Michael Kim photographed this beautiful American Kestrel on Grand Valley Road NW of Cochrane in September 2017.
American Kestrel, Grand Valley Road, September 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
American Kestrel, Grand Valley Road, September 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Posted by Ethan Denton
Hi, I’m Ethan Denton, also known under the pseudonyms BirdBoy and previously BirdBoyCanada. Some of you may know me from other places – notably my website birdboy.ca – but here’s some information for those who don’t.
I’m a long-time birder and amateur photographer hailing from Canmore, Alberta. I don’t go in for super-expensive equipment (as a 13-year old buying all his own stuff, I simply can’t afford it), but I have a decent scope and camera, and I’m in the market for new binoculars.
I have been coordinating the Canmore half of the Banff-Canmore Christmas Bird Count for the last three years, and in 2016 I organized the Bow Valley’s first ever CBC4Kids, or Kids Christmas Bird Count. I have attended the BowKan Bird Counts since age 6, and I have missed only one of these bi-annual events.
I post regularly about my experiences, birding events in Southern Alberta, and anything else that I find interesting in the birding world on birdboy.ca, and I am currently working on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Home Study Course in Bird Biology. If you have any questions or comments, about me or my work, feel free to email me at birdboy.ca@gmail.com!
Why does this matter? Well, from now on, I will be an occasional poster here, on Birds Calgary! Exhibiting photos and events, profiling interesting species, and other things along those lines – not a lot, but just enough to be a consistent contributor. Here are a few of my more recent photos – I know looking at lots of words can be a bit dull!
Western Tanager, Canmore, August 21, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton
Common Merganser, Canmore, September 30, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton
Some birds photographed in Calgary and area this fall by Tony LePrieur.
Warbling Vireo
Solitary Sandpiper
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
American Redstart
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Greater Yellowlegs
Wilson’s Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Common Grackle
Song Sparrow
Great Horned Owl
Merlin
Swainson’s Hawk
White-throated Sparrow
Greater Yellowlegs
To see more of Tony’s nature photographs, see his Flickr page.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
We’re back! After a really long summer hiatus, it’s time to get posting again. I have a lot of great photos that readers have sent in, and we’ll start with some of Tony LePrieur’s excellent photos of summer birds. Be sure to check back on Friday for his photos of a wide variety of mammals.
First I wanted to mention that although it may seem like a quiet time of year, especially with the steady hot weather we have had, the past couple of weeks have been pretty good for fall warblers and other migrants. Confederation Park in the NW and several locations in the river valleys (notably Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park and Carburn Park in the SE) have had some good birds. Black-and-white, Townsend’s, Magnolia, Canada, Blackburnian, Mourning and Cape May Warblers have all been reported, among others. A Lark Sparrow has been seen at Mallard Point.
I also wanted to mention that a Peregrine Falcon has been seen perched on the Peter Lougheed Hospital in NE Calgary on two occasions by reader R. Michael Fisher, on August 12 and 20. It may be worth checking for it if you’re in the area.
And now for Tony’s photos.
Cedar Waxwing, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Eastern Kingbird, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Spotted Sandpiper, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Great Gray Owl, Priddis area, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Great Gray Owl, Priddis area, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Calliope Hummingbird, Weaselhead. June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Sora, Bridlewood Wetlands, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Creek Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Wood Duck female with chicks, Carburn Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow Warbler, Carburn Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow-headed Blackbird, Frank Lake, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Wilson’s Phalarope, Frank Lake, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow Warbler, Fish Creek Park, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Creek Park, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
To see more of Tony’s photos, go to his Flickr page.
Common Merganser with chicks, Carburn Park, June 4, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Common Merganser chick, Carburn Park, June 4, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Black-billed Magpie fledglings, Carburn Park, June 4, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Mallard (right) with chicks, Carburn Park, June 4, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Mallard and chick, Carburn Park, June 4, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Northern Flicker with young, Carburn Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Northern Flicker, Carburn Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
House Wren at nest hole, Carburn Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Mallard with chicks, Carburn Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
American White Pelicans don’t breed at Carburn Park, but they can often be found there. June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
American White Pelicans, Carburn Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Not from Carburn but a nesting Red-necked Grebe from Bridlewood Ponds, June 4, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
To see more of Tony’s photos visit his Flickr page.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
On July 6, 2017, this Great Crested Flycatcher was photographed by Caroline Brooks in her Bearspaw yard, just west of Calgary. This is a local rarity.
