Some summer birds and mammals from Calgary, taken in late June 2015. All photos by Tony LePrieur.
Redhead chicks.
American Coot chicks and adult.
Male Yellow Warbler.
Savannah Sparrow.
Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Great Blue Heron.
Black-crowned Night-Heron.
Green-winged Teal.
Barn Swallow.
Beaver.
Posted by Dan Arndt
On our visits to the Weaselhead on both May 31 and June 14, we visited parts of North Glenmore Park in search of shorebirds, Brown Thrashers, and whatever else might turn up.
North Glenmore Park – May 31 and June 14
We found a couple of great birds on both days, with a Nelson’s Sparrow and a Brown Thrasher as their usual spots on May 31, and on June 14 we found a Caspian Tern and a beautifully lit Cedar Waxwing during a brief moment of pale sunshine.
This Brown Thrasher has been a regular visitor to the park during the May Species Count, usually found just below Parking Lot “C”, but we also heard two others singing in the Weaselhead that morning, which is a good sign that they’re actually increasing in numbers around here. Their random, rambling, repeating song is distinctive, and usually how we find them first, long before we ever see them. This guy decided to pop up into the aspens and sing for us as we watched.
Brown Thrasher
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 500
On the north end of the park are a series of small ponds for stormwater runoff. Thankfully, on May 31, it was fairly calm and clear, so we did get a chance to walk out onto one of the small spits of land where I was hearing a Nelson’s Sparrow singing, and again, he decided to pop out into the open for us to get a few looks at him.
Nelson’s Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 2000
On June 14, I was notified of a Caspian Tern on the Glenmore Reservoir, so after our morning walk a few of us headed over to take a look for it. Thankfully we found it right where it had been seen all morning, at first resting, and then a few times lifting its head to display that bright red bill and gape at some of the low flying swallows. Perhaps it was simply tired of being buzzed by their nearby flights!
Caspian Tern and Franklin’s Gulls
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640
We went over to look for the Brown Thrasher again, but sadly we only caught a brief glimpse of it. We did find this Cedar Waxwing sitting nice and pretty in the same tree that the Brown Thrasher was singing from two weeks prior.
Cedar Waxwing
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
Have a great week, and good birding!
Posted by Dan Arndt
Wow, hard to believe it’s July already! The rush of spring birding is over, but there are still some birding outings to recap from the Friends of Fish Creek Spring course. We headed to the Weaselhead for the May Species Count on May 31, and headed back there again on June 14, and most of the same species were found each time, but we did have a couple unique finds on each trip. Because this is my first time trying to overlay two different walks into one post, I’ve color coded our outings in the attached map.
Weaselhead – May 31 and June 14 2015
Our outing on May 31 is in red in the above image, while our trip on June 14 is in blue. We also had significantly different weather each morning, with the weather on May 31 being absolutely incredible, clear, and bright, while June 14 was a bit gloomy, dark, and overcast with occasional rain here and there.
We had a couple great birds on our first outing at the top of the hill, with both a Spotted Towhee and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird right at the top.
Spotted Towhee
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 320
At the feeders a bit further down the hill, we found a couple of Tree Swallows guarding their nests early in the day, catching some sun and warming up for the busy day ahead.
Tree Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We almost missed out on the Ruby-throated Hummingbird on June 14th, except for a brief glance up the hill caught this little guy hanging out in the gloom.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/200sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 80
The Rufous Hummingbirds are absolutely amazing and can always be found in the same place every year. I’ve yet to see a female on this slope, but I suspect that if it wasn’t a good area for the males to find a mate, they wouldn’t be here year after year! Forgive me for sharing as many photos as possible of these beautiful little fireballs.
Rufous Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 800
Rufous Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1000
Rufous Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 800
Rufous Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/320sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 100
We headed back to the area south of the Elbow River and found the usual Eastern Phoebes at their regular spot as well, this one having caught some fresh breakfast!
Eastern Phoebe with diving beetle
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600
As we headed towards the silverberry meadow, we heard the typical buzzing of the Calliope Hummingbirds in this area, but none of them really cooperated with the us and the sunlight, but I’m still pretty happy with the results!
