Wednesday Wings: Nuthatch, Sparrow, Hawk, Falcon, Owls

Here are some recent photos of local birds taken by some of our readers.

Great Horned Owl adult, taken by Caroline Soles in her backyard in Alderheights, near the Mazeppa gas plant, north of High River, May 22, 2016.

Caroline Soles also had this Clay-colored Sparrow in her yard. We can get them in our yards in the city on migration too.

Another shot of the Clay-colored Sparrow by Caroline Soles.

Cooper’s Hawk, Bowmont Park, NW Calgary, April 2016. Photo by Lorraine Glass.

A Merlin, also from Bowmont Park, April 2016, by Lorraine Glass.

A close-up of the Merlin, by Lorraine Glass.

Brian Simpson RBNU

Red-breasted Nuthatch at nest hole. Photo by Bryan Simpson, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, May 2016.

Tim Reynolds GHOWlets

Finally, here are the two downy Great Horned Owlets from Sikome Lake in Fish Creek Park. Taken May 15, 2016 by Tim Reynolds.

If you have some recent photos of local birds that you’d like to share, send them to us at birdscalgary(at)gmail.com and we may post them. Please include the date and location, and the photographer’s name.

Wednesday Wings: Overwintering Robins

Jan20

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

We get a lot of emails every winter from people who are surprised to see an American Robin in their yard or in a local park. In fact, there are a few robins here every winter. Although the vast majority of Canadian robins winter in the far southern USA or Mexico, most of the continental US is home to small populations of overwintering robins. These may be birds that bred in the area, or individuals who moved south from their breeding areas in Canada but did not go all the way to the normal wintering areas. Calgary appears to be near the northern limit of this overwintering range (Edmonton also has overwintering robins most years).

IMG_3295 (2)

American Robin, Votier’s Flats, January 1, 2016.

On the recent Calgary Christmas Bird Count we recorded 174 American Robins. Although this was a little high for the count, there are usually over 100 seen. Of course this is not likely to represent all the robins in the city, and it doesn’t include areas outside the count circle like Fish Creek Park. So there are probably a few hundred in the city every winter (not all will survive, especially if we get heavy snow and/or a prolonged cold snap). This may seem like a lot of birds, but in the summer there must be tens of thousands of breeding pairs here. (Does anyone know the total, or have a guess?)

Most overwintering robins are found in the river valleys near open water. They often gather in small flocks and survive mostly by eating berries. They will also come to feeders and heated birdbaths.

The American Robins in these photos were found by the storm-water outflow into Fish Creek just west of Macleod Trail, in the Votier’s Flats area of Fish Creek Provincial Park.

IMG_3293 (3)

American Robin, Votier’s Flats, January 1, 2016.

There were at least six robins coming to the water there that afternoon, as well as a much rarer overwintering Hermit Thrush.

Wednesday Wings: World Shorebirds Day (and other days!) at Weed Lake

Oct8

Posted by Dan Arndt

Shorebirds are my thing. I love watching flocks of them wheel and turn in flocks of tens, hundreds, and even thousands at a time, so when I heard about the initiative of World Shorebirds Day, I immediately signed up for a few sites at one of my favourite shorebirding locations just outside the city. Leading up to it, there had been some great sightings of somewhat uncommon birds, and between July 29th and September 6th, I probably spent at least one day a week visiting it for at least a few minutes.

Killdeer
Weed Lake
July 29, 2014

Early on, the usual shorebirds that breed in and around Calgary were abundant and relatively easy to find. Killdeer, Wilson’s Phalarope, Willets, Black-necked Stilts, American Avocets and Spotted Sandpipers were everywhere, but as migration ramped up into mid-August, the shorebirding really began heating up. The first Black-bellied Plovers were seen in early August, and by August 10th, just about every species of shorebird we can expect to move through the Calgary area was there to be counted!

Lesser Yellowlegs
Weed Lake
August 10, 2014

Semipalmated Plover
Weed Lake
August 10, 2014

So many shorebirds!
Weed Lake
August 10, 2014

Baird’s Sandpipers
Weed Lake
August 10, 2014

A trio of Ruddy Turnstones showed up at the lake in late August, and on my scouting weekend they turned up and I had a chance to get relatively close looks at them. One of the more colorful shorebirds that we get around here, I think!

Ruddy Turnstones
Weed Lake
August 30, 2014

Willet
Weed Lake
August 30, 2014

And if you ever need some sense of scale for some of these small but powerful fliers, my current phone is roughly the same size as a Semipalmated Sandpiper. I’m not quite sure what caused the demise of this little fellow, but in the wild there are so many more things to be worried about than just predators. Disease, untreated injuries, or even simple medical anomalies can bring natural selection into play.

Unfortunate Semipalmated Sandpiper
Weed Lake
August 30, 2014

And finally, after months of anticipation, the magical day arrived. Sadly the big numbers of shorebirds were nowhere to be found, though I did still get some good finds on the day!

American Avocet clearing its throat
Weed Lake
September 6, 2014

Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers taking off
Weed Lake
September 6, 2014

Stilt Sandpipers and California Gull
Weed Lake
September 6, 2014

Pectoral Sandpiper
Weed Lake
September 6, 2014

Oh yeah, and I mentioned predators before, didn’t I? A pair of beautiful Peregrine Falcons were doing a great job of scattering the shorebirds that had stuck around. One of them even managed to snag a distant Lesser Yellowlegs while we watched on, and its mate gave us some good fly-bys as well!

Peregrine Falcon
Weed Lake
September 6, 2014

Thanks for reading, and good birding!

Weaselhead Hummingbirds

Jun13

The most reliable place to find hummingbirds in the city is the Weaselhead Nature Area in the SW. Tony LePrieur photographed both Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds there, as well as other birds, on May 31, 2014.

Calliope Hummingbird – our smallest bird species.

Rufous Hummingbird.

Here’s a link to a previous post that shows where these birds nest.

Other birds of the Weaselhead:

American Goldfinch.

Swainson’s Hawk.

Yellow Warbler.

Cliff Swallow at nest.

Cliff Swallows. They collect mud for their nests.

American Wigeon.

Wednesday Wings: Long-eared Owl

Apr30

In early April Bruce Brummitt spotted this Long-eared Owl near his home in NW Calgary. These elusive owls are resident in the Calgary area, but this one may have just been passing through. It was seen for a few days but has not been seen since April 4.

The owl was only seen at dusk, in low light. Some of the photos were taken with a flash, so the owl’s iris looks red in those shots. All photos by Bruce Brummitt.

Magpies mobbed the owl.

Shome photos from April 4:

Wednesday Wings: Weaselhead and More

Mar26

Tony LePrieur took the photos below on March 1, 2014.

Horned Lark, from outside the city.

Gray Partridge, from outside the city.

A very cold Common Goldeneye from Fish Creek Park.

Brown Creeper, Weaselhead.

Pileated Woodpecker female, Weaselhead.

House Finch male, Weaselhead.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, Weaselhead.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, Weaselhead.

Coyote, Weaselhead.

Finally, an ID challenge: At first glance I assumed this bird was a Merlin, but something didn’t quite look right. If not a Merlin, what do you think it is, and why?

Wednesday Wings: Saw-whet Owl

Dec18

Harris Toth had this little Northern Saw-whet Owl visit his yard in the Parkland neighbourhood of SE Calgary on December 15. The same night, another (or the same one) was seen in Queensland, only about 2 km away. These owls are quite common in the summer and there are always some around here in the winter, but they are strictly nocturnal so they aren’t often seen.

Wednesday Wings: Winter Birds of Bragg Creek

Nov20

Kim Selbee photographed these early-winter visitors in her yard in the Bragg Creek area.

Mountain Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee

Dark-eyed Junco

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Mountain Chickadee

Black-billed Magpie

Wednesday Wings: Bridlewood Birding

Oct9

Tony LePrieur took these photos at the Bridlewood Wetlands on September 22, 2013. This wetland is located just west of Macleod Trail at Highway 22X.

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowleg(s)

Yellowlegs in flight

Common Grackle

White-crowned Sparrow

Killdeer

Belted Kingfisher hunting

Ring-billed Gull

Mallard

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Double-crested Cormorant

American Coot

Wednesday Wings: Spruce Grouse

Aug21

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

I found this young Spruce Grouse walking the trails at the Peninsula picnic area in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park on August 5, 2013. Taken with a Canon Eos 40D with 100-400 mm lens. Spruce Grouse can be very unwary, and it would not move until I got really close to it. On the twisty trails it was often too close to get the whole bird in the shot.