More Birders Needed For the Calgary Christmas Bird Count.
Many of our regulars are away or busy with other events this year, so we have a bit of a shortage of birders to help with the count, which is next Sunday. We can use experienced birders who could lead the effort in a section of the city, or help with a field team in a section. Even if you are a novice birder you can help assist a field team. The more eyes the better! Plus we are always looking for more people to count birds at their backyard feeders. That can take as little as 30 minutes.
House Finch. A common backyard bird, but they all need counting! Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
You can register to participate in the count at this page. You may use this form even if you just want more information and may not take part this year. If you have any questions, you can email me at birdscalgary@gmail.com.
Thanks for helping out in this long-running Citizen Science project!
The Calgary CBC will take place on Sunday December 17. If you want to take part either as part of a Field Team or as a backyard Feeder Watcher, please fill out the registration form. People who particpated last year will have already received this by email. Please only register once!
CBC Coordinator Matthew Wallace has created a CBC2023 Registration Form for all participants to fill out. We know that it’s a bit of a pain to have to fill this out annually. However, it drastically reduces the number of emails Matt receives and helps him to keep all of the information better organized (and updated if there are changes to your contact information). Please feel free to share the form with anyone you know who may be interested in taking part! The form is for ALL participants (Field Teams and Feeder Watchers).
Note that to be a Feeder Watcher, recording birds in your yard, you have to live within the Count Circle, which does not include the entire city. We will inform you if you resgister as a Feeder Watcher and your address lies outside the circle.
Great Horned Owl photographed by Matthew Wallace on last year’s Calgary CBC. December 19, 2021, Tsuut’ina Nation, Calgary.
Below is more information about the count from Matt Wallace:
Calgary Count Day: Sunday, December 17, 2023
As you know, we have two divisions for people to participate. Field Teams and Feeder Watchers. Both are critical roles for us to be able to get adequate coverage of the circle area. Below is a brief summary of the roles. I also want to thank both Lara Fitzpatrick and Bob Lefebvre for agreeing to assist with compilation of all of your data submissions!
Field Teams: Field Teams are composed of a circle Section Leader and section teams which help to survey a specific region of the circle. Leaders are generally carried forward from previous years but we often require a handful of NEW leaders to assist in circle areas which are unable to participate in any given year. The teams of volunteers communicate with their leaders to find out where they will survey. Sometimes this is as a group and other times teams are split up to cover their section. Each year we try our best to get everyone who has expressed interest in joining field teams out in the field and in an area of the city that they are interested in (BUT this is not always possible due to having too many people in one section and not others). Participants who are assigned to teams will be contacted by their Section Leaders to coordinate meeting locations or objectives (i.e. areas to search) in early December. Any late registrations will be offered spots where we are lacking participants. Trust me when I say we’ll do our best to get you in a zone that’s interesting but please have an open mind and be willing to travel if needed.
Field Team Data Submission: Once again, we are using eBird to submit our information: bird data (All birds identified and counted). Effort Data is collected by the section leaders for the entire team and is submitted via email using a template.
On the form this year I included a “Comments” section where you can express any interest in potentially being a new field leader.
Feeder Watchers:
FWs are responsible for counting birds at their properties on count day (Dec. 17). Feeder Watchers must reside or be participating at a residence within the count circle for us to be able to use the data. The minimum time required for counting birds is 30 minutes over the course of the day. This can be as a single session or broken up at various times throughout the day. Counting for longer than 30 minutes is encouraged! There is a specific methodology into how birds are counted as an FW. So if you register to be an FW, we will send out instructions into how this works prior to the count.
Feeder Watcher Data Submission: FW data is collected using templates and submitted back via email.
Count Week (December 14-20):
The CBC is essentially a census of all of the birds within our area. Occasionally, we can miss a couple rare birds so count week is an opportunity to scout locations and pick up any birds we may have missed. If you see any interesting birds during this period, please email me directly [citynatureyyc@gmail.com] so that we can include them as “Count Week” birds or notify section leaders to try and find them on count day!
The Calgary May Species Count is next Weekend, Saturday May 27 and Sunday May 28. There are a few routes still uncovered this year. You have a choice of several small city areas or some larger rural routes. You can do the count either day. Simply cover the area as well as you can, while recording all species of birds you can identify, and the numbers of each. While eBird is the preferred way to do this, you will still be able to participate and submit your observations for the count if you don’t use eBird.
The count organizer, Andrew Hart, will be able to give you more details on each route and on the procedure for the count. If you are interested, contact Andrew by email at andrewhartch@icloud.com, or by phone at (403) 608-8918.
