Results of the January 1, 2024 Fish Creek Park Count.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The annual half-day bird count in Fish Creek Park was a lot of fun and a great success again this New Year’s Day. We had a high number of species, with high counts for several, and some new species for the count. It was another mild day, as it had been for pretty much the whole winter up to then.
Sunrise in Fish Creek Park, January 1, 2024. Photo by Matt Wallace.
Forty-three birders went out to eight sections of the park. We found a total of 42 species, up from the ten-year average of 35. There were two new species not recorded before (Cackling Goose and Greater Scaup), and record high counts for six others.
Cackling Goose
10
Canada Goose
2,321
Trumpeter Swan
3
Tundra Swan
4
American Wigeon
7
Mallard
771
Northern Pintail
1
Green-winged Teal
4
Redhead
2
Greater Scaup
1
Bufflehead
179
Common Goldeneye
920
Barrow’s Goldeneye
13
Common Merganser
27
Ring-necked Pheasant
2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
17
Sharp-shinned Hawk
3
Bald Eagle
12
Great Horned Owl
2
Belted Kingfisher
1
Downy Woodpecker
31
Hairy Woodpecker
11
Pileated Woodpecker
5
Northern Flicker
53
Merlin
4
Northern Shrike
1
Blue Jay
5
Black-billed Magpie
133
American Crow
2
Common Raven
86
Black-capped Chickadee
219
Mountain Chickadee
7
Boreal Chickadee
11
White-breasted Nuthatch
42
Red-breasted Nuthatch
33
Townsend’s Solitaire
2
American Robin
1
Bohemian Waxwing
277
House Sparrow
78
Pine Grosbeak
12
House Finch
20
Dark-eyed Junco
1
Our group covered the Hull’s Wood/Sikome Lake/Boat Launch areas. Matt Wallace took some great photos of our day.
Fish Creek near the Bow River. Photo by Matt Wallace.We found a group of four overwintering Tundra Swans on the Bow. Photos by Matt Wallace.We also count mammals. This Porcupine was snoozing up in a tree. Photos by Matt Wallace.WAY up in a tree.Despite the Park Rules, someone has been leaving seeds for the birds. This Downy Woodpecker was so used to being fed that it kept comng to our hands briefly even though we had no food. Photo by Matt Wallace.We wanted to take a team photo, so Dan grabbed a few seeds so that the Downy would stay long enough to get in the photo too. Photo by Matt Wallace.
This count is not an official Christmas Bird Count, but it has a pretty long history now, and it is an important tool to monitor the long-term population trends in the park. If you want to learn more about the count in all areas of the park, come to Birds & Beers this Thursday, February 8, where the Count Organizer Jim Washbrook will present the results and answer questions.
Results of the Calgary and Priddis Christmas Bird Counts will also be presented at Birds & Beers. In case you missed it, here are some of the results from the Calgary Count, showing the species recorded and the numbers of each:
Next Thursday, February 8th, we will have another Birds & Beers meeting in Calgary. As usual, we meet in the big ballroom at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW. The event starts at 5 pm.
A Black-billed Magpie seen by a Feeder Watcher on the 2023 Calgary Christmas Bird Count. Photo by Lou Zaganelli.
After some time for socializing, eating, and drinking, there will be a presentation on some of the recent Christmas Bird Counts that took place in the Calgary area. Matthew Wallace will present the results of the Calgary Count, Gavin McKinnon on the Priddis Count, and Jim Washbrook on the Fish Creek Park New Year’s Day Count. The presentation starts at about 7 pm.
A Common Redpoll seen on the Calgary Count. They have been scarce this winter here, but we had almost a hundred on the count. Photo by Lou Zaganelli.
Everyone is welcome at Birds & Beers! See you there!
Have you ever seen a Northern Cardinal in real life? These birds are beautiful and striking, and most of all, an intense red. If you haven’t seen them in person, I know you have seen them on Christmas cards and other winter-based accessories. Surrounded by snow and red berries probably. Those of us who live in Western Canada are tired of seeing them on our cards and mugs, and since they refuse to migrate out west I say we get a new bird to be emblematic of winter. I propose the Pine Grosbeak.
