Furry Friday: “Wild” Horses of the Alberta Foothills

Posted by Dan Arndt

One of the most productive searches for Wild Horses was with the help of one of the attendees of our Winter Birding Course last year, Paul Turbitt. Most of these photos were taken south-west of Sundre, Alberta on February 20, 2012, and the last in the series was taken in November 2012 west of Bragg Creek.

While these horses are not truly “wild” horses, they are feral, and have a very unique look compared to modern domestic horses, and have been living and breeding in the wild for well over two hundred years, and behave just like any wild animal would.

First horse of the day

First herd

Solo Roan mare

Roan and Chocolate

Solo Roan mare

Young stallion on the edge of the herd on sentry duty

Second young stallion of the last herd of the day

Alabaster mare of the third herd

Dappled grey mare of the third herd

Third herd of wild horses, all in the same frame

My size 11 boot print beside the hoof-print of the largest stallion in the third herd.

This pair was the tailing edge of a herd of about a dozen horses seen west of Bragg Creek.

Season’s Greetings!

Dec25

Thanks for reading and for your feedback in 2012!

From Pat, Bob, Dan, and Matthew

Reflections on my New Years Resolution

Dec24

Posted by Dan Arndt

As I mentioned in a previous post, I made a New Year’s Resolution to see 200 species of birds in the Calgary Region. I had no real idea of how difficult a proposition this would be, and if I’d known the lengths I would end up going to to get there, I might have reconsidered it. In the end, it turned out to be an improvised “Big Year” of sorts. While I’m not really sure where the records sit exactly, or what the highest number would be for the traditional 80km May Species Count circle in the Calgary area in the calendar year, I do know that I learned a whole lot about the species that live in my home town, the best places to go to track down certain types of birds, and that there are some places, for one reason or another, that seem like they’d be the perfect habitat for wildlife that seem to be somewhat devoid of birds.

80km circle centred in downtown Calgary

As I write this, my 80km Calgary circle Patch List on eBird sits at 236. I’m happy with that number. It’s a nice, even number, and my original hopes of 200 are long in the past. After finding my Upland Sandpiper, I spent a bit of time searching Confederation Park, Chestermere Lake, and various other places to add a few new birds to my list. It seems that my excursions outside the city ended up being far more fruitful than my quick jaunts just up the hill to the warbler paradise of Confederation Park, as I found #205, Loggerhead Shrike, thanks to fellow blogger Matt Sim coming across this family of 5 just east of Chestermere Lake.

Loggerhead Shrike – species #205

As fall set in, and the cold and dark became more prevalent as the days wore on, I knew the days of adding multiple species to my list were in the past. Fall migration turned out to be a bit disappointing as I had hoped to tack on at least 4 or 5 species of migrating songbirds to my list, but as the Glenmore Reservoir closed up, I, along with many in the Calgary birding community were surprised to find a good number of vagrants showing up. From the three scoter species (White-winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, and Black Scoter) to the Pacific Loon (which I missed, sadly) and Red-throated Loon (which I managed to find on multiple days) topped off with a fairly large flock of Long-tailed Ducks at the beginning of November.

White-winged Scoter – My 219th species seen this year in Calgary

Dunlin at Weed Lake – Species #224 for the year

Long-tailed Duck – This group of four seemed to be fairly comfortable getting close to the shore, and many excited birders – #227

Add to that an Anna’s Hummingbird a few days later, a few late gulls into mid-November, a few “catch-up” species in a couple of places I hadn’t visited as much earlier in the year, and to top it all off, a rogue Steller’s Jay in mid-December, and here I am at 236. I certainly missed a few species that I expected to find, but ended up with a well-rounded list and far exceeding my original goal!

Anna’s Hummingbird – #228

Mew Gull amongst a number of Ring-billed Gulls – #231

Steller’s Jay – a fairly rare bird in these parts, and my last new tick for the year. – #236!

So this ends my birding year in Calgary, and I am looking forward to starting all over again in 2013. I know there’s still a week left for me to find some of my nemesis birds, but tomorrow (December 25) I’m heading off to the Mayan Riviera for a couple of weeks, and so my year total will sit comfortably at 236. I plan to do a whole lot of vacationing, a bit of birding here and there, and just taking it easy in the sun, and maybe thinking about another birding resolution for 2013!

Calgary Christmas Count in Inglewood

Dec23

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Last Sunday was a great day to be out counting birds. The weather was pleasant for the most part, and the sun came out, allowing for a few good photographs. I was covering the Inglewood Golf Course, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Pearce Estate, and adjacent areas with Ian Neilson and Troy Bourque (both excellent photographers). At the end of the day I checked out the zoo grounds by myself – counting only wild birds.

