No Costume Needed: Meet the Northern Shrike, the Bird of Halloween

By Catherine Warwick

The most “Halloween” bird around is the Northern Shrike, aka, the “butcher bird”. Although it is a Passerine, which is a perching songbird, it has rejected the usual cutesy song-bird personality and instead is a merciless hunter. Not only does it hunt other birds, but it is known to rip its kill to shreds and impale pieces of the body on barb wire fences and tree branches. I don’t think a bird can get more grisly than that, it would even make a Crow shudder. It needs no costume to strike fear in a little bird’s heart, however it does sport a small black mask and a heavy hooked beak.

The Northern Shrike will scout out a nest or mouse hole and wait to strike. If it’s after a flying bird it may force it to the ground with its feet. Then it makes the kill with its hooked beak. In its upper bill (at the front) it has a vampirish toothlike spike, called a tomial tooth, that it uses to break the necks of its prey.

The Shrike spends its summer in the far north and just comes to Calgary for the winter, that’s how tough it is. Apparently, it finds our “balmy” -20°C days pleasant.

Ron saw the pictured Northern Shrike at Carburn Park last winter. Shrikes are known to return to the same winter territory year after year, so keep an eye out; you might see this tiny terror perched high atop a tree, scanning for its next victim.

In the summer they will head back to the far north to nest. One sweet fact about this bird – their nest is a deep cup that, when the female is in it, only her tail can be seen.

This winter get your binoculars ready to see a real horror icon: the Northern Shrike.

-Cathy

Note: The Northern Shrike has a summertime lookalike, the Loggerhead Shrike. Northern Shrikes are in our area from early October to late April. Loggerheads arrive in mid-May and can sometimes be seen into September. There is the possibility of a little overlap in May and September. Loggerhead Shrikes are a little smaller than Northerns, and have a clear breast without the barring of the Northern. They have a smaller bill with a tip that is less hooked, but they share the feeding habits of the Northern Shrike. -Bob

Elegance Defined: the Townsend’s Solitaire

Feb9

By Cathy Warwick

Down by the river in Sandy Beach there lives a couple of Townsend’s Solitaire. The Solitaire belongs to the Thrush family and so it’s no surprise that it looks very similar to a Robin. Same size, same grey body, good posture and big black eyes. It is just missing the big red belly, an easy giveaway. If you take a closer look you will also see that the Solitaires’ eyes have an elegant white ring around them.

These Sandy Beach birds must have found a good patch of Juniper Berries and set up shop around them. The Solitaire loves Juniper Berries, especially in the winter. According to “All About Birds” a Solitaire will eat between 42,000 to 84,000 berries a winter. I’m not sure how they came up with those numbers but at the very least we know it’s a heck of a lot of Juniper berries! They very aggressively defend their berries from all other birds, including Robins and other Solitaires.

Part of their defense is singing their beautiful song. I’m not sure if the ones in Sandy Beach have little competition or what but, unhappily, they are very quiet. This is too bad because the Townsend’s Solitaire has one of the most beautiful bird songs around. If you tried to bring to mind a beautiful birdsong, it would probably sound like this bird. It’s a lot like a Robin but more complex and varied. Maybe if I started conspicuously eating their Juniper Berries they will start singing. It would be worth the bitter taste to hear them.

The ‘Solitaire’ in its name refers to its solitary nature. It’s not sharing those Junipers with a flock of other birds. They prefer to stick it out alone or in a pair. When they nest it is usually in a sheltered hollow on a cliff side. The female bird will use pine needles to build the nest and then line it with grasses and bark, making it soft for the 3 to 5 babies she will have. According to the internet the babies are speckled and rather cute. Of course I’ve never seen a nest or a Townsend Solitaire chick with my own eyes, it’s hard enough to see the adults!

So take a walk down in Sandy Beach, on the west side of the bridge in the trees, to find them and add them to your life list. They like to perch at the top of trees, where they can better protect their Juniper crop.

Yellow Warbler and Nest

Jun16

Local photographer Judi Willis found this Yellow Warbler and its nest this week in the Calgary area.

Here is one of the pair in the nest:

This is a pretty typical spot for a Yellow Warbler nest – usually in a fork of branches in a bush like this willow, and commonly only ten feet off the ground or so. The nest seems large for a Yellow Warbler, with a lot of material hanging down (animal hair?).

Below is the nesting bird again.