Calliope Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/9.0, ISO 640
Calliope Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Calliope Hummingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We did hear a relatively uncommon bird back beyond the dense spruce where we have Boreal Chickadees each winter, and it turned out to be an Ovenbird singing on territory. Sadly, he had moved on by mid-June, but it was really quite a treat to hear and see one of these guys right our back yard!
Ovenbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 3200
Down at the far end of the Weaselhead, we had another Calliope Hummingbird in a spot I’d never seen one before, but at the far south end were a number of Grey Catbirds flitting around in the aspens, mewing away and singing their odd, disjointed songs.
Grey Catbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Another nice treat were a few Ring-necked Ducks which have been at these south ponds for a few weeks. It seems like there’s a lot more of these around this year, as they just keep turning up all over the city, but maybe it’s just a matter of getting out into the places they like to hang around a little bit more.
Ring-necked Duck
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1250
On our walk back to the start we had our share of great birds as well, like this American Goldfinch singing from high in the trees, or the usual Cliff Swallows under the bridge over the Elbow River.
American Goldfinch
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Cliff Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/2000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1000
Have a great week, and good birding! Watch for the Monday supplemental post covering what we found at our visits to North Glenmore Park on these two outings!
Posted by Dan Arndt
Our outing on May 31 was to the Weaselhead Natural Area as part of the May Species Count, and we went back there on June 14 as well, so I’m going to roll those out in a single post next week. Instead, I’ll be posting some photos of our outing on May 30 to the east end of Fish Creek Provincial Park between Hull’s Wood and Lafarge Meadows, an area I’ve covered for the past few years.
Hull’s Wood to Lafarge Meadows – May Species Count, May 30, 2015
I was accompanied by Rose Painter, my co-leader for our regular Sunday morning outings for this spring, and we both found a lot of good birds that morning. While the weather was gloomy and grey, it was still quite warm, and we thankfully didn’t get rained out.
I think the rainy/gloomy weather had put down a few birds overnight, because we had an abnormally high number of Baltimore Orioles singing throughout the day: eighteen males singing and a lone female that we spotted as well, compared to the usual number in this area being about half a dozen or so. It was really nice to have these guys so actively singing, despite the gloom.
Baltimore Oriole
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We also had our usual numbers of Spotted Sandpipers, along the river, retaining ponds, and right on Fish Creek itself. While they weren’t actively displaying, there were a few that we were pretty sure were sitting on nests.
Spotted Sandpiper
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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It was also really great to see a good number of Killdeer along this stretch. In 2013, I had ten nesting pairs, while in 2014 I was entirely shut out of this species, as many of the gravel bars had shifted and some had even totally lost their gravel patches and were mainly boulder strewn. This female was trying to lure us away from her nest right on one of the newer, much more extensive gravel bars along the Bow River.
Killdeer
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We also had our first really good looks at Cedar Waxwings for the year, which had also returned overnight in some pretty good numbers. They were actively feeding low in the bushes along the river, where the insects were most active.
Cedar Waxwing
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/400sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600
Along this stretch of the Bow River, I’ve had a pair of Willow Flycatchers breeding and nesting for the past three years. Each year they move the exact site of the nest, but they’re always within about two hundred meters of the spot where I first found them. They’re a little unusual to find within the city, but their calls and songs are distinctive. This photo also shows that even using the eye-ring as a field mark can be somewhat tricky, because this little gal has quite a prominent one.
Willow Flycatcher
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 3200
This gravel bar is also where I get my usual Brewer’s Blackbirds, and rarely get them anywhere else on this route. One of the perks of doing a route like this year after year is finding all the usual spots to find great birds. I do think it would be fun to switch it up every once in a while, but I do like seeing these guys in the same spots every year.
Brewer’s Blackbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640
We followed the edge of the river all the way down to the boat launch, finding some Franklin’s Gulls, but not much else along the far side of the river. We also found a nice male Brown-headed Cowbird displaying close to us. They really are quite interesting birds to look at, no matter how you feel about their particular breeding habits.
