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Backyard Birds: Dark-eyed Junco

Dec8

Dark-eyed Juncos are one of the last native sparrows to migrate through Calgary each fall, and many of them often overwinter here.  I have at least eight that have been coming to my yard regularly for the last three weeks.  They will come to feeders, but like other sparrows, they prefer to feed on the ground or on a flat, open surface like a tray.  They can often be seen scratching in the snow to expose seeds.

Juncos can be identified by their dark hoods, white bellies, and white outer tail feathers that flash when they fly.  There are two common subspecies in Calgary;  “Slate-colored” which are all grey and can look almost black, and “Oregon” which have rusty back and sides.  In the spring, males have a very distinct black hood.

I have a non-native apple tree in my yard that stays green and fully leafed out until the end of November, so I often only become aware of juncos in the yard when I hear their soft “chip” call coming from the tree.  The video below includes a soundtrack with this call, courtesy of the xeno-canto website.

Various Dark-eyed Juncos.  Calls courtesy Xeno-Canto.

Below you can see juncos feeding on niger seed on top of a stepladder…

Juncos feeding on niger seed.

Below is a video of juncos feeding on small sunflower heads…

Juncos feeding on sunflowers.

 

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

A Quiet Morning at Beaverdam Flats

Dec5

It seems a little cruel that only a week after I first began blogging, the Fall Birding Course is nearly wrapped up for the season. According to our fearless leader, the group has spotted 123 species of birds over the past 4 months, though not every individual saw the entirety of the list. That seems like a lot, though the full list of Calgary birds counts over 300 species, I think that’s an incredible variety, considering they were all seen within city limits, and in relatively easy to access locations.

This week was another first for me. Though I’ve cycled through Beaverdam Flats, I’ve never birded it, and really never quite knew how to get there by vehicle, leading me to begin a few minutes later than the rest of the group. Upon arriving, I walked down the hill to see if I could find the group, and spotted my first Townsend’s Solitaire of the season, while hearing a number of Downy Woodpeckers among the birch trees on either side of the path.

Townsend's Solitaire at Beaverdam Flats

Townsend's Solitaire

Walking south along the river, I spotted the group and quickly caught up, but not before realizing what exactly they were looking at. Literally hundreds of Mallards, Canada Geese, and various other waterfowl gathered along the banks of the Bow River. It was truly one of the more memorable sights of an otherwise very quiet morning.

Literally hundreds of them

Hundreds of Geese, Ducks, and others along the Bow River

As we walked back north along the riverbank, we spotted a Bald Eagle flying south, and two more high up in a tree, patiently waiting and posing for us, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

Bald Eagle in flight

This pair of Bald Eagles was perched high above the Bow River

All along the riverbank, amongst the Mallards, we spotted Common Goldeneye, Buffleheads, Redheads, and a few Common Mergansers. A few Northern Pintails were hidden amongst the Mallards as well, but they were elusive that morning, and I don’t think anyone got a very good look at them aside from a glance here or there.

Common Goldeneyes

Goldeneye in flight

Male Goldeneye displaying for female

Pair of Male Redheads among the crowd

I swear it was THIS big...

Redhead with outstretched wings

As we left the riverbank, the entire group was awestruck with our heads raised to watch the hundreds of waterfowl we had seen just an hour beforehand flying low overhead. It seemed something had flushed them, but there was no sign of a hungry Bald Eagle, Goshawk, or any aerial predator for that matter.

Something has disturbed this flock

We headed north again, and under a bridge to search for Great Horned Owl, which seemed incredibly skittish, keeping its distance and flying away at the first suggestion that we may get closer.

Great Horned Owl

As I mentioned before, it was eerily quiet, and the only other birds we saw along the river valley was another Downy Woodpecker and a Northern Flicker in the distance. As we loaded up into the cars, one of the sturdy American Robins who overwinter in Calgary made its presence known, displaying in one of the birch trees at the top of the valley wall.

Can't quite reach it... maybe if I tilt my head this way...?

Downy Woodpecker

Look at how impressive I am!

American Robin

Following the official walk, another of the photographers in our group and I headed back to look for that elusive Great Horned Owl. We managed to spot it twice, but each time it flew away before we could establish a clear line of sight and a clean angle to photograph it, but our search was not in vain. We did manage to get a bit closer to one of the Northern Flickers, but the prize of the day was this Townsend’s Solitaire that kindly posed for us while the light was still good.

Look at all his majesty.

Northern Flicker

Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

Posted by Daniel Arndt

Sunday Showcase: Calgary Corvids

Dec4

Corvids, which are crows and jays, are classified by their harsh voices and their aggressive manner, both of which draw attention to themselves; large and often very gregarious birds. Most corvids have bristles on their nostrils, located on very powerful, all-purpose beaks built specially for handling their varied diet ( berries, fruits, seeds, invertebrates, small mammals and carrion). Here are most of the species that you may see in the Calgary region, the only one missing, is the colorful Steller’s Jay.

