Watch Birds in Your Yard for the Calgary Christmas Bird Count

Dec13

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

There has been a great deal of interest this year in the annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count. Matt Wallace, the Count Coordinator, and his leaders already have enough people registered to fill all the field teams. But if you’d like to participate by counting birds in your yard on Sunday December 19th, you are welcome to join us. You can count for as little as 30 minutes over the course of the day, or as long as you are able to – all at once, or intermittently.

White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco (Slate), two species you might see in your yard in December.

For your observations to be added to the official count, you must live within the Calgary Count Circle:

Calgary Christmas Bird Count Circle.
The Calgary Christmas Bird Count Circle.

If you are interested in taking part, just fill out the registration form below (it is a Google form, but you do not have to be signed into a Google account to fill it out). Matt Wallace or myself (the Feeder Watcher Coordinator) will verify that you are in the circle, and contact you with everything you need to know in order to participate in this long-running Citizen Science activity. We can also send you information on common winter backyard birds of Calgary, with photos.

Here is the link: Register as a Feeder Watcher in the 2021 Calgary CBC

We are particularly interested in trying to get more complete coverage of the city with our Feeder Watchers. There are a few neighbourhoods which are under-represented, as you can see in the map below, which shows the approximate locations of all of our participants.

We would especially like to fill out this map in northeast Calgary, and there are a few other areas without much coverage, a shown below.

So if you live in one of these areas, please consider registering for the count. But we will accept you wherever you are!

Calgary Christmas Bird Count, December 19 2021

Nov21

By Bob Lefebvre

House Finch
House Finch. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Calgary’s 69th annual Christmas Bird Count will take place on Sunday, December 19, 2021. Matthew Wallace is now the coordinator for the count, taking over from long-time organizer Phil Cram. I will again be assisting with the Feeder Watchers.

As usual there will be opportunities for people who want to go out in the field to count birds, and for feeder watchers who will count birds in their yards.

If you are interested in taking part, or in getting more information about participating, please fill out the following form for the 2021 count:

Calgary Christmas Bird Count 2021 Registration

Join us in this fun and important citizen science project!

Nature Calgary Bird Study Group – Lyn Hancock

Sep7

Posted By Bob Lefebvre

The 2021-2022 Bird Study Group Speaker Series begins on Wednesday September 8th with a special presentation by Lyn Hancock, honouring Gus Yaki. This will be a virtual presentation using Zoom, and you have to be a Nature Calgary member to link to it.

(Nature Calgary memberships are available on their website here. If you already are a member, you should have received an email with the Zoom invitation.)

Almost forty years ago, Lyn Hancock took part in a 30,000-mile trip around North America led by Gus Yaki, the renowned naturalist who passed away just over a year ago. Gus lived in Calgary for the last twenty-seven years of his life, and he was an inspiration to many local birders.

Gus Yaki
Gus Yaki. Photo by Dan Arndt.

The trip in 1983 followed the route taken by Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher thirty years prior, in 1953. Lyn documented the trip in her book Looking For the Wild.

Looking For the Wild

From Nature Calgary:

Lyn’s special interest was the exciting climax of the trip on the remote Pribilof Islands in Alaska where she had close encounters with fur seals, murres and puffins, species she had raised as orphans in British Columbia in the 1960s and led to her interest in wildlife.

Lyn is the author of 20 books about her experiences with wildlife including THERE’S A SEAL IN MY SLEEPING BAG, LOVE AFFAIR WITH A COUGAR, TABASCO THE SAUCY RACCOON and THE RING: MEMORIES OF A METIS GRANDMOTHER, the pioneer love story of Sam Livingston and Jane Howse, the first settlers in Calgary.

The meeting begins at 7:30 pm and the Zoom link will open at 7:15.

Details of future Bird Study Group meetings and other Nature Calgary events and field trips can be found here.

Note: the books below have all been spoken for. Thanks for your interest. – Bob

If you live in Calgary and would like a copy of Lyn Hancock’s book Looking For the Wild, I have four copies to give away. They are all signed by Gus, and one is also signed by Lyn. I will give them to the first four people who respond and who agree to make a donation to either The Nature Conservancy of Canada or Birds Canada in whatever amount they wish. (These were two organizations that Gus supported.) The books are used, and one is a former library copy, but they are in good shape. Just email me at birdscalgary[at]gmail.com and we can make arrangements to get the book to you.

Foothills Birds – Live Bird Cameras

Aug29

Most Calgary birders know of Barb Castell’s home in the foothills SW of the city, near Priddis. Many have been there, and it is a great place to see birds, including some uncommon species, that come to her feeders and bird baths. It’s one of the most reliable places in the area to see Evening Grosbeaks, Purple Finches, and even Black-headed Grosbeaks.

