Green-tailed Towhee, near Cremona, Alberta, May 2020. Photo by Steve Dyke.
There have been quite a number of unusual birds seen in the Calgary area this year. Here is a real rarity for Alberta, a Green-tailed Towhee that was visiting a rural yard near Cremona, NW of Calgary, in late May.
Green-tailed Towhee, near Cremona, Alberta, May 2020. Photo by Steve Dyke.
This sparrow was first noticed by Steve Dyke in his yard on May 18. The bird would shelter under lilac bushes, and emerge in to the open occasionally to feed.
Green-tailed Towhee, near Cremona, Alberta, May 2020. Photo by Steve Dyke.
Green-tailed Towhees are native to northern Mexico and the southwest United States. There have been fewer than eight previous documented sightings of this species ever in Alberta. (See this link for the Official List of the Birds of Alberta. The towhee is bird #378 on the list, and it gets the code 5 Rarity rating – “finds of a lifetime.”) The last Green-tailed Towhee seen in the Calgary region was in Bowmont Park in the NW part of the city in 1996.
Green-tailed Towhee, near Cremona, Alberta, May 2020. Photo by Steve Dyke.Green-tailed Towhee, near Cremona, Alberta, May 2020. Photo by Steve Dyke.
The bird stayed in Steve’s yard from May 18-24. Several other birders were able to see and photograph it.
Here is a range map from eBird, showing in purple all 2020 sightings of Green-tailed Towhee. (The purple square near Fort McMurray is not a mistake; there was a stray bird there last winter, from December 13, 2019 to January 21, 2020. That one was WAY out of range!)
2020 sightings of Green-tailed Towhee.
A beautiful bird, and a great find for Alberta!
Green-tailed Towhee, near Cremona, Alberta, May 2020. Photo by Steve Dyke.
We were unable to get our usual late-February date for Birds & Beers, so we will be meeting next on Thursday March 5th.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Thursday March 5, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm.
Dan Edwards will be presenting “Birds of the Great Ocean Walk,” a birding-oriented travelogue of his trip hiking the Great Ocean Walk in southern Australia last October. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 pm.
Kookaburra. Photo by Daniel Edwards.
Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen.
The next Birds & Birds social get-together will be held this Thursday, January 23, 2020. Gavin McKinnon will give a presentation, featuring photographs like the one below, on his Big Year in 2019. Gavin’s goal was to record over 300 species in Alberta in the calendar year.
Evening Grosbeak, photographed in 2019 by Gavin McKinnon.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Thursday January 23, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm
Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 so if you can’t make it at six pm, come later.
Snow Angel, Inglewood Golf Course, December 14, 2019. Photo by Kathleen Johnson.
During the recent Calgary Christmas Bird Count, we saw an amazing number of animal tracks in the fresh snow on the Inglewood Golf Course. But the most extraordinary tracks were these wing impressions (sometimes called snow angels) left by some of the local Bald Eagles as they skimmed low over the snow.
Photo by Kathleen Johnson.
In two places we saw a series of over twenty of these in a row, where an eagle had taken off from the ground or a low perch and flew across the open fairway, leaving an impression with every wingstroke, usually with impressions of the feet between the wing prints as well.
Some of the prints were over five feet across, despite the wings not being fully extended. Photo by Kathleen Johnson.Bob pointing to talon impressions. Photo by Kathleen Johnson.Photo by Bob LefebvrePhoto by Matthew Wallace
This beautiful bird was photographed on an acreage near Big Hill Springs, NW of Calgary, on September 22nd by Shelley Mohl.
Leucistic Blue Jay, NW of Calgary, September 22, 2019. Photo by Shelley Mohl.
This Blue Jay has some sort of colour abnormality, likely leucism, caused by a deficiency of melanin in its feathers. The areas that should be black are brown, and there isn’t enough pigment to scatter the light to create much of a blue colour on the rest of the bird.
Leucistic Blue Jay with normal Blue Jays, NW of Calgary, September 22, 2019. Photo by Shelley Mohl.
When we last checked in on Gavin McKinnon’s quest to find 300 species of birds in Alberta in 2019, he was at 291 species. That was at the end of July (see this post). Since he had already seen almost all of the more common species, progress was expected to be slow for the rest of the year, as he would have to track down rarities that showed up during fall migration.
I’m happy to report that Gavin did reach 300 species on October 11th! He was slowly adding new species until he reached 299. On October 9th an Ash-throated Flycatcher was reported in St. Albert. This is the first confirmed record of this species ever in Alberta. It is native to the SW United States and the Pacific northwest. On October 11th Gavin travelled to St. Albert and saw and photographed the bird.
Ash-throated Flycatcher, St. Albert, October 11, 2019. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Ash-throated Flycatcher, St. Albert, October 11, 2019. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Ash-throated Flycatcher, St. Albert, October 11, 2019. Photo by Gavin McKinnon.
Not only was this bird #300 for Gavin and a first Alberta record, but it was a life bird for him. A great way to reach his goal!
Here are few of the birds that got Gavin within striking distance of 300. He tried to photograph as many of the species he saw as he could.
