Posted by Dan Arndt

Long weekends are always a great time to get some extra birding in, and this one was no exception. I had initially intended on just making a morning of it with Gus Yaki’s Monday morning group with the Friends of Fish Creek Birding course at Mallard Point, but those plans went by the wayside when I was invited to join the annual Victoria Day Big Day.

What is a “Big Day”, you ask? The idea behind a Big Day is to get as many species as possible in 24 hours of birding. Some really hardcore birders begin at 12:01 AM and go all the way through until 12:00 AM the following morning, covering a huge area and generally getting a very high number of species. For instance, the current record for an Alberta-wide Big Day is somewhere around 235, and the participants started up around Cold Lake, Alberta and trekked all the way south to the SE corner of Alberta. When I heard that number, I was absolutely stunned. Not only by the magnitude of species seen, but also by the huge distance covered.

Traditionally, the Victoria Day Big Day is restricted to the Calgary city limits, and is organized by locally well known birder Tony Timmons. Instead of a competition style event, like some can be, this one is attended by all participants, with some coming and going throughout the day. This year, we started at 5:30 AM at Votier’s Flats and spent most of our time in the south end of the city, finally finishing up at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary around 6:30 PM. A long day, that’s for certain.

Both Bob Lefebvre and myself participated, and due to a bit of luck and determination, we were able to count the full 116 species reported by the group as a whole, along with 2 bonus species. One seen on the way down to Votier’s Flats, and the second in Confederation Park before Bob dropped me off at home.

I’ve posted the map and rough timeline of our locations below, along with the new species that we added to our total at each location. Oh, and of course I’ve added some photos as well!

Enjoy!

Victoria Day Big Day Locations

Crowchild Trail & Memorial Drive – Incidental – 5:15 AM

– Osprey

Votier’s Flats – 5:30 AM

1. – Canada Goose
2. – American Wigeon
3. – Mallard
4. – Blue-winged Teal
5. – Bufflehead
6. – Common Merganser
7. – Ring-necked Pheasant
8. – Sharp-shinned Hawk
9. – Spotted Sandpiper
10. – Belted Kingfisher
11. – Downy Woodpecker
12. – Northern Flicker
13. – Least Flycatcher
14. – Black-billed Magpie
15. – American Crow
16. – Northern Rough-winged Swallow
17. – Tree Swallow
18. – Bank Swallow
19. – Barn Swallow
20. – Black-capped Chickadee
21. – Boreal Chickadee
22. – Red-breasted Nuthatch
23. – House Wren
24. – American Robin
25. – Gray Catbird
26. – European Starling
27. – Cedar Waxwing
28. – Tennessee Warbler
29. – Yellow Warbler
30. – Spotted Towhee
31. – Chipping Sparrow
32. – Clay-colored Sparrow
33. – Song Sparrow
34. – Lincoln’s Sparrow
35. – White-throated Sparrow
36. – Red-winged Blackbird
37. – Brown-headed Cowbird
38. – Baltimore Oriole
39. – House Finch
40. – White-winged Crossbill
41. – Pine Siskin
42. – American Goldfinch
43. – House Sparrow

Weaselhead – 7:30 AM

1. Common Goldeneye
2. Great Blue Heron
3. Bald Eagle
4. Swainson’s Hawk
5. Red-tailed Hawk
6. American Kestrel
7. Merlin
8. California Gull
9. Rock-pigeon
10. Rufous Hummingbird
11. Calliope Hummingbird
12. Hairy Woodpecker
13. Pileated Woodpecker
14. Eastern Phoebe
15. Blue Jay
16. Common Raven
17. Cliff Swallow
18. White-breasted Nuthatch
19. Swainson’s Thrush
20. Savannah Sparrow
21. White-crowned Sparrow

Cliff Swallows collecting mud for nests

American Goldfinch

North Glenmore Park & Glenmore Reservoir – 9:30 AM

1. Gadwall
2. Lesser Scaup
3. American Coot
4. Killdeer
5. Baird’s Sandpiper
6. Pectoral Sandpiper
7. Bonaparte’s Gull
8. Franklin’s Gull
9. Ring-billed Gull
10. Red-necked Grebe

53rd St and 22X – 10:45 AM

1. Snow Goose
2. Green-winged Teal
3. Ruddy Duck
4. Eared Grebe
5. Sora
6. Wilson’s Snipe
7. Vesper Sparrow

Snow Goose

Sora

Spruce Meadows Slough – 11:20 AM

1. Cinnamon Teal
2. Redhead
3. Northern Shoveler
4. Pied-billed Grebe
5. Black Tern
6. Marsh Wren
7. Common Yellowthroat

Marsh Wren

South Calgary Bluebird Boxes – 11:45 AM

1. Mountain Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

South Calgary Ravine – 12:00 Noon

1. Cooper’s Hawk
2. Mourning Dove

Sikome Lake – 12:45 PM

1. Horned Grebe
2. Great Horned Owl
3. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
4. Eastern Kingbird
5. Warbling Vireo

Shepard Slough #1 – 2:20 PM

1. Northern Pintail

Shepard Slough #2 – 2:32 PM

1. American Avocet
2. Willet
3. Wilson’s Phalarope

Shepard Slough #3 – 2:37 PM

1. Western Meadowlark

Shepard Slough #4 – 2:41 PM

1. Canvasback

Shepard Farmhouse – 2:51 PM

1. Brewer’s Blackbird
2. Common Grackle

Brewer’s Blackbird

Ring-necked Pheasant

Shepard Slough #5 – 3:07 pM

1. Lesser Yellowlegs

Shepard Slough #6 – 3:30 PM

1. Black-necked Stilt
2. Least Sandpiper
3. Semipalmated Sandpiper

White-faced Ibis Flyover – 4:07 PM

1. White-faced Ibis

Main Shepard Slough – 4:11 PM

1. Double-crested Cormorant
2. Stilt Sandpiper

Shepard – 4:31 PM

1. Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary – 5:33 PM

1. Wood Duck
2. Harlequin Duck
3. Hooded Merganser

Confederation Park – 7:45 PM

1. Alder Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher