a Calgary boy, born and raised here my entire life, I had never made it to Jasper, and I have to say that it was well worth the drive. I was hoping for a bit better birding opportunity while I was up there enjoying the crisp mountain air, but there were two birds I was really hoping for on the trip: White-tailed Ptarmigan, and Mountain Chickadees. Another bonus bird that I added to my list was Clark’s Nutcracker.

White-tailed Ptarmigan

White-tailed Ptarmigan

White-tailed Ptarmigan

How's that for camouflage?

Mountain Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Clark's Nutcracker

Clark's Nutcracker

As an addendum, I would highly recommend this book: “Birding Jasper National Park” if you’re heading to that area. It was indispensable in my ability to find the birds I was looking for, as well as the best birding locations in and around the townsite. It’s incredibly affordable too, at a meagre $5.00, and is available in the store at the Jasper National Park Information building right in town.

Birding Jasper National Park

Birding Jasper National Park

Q & A: Feeding Ducks

Apr17

By Bob Lefebvre

Here at the Birds Calgary blog, we receive a lot of questions from bird-friendly folks throughout the province. We are going to start sharing some of them with our readers as just another way to spread bird knowledge. 

If you have a question, email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com.  We may post your question and our answer.  We won’t print your name or email address.

Q: I was wondering if there is anywhere in Calgary that is a good location to go and feed ducks on a lazy Sunday afternoon?

A: There are several good spots to observe ducks at close range in Calgary, but it actually is not a good idea to feed them.  Many people do feed them bread and similar items, but these are like junk food for ducks, with lots of carbohydrates but not enough minerals and protein to provide for proper health and growth.  This sort of artificial diet is especially bad for the ducklings once they hatch. Besides malnutrition, there are other problems associated with feeding them bread products, such as the spread of disease and the loss of natural behaviors.

However, there are healthy products you can feed to ducks.  They do well on grains like cracked corn, wheat, barley, and oats; high-quality birdseed; grapes (cut up); chopped lettuce; and frozen peas and corn.  Any such feeding should be done in moderation and cautiously, with every attempt made not to disturb the birds.

Mallards at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

There are many small ponds in parks in the city where waterfowl can be seen.  Good places include Prince’s Island downtown, Pearce Estate in Inglewood, and Confederation Park between 10 Street and 14 Street NW.  All of these have benches or grassy areas near the water.  There is also a great lagoon at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary where you can observe Mallards, Canada Geese (and, in a few weeks, ducklings and goslings), the beautiful Wood Duck, and other ducks at close range, but it is illegal to feed wildlife in the sanctuary (it is also illegal in Fish Creek Park).  In any case I would encourage you to watch the birds but let them feed naturally wherever you go.

Canada Geese with goslings at IBS 

Spring Birding in South Glenmore Park and the Weaselhead

Apr13

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

April marks the beginning of the spring session of the Friends of Fish Creek birding courses.  For this three-month session, Dan Arndt and I decided to lead a group at 7:30 a.m. on Sundays.  This might seem a little early to be going out in April, but by May and June the sun will be high before we get under way, and we hope to see and hear more birds than we would later in the day.

Dan is away for the first two weeks, so I will be reporting on what we saw, with photos provided by two of the course participants, Glenn Alexon and Paul Turbitt.

The first outing, on Easter Sunday, was in North Glenmore Park and the Weaselhead.  We spent about an hour checking the west end of Glenmore Reservoir first.  It is still almost completely frozen, with only a few small areas open in the west end, but there were some waterfowl there, notably some impressive Trumpeter Swans.

 Trumpeter Swans landing on the water.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Common Mergansers:  female (left) and male (right).  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Canada Goose taking off.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Then we headed down in to the Weaselhead.  A highlight there was a Townsend’s Solitaire singing from the top of a very tall spruce.

Townsend’s Solitaire.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Male Downy Woodpecker.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Female Downy Woodpecker.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Black-capped Chickadee.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

These chickadees expect to be fed.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

Northern Flicker.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

Northern Flicker.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

There were quite a few Red Squirrels around, and a couple of Least Chipmunks were also seen.

Red Squirrel.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

We saw three Red-tailed Hawks overhead, including this dark Harlan’s Hawk.

Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

We had hoped to see Pine Grosbeaks and American Tree Sparrows at the feeders.  There were none around when we first went through, but on our last stop on the way back we found a pair of each.

Pine Grosbeak.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Pine Grosbeak.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

Pine Grosbeak.  Photo by Paul Turbitt.

American Tree Sparrow feeding on the ground.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

Back up by the parking lot, an early Richardson’s Ground Squirrel was the last species of the day.

Richardson’s Ground Squirrel.  Photo by Glenn Alexon.

In all, we saw 28 bird species and four mammals.  The eight groups who went to this area during the first week of the course collectively saw 48 bird species and six mammal species.  The Weaselhead is a great place for spring birding!

To see more of Glenn Alexon’s photos, go to his Flickr page.

To read about one of the Saturday morning course outings, go to David Pugh’s blog.