Introducing Ethan Denton

Oct8

Posted by Ethan Denton

Hi, I’m Ethan Denton, also known under the pseudonyms BirdBoy and previously BirdBoyCanada. Some of you may know me from other places – notably my website birdboy.ca – but here’s some information for those who don’t.

I’m a long-time birder and amateur photographer hailing from Canmore, Alberta. I don’t go in for super-expensive equipment (as a 13-year old buying all his own stuff, I simply can’t afford it), but I have a decent scope and camera, and I’m in the market for new binoculars.

I have been coordinating the Canmore half of the Banff-Canmore Christmas Bird Count for the last three years, and in 2016 I organized the Bow Valley’s first ever CBC4Kids, or Kids Christmas Bird Count. I have attended the BowKan Bird Counts since age 6, and I have missed only one of these bi-annual events.

I post regularly about my experiences, birding events in Southern Alberta, and anything else that I find interesting in the birding world on birdboy.ca, and I am currently working on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Home Study Course in Bird Biology. If you have any questions or comments, about me or my work, feel free to email me at birdboy.ca@gmail.com!

Why does this matter? Well, from now on, I will be an occasional poster here, on Birds Calgary! Exhibiting photos and events, profiling interesting species, and other things along those lines – not a lot, but just enough to be a consistent contributor. Here are a few of my more recent photos – I know looking at lots of words can be a bit dull!

Western Tanager, Canmore, August 21, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton

Common Merganser, Canmore, September 30, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton

The end of Winter in the Weaselhead and North Glenmore Park

Apr18

Posted by Dan Arndt

For our last outing for our Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding group, we headed to the Weaselhead and North Glenmore Park to see what winter birds remained, and if any spring migrants had shown up around the Glenmore Reservoir and in the Weaselhead itself. While many of our winter birds had already left, a few die-hards were still around in good numbers, and we definitely were not disappointed with the numbers of spring birds we found all around the park.

Weaselhead – March 20, 2016

We headed down into the Weaselhead first thing, checking the feeders along the way. I had headed down before our group to fill some of the feeders, and managed to spot an overwintering American Goldfinch, but when the rest of our group headed down as a whole all of the feeders were completely devoid of activity. Part of the reason for the vacancy is that now that the weather has turned, the birds were not quite as reliant on the feeders as insects had begun to hatch, and caches stored during the winter would provide plenty of food. We did have one little fellow who turned up, as always, at the tail end of the winter session.

Least Chipmunk

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Fresh from his winter hibernation, this Least Chipmunk seemed completely oblivious to our presence as he stuffed his face full of black-oil sunflower, peanuts, and various other seeds I’d placed at the feeder earlier in the morning. I just love how much character these little mammals have, and how single-minded they can be when they first wake up.

female Hairy Woodpecker

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While she wasn’t right at the feeder, this Hairy Woodpecker was hanging out nearby, hammering a hole in the side of this tree to pick out a tasty meal.

male House Sparrow

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A little further down the path and across the bridge we found this male House Sparrow and his mate picking out some twigs, grass and leaves to make their nest for the coming season. Given where they were loafing about, they may have even been considering setting up shop in one of the Cliff Swallow nests on the bridge!

American Tree Sparrow

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American Tree Sparrow

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Before we turned around to head back up the hill, we stopped and checked the logs and information signs that have been used all winter as a feeding station, and sure enough we found some American Tree Sparrows singing away in the brush, and coming out to feed. These little sparrows have an amazing song, and are just as striking to look at.

American Wigeon

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We headed back up the hill and off to the east end of the Glenmore Reservoir to find our returning migrants, and were not disappointed on the first pond. A pair of American Wigeon were floating along the back end of the pond, well away from the Canada Geese and Mallards who were clearly set up on their nesting territories closer in.

immature White-winged Crossbill

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immature White-winged Crossbill

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immature male White-winged Crossbill

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While we were scanning the ponds for waterfowl, sparrows, and anything else we could find, we heard a flock of late White-winged Crossbills in the spruce trees to the north, picking through the few remaining cones that had made it through the winter. Both males and females were in fine form, with the majority of the birds being immature, and as always, seemed to be completely oblivious to our presence.

Canada Geese harassing some Mallards

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These Canada Geese seemed to have their feathers ruffled by the Mallards (in the shade of the rock on the left). It wasn’t until the Mallards had simply had enough and moved on that the geese left them alone. Seeing these inter-species interactions is always a treat, and late winter and early spring can lead to some great opportunities for this behaviour.

