Last week, I, along with many other keen birders, did the Calgary and area May Species Count. Two other great birders and I were assigned the south part of the city, our borders were; north to Glenmore Trail, west and south to the Bow river and east to the City limits.  We had a great time, birding for 9 hours on Saturday, driving 139 kilometers and recording 87 birds. We saw many great birds, some of the highlights being 2 Hooded Mergansers, a Western Grebe, a Ferruginous Hawk, a Veery, a Blackpoll Warbler and a Townsend’s Solitaire. The Solitaire was a real surprise as it was far away from its normal habitat and was way too far south.

A Townsend’s Solitaire, way off course.

The Solitaire caught a bug and attempted to swallow it…

But had some difficulty. Eventually, the Solitaire got the bug down the hatch.

Other birds seen included several coots on nests…

Many Red-winged Blackbirds…

And a posing crow.

The May Species Count is held annually and will therefore be held again next year, if you haven’t done it yet, it could be a great time to start.

Posted by Matthew Sim