Male Pine Grosbeak. Photo by Diane Stinson.
The Pine Grosbeak is a large (robin sized) pinkish-red bird that flocks around berry-laden trees whilst looking festive. Although it is only the male Pine Grosbeak that have the red hue, and the females tend to be a mustard yellow, they still are very striking. As All About Birds describes them “a large and plump, heavy-chested finch with a round head”, sounds like they just need a Ho Ho Ho and their big bellies will shake like a bowl full of jelly.
I have been seeing them often on my street this winter, eating fruit from the trees. They travel in a small flock, and are identified by their color, their heavy finch beaks and their white wing bars. As the Audubon website says, they are “absurdly tame” so you can go stand under the tree and watch them. They dwarf the regular house finch, and probably can bully them off of bird feeders. I have never seen them on my feeder, probably because they are so big they would trigger the squirrel cage around it.
Male Pine Grosbeak with a much smaller Common Redpoll. Photo by Dan Arndt.
They are often seen in Weaselhead, just past the big bridge, where people put seeds. One year, a long time ago now, I saw some there that were a very rich brick red. Interestingly, their size and color varies across the continent. The males in California tend to be more orange for example. The Pine Grosbeak in British Columbia tends to be smaller. If they want a shot at supplanting the Cardinal they better start emphasizing the red.
Like most finches they have a pleasant song, warbly and melodic. I can’t say I have heard them sing in person. Perhaps this is because they sing during breeding season and by then they have vacated the city. According to the Government of Canada this bird is an ‘irruptive’ species whose populations are poorly understood. That means they move to southern locales when the food in the North is scarce. It is very special that they can overwinter in our city and I love seeing them here.
The Pine Grosbeak has a reputation for being slow-moving. In Newfoundland they have the nickname of ‘mopes’ because of their mopey, sluggish movements. I’m not sure how fast things usually move in Newfoundland but I would never call a bird mopey. However this does mean they make great photo subjects, and that should fit right in with my idea of overtaking the Cardinal in winter and Christmas memorabilia.
A female-type Pine Grosbeak. It may be an adult female, or a juvenile of either sex. Photo by Dan Arndt.Another female-type. Photo by Dan Arndt.
In Calgary Pine Grosbeaks can be found most readily in coniferous forests of the Weaselhead, the west end of Fish Creek Park, west Bowness, and Griffith Wood Park. In big irruptive years they might be seen almost anywhere in the city.
A nice male Pine Grosbeak. Photo by Dan Arndt.
Here is a map showing sightings of this species in the Calgary area this year, from November 2023 to January 2024, as posted on eBird. As you can see, they are most often seen in the west end of the city and to the west of it.
We had really good results on the Calgary CBC on Sunday December 17. The weather was still very mild, and we had a lot of partcipation both in the field and at backyard feeders. The species total was 72, with an additional 2 Count Week species not seen on Count Day but seen on the three days before or after the count.
The first Cassin’s Finch ever seen on a Calgary CBC! Photo by Laura Bentley.
Below are the results as reported by Matt Wallace, the organizer of the count. First, watch a YouTube video with a quick summary. Next, the Summary Report has some details about the species counted on page one, and then a list of the birds on pages two and three. Just hover over the report and use the arrows at the bottom of the page to navigate there. Third, if you really want a lot of detail, and want to make your own graphs and so on, you can download the Results file. Finally, anyone can explore the eBird Trip Report, which includes all the checklists and photos submitted by our Field Teams.
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From Matt:
Lara, Bob, and myself finally have all of the numbers tallied for the 72nd annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count! After a few days of enjoying the holidays ourselves, we’ve got the results ready for you to enjoy and explore!
Count Summary:
So, our total count this year was 35,833 birds! We had 72 species documented on count day with 2 more species found during count week. We added 3 new species to our 72 year list which included a Cassin’s Finch, Gray Catbird, and Western Grebe. Our “Count Week Birds” were a Yellow-rumped Warbler and Winter Wren.
