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Update on the MacLeod Trail Osprey Nest

Jun21

This is a a guest post from one of our readers, who cared enough about the Ospreys to contact Enmax about the nest removal. Thank you for your email Susan.

Hi there. I know a lot of people were concerned about the Osprey nest that was removed from the top of an Enmax pole on MacLeod trail just south of Canyon Meadows Drive.  Thought I’d send this your way for your information.

I just got off the phone with Doris Koffman at Enmax, she is in the Environmental department, and is very well informed about the Osprey, not only on MacLeod trail but in other areas of the city. I felt very confident with the conversation I had with her in that I felt she answered the questions we had about the removal of the Osprey nest on MacLeod Trail.

I asked her why Enmax had removed the nest, and if there were eggs or fledglings in the nest.  Doris told me that there were no eggs nor fledglings in the nest at all. You probably are aware when Enmax “cleaned” up the nest 10 days to 2 weeks ago. It was posing a significant fire/electrical hazard, not only to the public but also to the osprey themselves as they have a very large wing span that could very easily come in contact with 2 wires at the same time, which, if this happened, the bird would not have survived.  Just recently, somewhere else in Calgary an osprey nest had become fully engulfed in flames when it came into contact with the power lines. I asked her again if there were any babies or eggs in our MacLeod Trail nest and she assured me that there weren’t and that this pair of osprey were likely infertile.

She mentioned that Enmax puts up alternative electric-less poles for the sole purpose of relocating birds of all types and that directly across MacLeod Trail into Fish Creek park there is a potential site for one of these poles for the Ospreys.

She seemed as genuinely concerned about the Osprey as we have been so I guess it was all in the name of safety, thankfully we can still see these beautiful birds flying around that area and they are still around to fly another day.

Thought I’d pass this on to you, not sure how or where else we could put this message for all the other concerned Osprey fans.

Regards, Susan LeBlanc

Sunday Showcase: Calgary Birds

May22

More stunning photographs of birds in the Calgary area, this time sent to us by Terry Chiddy. Thanks for sharing! Click pictures for a larger view.

American Avocet

Northern Flicker

Common Megansers

Osprey

Swainson’s Hawk

May15

While we were at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary doing our Big Sit, we came across a very interesting sight. There, perched on the ground, maybe ten feet off the path, was a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk. The dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk has a dark-brown colour over most of its body; the more common light morph has a brown bib contrasting with white underparts. This particular hawk had a Richardson’s Ground Squirrel clutched in his claws and was regarding all the photographers and interested visitors with a haughty look.

This Swainson’s Hawk intrigued many visitors to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.

And there he sat; for over an hour we were told, he had stayed in the same spot. He finally got tired of all this hustle and bustle, deciding to try to find a quieter place to enjoy his meal in peace. However, he had not counted on catching such a heavy meal…

 Attempted take-off

After he couldn’t achieve lift-off by taking a running leap, he tried a different tactic: taking off from the spot where he stood.

Flap!!!

Well that didn’t work either…

The hawk then decided that, seeing as he wasn’t going anywhere with his meal, he might try to eat it right then and there. And that’s what he did. He hopped back a couple of feet with his meal, to a slightly more secluded area and began to eat.

 Here, he shields his meal from potential thieves.

Hopefully his meal didn’t weigh him down too much after he ate it; otherwise, he might not be able to take off again!!!

Posted by Matthew Sim

The Osprey Cam – They’re Back!

May3

For over 16 years, a pair of nesting Osprey has built their summer home on a platform constructed by the Calgary Zoo atop a pole erected by ENMAX Power Corporation. The platform is located at the extreme east end of St. George’s Island.

Birdwatchers have access to a bird’s eye view of an Osprey nest via a high-resolution webcam, thanks to an arrangement between the Calgary Zoo and ENMAX Corporation.

The live streaming camera captures in full cycle the birds’ dramatic seasonal milestones, from nest building and mating rituals, to egg laying, incubation, hatching, feeding and fledging, a period of intense activity that is all centred at the nest between April and September.

Watch the Osprey nest camera live, 24 hours a day (If you click the icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video, it will go to full screen size. To leave full screen view, hit the Esc key on your keyboard)

There is also an Osprey Blog following the action in this nest

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Birds of Frank Lake

Apr12

Thank you to David Lilly for sending us these amazing pictures taken at Frank Lake on April 9/11.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Tundra Swan displaying

Rough-legged Hawk

Posted and species identified by Pat Bumstead