American Crow

Blue Jay

Grey Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Common Ravens

Black-billed Magpie

Posted by Matthew Sim

Autumn Birding in LaFarge Park

Nov28

I continue to be amazed at the diversity of birds in Calgary that for one reason or another choose to overwinter here. When I signed up for the Autumn birding course with Fish Creek Provincial Park, led by the legendary Gus Yaki, I was expecting to learn a lot about the bird population of Calgary, but also expected that once the temperatures dropped and the usual summer birds migrated southward, that the walks would turn to more of a discussion and less spotting and identification of birds themselves. So far, I have been thankfully disappointed. Thirteen weeks into the course, I am still spotting new birds and exploring new locations for birding within the city limits.

This past weekend I spent Saturday morning in LaFarge Park and Sikome Lake, as well as a brief stop at the visitor’s centre before heading home. The first highlight of the day was one of the Great Horned Owls that have been roosting near the buildings at Sikome Lake for the past few years.

Owl is not amused.
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
I see you seeing me

Moving on down we stopped to check out a local feeding spot that walkers, joggers and nature lovers keep well stocked year-round for the White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, and Downy Woodpeckers nearby.

Downy Woodpecker

Picking back up down the road at the boat-launch parking lot, we walked along the Bow River for the next couple of hours, spotting a number of species. Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Killdeer, and even a pair of Green-winged Teal were taking advantage of the warm weather to feed.

Buffleheads
Common Goldeneye
Male (front) and female (rear) Common Goldeneye
Green-winged Teal (male)
Male (left) and two female (center, right) Common Mergansers

The highlight for me was the family of Bald Eagles that had taken up residence just south of Highway 22X. They were very tolerant of our intrusion into their park, and even posed quite nicely for us.

Adult Bald Eagles

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Adult Bald Eagle

A little further south , we were alerted to a flock of Common Redpoll in feeding from a stand of water birch, which allowed us to get very close before being flushed by something nearby, which would soon make its presence known.

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll

Just before reaching the southernmost point of our journey, we spotted a lone Killdeer walking across a gravel bar in the centre of the river, and it was moments later that the culprit who flushed the Common Redpolls appeared just over the opposite bank of the Bow River; this juvenile Northern Harrier.

Northern Harrier

Wheeling northward once again along the pathway we passed by the two juvenile Bald Eagles, who again seemed undisturbed by our proximity, and then onward to the vehicles. Only one more brave bird would present itself so beautifully at this far southern extent of the walk. A female Hairy Woodpecker industriously worked away at a fallen log, poking not one, but two separate holes through the bark and both times coming up with a tasty morsel.

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

In our walk around the visitors centre a little later on, we were once again gifted with a Red-breasted Nuthatch along with a number of Black-capped Chickadees along the pathway, and a Northern Shrike being chased by a Black-billed Magpie as we returned to the parking lot. Sadly I wasn’t quite fast enough with the camera to catch that pair.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Posted by Daniel Arndt

Christmas Bird Count

Nov25

As a follow-up to Bob’s post on the Christmas Bird Count this year, I am posting from my experiences last year.

For the 2010 Big Year birding here in Calgary, I decided to participate in my first Christmas Bird Count. I had heard great stories about this annual winter event and I was not disappointed. I was scheduled to a very productive route on the Bow River, with Southland Park and Carburn Park our main birding spots. We had a very good turnout for species, recording about 29, if I remember correctly. Some of the highlights on our route, were Killdeer, a Northern Shrike, a Rough-legged Hawk, a pair of Great Horned Owls and two immature Trumpeter Swans. These swans were seen continually in January of 2011 and were identified as one immature Tundra Swan and one immature Trumpeter Swan.

A fellow bird-counter participating in the 2010 Calgary CBC

Overall, almost 200 people took part in the 2010 count, with 102 feeder-watchers and 92 birders in the field. Temperatures ranged from -15 to -13 degrees Celsius with some light snow falling in the morning. Birders in the field put in a combined
205 party-hours total, 230 km  on foot and 881 km by car. These stats were compiled by Phil Cram, Donna and Arthur Wieckowski, Bob Lefebvre and John McFaul and can be more extensively viewed  by following this link:

http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/59th-calgary-christmas-bird-count-results/

Bald Eagles are usually seen on the Bow River

My group divided ourselves up into small parties in the morning, scanning the Bow River on either sides in and around Southland Park. Once we had spent several hours scouring the snow-swept landscape for birds, we headed to the nearest Tim Hortons for some warmth, where we traded stories and identification tips over refreshments. We headed back out, this time to Carburn Park, where we added Bohemian Waxwings, the shrike and some Barrow’s Goldeneyes. We ate lunch in our heated cars at Carburn and spent the afternoon searching our range for any missing species. That evening, all CBC participants from all over the city flocked to the Flynn’s house where we were served delicious chili and shared our tales from the day.