Brown-headed Cowbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 3200
Brown-headed Cowbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 800
One of the other nice things with days like this, similar to last year, is that this is still during the main thrust of northward warbler migration. Last year, I had my first Blackpoll Warbler of the year, and this year I turned up this young male American Redstart, singing away along the creek just off of Sikome Lake.
American Redstart
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 2500
Once we crossed under the Highway 22x bridge, things slowed down a little, but we did get some good looks at some waterfowl along the stormwater ponds, including this Cinnamon Teal that we surprised with a brief look at, and a few families of Canada Geese with their babies.
Cinnamon Teal
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Canada Goose and goslings
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Further south along the river bank, we had some good looks at Eastern Kingbirds, but unfortunately in the years that I’ve done this route, we’ve never found Western Kingbirds in the poplar stand south of the bridge, where I’ve been told was one of the few places in the city they were known to breed, until recently. I suspect the heavy development on both the east and west side of the park there has made it a little less accessible and appropriate for them to nest.
Eastern Kingbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 500
One of the perks of the flood in 2013 was the generation of habitat for a number of species. The large piles of debris in the parks make good homes for House Wrens, Lincoln’s Sparrows and Song Sparrows, while the cut banks of the Bow River and Elbow River created large expanses of open banks, perfect for both Northern Rough-winged and Bank Swallows to nest in, which they have done along the south edge of my route. It’s always nice to see these guys, and even better to get them up close and personal like this.
Bank Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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The last really notable sighting of the day was this White-breasted Nuthatch, who was hammering away at this bit of excrement near Sikome Lake. Here he his proudly displaying his prize, which I assume he’s taking home to feed to his young. Nature isn’t always pretty!
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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In all, we covered just over 16 kilometers (10 miles!) in eight hours, and broke my previous record number of species by 1, finding 76 species in this area. It was a great morning (and early afternoon), and I think maybe one of the more under-appreciated areas of Fish Creek Provincial Park.
Good birding, and have a great week!
Some shots from in and around Calgary. Taken June 14 and June 20 in Fish Creek Park and Bridlewood wetlands by Tony LePrieur.
Great Blue Heron with lunch (sucker?)
Cedar Waxwing
Ring-necked Pheasant
Tennessee Warbler
American Wigeon pair
Eastern Kingbird
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Franklin’s Gull
Spotted Sandpiper
Red-necked Grebe with young, on nest.
Posted by Dan Arndt
Two weeks ago our group visited Bowmont Park, one of the few parks we often visit in the northwest quadrant of Calgary with the Friends of Fish Creek birding courses. It’s a bit of a special park, as it borders on the Bow River, but also a gravel quarry which is home to a pair of Osprey in the summer, a few small ponds, and a south facing slope allowing for a wide variety of songbirds.
Bowmont Park – May 24, 2015
This was the first week of outings where Yellow Warblers were the most visible. All spring and summer long, these little yellow fireballs will be singing all over the place until they manage to find a mate and raise their young. They’re really quite fun little guys to watch, and it’s always nice when they’re so easy to photograph, like they were that morning!
Yellow Warbler
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
I mentioned the Osprey nest earlier, and this is one area where Enmax has set up an Osprey platform to prevent the Osprey from nesting inside the gravel quarry on the power lines. When we rounded the corner to check out the nest, we were greeted to this sight:
Canada Goose
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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The platform had been taken over by a family of Canada Geese, but thankfully the Osprey had found another location to nest nearby. We walked over to the river a little before coming out underneath the Osprey nest, and found this Tree Swallow picking up nesting material right off the pathway.
Tree Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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On our way out to the main pathway, we spotted this Clay-colored Sparrow finishing up his shift at the gravel quarry and heading out for the day. They’re such industrious little workers! This was just after 8:00 in the morning and already he’d put in a full day of work.
Clay-colored Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Speaking of hard workers, this Osprey was taking trips to and from the new nest all morning, each time taking more and more branches in to build up the nest to an appropriate size, wedging them into the nest each time.
Osprey
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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The pond at the back of the quarry which is usually unbelievably productive turned up next to nothing for us. It seemed rather unusual, so we headed further up the north slope, and found this perched Swainson’s Hawk waiting for us up there.
