The sixth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge is coming up soon. This four-day bioblitz is an effort to try to record as much of the Calgary and area biodiversity as possible. Cities around the world will be taking part in this effort, and competing to see who makes the most observations and records the most species. As usual, Calgary will be competing to try to increase our own participation and species numbers here.
From CNC Organizer Matthew Wallace:
The sixth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge takes place April 26-29! Over 650 cities worldwide will compete and collaborate to showcase their urban biodiversity! Participate by taking photos of wild plants and animals in your yards, neighborhoods, and favorite parks over the four days. Then, upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.ca!
There are several public events happening across the city which include pollinator walks, guided birding tours, and park bioblitzes. You can also just head out to explore on your own or with a group of friends.
Participate anywhere within the Calgary Metropolitan Region which includes Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Rocky View County, and Foothills County.
The deadline to upload your observations to iNaturalist is midnight May 5.
Cities will compete to see which can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people. Calgary aims to be the top-performing Canadian city with a goal of over 10,000 observations posted. Make as many observations as you can April 26-29 so get outside and help to put Calgary’s biodiversity on the map!
Check out all of the CNC resources on the following pages:
As birders, we can participate by taking as many photos of birds as we can over the four days. Any identifiable photo is good so don’t worry too much about the quality of your pictures. We also need to document everything, so don’t hesitate to photograph House Sparrows, Black-billed Magpies, and other common species. Then you have until midnight on May 5 to upload your photos to iNaturalist.
An adult Bald Eagle I photographed near the Inglewood Golf Course on the 2023 CNC. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
While you’re out there, you can also get photos of non-bird biodiversity with your camera. Maybe you won’t know what species you have, but iNaturalist has an artificial intelligence that can help with the ID, and even if you have no idea, other iNaturalist users will help to identify everything.
Green-striped GrasshopperCanadian Beaver (signs of a species also count)Western Terrestial Garter SnakeHunt’s Bumble Bee and Golden Bean (two observations)CoyoteTansy
These were a few of the other species I saw on the 2023 CNC. I didn’t know some of the species identifications until I entered them into iNaturalist. (Photos by Bob Lefebvre.)
Since I have my phone with me when I’m birding, I can use it to get photos of other species which are difficult to get with a big camera (photos by Bob Lefebvre):
Elegant Sunburst LichenBrickwork WoodlouseWormwood Wallflower (not yet confirmed by the iNaturalist community)
I have found it to be a great experience to use iNaturalist to learn more about our overall biodiversity. Like most birders, I am interested in all of nature, not just birds.
Watch this short video about the 2024 Calgary City Nature Challenge:
Matthew has set a goal of having 10,000 observations made over the four days this year. In 2023 we had 9,301, so we are getting closer! We also hope to better our total of 762 species recorded last year.
So check out the project links above and plan to participate in an event, or just head out on your own!
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.
The Calgary City Nature Challenge runs from Friday to Monday, April 28 to May 1. Everyone is welcome to participate anywhere in the Calgary CNC Region by taking photographs of any living thing and posting them to the iNaturalist website or smart phone app. There are many public events this year as well, some of which start as soon as Friday morning, so check the links below to find an event near you.
From organizer Matthew Wallace:
The fifth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge (CNC) will take place April 28-May 1. If you’re unfamiliar with the CNC, it has grown immensely since it began in 2016. At the time there were only two cities competing against one another (Los Angeles and San Francisco). It is now considered to be the largest global bioblitz and one of the largest citizen science events in the world. This year there are 462 cities competing from across the globe. Forty-three cities are within Canada including Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer within Alberta.
There are three categories in which cities compete: Which city can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people. When we say “compete” it’s really just a friendly competition for bragging rights with each city individually organizing their own local bioblitz. People participate by taking photos of plants and animals and uploading them to the iNaturalist app (or iNaturalist.ca when posting from digital cameras and within Canada).
The Calgary Metropolitan region is our local area and includes the city of Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Glenbow Ranch, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Over the four days, any observations made within this area are automatically included in the Calgary iNaturalist Project. (Follow this page to see our progress over the four days.)
The Calgary Metropolitan Region for the CNC.
Our goal is to achieve a new Canadian record (>10,000 observations). We have been inching closer to this target number each year with almost 6800 observations shared in 2022. Keep your eye on the leaderboards to see how cities around the world are doing.
From April 28-May 1, make as many observations as you can by taking photos of plants, animals, and fungi as you explore our region. You don’t have to go far to participate: Look in your yards, neighbourhoods and favorite parks. There are also a series of public events this year which had been on pause during 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic. It’s a welcome addition to have our naturalist communities be able to get outside and work together to achieve a common goal. For more information on events and resources to help you get started visit www.citynatureyyc.ca.
For the events list, see this page. This year there are many events both inside Calgary and in outlying areas, including one in Airdrie on Friday morning, two in Glenbow Ranch on Saturday plus one on Sunday, and one in Big Hill Springs on Sunday. Take as many good photos as you can. You will have until May 7 to upload them to iNaturalist (but the sooner the better, so we have time to identify everything). If you have good knowledge of birds, plants, insects, fungi, mammals, or other living things, you can also participate by helping to identify the observervations made here or anywhere on iNaturalist.
Have fun, and help us get to 10,000 observations!!
Baby White-tailed Jackrabbit. Photo from the CWRS.
This is not primarily about birds, but the arrival of the Avian Flu virus has put more of a strain than usual on the resources of wildlife rehabilitation organizations in Alberta. White-tailed Jackrabbits are ubiquitous in Calgary, and every spring the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (CWRS) has many baby hares brought to them, most of which are perfectly safe and healthy. We also have Snowshoe Hares, and this applies to them as well. Read to the end where there is also advice on handling baby birds, which are beginning to be seen in the area.
