Lafarge Meadows – Finally!

Posted byDan Arndt

The final Sunday Morning excursion by the Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding Course took us to Lafarge Meadows. After going there for the first time with the Fall course, I was looking forward to getting back there as the spring migrants began to filter through, and what a visit it was!

One of the birds that most non-birders consider a sure sign of spring, is the charismatic and well known American Robin, many of which were present and singing their spring song.

Another of the early migrants we were treated to at the beginning of the walk was the ever beautiful song of the aptly named Song Sparrow.

While the field marks weren’t easy to see from that distance, the song was so distinctive that there was no way you could mistake this bird for any other. Over at the boat launch we had some decent views of Common Mergansers (pictured below) and a pair of Lesser Scaup.

We then turned southward to head into LaFarge Meadows proper, checking a few of the ponds near the bridge where we found a few close-ups of some Lesser Scaup and American Wigeon.

As we edged further south along the river, we took note of the huge numbers of gulls both along the river, and in the ponds along the west side that were still frozen, and were greeted by some nicely posing Herring Gulls on a gravel bar in the Bow River, as well as a small number of another new bird for the year, the Franklin’s Gull.

Finally, as we headed back north toward the beginning of our route, I spotted a small bird atop a nearby tree, thinking it may be another sparrow, or maybe even an early swallow species, but was immediately alerted to its identity by the single sharp note of its call, identifying itself as a Northern Shrike!

As we reached the vehicles, all of us were forlorn at the prospect that this was our last walk of the season with that particular group, but all attendees were looking forward to the next round of courses, starting up immediately the following week! Travel will keep me away for the first two weeks of the course, from which I will post some photos on my regular schedule, and but until then, good birding!

Wednesday Wings: Northern Saw-whet Owl

Apr11

Blog readers Elizabeth Sargent and Greg Earle sent us some absolutely stunning Northern Saw-whet Owl pictures that Greg took in Carburn Park. They visited on March 31, and were lucky enough to find this little guy at breast height in a thicket of bushes near the river. We’ve had a lot of great saw-whet owl photos on the blog in recent months, but these are just spectacular! Click to enlarge.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: April 9

Apr10

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, us email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com. To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

Bird Sightings:

April 4:
TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRES (5) in Calgary Braeside, Shonna McLeod.

April 5:
TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRES (6) in Calgary Strathcona, Sandy Ayer.
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES (100) western edge of Calgary, John Bargman.
THAYER’S GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL,(2) IBS, Bill Wilson & Ilya Pulalyaev?

April 6:
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW in northeast Calgary, Lois & Bill Lang.
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, AMERICAN KESTRELS (2) near Brooks, Ray Woods, Brian Elder, Phil Cram, Mike Mulligan.
AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS (2) at the Carseland Weir, Shirley Otway.
HARLEQUIN DUCK, male at Inglewood BS, Tony Timmons & CFNS.
EURASIAN WIGEONS at McElroy Slough, Terry Korolyk.
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, IBS, Bill Wilson.

April 7:
EASTERN PHOEBE in the Weaselhead, west end of Glenmore Res., Gus Yaki & FFCPP.
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, SONG SPARROWS (6), FOX SPARROWS (5) at the Hay Meadows raptor watch,Mt Lorette, Kananaskis, Jim Davis.
TREE SWALLOWS (6), GREATER YELLOWLEGS (3) in Hull’s Wood/Lefarge Meadows FCPP, Tony Timmons and CFNS.
LESSER YELLOWLEGS (2), GREATER YELLOWLEGS (8) at Ralph Klein Park, Terry Korolyk.
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES (80), near Water Valley, Doug Collister.
HARLAN’S x LIGHT PHASE RED-TAILED HAWK Hwy 549 west of Hwy 23, TK.
HARLAN’S RED-TAILED HAWK (3) Hwy 22X, TK.

April 8:
MOURNING DOVE in Calgary Varsity, Shirley Haig.
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCHES on Larsen Pasture Rd off Grand Valley Road NW of Cochrane, Andrew Slater.
LONG-TAILED DUCK female at Carseland Weir, Joan & Malcolm MacDonald.
ROSS’ GOOSE, a few with SNOW GOOSE (5000) at ? Lake near Lomond, Richard Clarke.
NORTHERN HAWK OWL, GREAT GREY OWL SW of Water Valley, Andrew Slater.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday April 12.

Handy Drumming Posts

Apr10

By Pat Bumstead

My non-bird watching friends seem to be picking up the habit by osmosis. The more I talk about birds (hardly ever), the more questions I get from people who are just starting to notice them. One such friend phoned me one day in high dudgeon, almost demanding to know what that bird was that woke him up so early. I managed to talk him into doing a short blog post for us, and he even had video to go with it. He lives in Midnapore, but this activity can be seen throughout Calgary, particularly at this time of year. Here’s what he had to say.

What’s that infernal racket so early in the morning? The metallic hammering emanating from the furnace sounded like it was having a meltdown.