Red-tailed Hawk with Garter Snake, Longview Area, 2017 May Species Count. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
City Routes Available:
Confluence Park. This is the area along the two branches of Nose Creek just north of Beddington Trail and west of Deerfoot Trail. There are paved paths throughout and it is a great area for birds.
Nose Hill North. This part of Nose Hill has never been covered so if you know the area, you can really contribute.
Twelve-Mile Coulee. A really nice area on the eastern side of Tuscany in the far NW.
Paskapoo Slopes. A significant wild area of the city near Canada Olympic Park. It has many hills and ridges and can be tough walking.
Nose Creek Valley. Another area along Nose Creek.
St. Patrick’s Island and Princes Island. Two adjacent parks in the downtown on the Bow River. I know many people have been attending all the birding walks on St. Patrick’s Island, so one of you should be able to cover this!
I spend one of the two count days doing a large rural route, and the other day going to a few small city areas. If someone wants some nice city routes or is familar with the areas, I would give them up so I could help on a larger rural route. The city routes are:
Bridlewood Pond. A really nice set of two small ponds where you can get up close and personal with the birds. Located on the SE edge of Bridlewood, just north of 22X near Spruce Meadows.
Strathcona Ravines. Two adjacent ravines in Strathcona in the west end. Really nice area to walk.
Rural Routes – refer to the numbered map areas below:
Area 15 – Water Valley South. Quite a different habitat than you find in the city.
Area 18 – Kananaskis – Mount Lorette. This is the spot where the Golden Eagle count is conducted.
19b – SW of Cochrane. Not too far out of the city.
30 – Didsbury East Bluebird Trail. The far northeast edge of the circle.
32 – Strathmore North. The eastern edge of the circle.
37 – Acme/Carbon. A large rural area, also in the northeast near the Didsbury area.
We want to cover the count circle as completely as possible. Please contact Andrew if you have any interest in this count, or if you may be interested in future years.
Wanted: Plant, fungus, insect, and bacteria experts!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The 5th annual City Nature Challenge took place last week, from April 28 to May 1. The period for making observations has ended, but participants have until midnight on Sunday May 7 to upload their photos. Many of us are still working on that. In addition, all the observations need to be identified and have at least two people agree on the species to be considered Research Grade. You can help with this!
But first an update on where the challenge stands. Calgary is doing very well again, and has set new city records for the number of observations, species recorded, and participants. Matthew Wallace, the organizer of the Calgary CNC, had set a goal of 10,000 observations made in the Calgary area. Although we are not there yet, we are close.
Although the CNC is not really a competition between cities due to differences in climate, habitats, and human populations, nevertheless we should note that Calgary is among the Canadian leaders in total observations made, and may well finish with the most. On Monday evening Montreal was leading with 6,516 observation, with Victoria at 6,344 and Calgary in third place with 6,137. As of late Friday (May 5) Calgary has taken the lead among Canadian cities:
It’s interesting to look at the statistics for the Global CNC:
Over 64,000 observers made 1.75 million observations and identified over 55,000 species worldwide in the four days. The numbers from the leading city, La Paz in Bolivia, are staggering! Over 3,000 people made 122,000 observations and identified over 5,000 species! It shows the difference that climate and geography make, but it also shows what can be achieved with a year-round concerted effort to get people involved. La Paz has a metropolitan population of about 2 million, so it is comparable to Calgary.
Below are the statistics for Calgary as of late Friday. So far, 760 species have been reported by 336 observers. Identifications have been provided by 392 people.
Once again Matthew Wallace was extremely busy on the weekend, making over 1,100 observations and recording 214 species (so far). But many others have also made hundreds of observations and recorded over 100 species each.
As you can see above, the Prairie Pasqueflower (the familiar spring crocus) is by far the most commonly reported species. Usually it is Mallard in first place, but the unusually hot and dry weather this year means that there were more early flowering plants reported, and more insects as well. This is where you come in.
When a photo is uploaded to iNaturalist, the artificial intelligence will try to identify it, and the observer can accept one of the suggestions or, if they know the species, can write it in or override a suggestion. Then all the other iNaturalist users in the world are able to view the observation, and agree with the identification or suggest an alternate one. Once an observation is uploaded with date, location, and a photo or sound file (and is wild or uncultivated), it is labelled “Needs ID.” Observations become “Research Grade” once 2/3 of identifiers agree on a species-level (or lower) ID. These are then eligible to be used in research projects.
There have been many observations submitted for the Calgary CNC that do not yet have a species-level ID, so are not Research Grade (this is normal; we want to get the photos of every species we can, whether we can confidently identify it or not. Identification comes later). All of the yellow ones below (about 3,000 observations) need additional identification. (Casual observations are not eligible for Research Grade. An example is a captive animal or cultivated plant.)
