Great Horned Owlets

Happy Mother’s Day from Birds Calgary!

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

A pair of Great Horned Owls have nested on Ramona Casault’s acreage west of Calgary for several years. Ramona calls the adults Winnie and Waldo. There are three chicks this year, the last of which hatched just last week.

According to Ramona, both parent owls have taken turns brooding the chicks, and now sometimes will both be outside the nest tree and leave the chicks for a while.

Cuteness overload! Happy Mother’s Day!

Video by Ramona Casualt.

Bob needs birdseed!

Or coffee. Thanks for your support!!

Eye For The Wild Photo Contest Supports Wildlife Rehabilitation

Mar6

CALGARY WILDLIFE REHABILITATION SOCIETY CELEBRATES WORLD WILDLIFE DAY BY KICKING OFF ITS ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST.

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.

In celebration of World Wildlife Day, an annual event that raises awareness about the plight of wild animals around the globe, Calgary Wildlife is resuming its annual wildlife photography contest, Eye For The Wild.

In its third year, Eye For The Wild photography contest is open to all amateur photographers to submit their best untouched photos of Alberta wildlife in their natural habitats. With over 500 species of wildlife that call Calgary home, natural habitats could include backyards, parks, and other city or natural spaces.

“This year’s World Wildlife Day celebrations seek to draw attention to the conservation status of endangered wild animals, and here in Alberta, we have a few,” says Melanie Whalen, Director of Animal Care at Calgary Wildlife, “including the Burrowing Owl and the Little Brown Bat. We hope that our Eye For The Wild contest will help draw attention to all the wild creatures that we are lucky enough to share space with here in Calgary,” says Whalen.

A ten dollar entry fee is required per photo and amateur photographers can submit up to three photographs. All proceeds raised from the contest go to helping injured and orphaned wildlife. This year’s winners will be chosen by The CBC Eyeopener’s David Gray, Norberg Hall co-director Shannon Norberg, Calgary artist Dean Stanton, professional wildlife photographer and videographer Darryl MacDonald, and Canadian artist and photographer Elyse Bouvier. Winners will be featured in Calgary Wildlife’s new print publication, its 2023 calendar, and on social media. The winners will also be awarded prizes donated by the following generous sponsors; Vistek, Donna Mac, Pandora’s Framing, The Camera Store, and The Wild Bird Store.

The Eye For The Wild contest runs from March 3rd until April 15th. For full contest details visit https://woobox.com/75gr7c

Also visit the CWRS website here.

Birders and the City Nature Challenge

Apr29

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.

Have fun!

City Nature Challenge 2021

Apr26

Once again Calgary (and the nearby communities of Cochrane, Okotoks, Airdrie, and Chestermere, plus Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park) will be participating in the City Nature Challenge. From April 30 to May 3, anyone can participate in this fun, important, and fast-growing citizen-science project. People in hundreds of cities around the world will be photographing plants, birds, mammals, and anything else in nature to capture a record of worldwide urban biodiversity.

White-crowned Sparrows should be around for the CNC. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

From the CNC 2021 Calgary Metropolitan Region website:

City Nature Challenge Calgary is back for the third year! Take photos of urban flora and fauna April 30-May 3 2021, then share to iNaturalist. Look for nature in your yards, neighborhoods, and local parks. Explore anywhere in Calgary, Cochrane, Okotoks, Airdrie, Chestermere, and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. Any photos taken April 30-May 3 and shared to iNaturalist before May 9 will be included. Join the 2021 iNaturalist Project to Stay up to date!

So starting on Friday morning, take as many photos as you can of birds, plants, insects, and any other living things. You will have until May 9 to upload your photos to iNaturalist.

Furry Friday: Another Bobcat

Sep28

Ron Chiasson recently found this beautiful Bobcat in north Calgary.

Bobcat

Bobcat, Calgary, September 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.

Bobcat

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

Bobcat, Calgary, September 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.

You can see more of Ron Chiasson’s photography here.

Furry Friday: More Pikas

Jul13

American Pikas photographed in July 2018 by Tony LePrieur.

Pika

Previous posts featuring American Pikas:

You can see more of Tony LePrieur’s photos on his Flickr page.

Winter Waxwings of Calgary – Cedar and Bohemian

Mar24

Posted by Bob Lefebvre. All photos by Ron Chiasson.

One of the awesome things about winter birding in Calgary in the chance to see flocks of up to 5000 Bohemian Waxwings in flight, feeding on berries and apples, or eating snow on rooftops.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Carburn Park, February 6, 2018.

These beautiful birds are only here in the winter, and their relatives, the Cedar Waxwings, are an uncommon summer breeder here. Although Cedar Waxwings are a late migrant, arriving in late May, and departing in October, there are usually some that attempt to overwinter here and they can sometimes be seen mixed in with the Bohemian Waxwings.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018, .

We usually find at least a couple of dozen Cedar Waxwings on the Calgary Christmas Bird Count. They seem to be concentrated in the Elbow Valley downstream from the Glenmore Dam. This year, there were quite a few in Carburn Park in the southeast, and in the north end of the city, in Confederation Park and Queen’s Park Cemetery. In February I saw a flock of 36 Cedars in a residential neighbourhood near those north-end parks.

Here are two shots of Ron’s that show the two species side-by-side:

Waxwing

Bohemian (left) and Cedar Waxwing (right), Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 6, 2018.

Waxwing

Bohemian (left) and Cedar Waxwing (right), Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 6, 2018.

These shots show some of the most obvious differences between the two: Bohemian Waxwings have cinnamon-red undertail coverts whereas Cedars have white; Bohemians are larger and more round-bodied than the sleek Cedars; Bohemians have a gray body including the belly, whereas Cedars are more brownish and have a pale yellow belly (sometimes white, but never gray). In the following shots you will also see that Bohemians have white tips on their wings (as well as red and yellow on adult birds) while Cedars only have the red tips (the wax) on adult birds and never show white in the wing.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing flock, Calgary, February 6, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Carburn Park, February 6, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 1, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 1, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwings, Confederation Park, March 1, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing portrait, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 6, 2018.

See more of Ron Chiasson’s photos here.

Furry Friday: Praying For Spring

Mar16

Richardson’s Ground Squirrels are beginning to come out of hibernation, right on schedule. But with the record snowfalls we’ve had, and more on the way, it must be a nasty shock for them. All photos were taken by Tony LePrieur just outside Calgary in early March.

Richardson's Ground Squirrel