Overall, our total bird count was way down from previous years but our species count was right on par with our 15-year average. Our low numbers are undoubtedly related to our low counts of Canada Goose, Mallard, and Bohemian Waxwings. It’s challenging to say exactly why this is but likely related to the warm temperatures we’ve experienced with very little ice on the river. When we have lots of ice on the river system there are few places for waterfowl to congregate. The Elbow and Bow do not freeze over entirely even in the coldest of winter so this is where they gather. When there is very little ice the birds are unlikely to congregate within the count circle. We heard little about dead birds from field teams this year but we know that avian flu has been a big issue the past few years. This may have contributed to our lower counts but really it is not clear at this time. As for our finches and waxwings, our numbers were below what we expected but again there is bountiful food for them currently in the boreal regions which again would not drive them towards or into our circle.
Overall, we are really pleased with how the count went this year despite having lower numbers of birds. We heard from lots of people that they enjoyed their day exploring new areas of the city and getting to meet new birders. We had 16 brand new birders (less than one year of birding) and 74 participants who had never taken part in a CBC before! We also had several participants that were participating for their third or fourth decade! Just amazing to see the age range (4-99 years), diversity of skill levels, and support that our Calgary birding community brings together! Thank you for all of your hard work and we should all celebrate what we accomplished as a community!
Below are some ways you can explore the results in further in detail:
1) Results Video: If you’d like a quick recap of the event you can now view the Results video on YouTube. https://youtu.be/EgwSl1iEp6Y (see above). Please feel free to share and we’d love for a few likes and subscribers! If you submitted some photos, you’re likely to find a mention. We also had to cherry-pick a few photos from our eBird Trip Report but have credited each photographer. If you’re still sitting on some photos or videos from count day, please send these along so we can use them in our results presentation in January.
2) Summary Report (.PDF): This is a brief summary of all of the bird and effort data we collected showing the final results and a few graphs of how far we’ve come over the years.
3) Bonus: Results Excel File: This is a detailed snapshot of our “behind the scenes” work which Lara has masterfully crafted for our count circle the past three years. Feel free to explore this at your own leisure if you’re a data nerd like us! This may be a bit more technical than some people would like but I figured a few people may be interested in seeing it anyways. Download the file to explore it.
A few tips for this file:
Use the tabs at the bottom of the page. There are really only a few tabs to be concerned with here (Graphs, Analysis, and Report). Look for any bold red text to help you understand how to investigate the data:
Graphs Tab:
In cells A3 (species) and A37 (Family) you can enter any species we’ve ever had on the Calgary count to produce immediate graphs. You must type the exact spelling of the species you would like to review. If your graphs are appearing empty, the spelling is likely off. If you are unsure of the spelling you can copy and paste the names of the birds found in the “Report” tab. You can then hover your mouse over the graphs to see the numbers for each year.
Analysis Tab:
In Row 7 you can use the drop down filters to explore things like News species, Record Highs, Record Lows, and comparisons between our yearly averages for each species.
Report Tab:
This tab is essentially what you see in the Summary Report File.
The 2024 Calgary CBC will take place on December 22, 2024! I’ve gone ahead and set up the registration form for next year in the case you wanted to register in advance. Just a note that this form will be online throughout the year so there is no rush to get it filled out. We will be sending out reminders and information September-December 2024. https://forms.gle/wBcfCRD4sqFpQ8qq9
One thing that isn’t displayed on our spreadsheets is the number of NEW birders/ participants we had this year (see comments above). This is one of the reasons why we are using a registration form – simply because we want to keep the CBC as accessible as possible!
We are working with Nature Calgary to organize a CBC 2023 event presentation in January and will send out an invitation to all 2023 participants to join the event and do a more in-depth analysis of our results this year!
You may also know that I assist with organizing other citizen science events throughout the year including the Calgary City Nature Challenge, Bioblitzes, Biodiversity Challenge, National Moth Week, and various other bird counts! Most of these are shared on my social media pages (@ CityNatureYYC) on Instagram, Twitter (X), and Facebook. If you’re keen on participating in other events, give these pages a follow so you’re up to date on what is happening around Calgary and Southern Alberta! I also reshare any photos or videos people post so if you’re out on your own, tag me and I’ll reshare your nature stuff!
Thank you very much to all participants and we look forward to having you back next year! I hope you all had a great time and are enjoying your holidays.
