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City Nature Challenge Events

Apr23

Register now for CNC events this weekend.

The City Nature Challenge is unique in that anyone can participate anywhere in the area from April 26-29. But if you want to take part with an organized group there are many events being offered.

To contribute to the CNC you have to post your observations on the iNaturalist app or website. If you would like to learn how to use iNaturalist, or if you need a refresher or have any questions about the CNC, organizer Matt Wallace is offering a tutorial tonight, Tuesday April 23, at 7 pm. This will be done over Zoom. Here is the link to the meeting.

CNC Map
The CNC area includes Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Any iNaturalist obserations made in this area from April 26-29 will contribute to this project.

Matt has organized a number of events throughout the weekend. These include all-day blitzes, birding walks, and more specialized events such as pond study and a pollinator walk. Click the link below to see all the events!

Register for CNC events on this page!

For Nature Calgary members, there are three events on Sunday April 28 which are not full. These include a Birding Blitz on St. Patrick Island near the Zoo, a Bryophyte Blitz in the Weaselhead, and a Plant Walk in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. See this page to register.

City Nature Challenge

More information from Matt Wallace:

April 26-29 take photos of wild plants and animals in your yards, neighborhoods, and favorite parks. Then upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or to iNaturalist.ca before Midnight May 5. This is the sixth year I have organized the Calgary CNC and it has grown immensely. There are over 700 cities involved worldwide and we are competing with them to see how many observations we can make, the number of species we can document, and the number of people we can get to participate. The two metrics I am most concerned with for our area are the number of observations and the participants. 

My personal goal for CNC is that we can make a combined 10,000 observations or more during the four days. I also hope that we can make 250K observations by 2025 (We are currently at 169,000 observations just in Calgary). If each of us were to make even 10 observations over the weekend, we could make the CNC target and could be the top-performing Canadian city (49 participating Canadian cities this year).

The area which you can participate in during CNC includes: Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Participate in groups, at events or even go exploring on your own. Heck, make a “big day” out of the four days if you’re up for the challenge. I have helped to organize around 15 events across the region all happening Friday-Monday which can all be found on the website below.

Types of subjects we love to see shared on iNaturalist include Birds, Plants, Butterflies, Insects, Fungi, Lichens, Mosses, Mammals (pretty much everything and anything but NO people or pets).

See my previous 2024 CNC post here.

Have a fun weekend and help this project reach its goals!

Winter Birding Course

Dec5

The Winter session of the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society (FFCPPS) Birding Course begins on January 11, 2021. They are now taking registrations for this 11-week series of once-weekly field trips to parks throughout Calgary.

Bohemian Waxwing
Bohemian Waxwing. Photo by Dan Arndt.

This course is a great way to learn about the birds and the natural areas of Calgary. In winter, many birds are in large flocks, and are easier to find in the bare trees.

Some of the sessions are beginning to fill up but there are still many options. Here is more information from the FFCPP website:

Winter is one of the best seasons for getting outside to learn about birds and other wildlife. Brave the cooler weather and explore the world of birds in Fish Creek Provincial Park. The 11 week Winter Birding Course is perfect for anyone who wants to see and learn about birds in their natural habitat, and it provides an amazing opportunity for families to get together and experience nature here in Fish Creek.

The number of course participants will be limited and health and safety precautions will be in place. (Note: The participants are split into two or three smaller groups each day.)

  • Monday – Thursday course, limit of 27 participants – Please Note that the Tuesday class is now full to capacity
  • Saturday and Sunday mornings, limit of 25 participants
  • Sunday afternoon, limit of 20 participants

Each session lasts approximately 2.5 hours and participants can sign up for 1 or 2 outings per week.

Start times Monday – Thursday: 9:15 am. Saturdays: 9:00 am, Sundays: 9:00 am and 1:15 pm
Fee: Once a week outing, Friends of Fish Creek Members: $60.00, Non-members: $100.00 
Twice a week outings, Friends Members: $100.00, Non-members: $150.00 

See the website here for more information on the course or to register. You can also purchase a FFCPPS membership here.

FFCPP 2020 Winter Birding Course

Nov17

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park (FFCPP) is now taking registrations for the popular Winter session of the birding course, which runs from January 6 to March 29, 2020.

American Dipper
American Dipper. Photo by Ron Chiasson.

From FFCPP:

Winter is one of the best seasons for getting outside to learn about birds and other wildlife. Brave the cooler weather and explore the world of birds in Fish Creek Provincial Park. The 12 week Winter Birding Course is perfect for anyone who wants to see and learn about birds in their natural habitat, and it provides an amazing opportunity for families to get together and experience nature here in Fish Creek. 

Experienced birder David Mitchell and over 30 volunteers lead these outdoor courses. Each session lasts approximately 2.5 hours and participants can sign up for 1 or 2 outings per week.

Start times Monday – Thursday: 9:15 am. Saturdays: 9:00 am, Sundays: 9:00 am and 1:15 pm
Fee: Once a week outing, Friends of Fish Creek Members: $60.00, Non-members: $100.00 
Twice a week outings, Friends Members: $100.00, Non-members: $150.00 

Registration Required. For more information or to register, please see this page.

2019 Autumn Birding Course

Aug21

If you are new to birding and want to get out in the field with some experienced leaders, or if you are new to Calgary and want to see where to find the birds here, or if you just want to get out with a group of friendly birders and enjoy what you find, the Friends of Fish Creek birding course is for you!