Great Crested Flycatcher, Bearspaw, July 6, 2017. Photo by Caroline Brooks.
Interestingly, Caroline had seen and photographed another Great Crested Flycatcher in her yard almost exactly a year earlier, on July 13, 2016. That bird (very likely the same one) was there for the first two weeks of July.
Great Crested Flycatcher, Bearspaw, July 13, 2016. Photo by Caroline Brooks.
Great Crested Flycatcher, Bearspaw, July 13, 2016. Photo by Caroline Brooks.
After photographing the bird this year on July 6, Caroline did not see the bird again. But on the morning of July 11 one was seen in Carburn Park in SE Calgary by Bob Storms. Carburn Park is about 10-12 km due east of Bearspaw. It’s possible this was the same bird.
Here are a couple of screen shots from eBird that show the range of the Great Crested Flycatcher. As you can see, this bird is seen only occasionally west of Regina. Apart from a few regular spots in the Edmonton and Cold Lake areas, it is not often seen in Alberta. It does nest in a few spots from north of Red Deer up to east-central Alberta. Having this bird show up here at this time of year in two consecutive years makes one wonder if they are breeding (or trying to) in the Calgary area.
Great Crested Flycatcher sightings, Year-round, All years, from eBird.
Great Crested Flycatcher sightings from 2017, from eBird. The teardrop in Calgary is a bird that was heard by Michael Harrison in South Glenmore Park on June 25.
Another Great Crested Flycatcher was photographed in Carburn Park by a Friends of Fish Creek birding group on September 14, 2013. Possibly there are a few of these around here every year, so this is a bird that local birders should be aware of, and be on the lookout for.
Tony LePrieur took these great photos of a huge Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling being fed by its foster parent, a male Yellow Warbler.
Brown-headed Cowbird being fed by a Yellow Warbler, Calgary, July 8, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
The warbler is off to find more food for its demanding foster child.
Brown-headed Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and often the other species does not recognize the difference and raises the young cowbird. For more photos of cowbirds with some other host species see these posts:
This spring a family of Great Horned Owls nested in the Burnsmead area of Fish Creek Provincial Park. Max Ortiz Aguilar got these photos of the family after the young had hatched and were almost ready to start branching.
Great Horned Owls – mother with two downy young. Burnsmead, April 16, 2017.
Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.
Great Horned Owl, male standing guard by the nest, Burnsmead, April 16, 2017.
Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.
To see more of Max’s wildlife photos, go to his site, Photos by MOA.
Here are some photos of waterfowl taken by Michael Kim in the Canmore area this spring.
Hooded Merganser, Exshaw, May 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Hooded Mergansers, Exshaw, May 2, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Great Blue Heron, Lac des Arcs, May 6, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Great Blue Heron, Lac des Arcs, May 6, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Ruddy Duck, Exshaw, May 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Red-necked Grebe, Exshaw, May 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
 Bufflehead, Exshaw, May 3, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Northern Shoveler, Lac des Arcs, May 22, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
 Horned Grebe, Exshaw, April 1, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Barrow’s Goldeneye, Canmore, April 2, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Barrow’s Goldeneye, Canmore, April 4, 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
In May we posted some photos taken by Lorraine Glass in Bowmont Park in NW Calgary (see this post). Gord Smith was inspired by these photos to go and see what he could find. Here are his photos from May 22 and May 27, 2017.
Western Tanager (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
White-breasted Nuthatch, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Flicker (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Yellow Warbler (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Yellow Warbler (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Gray Catbird, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Song Sparrow, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Flicker (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
If you have some photos of local birds you’d like to post here, send them to us at birdscalgary@gmail.com.