Photos from Marg Matheson and Alan Plumb. Thanks for sending these beautiful shots, folks!
The bills on these Evening Grosbeaks are just starting to turn green. They change from the bone colour of winter to a deciduous-bud green in early spring.
This beautiful gray Gyrfalcon was seen just west of Fort Macleod.
Normally thought of as living only in British Columbia, the range of the Chestnut-backed Chickadee does extend – just barely – into southwestern Alberta.
Photos taken by Rob English near Highwood House, SW of Calgary, in June 2012.
Here are a couple of shots of a male Rufous Hummingbird taken at the same time, to show the difference. For more of Rob’s photos of a male Rufous, see this post.
Mitchell Kranz spotted this juvenile Golden Eagle on January 20 near Lake McGregor, northeast of Vulcan.
The same day, he also saw no less than 15 Snowy Owls between there and Blackie.
You can see more of Mitchell’s photos here.
More wonderful Rob English photos of a Great-horned Owl, Horned Larks and Snow Buntings taken near Blackie, AB the last week of December.
Two of the resident male Wood Ducks at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Photos taken in summer 2012 by Laurie Rutter.
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!
You have to be amazingly lucky and very quick with a camera to get a photograph of a wild weasel. Glenn Alexon has managed to snap not one but two excellent portraits of local weasel species.
Here is a Long-tailed Weasel seen by the administration building at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on one of our Friends of Fish Creek birding walks, September 9, 2011.
The most widespread weasel in the western hemisphere, Long-tailed Weasels are sleek, long bodied hunters 20-26 cm long, with a tail measuring half to two thirds of their body length. Summer coats vary from rich chocolate to rusty brown, with creamy white to yellowish underparts. Northern populations moult to pure white in winter, but their tail always has a black tip, regardless of coat colour. Southern populations do not change colour in winter.
Living from southern Canada to northwestern Brazil, these animals have the greatest habitat tolerance of any American weasels. They can be found in virtually all habitats, from Arctic-alpine to tropical, and are absent only from true desert and agricultural areas. They are most abundant in open woodland, brushland, and grasses and meadows near water.
Glenn has also managed to photograph a Short-tailed Weasel on the back of Sulphur Mountain in Banff.
Called Ermine or Stoat in Europe, Short-tailed Weasels measure 17-34 cm. Their coats are rusty to chocolate brown with white undersides, and the tail has a black tip. Northern populations moult to white in the winter, but retain the black tail tip. In North America, they are smaller than the Long-tailed Weasel with a proportionately shorter tail, and the two species occupy the same geographic areas.
Found throughout the northern hemisphere in North America, Eurasia and Greenland, Short-tailed Weasels occur in a wide range of habitats from Arctic tundra to semi-desert, and sea level to 3,000 m. Unlike the Long-tailed Weasel, the Short-tailed can also be found on farmland and pasture, preying on the abundant rodent population.
To see more wonderful wildlife photos from Glenn, have a look at his Wildlife of Alberta Flickr page, and be sure and see the kissing marmot photo while you’re there!
Did you miss Weasel Wednesday? See our most popular post ever here!
These excellent photos of our winter birds were sent to us by Greg Earle. Thanks for sharing!
Rob English photographed this beautiful bird that his wife spotted on Grand Valley Road in mid-July.
