If you are new to birding and want to get out in the field with some experienced leaders, or if you are new to Calgary and want to see where to find the birds here, or if you just want to get out with a group of friendly birders and enjoy what you find, the Friends of Fish Creek birding course is for you!
These popular outings have been going for many years now, and there are hundreds of Calgarians that go out every week to learn about birds. The groups go to a variety of birding hotspots in Fish Creek Park and in other parts of the city. Pick a day of the week and register to join! Outings begin the week of September 2!
Local photographer Judi Willis found this Yellow Warbler and its nest this week in the Calgary area.
Yellow Warbler. Photo by Judi Willis
Here is one of the pair in the nest:
Yellow Warbler on Nest. Photo by Judi Willis
This is a pretty typical spot for a Yellow Warbler nest – usually in a fork of branches in a bush like this willow, and commonly only ten feet off the ground or so. The nest seems large for a Yellow Warbler, with a lot of material hanging down (animal hair?).
Here are some birds that Tony LePrieur photographed at Frank Lake on April 27. All of these species can still be found there throughout the breeding season, along with dozens more. All photos by Tony LePrieur.
American Avocet, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. American Coot, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. Willet, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. Black-necked Stilt, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019. Killdeer, Frank Lake, April 27, 2019.
The next day, after an overnight snowstorm in Calgary, there were quite a few migrating songbirds at Carburn Park. Tony was able to get some great shots of Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Carburn Park, April 28, 2019.
These are the Myrtle subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler. The Audubon’s subspecies has a yellow throat and lacks the dark mask. Most of the ones we see here are Myrtles heading for the boreal forest. Audubons breed farther west, but we do see both on migration.
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Carburn Park, April 28, 2019. Yellow-rumped Warbler, Carburn Park, April 28, 2019.
There are still flocks of Yellow-rumps moving through the city now. Keep an eye out in parks and even in your yard!
CORRECTION: A previous post said that these trips were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The correct dates are Sunday April 21 for the Reader Rock Garden trip, and Monday April 22 for Britannia Slopes.
There are two opportunities in Calgary this weekend to go out in the field and learn how iNaturalist and the City Nature Challenge works before the actual competition on April 26-29. On Sunday April 21, join Gus Yaki and Calgary Challenge organizer Matt Wallace at Reader Rock Garden from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Learn how to take photos with your smartphone or camera and record the observations on the iNaturalist app on your phone or on the website on your desktop computer.
I took this photo at Pearce Estate Park during last week’s workshop. When I uploaded the photo, the iNaturalist artificial intelligence suggested it was in the Bulrushes and Cattails family, and another iNaturalist user later identified it as Broadleaf Cattail. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, Pearce Estate Park, April 13, 2019.
See this page for all the information on this workshop and field trip. No registration is required for these free events; just show up and join the fun!
On Monday afternoon, April 22, from 2 to 4 pm, join Gus and Matt at Britannia Slopes for another workshop/field trip. See this page for all the information.
If you can’t make it to the workshops but want to participate in the Challenge, get the iNaturalist app on your phone or open an account on the website, and you can learn to make observations on your own. Here is the iNaturalist Canada page.
There will be many events held during the challenge that everyone is welcome to participate in. See this page for all the events.
Any observations submitted within the city limits from April 26-29 will automatically be included in Calgary’s totals. So you can participate in the organized events, make observations on your own, or both. You don’t necessarily have to be able to identify the species you record, as the iNaturalist site will make suggested ID’s, and the iNaturalist community will follow up. The period from April 30 to May 5 will be used to try to finalize the identifications of all species identified in Calgary during the challenge. Any iNaturalist user can help with this.
Smartphones are excellent for recording photos of plants but if you are taking photos of mammals and birds you can usually get a better shot with a camera. Then you have to upload the photos to the iNaturalist site on your computer. When I went to the workshop last week, I used both phone and camera and took photos of birds, mammals, plants including fungi and lichens, and even signs of animals such as this:
This is recorded on iNaturalist as Canadian Beaver. Signs and evidence of wildlife are also included in the database. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, Pearce Estate Park, April 13, 2019.