Birds are not the only wildlife seen on the Christmas Bird Count

The 2010 Christmas Bird Count was very enjoyable; if you have never done it before I highly recommend it. Calgary is historically a very high count in North American for number of participants; last year we had a total of 194 participants which was the 7th highest count in the US and Canada (Edmonton was 1st in North America with 439 participants!!!). Calgary also had the most species of birds recorded on the CBC in Alberta with a grand total of 64.

I will be back in Calgary for the holidays and I hope to see you there!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Sunday Showcase: Goldeneye With Egg

Nov20

Some unique photos from Rob English, who says “I shot these last June in Carburn Park at the hundred year old tree. It was early in morning so the photos aren’t the best but I thought you might enjoy them anyway. I sent them to Gus Yaki  and he said it was something seldom seen, never mind photographed.

Who knows what she was doing? Cleaning her nest of a cracked egg or raiding the nest site for a takeover as there was a Common Merganser circling the tree.

What she was doing I guess we will never know, but it is interesting to see. After she had done the deed she just sat in the tree cavity”.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Nov 17

Nov18

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, us email us at zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Alert was recorded on Thursday Nov 17.

Bird Sightings:

WEDNESDAY, NOV 16
BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER (1) – Police Point Park in Medicine Hat by Marty Drut. For more info call Milt Spitzer at 403-528-3120
–SNOWY OWL (1f) – Hwy 1 just west of junction with Hwy 9 (east of Calgary) by Angela Steffens
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL (1) – near intersection of TwpRd 262 and RgeRd 261 (Irricana Sloughs area) by Eddy Matuod

TUESDAY, NOV 15
–GLAUCOUS GULL (1 1st yr) – Bow River at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary by Yousif Attia
–MEW GULL (1 ad) – location and observer as above
–THAYER’S GULL (1 ad) – location and observer as above

MONDAY, NOV 14
–PINE GROSBEAK (15) – Fish Creek PP between Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace by Gus Yaki and Friends of Fish Creek PP Society
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE (2) – location and observers as above
–WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL (30+) – location and observers as above
–COMMON REDPOLL ( 25+) – location and observers as above

THURSDAY, NOV 10
-SNOWY OWL (1) – Arbour Lake subdivision of NW Calgary by unidentified observer

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday November 21

Winter Birding Course

Nov17

The best way to learn the birds of Calgary is to get out with other birders and explore the natural areas of the city.  Once again, The Friends of Fish Creek Park Society is offering birding courses starting in January 2012 and running through the end of April.  For more information or to register, email chris@friendsoffishcreek.org or phone 403-238-3841.

Christmas Bird Count 2011 – Here’s Your Chance to Volunteer!

Nov13

House Finch

The 60th annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count will take place this year on Sunday, December 18th.  There are two ways to get involved – as a birder in the field, or as a feeder-watcher in your yard.

There are over thirty territories in the count circle, so we need to get a lot of birders out in the field to identify and count all the birds.  In recent years the number of field volunteers has dropped below 100, and we’d like to get it back up over that number for this 60th count.

The Count Circle (click to enlarge).

If you’d like to help with this, please consider volunteering.  You don’t have to be an expert birder – there will be at least one experienced birder in each territory, so you will be assigned to help them out.  Most groups will be going out for the full day, but you can participate for a half-day if you wish.

Contact Phil Cram at crampj@telusplanet.net to volunteer, or for more information.  

American Wigeons

Feeder-watchers:

If you are unable to get out birding with us on December 18, you can still participate by spending some time counting the birds in your yard.  You needn’t spend all day at this, but should try to record the maximum numbers of each species in your yard, and the time spent watching.

To participate as a feeder-watcher, you must register to take part, and live within the above 24-km-diametre count circle.  If you are outside the circle, perhaps you have friends who feed birds and live within it – you could persuade them to take part, and assist them with their counting.

Contact Jean Moore at jmmoore@ucalgary.ca or phone 403-282-4162 for more information on the feeder-watch program, or to volunteer.

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

There are several other Christmas Counts in the Calgary region every year.  Keep an eye on our “Free Nature Walks” tab at the top of this page for updates on these, or see the Bird Studies Canada page to find a list of all counts in Canada.

(Previous blog posts on this topic: 2009 Christmas Count.  2010 Christmas Count.)

Posted by Bob Lefebvre.  All photos by myself unless otherwise indicated.  Click on pictures to see a larger version.