Birding course

These popular outings have been going for many years now, and there are hundreds of Calgarians that go out every week to learn about birds. The groups go to a variety of birding hotspots in Fish Creek Park and in other parts of the city. Pick a day of the week and register to join! Outings begin the week of September 2!

See this page for more information and to register.

Field Trips for City Nature Challenge This Weekend

Apr19

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.”

FFCPPS Spring Birding Course 2019

Mar24
Mountain Bluebird, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, April 16, 2013. Photo by Dan Arndt.

The popular spring session of the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society (FFCPPS) Birding Course will begin on Monday April 1, 2019. The course consists of weekly field trips to various parks in the city. You can expect to see over 150 species on this twelve-week course.

Here is the course description from the FFCPP website:
During the spring, hundreds of bird species pass through or reside in Fish Creek Provincial Park. Through the Spring Birding Course you can see, hear and learn about fascinating bird species, view them as they return from their wintering grounds and enjoy watching new spring arrivals. Whether you are new to birding or are an experienced birder, these outdoor sessions will enhance your knowledge about birds and provide an opportunity to meet others who enjoy birds and nature. This course is also great for families who would like to spend time together in nature, explore Fish Creek and other natural areas, and learn about birds and conservation. Lifelong naturalist Gus Yaki, and other experienced birding instructors, conducts these outings as a fundraiser for the Friends of Fish Creek.

You can read more about the course and register to participate here.

This Birds Calgary post from last year shows photographs of some of the amazing birds that were seen during the 2018 spring session!

Winter Birding Course, January to March 2019

Dec9

Today is the last day of the Fall session of the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park birding course. After the Christmas season and all the local Christmas Bird Counts, the winter session of the course will begin on January 7, 2019 and run until the end of March. This is a great time of year to get out birding every week since you see the gradual transition from winter birding to spring migration. From late February to the end of March there are many new species arriving here every week.

White-winged Crossbill, Fish Creek Park, March 6, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

For more information and to register for the course, go to this page.

 

Is it Fall Already? Back to Birding.

Aug17

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

My summer hiatus is over! Fall migration is well underway, with a variety of warblers, vireos, and flycatchers being seen in Confederation Park and along the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Flocks of young Robins and Chipping Sparrows have been passing through my yard daily. We even had a brief view of a hummingbird in our yard, which rarely happens.

The fall birding course offered by the Friends of Fish Creek begins on September 3. See this page to register.

The Bird Study Group of Nature Calgary resumes their season on Wednesday September 5 with a presentation by local photographer Marcy Stader. See the new Nature Calgary website for information on this and all upcoming talks at their Bird Study Group, and in their regular Speaker Series, which resumes September 19.

See the Nature Calgary field trip page for upcoming outings you can join.

Birds & Beers resumes with a special August get-together, next Friday, August 24. Our usual day for these if Thursday so we hope some of you who can’t make it on Thursdays (Brenda?) will come out this time for a drink or meal and a chat about birding. Meet at the Horton Road Legion at 6 pm.

The remainder of the fall dates for Birds & Beers are: Thursday, September 13 (with a presentation by Phil Cram); Thursday November 1; Thursday November 29.

Most of you probably know about the Alberta Birds Facebook group, where birders and photographers can post photos of birds from anywhere in Alberta. There are over 10,000 members of this popular page. Recently a new Facebook group was started called Calgary Birds. This one features photos only from within the 80-km Calgary count circle. Check it out, and join if you want to contribute photos.

There is also a Facebook group created by Ethan Denton called Bow Valley Birding which focuses on the Banff/Canmore area. This will be of interest to many Calgary birders who regularly visit this area. To me it this page is always surprising since the birding is a little different there and they seem to find a lot of rarities.

Good Birding!

Winter Birding Course Starts January 8

Dec2

There is still time to register to take part in the Winter 2018 session of the Friends of Fish Creek birding course. Go out on field trips with experienced leaders once or twice a week for twelve weeks, and learn about the winter birds of Calgary. You will also see the early-arriving spring migrants.

White-winged Crossbill, Weaselhead Nature Area, February 7, 2016. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Field trips are held in several parts of Fish Creek Park, in Carburn Park, the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, the Weaselhead Nature Area, Bowmont Park, Griffith Wood Park, and other locations.

It is still only $5 for children (accompanied by a registered adult) for the whole twelve-week course! See this page for details on how to register.

Follow the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society on Facebook.

South Glenmore Park with the Friends of Fish Creek

Nov12

Posted By Bob Lefebvre

During the week of October 16 the Friends of Fish Creek birding course groups went to South Glenmore Park, to explore the south side of the Glenmore Reservoir and adjacent wooded areas. Some of the hoped-for target species on the water at this time of year were Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, Surf and White-winged Scoters, and Long-tailed Ducks. Trumpeter Swans and White-winged Scoters were seen, and other birders reported Long-tailed Ducks.

Below are some of the photos that Max Ortiz Aguilar took on the outing on Sunday morning that week. All Photos by Max Ortiz Aguilar, Glenmore Reservoir, October 21, 2017.

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe with fish.

Female Barrow’s Goldeneye.

Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Red-breasted Nuthatch.

To see more of Max’s photos, go to his Flickr page.

If you are interested in joining the Friends of Fish Creek birding courses, see this page. The Winter session begins on January 8, 2018, and they are now taking registrations.