We started the day walking the golf course and spent about two and a half hours checking the Bow River and looking for passerines. (We had permission from the club to be on their grounds for the count – you don’t need permission to walk the riverbank, but it is a very difficult walk in spots.) There were plenty of Canada Geese and Mallards on the river, plus a few Common Goldeneyes, but nothing else.

Mallards on the river. Photo by Troy Bourque

On the golf course itself we did find one mixed flock of several Black-capped Chickadees, three White-breasted Nuthatches, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and a Brown Creeper. A Rough-legged Hawk made a low flyover – the first RLHA I recall seeing in this part of the city. Across the river we spotted an adult Bald Eagle, which then flew over us, and was joined by its mate. The pair settled in the same tree on the golf course where they have nested for the past few years (they always overwinter and spend a lot of time near this tree).

Bald Eagle on the Inglewood Golf Course. Photo by Troy Bourque

One of the adult eagles. Photo by Ian Neilson

Eagle on takeoff. Photo by Ian Neilson

A little farther along we came upon a porcupine perched in a Water Birch at eye level, feeding. The porcupine didn’t mind us at all, so the photographers got some very close shots!

You don’t see these every day! Photo by Ian Neilson

Don’t you just want to give him a big hug? Photo by Troy Bourque

Photo by Ian Neilson

Our best mammal of the day. Photo by Troy Bourque

It was some pretty tough walking through the snow and brush along the river, so we stopped for a rest and a hearty breakfast at the clubhouse. Then we were off to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary across the river. It was the middle of the day and pretty quiet. The chickadees were aggressively looking for handouts of seeds as usual, but we offered only to take their portraits.

Can you please hold still for 1/500 of a second? Photo by Troy Bourque

Photo by Bob Lefebvre

We had an unusually low number of woodpeckers for the day – no Downies, only one Northern Flicker, and this bird.

Hairy Woodpecker at IBS. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

After the sanctuary Ian had to depart, and Troy and I had a quick walk around Pearce Estates, which was even quieter than IBS. Then Troy had to leave, and I rushed over to cover the zoo before it got dark. The zoo grounds attract quite a few wild birds because there is a lot of food scattered around for the zoo animals, and lots of cover. It was a little strange to be rushing past Snow Leopards and Siberian Tigers with hardly a glance, but taking note of every House Sparrow.

Mallards. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Over half of the European Starlings reported on the count were at the zoo – 56 out of 109, which is a fairly low number for starlings on the Calgary count.

European Starlings in winter plumage. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

As the light started to fade, I heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet in a stand of Spruces, but couldn’t see the bird. I remembered something that Dan Arndt had told me – kinglets will respond strongly to a playback of their call even in winter – so I played the call on my smart phone app. Within a fraction of a second, three aggressive little kinglets materialized right in front of me, flitting about, vocalizing, and flaring their crown feathers.

Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Here you can even see some of the red in the centre of the golden crown. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Then it was off to Arthur and Donna Wieckowski’s to compile the data and enjoy a great chili dinner. For a while it looked like we were going to have a low number of species for the count, but as the last few routes reported, we ended up with 65 species, exactly on our average for the last twenty years.

It was a very long day of birding but also very enjoyable, as always!

Sunday Showcase: Strathmore Birds

Dec23

Mitchell Kranz took a drive around Strathmore earlier this month, and set a personal record of seeing six Snowy Owls in one day, all within 20 minutes of Strathmore. He also found a Prairie Falcon at Hwy 9 near the intersection with the Trans Canada Highway.

A few days later, he had an immature Gyrfalcon near Turner Valley. (Note: We originally labelled this bird as a Prairie Falcon, based on the dark axillaries and prominent malar stripe in the picture below. We have added a second picture, which more clearly shows it to be a Gyrfalcon.)

Calgary Christmas Bird Count Results

Dec20

By Phil Cram

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 61st Calgary Christmas Bird Count on December 16, 2012. A record number of 249 birders took part in this year’s count, with 113 feeder-watchers and 136 observers in the field. Birders in the field put in a total of 239 party-hours, 77 percent on foot, covering 239 km on foot and 1156 km by car.

Some count highlights:

65 species were recorded, equalling our average for the past 20 years.

57,149 individual birds were counted, our fifth-highest. Bohemian Waxwings were the most numerous, with almost 17,000 counted, and over 1000 individuals were counted for another nine species.