I raced downstairs and started pulling covers off left and right to find the relay that was suffering an acute attack of St. Vitus’ dance. It quickly became obvious that the racket was now above me and emanating from the furnace chimney pipe. What was in there?

Running outside to fetch a ladder, the source of the problem quickly became obvious. A male woodpecker (Northern Flicker) was hammering on the roof’s flat chimney cap, the better to inveigle any nearby female Flickers into viewing his roof etchings. Unlike size, in the avian world, apparently volume does matter and what better way to announce your augmented virility than by drilling on a resonating metallic roof cap? What better location too, than where the owners of a garden and messaging roof have two enormous poplar trees. Our poplars are home to many delicious insects and they also support regularly replenished hanging bird feeders.

Clearly this was Flicker Shangri-la and if woodpeckers were up and about, so should everyone else be.

Sunday Showcase: Great-grey Owl

Apr8

Rob English was driving west of Water Valley on March 31, and came across a bird he had never seen before – a Great-grey Owl. These magnificent birds are one of the most sought-after sightings for many birders. Click to enlarge.

Famous Birders: Roger Tory Peterson

Apr7

Posted by Matthew Sim

In this Famous Birders post, we take a look at one birder who completely changed the face of birding as we know it today.

Roger Tory Peterson, is one of the most famous birders ever to have lifted a pair of binoculars. Except that a lot of the time, he didn’t even need binoculars. As he once said, “I can recognize the calls of practically every bird in North America. There are some in Africa I don’t know, though.” A master of ornithology, Peterson is best known for his revolutionary field guides which were “the bridge between the shotgun and the binoculars in bird watching.”

Roger Peterson was born in Jamestown New York in 1908, the son of european immigrants. At the age of 11, birds became a part of his life when his 7th grade teacher taught the class about these remarkable little creatures. From that point on, Roger’s passion for birds and all other aspects of nature grew and grew. After finishing high school, Roger Peterson got a job painting furniture, working hard and saving his money for art school, which he hoped to attend. In 1925, Roger saw a notice about the next American Ornithologist’s Union meeting, to be held in New York City. He also saw that there would be an art show, to which he promptly submitted two paintings of his (both were accepted). At the meeting, Roger met many of the birders and bird artists of the time. Within a year of the meeting, Roger had two more paintings shown at the first American bird art exhibit and was soon meeting the big names and got involved in the big organizations of birding at the time. Within a few years, Roger was even writing his first field guide.

In the year 1933, Roger’s A Field Guide to the Birds found it’s way to Francis H. Allen’s desk, an editor for the publisher Houghton Mifflin. From that point on, there was no turning back. At first, only 2,000 copies were made, sold for 2.75$ a piece. Roger Peterson’s first field guide was a huge hit and within the first week, all 2,000 copies were sold, prompting more copies to be published. This was only the beginning of a very illustrious career for Roger and as of today, he has sold 7 million copies and 52 field guides make up the Peterson Field Guide System. In a time when shooting birds was as close to birding as it got, Roger’s field guides revolutionized the way people saw the natural world around them. What made Peterson’s field guides so successful is that they are simple to look at, with arrows pointing to distinguishing field marks that might help in identification. This simplicity helped many potential birders easily understand and identify what they were looking at.

Roger Peterson became one of the leading birders, nature artists and natural writers of his time and it is in part thanks to his work that so many people are involved in birding today; he truly was a great birder, perhaps, some argue, the best that there has ever been.

Photos courtesy wikipedia.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: April 5

Apr6

MAR 30

GADWALL – a pair at the Hwy 22X bridge in Fish Creek Prov Park; Terry Korolyk

APR 1

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary; Bob Storms and Dan Arndt
GLAUCOUS GULL – 1st yr; as above
NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL – 9 calling on Hwy 68 west of Calgary between Ranger Station and the Powderface Trail junction; Ilya Povalyaev
COMMON GRACKLE – 2 at Mallard Point in Fish Creek PP; Michael and Louise Geldorp

APR 2

GLAUCOUS GULL – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary; IP
TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE – single at Glenmore Reservoir; Gus Yaki and FFCPP

APR 3

TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE – 3 as above; also 3 in the Marlborough yard of Dorothy Johnston
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD – 20 on Twp Rd 314 west of Rge Rd 262; Corinne Griffin

APR 4

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD – at least 100 near Linden; CG
WOOD DUCK – 2 males and a female on the access road to Bankside; TK

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon Apr 9.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: April 2

Apr4

Bird Sightings:

March 28
–LAPLAND LONGSPUR (20-30) Hanna area, by Ted Manning.