Any iNaturalist user can help to identify our observations from the CNC, or from anywhere in the world at any time. To see the Calgary observations, go to the Calgary Project Page. Click on the Observations tab, then “Identify.”
Here you can agree with the observer’s ID, or suggest another. See what the AI suggests. Where there are multiple photos of a species (like the Canadian Beaver, which has 3 photos) you can view them all. The filter set is the Calgary CNC region, but you can click that and set many more filters. For example, you might only be confident identifying birds, so you can set it to show only those. Birds are often quite easy to ID and there is a big birding community, so most of the bird observations quickly become Research Grade. But there are some unusual ones or less-than-perfect photos that still need ID for you keen birders. You can set a filter for “Needs ID” and only those will come up.
The Filters tab on iNaturalist. I set it to show reptiles that need ID and have photos.
If you are a plant, fungus, insect, or bacteria expert, there are many more observations that need to be verified. So if you think you can help, please open an account on iNaturalist Canada and give it a try! As I said, the project is complete at midnight on Sunday, but you can continue to contribute identifications (and observations!) to iNaturalist year-round. I find it is a lot of fun and a great way to learn to identify more species of all kinds.
For those of you who are interested in taking part in bioblitzes like the City Nature Challenge, the next such local event on iNaturalist is the Metro Calgary Biodiversity Challenge from June 8-11. See the project page for more information.
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!!
More birders needed to help to monitor bird populations in the area, May 27-28.
From organizer Andrew Hart.
The Calgary Area May Species Count is held on the last weekend of May. Teams of observers will count birds in about 80 count areas in the 80 km circle centered on Calgary. There are still some areas that need to be covered. Some of these may be parks within the city, or larger rural areas.
Eastern Kingbird, Longview area, May Species Count 2022. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
We are always in need of new participants. If you would like to participate this year please reply to the email address or phone number below confirming your availability and also whether you would prefer to team up with an established group or try an area on your own. Could you also confirm if anyone else will be in your team, or if you would like me to try and find you some additional participants to join you.
To register or if you have any questions please contact me by email (andrewhartch@icloud.com) or at (403) 608-8918.
Take part in this Citizen Science Project in the Calgary area from April 28 – May 1, 2023.
From organizer Matthew Wallace:
The fifth annual City Nature Challenge Calgary event will take place April 28-May 1, 2023! After five years, we’ve seen the success that CNC can have for engaging Calgarians with their local environments and we hope to make this the biggest event yet! Expect more cities than ever participating from around the world.
April 28-May 1, be sure to get outside and make observations of flora and fauna by taking photos and posting them to iNaturalist (web or app). Observations must be posted by Midnight May 7 to be included. Cities around the world will compete to see which can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people! We need your help to activate your communities!
Encourage your friends, family, and neighbours to make as many observations as possible during the four-day window. We will be hosting public bioblitzes across the city with the support of local stewardship groups. If you have an interest in hosting, sponsoring, or simply participating in an event, please contact us at citynatureyyc@gmail.com and keep your eye on our website www.citynatureyyc.ca for all the information and news.
You can also follow news about the Calgary CNC on this Facebook page. Click the “Going” button and follow the group.
You can follow the progress of the Calgary effort from April 28-May 1 on this iNaturalist site.
Taking part in the CNC is as easy as taking pictures of any wildlife, and uploading the photos to iNaturalist. It is easy to use the iNaturalist app on a smart phone. You can spend the four-day challenge window taking photos, and then we have until May 7 to identify everything using the iNaturalist AI and the worldwide commununity of naturalists who use the site. If you are unable to participate or if you live outside of the Calgary CNC areas, you can still particpate by identifying everything that is submitted.
A poor photo of Grey Partridge I took in east Calgary during the 2022 CNC. But every species counts! Photo by Bob Lefebvre
The cities, towns, and other areas that comprise the Calgary region for the purposes of the CNC are Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Foothills County, Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, High River, Okotoks, Rocky View County, and the City of Calgary. Any observations made in these areas will count for the challenge.
The Calgary CNC Region for 2023.
Last year, there were over 460 cities all over the world taking part in this friendly challenge. Over 67,000 observers reported over 50,000 species in 1.7 million iNaturalist observations. It really is a great way to document and monitor the world’s biodiversity.
Matthew has set a goal for the Calgary region of 10,000 iNaturalist observations in the four-day period. He would like to have 1,000 observers so if we can reach that goal, we should easily get to 10,000 observations. Last year we had 6,200 observations with only about 200 observers. It doesn’t take long to take even 50 or 100 photos and submit them. So please plan to take part in your yard, in a park, or anywhere in the area.