We had a new species for the count, but unfortunately just for count-week. A Clark’s Nutcracker was seen in Hawkwood on Saturday, perhaps a first-ever sighting in the city. One other rarity was a Yellow-rumped Warbler in Wentworth, first seen and photographed earlier in December and which has survived at least until count-day.

Other unusual species (recorded in two or less years in the prior ten): Trumpeter Swan, 2; Gadwall, 1; and Common Grackle, 1.

Record numbers for: Trumpeter Swan, 2; Redhead, 23; Northern Goshawk, 8; Mourning Dove, 4; American Crow, 152; Common Raven, 537; and Brown Creeper, 31.

High Counts (more than three-times the prior ten-year average) for: Lesser Scaup, 9; Red Crossbill, 237; White-winged Crossbill, 1101; Common Redpoll, 1940 (second-highest count ever); and Hoary Redpoll, 9.

Low counts (less than one-third the prior ten-year average) for: Common Goldeneye, 332 (compared with 3062 last year, the highest in Canada); European Starling, 109; Cedar Waxwing, 2; and Snow Bunting, 1.

Missing species (seen on count-day in seven or more years in the prior ten, but missed this year) were: American Wigeon, Harlequin Duck, Hooded Merganser and Mountain Chickadee.

Species seen by only one route (All feeder-watchers counted as one route): Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Redhead, Greater Scaup, Ruffed Grouse, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, American Dipper, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Tree Sparrow, Snow Bunting, Rusty Blackbird and Common Grackle.

Species seen by only two routes (All feeder-watchers counted as one route): Trumpeter Swan, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Cooper’s Hawk, Mourning Dove, Pileated Woodpecker, Townsend’s Solitaire, White-throated Sparrow and Purple Finch.

Unverified Species, not included in species list (Awaiting further details and/or documentation): Double-crested Cormorant, Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Song Sparrow.

I will be presenting the results at the Bird Study Group meeting on Wednesday January 9, 2013 at 7:30 PM in Room 211 of the Biosciences Building, University of Calgary, as part of the traditional Calgary region CBC review evening. Please let me know if you notice any omissions or errors in this provisional compilation. Final results will be posted on the Audubon database within two weeks. I will be putting together a route-by-route compilation and will be pleased to email you a copy on request.

List of species recorded on count-day:

Canada Goose, 8399; Trumpeter Swan, 2; Wood Duck, 10; Gadwall, 1; Mallard, 9465; Northern Pintail, 2; Redhead, 23; Greater Scaup, 2; Lesser Scaup, 9; Bufflehead, 148; Common Goldeneye, 332; Barrow’s Goldeneye, 8; Common Merganser, 101; Gray Partridge, 115; Ring-necked Pheasant, 7; Ruffed Grouse, 3; Bald Eagle, 25; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 8; Cooper’s Hawk, 2; Northern Goshawk, 8; Red-tailed Hawk, 1; Rough-legged Hawk, 6; Merlin, 24; Killdeer, 2; Rock Pigeon, 2518; Mourning Dove, 4; Great Horned Owl, 7; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 139; Hairy Woodpecker, 26; Northern Flicker, 135; Pileated Woodpecker, 2; Northern Shrike, 6; Blue Jay, 97; Black-billed Magpie, 2295; American Crow, 152; Common Raven, 537; Black-capped Chickadee, 1570; Boreal Chickadee, 27; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 632; White-breasted Nuthatch, 59; Brown Creeper, 31; American Dipper, 3; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 54; Townsend’s Solitaire, 2; American Robin, 86; European Starling, 109; Bohemian Waxwing, 16889; Cedar Waxwing, 2; Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1; American Tree Sparrow, 4; White-throated Sparrow, 2; Dark-eyed Junco, 99; Snow Bunting, 1; Rusty Blackbird, 1; Common Grackle, 1; Pine Grosbeak, 152; Purple Finch, 2; House Finch, 1350; Red Crossbill, 237; White-winged Crossbill, 1101; Common Redpoll, 1940; Hoary Redpoll, 9; Pine Siskin, 65; and House Sparrow, 7898.

Wednesday Wings: Steller’s Jay

Dec19

Marg Matheson and Alan Plumb took a drive to Waterton National Park earlier this month and got some great shots of the Steller’s Jays reported there, plus some winter Waterton wildlife.

Christmas Bird Count – Canmore, AB

Dec17

Posted by Dan Arndt

Canmore’s Christmas Bird Count is was held this year on December 15th, the day before Calgary’s. While I’ve lived in and around Calgary for almost my entire life, I’ve never really spent much time birding around Canmore. Hiking, mountain biking, and road-tripping, sure, but just looking for birds? Never before. Quarry Lake is also an area that I hadn’t ever set foot in, so it was an adventure to explore and learn more about the native birds to the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains.

