Here are a couple of Red Foxes photographed recently by Tony LePrieur.
This Red Fox was seen just outside the city limits on September 25, 2016.
The same fox showing the very wide tail that these animals have.
This one was seen in Carburn Park in the city, December 4, 2016.
Tony LePrieur photographed this Muskrat in the Weaselhead Nature Area on November 20, 2016. Muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents related to voles and lemmings. They feed mostly on aquatic vegetation such as cattails. They are active all year and can be found in the winter in Calgary along the rivers, and around lakes and ponds. They are well adapted for the cold and for swimming under the ice.
You can see more of Tony’s photos on his Flickr page.
Do you have photos of Mammals from the Calgary area that you’d like to share? Send them to birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them for Furry Friday!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Catching up with some great autumn photos of Calgary Birds and Mammals, taken by Tony LePrieur from September 25 to October 16, 2016. The locations were the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Carburn Park, Fish Creek Provincial Park, and the Weaselhead Nature Area.
Boreal Chickadee, Bebo Grove, FCPP, September 25, 2016. The bird has no tail. Birds don’t molt all their tail feathers at once, so this indicates it probably survived an attack of some kind.
Great Horned Owl, Bebo Grove, FCPP, September 25, 2016. These resident owls are fairly common it the city. Pairs will be spending the days resting on their winter roosts now, and by February (or sometimes even January) they will be on their nests, incubating eggs.
Great Blue Heron, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, October 16, 2016. The herons have usually all migrated by mid-October, but a few may stay later.
Harris’s Sparrow, seen at the south end of the big bridge over the Elbow River in the Weaselhead on October 16, 2016. The bird was seen for at least a week, from October 16 to October 25. These Sparrows mostly migrate well east of Calgary and are a bit of a rarity here. They sometimes overwinter, so it is worth looking for.
American Tree Sparrow. These arctic breeders are passing through here now and some overwinter here.
Dark-eyed Junco. These sparrows are pretty common here in the winter and can be seen in residential areas right now, often feeding on the ground under bird feeders.
American Robin bathing.
American Robin. They passed through here on migration in huge numbers a few weeks ago, but there are always quite a few that overwinter here, mostly in the river valleys.
Northern Flicker (male). A migratory woodpecker, but again there are always lots in Calgary in the winter – either some local breeders that overwinter, or birds that bred farther north and migrated this far. They will readily come to suet and nut feeders.
Downy Woodpecker (male). A year-round resident that also will come to feeders.
Coyote.
Black-backed Woodpecker. A bit of a rarity in the city, they are occasionally seen in the west end of Fish Creek Park, from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace. This one was photographed there on October 23, 2016.
Pileated Woodpecker (male). Another resident woodpecker.
Rough-legged Hawk. This is the common buteo in our region in the winter. They have arrived in good numbers from their northern breeding grounds. Most commonly seen outside the city, especially west of the city.
Black-capped Chickadee. Year-round resident.
Muskrat. They are active all winter in open water.
Mule Deer buck.
See more of Tony’s Photos on his Flickr page.
Share your bird photos from the Calgary area. Just email them to birdscalgary@gmail.com.
Bird and mammal photos taken by Tony LePrieur on September 11, 2016. The Wood Duck and Great Blue Heron were at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, and the rest were at Carburn Park.
Osprey.
Wood Ducks.
Great Blue Heron.
Belted Kingfisher.
Wilson’s Warbler.
Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Merlin.
Eastern Gray Squirrel.
American Mink.
Do you have some bird photos you’d like to share? Send them to our email address and we may post them on the blog.
Judi Willis photographed these Mule Deer bucks in the early morning sun on September 25 in South Glenmore Park, Calgary.
Resting in the grass.
Getting up.
A second buck.
Photos by Tony LePrieur, taken at Carburn Park in Calgary on September 4-5, 2016.
Can you identify the warblers? Put your ID’s and reasons in the comments.
House Wren.
Fall Warbler #1.
Fall Warbler #2.
Fall Warbler #3.
Fall Warbler #4.
Least Flycatcher.
Least Flycatchers.
Great Horned Owl.
White-tailed Deer.
Here are the last of Tony LePrieur’s summer photos from the Calgary area for this year.
Great Horned Owls, Fish Creek Park, August 12, 2016.
Black-crowned Night-Heron (juvenile), Fish Creek Park, August 12, 2016.
American Beaver, Fish Creek Park, August 12, 2016.
The remainder of the photos below were taken on the weekend of August 28, 2016, in Carburn Park and at Frank Lake.
Cedar Waxwings (juveniles).
Cedar Waxwings (juveniles).
Downy Woodpecker.
Western Grebes.
Western Grebe.
Solitary Sandpiper.