As a birder, how do you contribute to the upcoming City Nature Challenge? Simply put, take a lot of photos of birds from April 30 to May 3 anywhere in Calgary, Cochrane, Okotoks, Chestermere, Airdrie and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. You will have until May 9 to upload the photos to iNaturalist.
Don’t neglect common species like this House Finch! It’s fun to spend some time documenting all the living things you can find in your yard.
You can photograph any living thing to upload to iNaturalist, but I would really like the local birding community to start contributing more bird photos. Many iNaturalist users take photos only with cell phones, which are ideal for photographing plants and insects, but not great for getting identifiable picture of birds. Calgary-area birders take thousands of high-quality bird photos every day.
Your bird photos do not have to be perfect, just good enough so that other iNaturalist users can identify them. It’s also important to get photos of common species that you may not normally bother to photograph.
Most birders have cell phones as well as cameras, so if you’re out birding this weekend, spend some time to photograph trees, flowers, and insects as well.
If you are not an iNaturalist user, you will still have until May 9 to upload your photos to the site or phone app.
It would be great to get a lot of reports from Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Cochrane, and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park as well as from the city. If you are really ambitious, try to go to some areas that are new to you. The idea is to get documentation of living things everywhere within the Calgary metropolitan area, not just in city parks or well-travelled natural areas.
In late March, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Howard Heffler, Andrew Hart, Gavin McKinnon, and I decided to suspend the BirdYYC2020 challenge which we had organized. Participants in the challenge tried to find as many species as they could within the city limits. It was going very well, with over sixty birders taking part, and with many very good species being found. But we felt then that it was important to encourage people to stay home and refrain from gathering in groups.
Many people continued to bird individually and safely and to add to their year lists. But Nature Calgary field trips were cancelled and for a time many local parks were closed. The WhatsApp Rare Bird Group was temporarily closed.
Recently things have opened up quite a bit in Alberta, and we have decided to resume the challenge, with modifications. Nature Calgary is again offering field trips, but these are limited to ten registered participants and there is no car-pooling. The WhatsApp Rare Bird Group is open again and there have been a number of good sightings reported there. (Follow the link to learn more about this app and to join the group.)
Many birders unfortunately missed out on much of the spring migration, so as we resume the challenge, it will be difficult for them to get as many species this year as they may have hoped. (I am among those – my species total for the city is very low for this time of year, and my daily Year Needs alert from eBird runs to about forty species – mostly common species that I just haven’t seen yet.)
Common Merganser with chicks. A nice sighting on one of my few outings in recent months. Bow River, June 21, 2020. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Therefore, although the challenge will resume, the focus will shift away from the “friendly competition” aspect to one of “data collection” – to allow a comparison of the species found this year to those reported in the city during similar events in 2000 and 2010.
Our original objectives were to have a friendly competition and to:
· Share sightings.
· Promote interest in birds and birding.
· Enjoy Calgary’s natural areas.
· Organize more Nature Calgary field trips.
· Compare results with 2000 and 2010.
We can still achieve some of these objectives. We hope people will continue to post their sightings to eBird, and to use the WhatsApp Rare Bird Alert to share special sightings within the City limits.
It’s still possible that if the pandemic is under control, we may decide to do the whole challenge again in 2021. In the meantime, if you were already participating, continue to post your sightings to eBird. If you’d like to join in, see this Nature Calgary page or the first post linked to below.
With spring finally in the air and migrants starting to arrive in numbers, this is the time of year that birders anticipate the most. This year was especially exciting for Calgary birders who were involved in the 2020 Challenge, a year-long effort to see as many species as one could within the city limits.
Harlequin Ducks, seen by many birders in the city this winter. Photo by Andrew Hart.
However, the Covid-19 crisis has made it impossible to continue group outings, and we really want to encourage people to stay home as much as possible. As you may know, Nature Calgary outings and the Friends of Fish Creek birding course have also been suspended. Reluctantly, the Challenge has been suspended. We have a few ideas as to how, if, or when to resume, which I’ll address at the end.