My Canmore Christmas Bird Count area

The added bonus about birding in Canmore is the amazing scenery.

EEOR, or East End of Rundle peak, just west of Canmore

Left to right: Princess Margaret Mountain, Mount Charles Stewart, Mount Lady Macdonald

My total area was about 1.5 square kilometers, and within that area I tallied up nearly 8km of traverses back and forth in the park, and up and down the streets of the adjoining neighborhood. I was fairly impressed too, with 14 species, including a couple that I would be very lucky to have on any Calgary list.

I did manage to get a few decent shots of some absolutely gorgeous birds in my morning out, and I hope you had as much fun on your Christmas Bird Count adventures as I have this year!

Boreal Chickadee

female White-winged Crossbill

male White-winged Crossbill

male Pine Grosbeak

Clark’s Nutcracker

Townsend’s Solitaire

Christmas Bird Count – Count Week Birds

Dec13

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

The Calgary Christmas Bird Count is coming up this Sunday, December 16, and that means that we are now in the Count Week period. Any species which are seen from December 13 to 19, but missed on the count day itself, are included in the database as Count Week birds. Sometimes there are very good birds which are known to be around but can’t be found on count day, and sometimes it’s an unexpected bird showing up before or after the count.

If you see an unusual or out-of-season bird during count week, and it is inside the Count Circle, make a note of the sighting. If the bird is not reported on count day, pass the information about your sighting to Phil Cram, the count coordinator, at crampj(at)gmail.com.

The Count Circle for the Calgary CBC. Note that the circle does not include all of the city.

This Song Sparrow has been hanging out at Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek Park for a few weeks – outside the count circle. Can we find one inside the circle? (Photo by Daniel Arndt)

There have been several sightings of Snowy Owls inside the city recently. This would be a great bird to add either on Count Day or as a Count Week bird.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 10

Dec11

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com . To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

DECEMBER 5

SNOWY OWL – 5.5 mi east and a mile south of the north Carstairs overpass – Linda Neuemier?

DECEMBER 6

NORTHERN SHOVELER – Beaverdam Flats – Joan and Malcolm Macdonald
TUNDRA SWAN – Carburn Park – J & MM
BOHEMIAN WAXWING – 500 – 1000 between Sandy Beach and Glenmore Dam – Bill Wilson; 1500 in Weaselhead- Gus Yaki

DECEMBER 7

TUNDRA SWAN – Beaverdam Flats – Bill Wilson
GREEN-WINGED TEAL – 6, as above
REDHEAD – 2, as above
SCAUP – 2, one a female Lesser – as above
HOARY REDPOLL – yard in Mount Royal – Rose Scollard

DECEMBER 8

REDHEAD – 20, Policeman’s Flats on Bow River Bottom Rd off Dunbow Rd – Terry Korolyk
LESSER SCAUP – 6, as above
GREATER SCAUP – 1 male and 1 female, as above
REDHEAD-GREATER SCAUP hybrid (possible) – as above
RING-NECKED DUCK – male, as above
NORTHERN PINTAIL – male, as above
HOARY REDPOLL – at gate into Wyndham-Carseland PP – TK
NORTHERN GOSHAWK – 2 juveniles reported in Weaselhead by several groups over weekend

DECEMBER 9

LESSER SCAUP – male at Weed Lake on Hwy 560 at Langdon, TK
GREEN-WINGED TEAL – as above
NORTHERN PINTAIL – pair, as above
NORTHERN SHOVELER – male, as above
GADWALL – as above
BOHEMIAN WAXWING – 600 in Mt Royal district, GY
NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL – on the Larsen Pasture Rd SW of Water Valley – J&MM
NORTHERN GOSHAWK – ravine on 15 Ave west of Sarcee Trail
SNOWY OWL – 2 on Twp Rd 262 between Rge Rd 261 and 253, plus another on Rge Rd 265 south of Rge Rd 262

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thu Dec 13.

Birds Calgary

A birding blog for Calgary, Alberta and area

Archives

Furry Friday: “Wild” Horses of the Alberta Foothills

Season’s Greetings!

Reflections on my New Years Resolution

Calgary Christmas Count in Inglewood

Sunday Showcase: Strathmore Birds

Calgary Christmas Bird Count Results

Wednesday Wings: Steller’s Jay

Christmas Bird Count – Canmore, AB

Christmas Bird Count – Count Week Birds

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 10

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: