Posted by Bob Lefebvre
For week three and week four of the Friends of Fish Creek fall birding course, we explored three areas in the east end of the park along the bow river: The Park Headquarters and the Boat Launch/Sikome Lake area on September 20, and the Mallard Point region on September 27. Once again Dan Arndt was away so I filled in for him for the first walk, but a back injury caused me to miss the Mallard Point walk. George Best and Rose Painter attended both walks as leaders, and once again George provided the photos.
Our route on September 20. We drove between the the HQ and the Boat Launch.
Beginning at the headquarters, we looked unsuccessfully for the resident Great Horned Owls in the double row of spruce trees by the parking lot. They roost here in the daytime in the winter, but it may be too early for that. We did see a flock of American Goldfinches and quite a few Pine Siskins in the spruces farther west. All photos by George Best.
American Goldfinch.
Pine Siskin. There are quite a few of these erratic birds in the city right now.
After driving over to the boat launch, we scanned the river. On a gravel bar to the north was a lone pelican with some Ring-billed Gulls.
American White Pelican.
A little later in the walk, we were treated to a low flyover by a small flock of these enormous birds. This was the highlight of a quiet day.
American White Pelican in flight.
The woods near Sikome Lake were quiet (no owls seen here either) so we checked the ponds near the highway 22X bridge. Here we saw this pair of Horned Grebes.
Horned Grebes.
The following week, as I said, I wasn’t able to attend, but George was there twice, on Monday and the following Sunday, and he got some great photos.
The Mallard Point area. The group explored a bit of the channel between Poplar Island and the parking lot, and crossed the Sue Higgins bridge and walked south along the east side of the Bow River.
Here are some photos from September 21:
American White Pelicans.
adult Bald Eagle.
female Belted Kingfisher.
Merlin.
A resting Pied-billed Grebe.
Wilson’s Snipe.
Below are three shots from September 27:
Greater Yellowlegs.
American White Pelicans.
Wilson’s Snipe.
Next post: Dan is back with his first report of the season. See which rarity we turned up in Lafarge Meadows.