Black Swift. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Vaux’s Swift. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Western Sandpiper. Photo by Gavin McKinnon. Sabine’s Gull. Photo by Gavin McKinnon.
By October 12th Gavin had reached 303 species, which is where he stands today. He has also seen a total of 370 species in Canada this year, which is tied for the third-highest total in the country. Here are links to those eBird pages:
I was away quite a bit in July so there’s lots to catch up on here. First of all, here is an update on fifteen-year-old Gavin McKinnon’s effort to find 300 species of birds in Alberta in 2019.
Gavin had 216 species at the end of May, and as I mentioned last time, you need to get to at least 240 by the end of June to have a good shot at 300. Gavin had a great month in June, and finished the first six months of the year with 278 species. Here are photos of some of the new species he added in June, along with his descriptions of where he saw them and some of the other notable species. Gavin did quite a bit of travelling with his dad looking for rarities, which sometimes necessitated camping in the back of their car.
Great Gray Owl
“On the first of June we were out at Winchell lake and Horse Creek Road marshes where I got half a dozen new songbirds plus Great Gray Owl. The following day We went to Dinosaur Provincial Park where we heard Yellow-breasted Chat. I also added Rock Wren and Lark Sparrow there. The following weekend we went up to Cold lake where I got 35 year birds, the highlights being Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Black-throated Green Warbler, lots of Connecticut Warblers and a Great Crested Flycatcher. The next day I was able to see a flock of five White-rumped Sandpipers along the rocky shore of Lower Kananaskis Lake as well as a singing male Townsend’s Warbler. A few days later I got the chance to see a Black-chinned Hummingbird that was visiting Pat Lucas’ feeders near Hillcrest Mines.
Black-chinned Hummingbird
“Between then and Cypress Hills I got to see Clark’s Grebe and Great Egret. On our way to Cypress we made two stops, one for McCown’s Longspur and another for Burrowing Owl.
Burrowing Owl
“I got three year birds within my first hour at Cypress Hills: White-winged Scoter, Dusky Flycatcher, and a pair of Eastern Bluebirds that have been nesting along the southern border of the park.
Eastern Bluebird
“In the afternoon I was able to see a pair of Bullock’s Orioles and after about an hour of checking the Bullock’s Oriole tree I found a nest with two chicks.
Bullock’s Oriole at nest
“There were also three Common Nighthawks roosting nearby. On our way back to Cypress we found three Greater Sage Grouse.
Greater Sage Grouse
“At night we were driving around the Graburn Road area and we were able to detect two Common Poorwills, one heard only, but the second one swooped in front of our headlights.”
Below is a photo of the car where they camped on some of these trips.
The camping setup in the car.
Here are more photos of some species Gavin added to his list in June.
I will do another update when Gavin Gets to 300 species. Not to keep you in suspense, at the end of July he had 291 species. Of course, as the year goes on it becomes harder and harder to add new birds to the list, but Gavin hopes to reach 295 by the end of August.
You can also follow his progress on eBird by viewing the list of top 100 eBirders in Alberta on the “Explore” tab. Here is a link to that page. You can also check out the top 100 in Canada, where Gavin is at an amazing 362 species, the second-highest total in the country!
You can see previous posts with photos and updates of Gavin’s Big Year here:
May and June are the busiest months if you are trying to find new species for the year. Here is an update with photos of some of the birds Gavin McKinnon has added to his list in May. He is trying to record 300 species within Alberta in 2019.
Sharp-tailed GrouseEared Grebe Red-breasted Merganser Pectoral Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Gray-cheeked Thrush Red Knots and Black-bellied Plovers Wilson’s Snipe Dusky Grouse Lazuli Bunting Snowy Plover Piping Plover
As of the end of May, Gavin had 216 species in Alberta. It will be interesting to see how many species he has at the end of June – although that is halfway through the calendar, I have been told by people who have attempted this before that you have to be at about 240 by June 30 to have a good shot at 300 species, depending on how many “easy” ones you missed in the spring and can get in the fall.
Here are some beautiful birds photographed by Raymond Toal in a garden in Beaver Mines, in the far SW corner of Alberta, near Waterton Park. All photos taken on May 26, 2019 by Raymond Toal.
The next Birds & Beers meeting in Calgary will be on Thursday May 30. In addition to good food, good drinks, and good conversation, there will be a presentation by Gavin McKinnon on his trip to Ecuador and the birds he saw and photographed there.
Birds & Beers is a casual social get-together where birders can relax and visit. Everyone is welcome, including children if accompanied by an adult.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW
Thursday May 30, 2019, 6:00-9:00 pm
You can come earlier than 6 pm if you want to avoid the rush at the kitchen. We meet in the big ballroom, and the presentation will begin around 7:15 to 7:30. You are also welcome to arrive just for the presentation.
Here are a couple more photos that Gavin took in Ecuador. There will be plenty more at Birds & Beers!
Golden-naped Tanager Collared Aracari
The following Birds & Beers event will be on Thursday June 27, at the same time and place. There will be a presentation by Marshall Netherwood on “Birding and Botany on the Southern Alberta Walk with Gus Yaki.” The fall Birds & Beers schedule will resume in August. Details to follow.