Swainson’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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While we had some good looks at a few birds on the northwest hill, we had much better looks at them a bit later on, but thankfully we did manage to get a nice close look at a Northern Rough-winged Swallow on the river near the pathway on our way back. These birds can be somewhat hard to find around the city, but often along the Bow River.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We gave the pond a second chance to redeem itself, but sadly it was just as empty as it had been on our first visit, so we walked along the back end of the quarry and were treated to another great view of a male Yellow Warbler singing his heart out.
Yellow Warbler
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Our last good bird of the day was a lone Gray Catbird, of which we had seen a few earlier in the day but at a bit further distance. This beautifully drab bird was singing his heart out over and over again from the aspens and willows nearby. The cinnamon undertail and jet black cap are the only real splashes of color on these birds, but their song is unmistakable.
Gray Catbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
And that was another great week of birding. Have yourself a wonderful week, and good birding!
Posted by Dan Arndt
Our outing on May 3 took us to South Glenmore Park. Following our second week at Carburn Park, I headed over to the Glenmore Reservoir to try to find some water birds, and was able to get a couple photos of a distant female Red-breasted Merganser and White-winged Scoter, spurring on the visits for the following week. While we didn’t get either of them on our official outing, we did get a whole bunch of other great spring migrants, and had an amazing time finding all the new birds.
Red-breasted Merganser
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640
White-winged Scoter
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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South Glenmore Park
May 3, 2015
For the past few years, a family of Common Ravens has nested right near the parking lot. Apparently this adult Raven has decided that peanut butter is a perfect breakfast treat. I like his thinking.
Common Raven
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 3200
As we walked around the point, we found Red-necked, Western, and Horned Grebes but sadly we couldn’t pick out a single Clark’s among over 75 Western Grebes. At least we had a couple Horned Grebes that were willing to let us get close.
Horned Grebe
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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The view from the top of the hill above the main pathway allowed us to get even better looks at some of the Western Grebes out on the reservoir.
Western Grebes
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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In the trees along the ridge there were Tree Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows hawking for insects above the canopy, but the most numerous songbird of the day was the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Along this stretch, there must have been at least 20 of them!
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Another new bird of the season was the Savannah Sparrow. This one seems to have a little less yellow in the lores than I’m used to, but his song was unmistakable!
Savannah Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We then circled out to the west through the boreal and aspen parkland areas on the west end of the park, but came up with very little. We didn’t even see a single Common Loon on the entire reservoir that day, I think mostly because of how open the water was, and how many water bodies outside of the city were open after such a mild winter.
On our way back to the parking lot, we did have a close fly-by of this Swainson’s Hawk, one of our first ones of the season for the Sunday morning group!
Swainson’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/7.1, ISO 500
As we returned to the parking lot, I decided that we hadn’t really had much luck with the sparrows on the pond, so sat in the grass and waited for them to pop out. I was welcomed very shortly after by both a White-crowned Sparrow as well as a Lincoln’s Sparrow. Well worth the effort!
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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White-crowned Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Have a great week, and good birding!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
I saw this healthy-looking Coyote on Bearspaw Dam Road on April 19.
Posted by Dan Arndt
Our second week at Carburn Park took us to the north end, usually a good spot for us to find migrating swallows, blackbirds, and usually warblers. This week was no exception though the usual numbers that we expect were a little low, I suspect because of the rather warm spring we’ve had and the significant amount of open water elsewhere in the foothills.
Carburn Park – April 26, 2015
From the parking lot, we again headed south to the bridge, where we heard the ongoing and always happy sounding song of Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This happy little fellow and his kin are always hard to get out in the open, but today we managed a few moments with him out at the edge of a bush, and with his ruby crown raised too!
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We followed the edge of the Bow River in search of the usual swallows and warblers, and while we didn’t manage to get very good or long looks at many of them, we did spot a number of Tree Swallows and a lone Violet-green Swallow in among them. Even better was this rather handsome male Common Merganser, his iridescence shining in the sunlight as he floated past.
male Common Merganser
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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As we headed up-river, we heard many migrating Song Sparrows on the near and far banks, and even had a lone Yellow-rumped Warbler in the dense shrubs west of the second pond, though none of us managed to see it, his song was heard loud and clear. And while we didn’t find the Wood Ducks again that week, we did get really good looks at a pair of American Wigeon sunning themselves on the far shore.