Great Horned Owl

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Our best surprise of the day was coming across this male Great Horned Owl high up in a spruce trying to have a nap… until we disturbed him. He wasn’t pleased to see us. At all.

Common Goldeneye

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These Common Goldeneye (and a very confused Mallard) were still trying to display for the few remaining single females, though most others of their kind we’d found this late in the winter/spring season. Despite that, at least two of them seemed to making a positive impression!

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

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One of our last birds of the day, and a great one at that, was this Dark-eyed Junco of the Oregon subspecies that sang a bit for us, but also perched high up in the nearby bushes and allowed everyone very good looks.

The spring course with the Friends of Fish Creek is now well under way, so expect some new posts in the next few weeks from our more recent outings. Have a great week, and good birding!

Back to Bebo for a Beautiful Bird

Mar2

Posted by Dan Arndt

Our second visit to Bebo Grove this winter was in search of a well-documented Varied Thrush that had been seen there for a few weeks, and thankfully it decided to stay in almost the exact same spot for our Sunday morning outing. We also got some of the regular boreal birds that we’ve come to expect at Bebo Grove, and while the morning was fairly quiet in terms of numbers of individual birds, we did have some nice close encounters that highlighted the morning overall.

Bebo Grove – February 21, 2016

While the highlight of the morning was the Varied Thrush, a bird we found early on and spent a good amount of time with, I’m going to save those images for the very end, since there are a few of them in different poses, and really it’s always good practice to save the best for last!

Our morning was, as I mentioned in the intro, quiet overall in terms of bird sightings, but there wasn’t a moment while travelling through the trees that we didn’t have at least forty or fifty Pine Siskins in the trees above us, trilling and chattering away. We even had a brief sighting of a Merlin, a Dark-eyed Junco, and a few other birds that I we haven’t seen as a group since the late fall.

Boreal Chickadee

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Boreal Chickadee

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It’s almost like clockwork the areas in Bebo Grove where we find mixed flocks of Boreal and Black-capped Chickadees, and where the bird activity picks up bit by bit to a startling cacophony of sound and being dive-bombed by chickadees, nuthatches, and the odd kinglet or creeper. There were a few more Boreal Chickadees here than the last time we visited this little grove, and they had a very well established pecking order, with one larger bird coming in first, then the next two coming in almost as soon as it had left.

Pine Siskin

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We even had a few close encounters with some Pine Siskins once again, coming down into the lower boughs of the spruce trees to feed on hatching insects as well as on the fallen cones.

Pine Grosbeak

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One of the bird species that seems to be diminishing in numbers in southern Alberta right now are the Pine Grosbeaks. While there are a few places to still reliably find them in the city limits, I suspect that they’re heading north and west as our early spring has really ramped up over the last few weeks. Similarly, both White-winged and Red Crossbills, as well as Bohemian Waxwings seem to have all but withdrawn from southern Alberta a few weeks earlier than they normally would, despite there still being an abundance of food for them.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

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Another species we found picking through the lower branches in search of freshly hatched insects (in February, at that! The wonders of these long-lasting el Nino chinooks!) were a few Golden-crowned Kinglets. These birds were unusually unaware of our presence once again, and so we had really good looks at them while they fluttered about almost like hummingbirds feeding from the tips of the branches and all the way along each small branch and twig.

Varied Thrush

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Of course the real highlight was this male Varied Thrush. I’ve been seeing quite a few of these birds in Revelstoke, British Columbia in my trips there all winter, but these are certainly a great bird to find in Alberta, especially one returning to the same area for such a long period of time in the winter!

Varied Thrush

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We even got to hear him singing away for a few minutes, while a second male a little further off in the distance sung counter to him. If you’ve never really heard these birds before, their song is a long, high pitched piercing note, much like the sound of the brakes of a train squealing to a stop.

Varied Thrush

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Varied Thrush

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Varied Thrush

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We must have spent a good half hour with this bird, watching him from all angles while he posed, sung, posed again, and eventually moved just a little higher in the trees as the sun came around to illuminate him a little bit. It was probably the best look at a Varied Thrush some members of our group had ever had, as these birds can be quite flighty, even where they are abundant.

Have a great week, and good “spring” birding!

Christmas Bird Counts – Part II

Jan18

Posted by Dan Arndt

Just before Christmas I had to send my long lens (Sigma 150-500mm) in for repair, so am back to using my original birding lens, my Sigma 70-300mm. As such, I can’t get quite as close to the birds as I used to, but it does allow me to have a bit better control over framing more “artsy” shots, but also making do with what I’ve got to use, rather than relying on the reach of the lens to make the image better. I do hope that I managed to do that well with the few photos I was able to take on the Dinosaur Provincial Park Christmas Bird Count, and the annual New Years Day Fish Creek Provincial Park Bird Count.