If you have any promotional ideas or would like to host a CNC event or field trip, please email Matthew at citynatureyyc@gmail.com. I plan to lead an outing or two so you could also join me then.
I’ll have more on the City Nature Challenge closer to the event.
Planning for the May Species Counts is already under way. There are two southern Alberta counts besides the Calgary one that many Calgarians take part in – Brooks/Lake Newell, and Milk River/Writing-on-Stone. The Brooks count is in its 24th year and MR/WOS is in its 22nd. The organizers would like to get more people participating in both counts. Since birders from the city have to arrange accomodation for these, you have to start your planning now. (Note that the Calgary count is May 27-28, the same weekend as Writing-on-Stone, so you will have a choice to make.)
Below is the information about the counts and booking camping. There is more information in the attached brochures. If you have questions, please contact the count organizers.
Lark Sparrow. Photo by Bob Lefebvre, May 31, 2020.
_____________________________________________
Hello Alberta Bird Counters! We are pleased to announce that the 2023 Brooks and Writing-on-Stone Bird Counts will take place on the following dates:
· Brooks-Lake Newell Bird Count: Sat. May 20 and Sun. May 21
· Milk River – Writing-on-Stone Bird Count: Sat. May 27 and Sun. May 28
If you plan on camping we highly recommend booking early!
Tillebrook Provincial Park: general reservations for May 19-21 will open at 9 am on Saturday February 18. www.reserve.albertaparks.ca or 1-877-537-2757
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park: general reservations for May 26-28 will open at 9 am on Saturday February 25. www.reserve.albertaparks.ca or
1-877-537-2757
Note: a small non-refundable fee of $12 per person will be charged to all Brooks participants to help cover the rental of the Brooks Legion meeting room.
Please indicate interest in participating to Debra Hornsby in advance of registration. Registration forms will be emailed by March 27. The 2023 count brochure provides further information and a draft count schedule.
We look forward to seeing all of you — and thousands of migrating birds — at the end of May!
To indicate interest contact: debra.hornsby.banff*@*gmail.com
More information: Donna Wieckowski astolat*@*shaw.ca
Next Friday will be the first Birds & Beers meeting of the new year. We meet at 6 pm at the Horton Road Legion. Everyone is welcome to come.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Friday January 13, 2023, 6:00-9:00 pm
Nesting Red-necked Grebes at the Bridlewood Wetland, Calgary, May Species Count 2021. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Aftere an hour or so of socializing, eating, and drinking, there will be a presentation by Andrew Hart and Lara Fitzpatrick on the Calgary May Species Count. They will present the history of the count and how it has evolved since its inception in 1976. They will discuss the areas that are covered, how the count is organized, and how and why they have migrated to eBird for data collection. Then the actual 2022 results will be shown, as well as a look ahead to how things may evolve for 2023.
Fish Creek Provincial Park half-day count needs more birders!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Each year on January 1st there is a half-day bird count done in Fish Creek Provincial Park. Team of birders go out to sevearal locations in the park, and we count all the species we can find, and the numbers of each. We find around 35-40 species on average.
The resident pair of Great Horned Owls in our section of Fish Creek Provincial Park, 2008. Sometimes we find one or two of the owls on the count, and sometimes not. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Jim Washbrook has organized the count for several years, and he invites interested birders to contact him to join one of the field teams. You can email Jim at jwashbrook1{at}gmail.com.
The Fish Creek count is not an official Christmas Bird Count (CBC). CBC’s take place each year within a fixed 15-mile diameter (24 km diameter) circle. CBC circles cannot overlap, and the Calgary count circle, which lies just north of Fish Creek Park, was established in 1952. Due to the long east-west geography of the park and its proximity to the Calgary circle, there is no way to fully enclose the park within another CBC circle.
The Calgary area showing the CBC circle, with Fish Creek Park (more or less!) outlined just south of the circle.
The Fish Creek Count was started in 1994 to document the changes in bird populations within the park in winter. As you can see below, species numbers, number of participants in the count, and of course temperature, can fluctuate from year to year.
Jim would like to increase the number of participants so that we can fully cover all the areas in the park. You will be placed in one area, with a team led by an experienced birder. Teams meet in their areas and begin at 9 am, and finish by noon. Maybe this year all the teams can again meet to compare notes afterwards, as we always did pre-pandemic. It looks like the weather will be pretty good, so it will be a great opportunity to come out and give it a try! And it’s a great way to kick-start your birding year!