Of course this is private property with restricted access, but there is a YouTube Channel which has a daily live stream from three cameras set up on the property. You can watch the birds live, and participate in the chat about what is being seen. There are also many archived past live streams, and clips of highlights on the site.

Here is the YouTube page: Foothills Birds.

They also have a web page with more information and a link to the YouTube site: foothillsbirds.com

Below is one of the clips from YouTube, featuring some brave Blue Jays.

With fall migration now under way, as many as 26 species have been seen in a day recently, including migrating warblers and hummingbirds. Archived streams feature birds like Northern Goshawks, Northern Saw-whet Owls, Ruffed Grouse, and Mammals like Red Squirrels, Northern Flying Squirrels, and Bats. It is very entertaining and educational to watch!

I’d like to urge you to go to YouTube and subscribe to this channel. It’s as simple as clicking on the “Subscribe” button if you are a regular YouTube user. If not, to get your free subscription,

1. Go to: https://www.youtube.com/foothillsbirds

2. Log into your Google Account, if you aren’t already logged in, top right corner.

3. Click on the red SUBSCRIBE button on the right side.

4. It should change from red to gray and say UNSUBSCRIBE.

Being subscribed to a channel is not obtrusive. For you, it just means that the site appears in your feed as a suggestion from time to time when you are already on the YouTube site. Any new clips that they add will appear in your suggestions. It will also be easy for you to re-find the site since there will be a link to it under your subscriptions.

But it is very important for Foothills Birds to get more subscribers! Even if you do not plan to visit the site much, please subscribe so that it will be suggested to more and more YouTube users and seen by more people. There are currently about 444 subscribers, and if they get to 1000, it will allow them to get more advanced features from YouTube and allow them to do more to support the birds.

Some photos of birds seen at the feeders, from the web site:

Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker, male
Evening Grosbeak
Evening Grosbeak, male
Varied Thrush
Varied Thrush, male

The best time to view the birds is when they are hungry early in the
morning. The camera is usually on from from dawn to dusk.

This location is now an eBird HotSpot, so you can go on eBird and see what has been reported there every day. There have been 105 species observed at the location this year, and 140 species all-time!

If you are on Twitter, follow them @FoothillsBirds. They regularly post photos of birds that are at the feeders and in the area.

So visit the site, watch some clips and live streams, and subscribe. Let’s help them reach their goal of 1000 subscribers!

Birds & Beers Update

Aug28

The monthly Birds and Beers socials have not been held since the start of the pandemic. Many local birders are hoping we can resume these events and the presentations soon. I’m sure quite a few birders are vaccinated and keep small cohorts. Joan Walker (who does the majority of the organization of these events) and I have discussed it, and we decided that the situation with the spread of the Delta variant is too uncertain to have such gatherings right now. I certainly would not be comfortable attending since I am in contact with many people every day. I don’t want to pass the virus on to others. So we will have a “wait and see” attitude for now.

Redhead
Redhead, Bridlewood Pond, May 2021. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Joan has looked into planning events in the next few months. There are a few presentations ready to go. However, there are some complications. Our regular meeting-place is the Horton Road Legion. Of course the pandemic has been a difficult time for businesses like the Legion. They were closed for a while, and are currently only open a few days each week. When they re-opened, all the meeting rooms booked up completely until Christmas. So we are considering possibly re-starting in January.

Another issue is that the Legion will now have to charge for the use of the room. It is a minimal amount, but we would have to pass the cost on to the attendees.

There is the possibility of finding other venues but it would be very difficult to find another one that serves meals and drinks, can accommodate presentations of up to 100 people, and is cheap or free.

We would like to have some feedback on this. Should we plan to resume in the new year (assuming it is safe to do so) at the regular location? Would you be willing to pay a small amount (no more than two or three dollars per person; probably less) to attend? Would you like to try another venue and do you have any suggestions for an alternate location?

If you are a regular Birds & Beers attendee and you have thoughts on this, please email me at wbird7[at]gmail.com. -Bob Lefebvre

Calgary Bioblitz This Weekend

Jun10

BiodiverCity Challenge comes to Calgary for 2021

This weekend, from Thursday June 10 through Sunday June 13, Calgary will be taking part in the BiodiverCity Challenge. This is a bioblitz like the recent City Nature Challenge, wherein participants can upload observations of any living thing within the Calgary city limits, and the surrounding areas of Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, and the Town of Okotoks. 