While it’s a great area to bird in both the summer and winter, the day we headed out there (December 30) was bitterly cold, and it seemed that the birds were nowhere to be found. In previous years, there were a few groups covering the whole area, but this year Nick Bartok and I were the only two out on the count so we had to cover the entire count circle, giving us only enough time to see and hear the birds we could observe from the car. What that meant for us was that we would miss out on a lot of the smaller birds we usually would hear on a walked route, but it did mean we got to cover way more area.

The cold weather made shooting from the vehicle a little tough, with the heat distortion from the vehicle and from the heat radiating off the snow from the bright sunlight, but I managed a few shots.

Great Horned Owl, east of Patricia – December 30, 2015

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One of the first good birds of the day was this Great Horned Owl that we stumbled upon while driving down one back road east of Patricia.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, east of Patricia – December 30, 2015

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Sharp-tailed Grouse, east of Steveville – December 30, 2015

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By far, the most numerous birds that we found on the Dinosaur Provincial Park count were Sharp-tailed Grouse. They seemed to be everywhere in the trees and shrubs nibbling on the buds for their breakfast and lunch!

Back in Calgary, the Fish Creek Provincial Park New Years Day Bird Count was a little bit (but not too much!) warmer, but we got a few good birds to start off the year.

Great Horned Owl – Fish Creek Provincial Park – January 1, 2016

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Brown Creeper – Fish Creek Provincial Park – January 1, 2016

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At the Ranche, the usual pair of Great Horned Owls were present, along with a great opportunity to see the elusive Brown Creeper as the sun came over the horizon.

Sikome Lake – January 1, 2016

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The snow covered poplars at Sikome Lake made for a great backdrop to see all these great birds.

Mallards, Geese, and a Wigeon – Hull’s Wood – January 1, 2016

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Mallards in flight – Hull’s Wood – January 1, 2016

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Bald Eagle – Hull’s Wood – January 1, 2016

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The usual accumulations of waterfowl along the Bow River were no exception to the rule, and there were even a couple of great surprises in the water, including an American Wigeon, Barrow’s Goldeneye, and more than a few Common Mergansers. A couple of fly-bys of Bald Eagles flushed many of the birds up briefly, but they soon came back down into the water at the confluence of Fish Creek and the Bow River.

American Robin – Shaw’s Meadow – January 1, 2016

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Hermit Thrush – Shaw’s Meadow – January 1, 2016

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At the compilation lunch, Bob and I waited around to hear if there had been any particularly noteworthy observations, and when we heard that a Hermit Thrush and American Robins had been seen at the water outflow at Shaw’s Meadow, we headed over there right away. It took us a while of watching the American Robins and got to see them feeding in the water, and finally got a great look at the Hermit Thrush, but only briefly. Two shots later, it disappeared into the deep brush, but it was more than long enough to get a look at the bird, identify it, and snap a few frames.

While normally this post would be a recap of the first week of the Friends of Fish Creek outings, I was away for that first trip, so keep an eye out for my post next week for the birds from our second week out at Bebo Grove!

Have a great week, and good birding!

Autumn Migrants at Lafarge Meadows

Oct14

Posted by Dan Arndt

My first week back leading the Friends of Fish Creek outings after being away at work for most of the month of September turned out to be quite the adventure, with a few really great finds.

Lafarge Meadows – October 4, 2015

The light was a bit dim early on, but it seemed as though the day would be productive as the first really impressive birds we found were a couple of Green-winged Teal, back in their striking breeding plumage. The poor light didn’t do them justice though.

Green-winged Teal – [exif id=”14816″]

Not too far from him was a young Pied-billed Grebe, one of the seven we would see throughout the day.

Pied-billed Grebe – [exif id=”14817″]

We followed the bank of the Bow River north at the beginning of our outing, turning up a Bald Eagle perched across the river in a tree. A couple of us remarked how this might have even been the same bird in the same tree as we had seen earlier this year in the winter course.

Bald Eagle – [exif id=”14818″]

We were a little surprised a few minutes later when we were passed by a lone American White Pelican, which we would see nine more of later in the day. I think this might be the latest I have seen these massive white birds within the city.