It’s too bad, because we were lucky enough to find quite a few great birds in the city for the winter months, and several birders had recorded over 60 species already. The WhatsApp Rare bird Alert (which has been suspended) enabled participants to rapidly re-find rarities as they were reported. One example is Gyrfalcon, a very unusual bird to get in the city limits. But many participants were able to find one that was feeding on Mallards inside the city, after it was reported on the app. (There may have been as many as three Gyrfalcons in the area over the course of a week a couple of months ago.)
Gyrfalcon, near Maycroft in SW Alberta, January 30, 2020. Photo by Raymond Toal.
Here is the statementfrom Howard Hefflerabout suspending the Challenge:
The BirdYYC2020 began as idea to repeat, taking advantage of modern online tools, the big year birding competitions previously held in Calgary in 2000 and 2010. Andrew Hart, Bob Lefebvre, and – later, gratefully, joined by Gavin McKinnon – agreed we would organize and promote the event.
We hoped to create enthusiasm in the Calgary birding community to “get out there and go birding”. AND, to share your sightings with others. We also hoped to collect the data to allow comparison with what had be done 10 and 20 years previously.
Modern digital tools, eBird being the main one, but also smart phones and a variety of in-the-field tools to assist birders of all levels, have changed the landscape. What fun to compare the new with the old. The best example is Gavin setting up the WhatsApp Rare Bird alert that allows anyone to instantly receive notification of a rare bird reported by other participants.
But the fun is over. For the foreseeable future at least.
The four of us have come to the unhappy decision that what we are doing is promoting unnecessary and unwarranted social contact at a time when the entire society is relying on each other to act responsibility.
We have decided to stop supporting any BirdYYC2020 initiatives. The first step has been to shut down the WhatsApp Rare Bird Group.
I sincerely hope that the actions being taken by our federal and provincial governments will slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This is a threat to our global culture and economy that we are only just beginning to understand.
The best – and honestly ONLY – defense against community spread at this time is to minimize infection by strict social distancing and, where warranted, self-isolation.
A couple of days ago I “chased” a reported sighting of a Eurasian Wigeon at Carburn Park. When I arrived, I walked briskly to the likely observation spot. I interacted with other people, some were birders, and some were not. Some I knew. And some I did not. I set up my scope. Within minutes there was a small group of interested passersby. To the best of my knowledge I am not infected. I expect everyone else in that small group also felt the same way. I, and they, would hate to think that we are contributing to the spread of the virus.
But we are. So, I for one, am going to stop. The other three (Andrew, Bob, and Gavin) feel the same.
We are not going to participate in a forum that promotes unnecessary social contact.
At this time, there is no government directive to not go outdoors for a walk etc. That may change. For me, the potential public health risk resulting from random, unnecessary excursions from your home is best described in an article by a very reputable medical reporter, Andre Picard. See: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-to-tackle-coronavirus-walk-and-act-this-way/
This is really unfortunate. The BirdYYC challenge was generating a lot of interest. There are over 60 people registered and a similar number who have established the BirdYYC2020 patch. I feel we were headed toward a truly “big year”.
What shall we do? Here is one idea. We could select a date, such as March 31st , and declare the end of this birding year. Then, next April 1st, 2021, we all start again. A bit unorthodox, I know. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
We will immediately stop promoting BirdYYC2020. We have shut down the WhatsApp group.
Stay tuned. Over the next weeks things may change.
Personally, I am still in a quandary if and how to continue birding this year. I have decided, it will not be in a group.
As Howard mentioned, eBird is of course still operational, and any Patch Lists are still valid, so you can add to your lists. I added one in my yard yesterday. Some people are still (very carefully) going out birding, although many parks are now closed.
So how do we continue the Challenge? Howard made one suggestion, and I’ll add a few. If you are a Challenge participant please email me at birdscalgary(at)gmail.com, or Howard at hheffler(at)shaw.ca.
Suspend the current Patch Lists on March 31, and resume the Challenge on April 1 of 2021. This presents some logistical difficulties, since eBird won’t be tracking the totals for a split year. It would take a little more work on the part of the organizers. I also think that birders are pretty attached to one-year lists and may not like a split year either.