American Wigeons
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Further and further north we headed, passing what was obviously a few nesting Black-capped Chickadees, a White-breasted Nuthatch gathering food to take back to its own nest, and of course there was this Canada Goose nesting in one of the oldest trees in the park.
Canada Goose nesting in her tree
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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At the furthest point north in the park we did find a solitary American White Pelican, resting on the furthest north point of a large gravel bar, totally oblivious to the dozens of Franklin’s Gulls swirling around him.
American White Pelican
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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On our way back south, we heard, and saw a pair of Cooper’s Hawks, I suspect ones that were either courting, or at least actively paired up and searching for a suitable place to nest in the area. We got many good looks at them both perched and in flight.
Cooper’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Cooper’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 640
Cooper’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Cooper’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Along the way back south we also saw a lone Western Alpine butterfly. Probably not the first one of them I’ve ever seen, but the first one I’ve managed to actually figure out and identify on my own, so that was a treat!
Western Alpine
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Another of the birds that others were seeing all week was this Northern Flicker working on a nest cavity. Looks ready to move right in!
Northern Flicker
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Just as I was packing up and getting ready to head home, this Red-tailed Hawk that we’d been seeing all morning began being harassed by a few American Crows, flying right over head. I’m always amazed that they don’t just bank around and snatch the harassers out of the air for a quick meal.
Red-tailed Hawk and American Crow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Have a great week, and good birding!
Posted by Dan Arndt
Our walk last week took us to Carburn Park once again. We actually headed there this week as well, so I’ll cover the birds we found on the south end of the park this week, and the north end in next week’s post.
Carburn Park – April 19, 2015
The Sue Higgins Bridge south of the parking lot in Carburn Park is a regular roost (and nesting location) for any number of Rock Pigeons, and you can usually find at least a few here. It was really nice to find this rather beautifully colored bird, and in great light to show off some of the iridescence on the neck.
Rock Pigeon
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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On the gravel bar just south of the bridge were over a hundred Franklin’s Gulls, and also a few Ring-billed Gulls flying by eating the freshly hatched insects flying up from the river. One of the advantages of being out so early is that the insects aren’t too high up, and neither are the gulls and swallows yet either.
Ring-billed Gull
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Did I say swallows? Yes indeed, the Tree Swallows have really started showing up in big numbers too, and we had flocks overhead almost the whole time, wheeling and darting around and getting their fill of hatching mayflies and midges.
Tree Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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We followed the river edge south and came across some interesting sights, as well as the real first returning migrant Song Sparrows. We also found lots of American Robins foraging about, posing, and searching for nesting materials in preparation of the coming breeding season.
American Robin
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
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Song Sparrow
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One of the most amazing finds last week was a group of four Wood Ducks perched high up in a tree, set exactly at the wrong angle for our approach. By the time I got around to have the light in at least a little bit of a helpful angle, three of them had moved into hiding, but at least I got this lone female! Yes, Wood Ducks are tree nesting ducks. How crazy is that? They’re one of the few ducks that have strong feet and claws capable of gripping branches and bark.
Wood Duck
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1250
At the far south end of our walk we found another large group of Franklin’s Gulls, many showing quite a bit of pink in the breast and bright red bills typical of fresh breeding plumage. Their raucous cacophony followed us all throughout the park these past two weeks, often drowning out some of the more subtle songs and chip notes of other returning birds, but it is really great to have these birds back!
Franklin’s Gull
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1600sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 400
On our way back we came across a couple of active nests as well, one containing a pair of Northern Flickers (and presumably their eggs), as well as a Black-billed Magpie nest, with either mom or dad standing guard and keeping a sharp eye on us.
Black-billed Magpie
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1600sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 800
So that was another week with the Friends of Fish Creek. Next week we’ll see how the north end of the park treated us!
Have a great week, and good birding!