As in the City Nature Challenge, observations can be uploaded to the iNaturalist app or web page, but can also be uploaded to NatureLynx. The NatureLynx app and web page page were set up by Alberta naturalists just for biological observations of this sort, and were used in the BiodiverCity Challenge last year in Edmonton. Once again, Edmonton will be taking part this year.

Calgary City Nature Challenge map
The Calgary region for the BiodiverCity Challenge.

So take lots of photos this weekend – not just of birds, but insects, mammals, plants; everything – and upload them to one of the sites. It will be interesting to see the difference between what we find in June here versus the results of the City Nature Challenge in late April.

You can follow the progress of the Challenge on the project page on iNaturalist here.

Learn About Birds With Dr. Bird

Jun1

Six-Part Virtual Speaker Series Presented by Dr. David Bird

The Wild Bird Store is presenting a six-part weekly speaker series beginning on June 17. The six lectures will continue every Thursday evening until July 22.

Dr. David Bird poster

David Bird is a respected professor, writer, and speaker with a wealth of knowledge about the birds of Canada. For more information and to purchase tickets to all six of these online presentations, go to this Eventbrite page.

The Wild Bird Store also offers many other speaker events throughout the year. Go to their website and sign up for the newsletter to keep informed of upcoming talks and events.

Get Involved in the Calgary May Species Count

May17

The Calgary count on May 29 and 30 still has some areas that need surveyors.

The May Species Count is an annual event in which birders count the number of birds of each species within the 80-km diameter circle centred in Calgary. The circle is divided up into many smaller territories, and there are a few that so far are not covered this year.

  • Area 2: FCPP Bridge 6 to Macleod Trail (Votiers Flats)
  • Area 3: FCPP Macleod Trail to Bridge 13 (Glennfield)
  • Area 4: FCPP Burnsmead South to Lafarge Meadows
  • Area 31: Irricana
  • Area 37: Acme/Carbon
  • 43b: Confluence Park – pending
  • 43g: Pine Creek Water Treatment Plant
  • 43j: Nose Hill Park – pending
The Calgary count circle with the rural territories marked. The city is also divided up into many territories.

If you are an experienced birder and want to participate by covering one of the areas above, contact John McFaul at alpglow[at]telus.net. He will provide details of the procedures and a description of the territory to be covered.

Birders and the City Nature Challenge

Apr29

As a birder, how do you contribute to the upcoming City Nature Challenge? Simply put, take a lot of photos of birds from April 30 to May 3 anywhere in Calgary, Cochrane, Okotoks, Chestermere, Airdrie and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. You will have until May 9 to upload the photos to iNaturalist.

House Finch
Don’t neglect common species like this House Finch! It’s fun to spend some time documenting all the living things you can find in your yard.

You can photograph any living thing to upload to iNaturalist, but I would really like the local birding community to start contributing more bird photos. Many iNaturalist users take photos only with cell phones, which are ideal for photographing plants and insects, but not great for getting identifiable picture of birds. Calgary-area birders take thousands of high-quality bird photos every day.

Your bird photos do not have to be perfect, just good enough so that other iNaturalist users can identify them. It’s also important to get photos of common species that you may not normally bother to photograph.

Most birders have cell phones as well as cameras, so if you’re out birding this weekend, spend some time to photograph trees, flowers, and insects as well.

If you are not an iNaturalist user, you will still have until May 9 to upload your photos to the site or phone app.

It would be great to get a lot of reports from Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Cochrane, and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park as well as from the city. If you are really ambitious, try to go to some areas that are new to you. The idea is to get documentation of living things everywhere within the Calgary metropolitan area, not just in city parks or well-travelled natural areas.

Have fun!

City Nature Challenge 2021

Apr26

Once again Calgary (and the nearby communities of Cochrane, Okotoks, Airdrie, and Chestermere, plus Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park) will be participating in the City Nature Challenge. From April 30 to May 3, anyone can participate in this fun, important, and fast-growing citizen-science project. People in hundreds of cities around the world will be photographing plants, birds, mammals, and anything else in nature to capture a record of worldwide urban biodiversity.

White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrows should be around for the CNC. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

From the CNC 2021 Calgary Metropolitan Region website:

City Nature Challenge Calgary is back for the third year! Take photos of urban flora and fauna April 30-May 3 2021, then share to iNaturalist. Look for nature in your yards, neighborhoods, and local parks. Explore anywhere in Calgary, Cochrane, Okotoks, Airdrie, Chestermere, and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. Any photos taken April 30-May 3 and shared to iNaturalist before May 9 will be included.   Join the 2021 iNaturalist Project to Stay up to date!

So starting on Friday morning, take as many photos as you can of birds, plants, insects, and any other living things. You will have until May 9 to upload your photos to iNaturalist.