When safe, resume the Challenge in 2020. For example, we could resume on July 1 and continue to December 31. This would mean that the entire spring migration would be missed (individual birders can of course still add species in the spring but there would be no group outings and much would be missed by most participants). Many species missed in the spring can be found again in the fall, but not all.
Cancel the Challenge for this year, but start over from scratch in 2021. Our experiences this year would be a sort of trial run. This would mean there is an 11-year gap between this Challenge and the 2010 one, and (presumably) a 9-year gap until the next one, instead of the intended 10 years. A minor point in my opinion.
Cancel the Challenge. The next City Challenge would be in 2030.
Of these, I favour re-starting the Challenge from scratch in 2021. If you have an opinion, or any other ideas on how to resume, please let us know.
Happy New Year! Today marks the start of BirdYYC2020, a year-long birding challenge. Participants will try to find as many species as they can within the Calgary city limits in 2020.
American Dipper. A few have been seen in the city this winter. You never know about next winter, so find one now! Photo by Tony LePrieur.
If you haven’t yet registered or set up your city eBird patch, you can still join. Email Howard Heffler at hheffler[@]shaw.ca with your name, eBird name, and email address and you will be added to the list. You can set up your eBird patch later too, but you’ll have to start putting your sightings into eBird right away for those to count towards your totals.
The important thing to do now if you want to get a good start on your Big Year list is to find all the winter birds that can’t be found here in the summer. The winter finches are in short supply this year but could be entirely absent next November and December, so get Pine Grosbeak and any others you can find now. Go to Carburn Park and Fish Creek Park where dippers have been seen.
All-day field trip to kick off BirdYYC2020
On Friday January 3, Gavin McKinnon will lead a field trip to various locations in the city so you can get a good start on your year. To register, text Gavin at 403-519-8703. Registration is required. See the Nature Calgary field trip page for more information.
You can increase your chances of finding good birds by following reports on Albertabird and on eBird so you can see what’s been reported and where. It’s a good idea to set your Calgary County Year Needs Alert on eBird so you get an hourly or daily email that lists everything that’s been reported on eBird that you haven’t yet seen in 2020 (keeping in mind that some reports will be from outside the city limits, so check the locations carefully).
There is a new page tab at the top of the blog called “BirdYYC2020” (right next to the “Home” tab). Click on that for links to all the articles we have posted about the challenge. This will include information about joining, using eBird, setting up your patch, setting alerts, and so on.
Horned Lark. This is a really tough one to get inside the city, but winter might be the best time to look for them on the eastern outskirts. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
If you have any questions about the challenge contact:
Jim Washbrook and other residents of a Northeast Calgary neighbourhood were treated to a rare sight in late March when a Boreal Owl spent a few hours posing for photographs during daylight hours. These rarely seen little owls are nocturnal and live in the Boreal forest. Many birders have never seen or even heard one.
Boreal Owl, Calgary, March 28, 2018. Photo by Jim Washbrook.
Boreal Owl, Calgary, March 28, 2018. Photo by Jim Washbrook.
Boreal Owl, Calgary, March 28, 2018. Photo by Jim Washbrook.
Sarah Bradley also took some photos of the owl sitting in the vines. Photos below by Sarah Bradley, Calgary, March 28, 2018.
The owl apparently moved on and was not seen again after that afternoon. Nice to have one of these come to you instead of having to go look for it!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre (I apologize that the blog was down for the last two days. It was a server problem – we aren’t going away!)
About a dozen years ago some people started using the term “superb owl” in advertising to avoid a similar copyrighted term, and since owls are indeed superb, birders have had a lot of fun with it on game day by posting their favourite photos of owls. Here are some local owls to liven up your day.
Snowy Owl, January 2018, east of Calgary. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
Snowy Owl, November 2017, east of Calgary. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
A well-camouflaged Great Gray Owl, November 2, 2017, Bow Valley Parkway. Photo by Michael Kim.
Great Horned Owl, December 19, 2017, High River area. Photo by Anne Elliott.
Northern Pygmy-Owl, January 28, 2018, west of Calgary.
Northern Pygmy-Owl, November 2017, Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
Northern Hawk-Owl, February 2017, west Calgary. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