Baird’s Sandpiper.
American Avocet.
Lesser Yellowlegs.
A selection of mammals seen in and around Calgary in the last few months.
All photos by Tony LePrieur.
Coyote pair, Weaselhead, October 18, 2015.
Porcupine, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, October 25, 2015.
White-tailed Deer, Carburn Park, January 31, 2016.
White-tailed Deer, Carburn Park, January 31, 2016.
White-tailed Jackrabbit, Queen’s Park Cemetery, January 31, 2016.
Coyote, Weaselhead, January 31, 2016.
Meadow Vole, Weaselhead, February 27, 2016.
Meadow Vole, Weaselhead, February 7, 2016.
American Mink, Fish Creek Park, November 16, 2015.
Long-tailed Weasel, Fish Creek Park, November 15, 2015.
Long-tailed Weasel, Fish Creek Park, November 15, 2015.
Long-tailed Weasel, Fish Creek Park, November 16, 2015.
And finally, a Feral Rabbit at Frank Lake, April 10, 2016.
Posted by Dan Arndt
Following the first outing to search for the continuing rare birds at Carburn Park, we headed to Bebo Grove in search of a possible return of the Northern Pygmy-owl from last winter, or maybe a Barred Owl, or a little less charismatic, but nonetheless interesting American Three-toed Woodpeckers. While we didn’t find any of those three species, we did find a few more elusive birds in some of the best upland boreal habitat you can find in the city of Calgary.
Bebo Grove, January 17, 2016
Our morning got off to a relatively slow start, as our search for Bob, the leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch turned up empty, as did our search through the picnic area for either American Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers.
male Pileated Woodpecker
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Even a trip to the edge of Fish Creek itself was quiet and uneventful, until a last minute glimpse of a Pileated Woodpecker got our attention. We worked our way around the grove until everyone was able to get a good, unobstructed view of the bird, and as we left it there it was still working away on the same tree.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
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Mountain Chickadee
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Across the creek we headed to a feeding station where a pair of Mountain Chickadees had been seen throughout the week. One little surprise, and always welcome, were a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets singing away in the trees. They displayed for a few minutes, and while we were watching and listening, we also heard our first Boreal Chickadee songs from the dense trees.
Around the corner was the Mountain Chickadee location, and this individual looked a little bit rough around the edges. While it was feeding quite vigorously on the provided sunflower seeds, it gave us quite a few good looks out in the open. We may have seen a second individual there, but never two at the same time, so none of us had any certainty about there being two birds.
White-tailed Deer
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As we followed the creek east and north into the park, we nearly missed a trio of White-tailed Deer resting in the snow less than twenty meters off the path, but wide out in the open. It wasn’t until this young deer stood up and poked its head around the edge of the tree that we noticed it and the two older females nearby. These deer are in good numbers in the park this winter, and all appear to be relatively healthy!
immature Bald Eagle
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As we crossed Bridge 5 in search of Townsend’s Solitaires, owls, and other birds more common in the more open aspen stands north of the creek, we turned around to spot this young Bald Eagle soaring and circling above us on a thermal. With each circle it gained in elevation quite significantly, until it eventually reached its predetermined cruising altitude and it took off to the south.
Boreal Chickadee
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As we rounded out our morning in a particularly dense stand of spruce, we stopped at a particular feeding station which had been home to a rare overwintering Lincoln’s Sparrow, but try as we might, and wait as long as we did, it didn’t turn up for us to this location. We did have a good number of Black-capped Chickadees, and even had a few Boreal Chickadees turn up for a few minutes as the sun came out to greet them.
Bohemian Waxwings
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A little later on we stopped to listen as a flock of birds suddenly appeared above the tree-line and perched across the creek from us. A large group of Bohemian Waxwings, our first of the day, perched in the sun high on the side opposite us.
Red Squirrel
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Our last few minutes before we headed back to the parking lot to end the day was a search for some more American Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers, and while we had some evidence of fairly recent activity, the best we came up with was this little Red Squirrel chowing down on some spruce cones.
Here’s a special Christmas Day gift to our Birds Calgary readers!
Bobcats have reported many times in the past few years in SW Calgary, especially in the Weaselhead, South Glenmore Park, North Glenmore Park, and adjacent residential neighbourhoods. On December 13, Tony LePrieur was taking photos in the Weaselhead, and was lucky enough to see three of these beautiful wild cats together. There were four in the group, according to other observers that day. It appears to be an adult female and three young.
As Tony lay down on the ground to try to get a photo of one of the cats through the bushes, one of the young ones walked right up to him to a distance of about four feet. I think you’ll agree that he got some outstanding photographs!
Season’s Greetings from Pat, Bob and Dan!!