Using iNaturalist is a great way to document our biodiversity, and to learn about our wildlife. This is from the iNaturalist.ca website:
“We can build a living record of life in Canada that scientists and environmental managers can use to monitor changes in biodiversity, and that anyone can use to learn more about Canada’s amazing natural history.
“Every piece of information on a species, combined with the vast network of citizen scientists can give a big picture of Canada’s natural history and can be a key contribution for conservation decisions.”
Today is the last day of the Fall session of the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park birding course. After the Christmas season and all the local Christmas Bird Counts, the winter session of the course will begin on January 7, 2019 and run until the end of March. This is a great time of year to get out birding every week since you see the gradual transition from winter birding to spring migration. From late February to the end of March there are many new species arriving here every week.
White-winged Crossbill, Fish Creek Park, March 6, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
For more information and to register for the course, go to this page.
On Saturday September 29 The Wild Bird Store in Calgary will be celebrating their 21st anniversary with some events that will be of interest to local birders.
The Wild Bird Store is located at 5901-3 St SE. They have everything you need for backyard bird feeding.
Gus Yaki’s presentations will feature photographs of virtually every species that has ever been seen in Alberta. John Acorn, co-author with Chris Fisher of Birds of Alberta, will be doing a book signing. His newest book is Best Places to Bird in the Prairies.
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society will bring Lito, a Swainson’s Hawk, to the event. The CWRS always has a need for supplies to support the work they do. They will have a table set up for donations. If you are attending the store’s event, consider bringing any of the following items for them:
Beryl Isaacs has been watching a pair of Tree Swallows that nested in McKenzie Lake in SE Calgary. The nest hole was in an old post in her neighbour’s yard. All photos by Beryl Isaacs.
There were four baby Tree Swallows in the nest on July 4, 2018.
Baby Tree Swallows waiting to be fed.
The young Swallows are almost ready to fledge.
A House Sparrow at the nest hole.
As the swallows fledged, one begged for food from the House Sparrow.
The House Sparrow attacked the young swallow, but no damage was done.
The House Sparrow, judging by its plumage and the yellow gape at the corner of its mouth, is a recently fledged bird itself. Adult House Sparrows sometimes kill young birds of other species if they get the chance.
Beryl was lucky to see Tree Swallows successfully nest in the city. Since House Sparrows and Tree Swallows are about the same size, they use the same size of nest holes. Aggressive House Sparrows usually harass Tree Swallows that try to nest in backyard boxes or nest holes. Tree Swallows are far more successful when nesting in city parks or outside the city, away from House Sparrows, which are almost always found near human structures.
Parent Tree Swallow feeding a fledged bird.
Still feeding during the fledging process.
By the end of the day the young swallows had all fledged and were not seen again at the nest.
Have you had any birds nest in your yard this year? Share your photos here [birdscalgary(at)gmail.com].
Tony LePrieur recently captured some of the Cliff Swallow activity at their nests under the big green bridge in the Weaselhead. This is a great spot to watch them as there is a colony of up to 1000 birds there. They are often seen flying overhead hunting for insects, and you can sometimes see them gathering mud from the banks of the Elbow River to build or fix up their nests. The photos are from May 20, 2018.
Below is a bonus photo of a singing Lincoln’s Sparrow. Always lots going on in the Weaselhead!
Wood Ducks are probably our most spectacularly beautiful duck species. They are quite uncommon in southern Alberta, but the one reliable place to see them is on the lagoons at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Up to 40 birds can be seen there at times. The males are in their breeding plumage now. Judi Willis took these shots in Early may.
Wood Duck (male), Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary, May 2018. Photo by Judi Willis.
Wood Duck (male), Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary, May 2018. Photo by Judi Willis.