CALGARY WILDLIFE REHABILITATION SOCIETY CLOSE TO CAPACITY FOR BABY HARE INTAKE
Calgary, Alberta- Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society has nearly reached its capacity to take in baby hares just as the busy baby season starts. Calgary Wildlife is currently caring for 35 baby hares that were brought to the wildlife clinic by well-meaning individuals thinking the babies needed help. But in reality, the majority of the hares did not need help. Of the 35 babies brought to Calgary Wildlife, only three had injuries that required attention, the remaining 32 were unintentionally taken from their mothers. Often well-meaning individuals see a baby hare by itself during the day and assume the hare has been orphaned or needs help. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Hares are born with their eyes open and the ability to hop within hours of birth. Their mothers leave them during the day as a way of protecting them from predators but always come back to feed and forage with them. Baby hares can easily camouflage into their surroundings and freeze in place, which makes them nearly invisible to predators. In general, hares are very difficult animals to rehabilitate due to their extremely high-stress levels and delicate gut bacteria. Sadly, healthy baby hares brought into rehabilitation centres have a much higher mortality rate than if they were left on their own in the wild. The best advice during the baby season is, “if you see a baby hare you should leave it there”. If the public is unsure if a baby hare needs help, they can call the Calgary Wildlife hotline at 403-214-1312 for advice.
A shareable PSA about baby hares can be viewed here:
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (Calgary Wildlife) is a registered charitable organization that was established in 1993. Calgary Wildlife provides expert compassionate care to injured and orphaned wildlife in and around the City of Calgary. As an accredited veterinary hospital (ABVMA), Calgary Wildlife is open 365 days a year and is the only wildlife rehabilitation centre located within the city. Calgary Wildlife also provides valuable outreach and educational services to the community. For more information, please visit www.calgarywildlife.org
Baby White-tailed Jackrabbit. Photo from the CWRS.
Media Inquiries: Beki Hunt Executive Director Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society calgarywildlifeinfo[at]gmail.com 587-890-5349
And here is another video on the Calgary Wildlife channel about How to Help Baby Birds:
The Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society is dedicated to treating injured and orphaned wildlife, providing valuable outreach and education services to the community and engaging all volunteers in motivational work and skill building experience.
Many Calgary birders are familiar with the book Treasures Of The Trail, a beautifully illustrated nature guide to Edworthy Park, Lawry Gardens, and the Douglas Fir Trail. It was published in 2002 by the Edworthy Park Heritage Society. Now the society is planning to publish a new history of the area with much previously unpublished information. You can pre-order a copy, and once enough people have ordered it, publication will go ahead and you will then be contacted for payment. It is $30 for the new book and a copy of Treasures Of The Trail will be also be included! A great value, especially for those of you who do not have a copy of the older book.
Here is the information about this from the society:
Shaganappi Point and Edworthy Park: A New History by the Edworthy Park Heritage Society.
The Society has written an extensive history of the park area with much previously unpublished information gathered from historic newspapers, diaries, and archives across Canada.
Part I discusses Indigenous and Métis culture and history of the area, including the three Blackfoot names for this ancient territory, plus whether there was a Métis settlement at Shaganappi. Was there an indigenous trail in the area? And much more…
Part II discusses settlement, colonization history including unpublished information about the Government of Canada quarries at Shaganappi Point (Quarry Road Trail), and the C.P.R. quarries (next to the Douglas Fir Trail), the Thomas Edworthy quarries and the four brick plants of the park, the struggle between William Pearce vs. John Lawrey, the “old lime kiln”. It has many fine black and white photos and a few hand-tinted vintage postcard photos.
Very few copies of the book will be published and we expect to almost sell out through pre-orders. In order to raise the money to print it, we are taking pre-orders. The book is only available in a package with the Society’s nature guide, Treasures of the Trail, included as a bonus, free of charge. It is $30 per copy plus postage where applicable. To pre-order, please send us an email at: eparkhs[at]gmail.com We will acknowledge your pre-order. If we have enough funds to print it, we will then contact you for payment. (P.S. The book will not be put on the internet). Please support the Society and its new book!
The second annual Calgary City Nature Challenge will go ahead on April 24-27, 2020. Once again, Matthew Wallace is doing a great job of organizing and promoting this valuable citizen science project.
This year, an expanded Calgary metropolitan area will include Airdrie, Cochrane, Okotoks, and Chestermere. Calgary will be competing with over 200 other cities around the world to try to identify as many species of wildlife as possible.
Last year there were many organized group activities in the CNC, but due to Covid-19 these will not be taking place this year. However, people can easily participate by themselves by taking photos of any living thing and uploading it to the iNaturalist website or app.
Download the iNaturalist app or sign up on the webpage. Then start taking pictures of wildlife and uploading them. There is no need to wait until April 24 to get started, but please try to help out on that weekend!
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.”
Ron Chiasson recently found this beautiful Bobcat in north Calgary.
Bobcat, Calgary, September 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
Bobcat, Calgary, September 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
It seems that Bobcats used to be seen mostly in the SW, near the Weaselhead or Fish Creek Park or in adjacent neighbourhoods. In the last few years we are hearing reports from many more areas of the city, including places that are quite far from the river valleys and the boreal forest. I don’t know if they are more numerous, more widespread, or if more people having cameras at the ready means we hear about almost every sighting.
Bobcat, Calgary, September 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
You can see more of Ron Chiasson’s photography here.
Here are some very photogenic mammals seen in Calgary in April 2018 by Tony LePrieur. The Beavers were photographed in Fish Creek Provincial Park, and the Porcupine in Carburn Park.