American White Pelican – [exif id=”14820″]

While he was flying by, we also heard a chip note of a nearby Yellow-rumped Warbler, another migrant that was foraging in the low trees and shrubs.

Yellow-rumped Warbler – [exif id=”14819″]

Things got a lot quieter for the next half hour or so, as we crossed the tributary stream and walked along the banks of the river that had been hardest hit by the flood two years ago. We were almost ready to turn around and head back to the south ponds when things began to chatter and chirp all around us. A pair of Downy Woodpeckers were the first ones to draw our attention.

female Downy Woodpecker – [exif id=”14821″]

While we were watching her, we heard the chip notes of some sparrows in the nearby shrubs, and on investigation, we found a couple of Song Sparrows (and a Lincoln’s sparrow that we heard, but could not track down for the life of us!)

Song Sparrow – [exif id=”14822″]

The best sighting of the day (and maybe of the year?) was found while I was crouched down taking some photos of this dragonfly who was all but immobilized due to the cold, and hanging under a blade of grass.

Dragonfly sp. – [exif id=”14824″]

Dragonfly sp. – [exif id=”14825″]

While I was carefully focusing on the detail of this beautiful little insect, the call of “HOODED WARBLER!” from Bob Lefebvre came about fifty meters south, as much of the group had continued on and were carefully scanning a group of songbirds foraging in the low brush. After a good half hour, I did manage to capture a few images of this quick little skulking bird, though I was more than happy to just see it!

Hooded Warbler – [exif id=”14826″]

Hooded Warbler – [exif id=”14827″]

It was an incredible find, and we all left quite satisfied with how the day had turned out. We headed back to end our walk and stopped briefly to enjoy the antics of the American Coots and American Wigeon fighting over the vegetation they were picking up from the bottom of the south pond.

American Wigeon and American Coots – [exif id=”14828″]

So all in all, I’d say that my first outing back was a rousing success!

I did manage a few outings during the next week to the Bow River Irrigation Canal, so keep an eye here for that next Tuesday!

Have a great week, and good birding!

Free Ticket Winner for Film The Messenger

Sep28

The winner of the pair of free tickets to the film The Messenger is David Severson. Thanks to all who entered.

If you plan to attend the show you can still use the discount code to get $2 off admission. The code is Birdcon-15! (include the exclamation point). The Messenger is an important film and has been getting excellent reviews.

The film plays at Eau Claire Cinemas on Friday October 2 at 7:15 pm and Saturday October 3 at 12 noon, as part of the Calgary International Film Festival. See this site for more information and to view the trailer.

See The Messenger at Calgary International Film Festival

Sep24

The Messenger, an important film about the worldwide decline in songbird numbers, is playing in Calgary as part of the Calgary International Film Festival. There will be two showings: Friday October 2 at 7:15 pm, and Saturday October 3 at 12 noon, at the Eau Claire Cinemas.

A Hot Docs 2015 Top Ten Audience Favourite, THE MESSENGER takes us on passionate journey around the world, as we learn about how the migratory patterns of the songbird are an essential component of our planet’s complex ecosystem. Through skillful narration and camerawork, THE MESSENGER takes on a visually stunning and intimate journey into the endangered world of the songbird and the need for immediate intervention to prevent their extinction. Director Su Rynard will be at both screenings, and University of Alberta biologist Erin Bayne at the Friday screening, for a Q&A.

Birds Calgary has two pairs of free tickets to give away to our subscribers. To enter a draw for the free tickets, reply to the email version of this post, (which only subscribers get), and replace the “To” line (“donotreply[at]wordpress.com”) with birdscalgary[at]gmail.com. Winners will be drawn randomly from all replies received by midnight on Sunday September 27.

If you want to buy tickets to the show, you can get a $2 discount off the admission price by entering the code “Birdcon-15!” when purchasing online. Go to The Messenger site for more information or to buy tickets.

Birds Calgary

A birding blog for Calgary, Alberta and area

Archives

No Costume Needed: Meet the Northern Shrike, the Bird of Halloween

By Catherine Warwick

Elegance Defined: the Townsend’s Solitaire

Yellow Warbler and Nest

Introducing Ethan Denton

The end of Winter in the Weaselhead and North Glenmore Park

Back to Bebo for a Beautiful Bird

Christmas Bird Counts – Part II

Autumn Migrants at Lafarge Meadows

Free Ticket Winner for Film The Messenger

See The Messenger at Calgary International Film Festival

By Catherine Warwick

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