Archives

“Every Little Thing”

Nov22

An inspiring film about Hummingbird rescue showing this weekend in Calgary – free tickets available!

The Calgary Underground Film Festival’s (CUFF) Documentary festival is on now, from November 20-24. This Sunday, November 24, they will feature the film “Every Little Thing” which is about a woman in Los Angeles who nurtures injured Hummingbirds.

Hummingbird

Film Description–

Amid the glamour of Hollywood, Los Angeles, a woman finds herself on a transformative journey as she nurtures wounded hummingbirds.

A film of joy and wonder, EVERY LITTLE THING offers profound truths in a deceptively simple story. In tending to these fragile yet resilient hummingbirds, Terry Masear finds a sense of healing from her own past. Follow Cactus, Jimmy, Wasabi, Alexa, and Mikhail, celebrating their small victories and lamenting their tiny tragedies. The compassion and empathy that Masear shows her Lilliputian charges serves as a lesson to us all — a reminder that in the smallest of acts, and in the tiniest of creatures, we might find grace.

The movie will play at the Globe Cinema at 4 pm on Sunday, November 24. You can buy tickets and read all the details here.

I have a few tickets to give away so if you are interested, email me at birdscalgary@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

The Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation Story

Sep17

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

At the Bird & Beers event in Calgary on September 9th, Caroline Lambert gave a presentation on the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation (RMERF), and the work they have been doing for thirty years, monitoring the migratory flights of eagles (and other birds) along the eastern edge of the Rockies. The discovery of this migratory corridor, along which thousands of Golden Eagles travel twice a year, is a fascinating story. A dedicated group of volunteers watches the skies spring and fall and records the birds passing over.

At the Birds & Beers presentation there was a technical problem which prevented the screening of a video about the RMERF. The 13-minute video can be seen here:

The RMERF Story from RMERF on Vimeo.

The RMERF relies on volunteers to monitor the birds. They welcome visitors to the site during their counts, so you can learn what is involved and work towards becoming a volunteer yourself. It’s a great place to visit! If you are interested in volunteering, or for more information, see the RMERF Website here. If you are not able to volunteer, you can support the Foundation with a donation.

You can follow the RMERF on Twitter and Instagram at @_eaglecount.

Online Film – Avian Summer

Jul19

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Photographer and filmmaker Rick Andrews has produced a wonderful wildlife documentary about some of our local birds. Avian Summer has fantastic high-resolution video of birds that migrate into Southern Alberta each spring, where they come to find a mate and raise the next generation, before migrating south again in the fall. Watch the trailer below.

Avian Summer by Rick Andrews – trailer.

The full film is available to rent or purchase on the Vimeo platform. The cost is $8 for a three-day rental, and $25 to buy. You can watch it on your phone, tablet, or computer. (I played it on my phone and streamed it to our TV, and it looked fantastic.) Proceeds from Avian Summer will benefit the Growing the Grassroots Endowment Fund in support of nature-based interpretive programming at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre in Lethbridge.

I really enjoyed this thirty-seven minute film. It focuses mostly on waterfowl, raptors, herons, and cranes, and a few songbirds. There are a lot of great sequences of birds raising their young.

Rick Andrews is a conservation wildlife photographer and filmmaker from Southern Alberta. He has many other excellent films available for free on Vimeo, so be sure to check them out. (It is free to sign up on Vimeo.) Rick’s collection of films showcases resident wildlife in Southern Alberta, including the full-length documentary Wildlife of the Oldman River Valley (2018), as well as several documentary shorts including Great Horned Owls (2020), Country Club Marmots (2019), and Lethbridge Wild Turkeys (2018).

Here is the poster from the film’s online premier, which was on June 25. The question & answer session with Rick is available to view on the Helen Schuler Nature Center Facebook page here.

Check out these excellent productions, and help support conservation in southern Alberta.

You can follow Rick Andrews on Facebook here.

Friends of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre Society.