Sunday Showcase: Leucistic Mallard

Mar17

Rob English photographed this leucistic Mallard in Beaverdam Flats in mid-February. This might be the same duck seen in the same area last winter.

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:

Furry Friday: Porcupine

Mar8

This North American Porcupine was spotted feeding on a Water Birch on the Inglewood Golf Course during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count on December 16, 2012.

Photo by Troy Bourque

Photo by Ian Neilson

Photo by Troy Bourque

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:

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.

Wednesday Wings: More Snowies!

Feb6

Snowy Owls photographed north of Strathmore in early January by Rob English.

Wednesday Wings: Golden Eagle & Snowy Owls

Jan23

Mitchell Kranz spotted this juvenile Golden Eagle on January 20 near Lake McGregor, northeast of Vulcan.

The same day, he also saw no less than 15 Snowy Owls between there and Blackie.

You can see more of Mitchell’s photos here.

Wednesday Wings: Crossbills

Jan16

These photos were taken by Tim Hopwood over the past two weeks in various locations within the city of Calgary. The first four photos show Red Crossbills (which seem to be more abundant than usual in the city this winter), and the rest are White-winged Crossbills.

To see more of Tim’s photos, see his blog, Tim J. Hopwood Images.

Wednesday Wings: Northern Hawk-Owl Chick

Jan9

Rob English was lucky enough to get these photos of a Northern Hawk-Owl chick in May 2012. This was from the pair that nested just off Grand Valley Road, NW of Cochrane. Rob says that to his knowledge, this was the first day out of the nest for this fledgling, and it was very busy exploring its environment!

Postcards from Mexico – Calgary Birds on their wintering grounds

Jan7

Posted by Dan Arndt

While on vacation, I had planned to look for some of our old favourites from Calgary who might also be down here enjoying the warm weather for the winter. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. I was a little surprised though at just what species I did find down here, and which ones I expected to find, and didn’t.

I do want to clarify too, that many of these birds spend all year long down here, but their range extends all the way back home to Calgary, which, as the crow flies, is about 4100 km. Quite staggering, when you consider that many of them make the migration from Calgary to this part of the world with very few stops for food or shelter.

Here are just a few of our fine feathered friends enjoying the sun, sand, and tequila down here in Mexico!