March 29
–FOX SPARROW, Mallard Point, FCPP(Fish Creek Provincial Park), by Gus Yaki et al.
–SONG SPARROW, same as above. One also seen along the Bow by Marcel Gahbauer, and on April 1, two were seen by Dan Arndt et al at LaFarge Meadows in FCPP.
–Hybrid GLAUCOUS/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, seen by MG, on Bow River west of the Crowchild bridge.
–GLAUCOUS GULL, by MG, same as above; two seen by Bill Wilson at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on March 31, and one seen by Tony Timmons on April 1 at LaFarge Meadows.
–RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, Mallard Point, by GY et al. Three also seen by TK on April 1 at Clear Lake.

March 30
–RING-NECKED DUCK(3),and CANVASBACK, by Randy ?, at Weed Lake, Langdon area.
–GREATER SCAUP(2), Bow River, N.of 22x bridge, by Terry Korolyk. Terry also saw 110 at Clear Lake, and 40 at Pine Coulee Reservoir on April 1.

March 31
–CACKLING GOOSE (possible Minima subsp.) in a slough along Garden Rd., Calgary, by TK

April 1
–VARIED THRUSH, Grand Valley Rd, NW of Cochrane, by Ian Maton
–TREE SWALLOW, LaFarge Meadows, FCPP, by Janet Gill.
–DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT(2), Clear Lake, by TK.
–TRUMPETER SWANS and TUNDRA SWANS (1500), Silver Lake, by TK.
–WESTERN MEADOWLARK(3), Clear Lake, by TK.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday April 5.

Mallard Point – no false advertising here!

Apr2

Posted by Dan Arndt

Last weekend the Sunday morning birding group from the Friends of Fish Creek was diverted from our scheduled course of exploring Lafarge Meadows, south of the Boat Launch at Fish Creek Provincial Park, and instead explored the always amazing Mallard Point. This is one area of Fish Creek Park that I have rarely visited, but am always surprised at the diversity and splendor of the entire range of environments it includes, and the expanse of the Bow River along the protected Poplar Island is always a great spot to see, and hear, a wide variety of both waterfowl, shorebirds, and other assorted wildlife.

Here is the route we took:

Mallard Point Route

On the west bank, we were greeted by large numbers of European Starlings and Canada Geese searching for, and preparing nest holes and cavities in order to rear their young. Some preparing new ones, others, like the European Starling below, re-using older holes.

European Starling emerging from nest hole

On the river were a huge number of Common Goldeneye as well, still displaying and competing for females. It seems like they’ve been competing and displaying forever! On our first outing of the winter course we viewed others competing in the same way, so it had been at least 10 weeks!

Male Common Goldeneye displaying for females

Across the bridge and through the poplars we heard White-breasted Nuthatches and numerous Northern Flickers calling and displaying for their potential mates as well.

This Northern Flicker came in close for some great views of the bright plumage. Many birds possess a nictacting membrane, such as the one covering the eye of this Northern Flicker, to protect them from debris while flying, diving, or drumming, while still allowing the bird to see.

As we crossed a smaller second bridge, a group of nine Lesser Scaup came into view on one of the back channels off the Bow River. Slightly behind them was a trio of American Wigeon, again much closer than expected.

Female (l) and male (r) Lesser Scaup

Females (l) and male (r) American Wigeon

As we followed the pathway south, we took a look at some feeders in one of the yards adjoining the park, when one of the most elusive birds of this winter birding course was spotted pecking its way along beside, and behind the house. Some people search for good close views of this bird for weeks or months, but it appears that this lucky homeowner gets them in the yard fairly regularly. Some people are luckier than they know!

Male Ring-necked Pheasant

Heading further south along the Bow, we spotted an extremely mangy Coyote at least twice before we watched it digging at a cache and coming away with the wing of a Mallard that we suspect it had cached away under this log.

Extremely Mangy Coyote - this coyote had very little hair on its face, tail, and legs, and most of its underside also lacked hair. It was followed by 6-10 Black-billed Magpies until it was chased up the hillside.

And that’s where the path turned to go up the hillside, so we opted to turn around at that point and head back, which gave us the opportunity to see a few birds being flushed down river by an approaching fishing boat, being pushed down the river by the current. First was this American Wigeon, followed by some near-shore Common Mergansers and an inquisitive Ring-billed Gull.

Along the south edge of the path, another male American Wigeon offered very close views.

Male (l) and female (r) Common Merganser

Ring-billed Gull

As we neared the back-channel of the river again, a flock of European Starlings flew up harassing this Merlin, which paused for a brief photo-op.

Merlin

The last, but not least new species of the day was this beautiful pair of Hooded Mergansers right beside the bridge. I believe I shouted VERY loudly “Hooded Merganser!” which probably should have flushed them, but thank goodness that they were more than understanding of my excitement!

Male Hooded Merganser coming in for a landing.

Female (l) and male (r) Hooded Mergansers

I did mention there was no false advertising at Mallard Point. We spotted nearly 400 Mallards in our walk up and down the river, but none really close or accessible enough to get any decent shots of!

One more post this week will finish off the blogging for the Winter Birding course, and while I’ll be away for the first two weekends of the Spring course, I’ll be more than happy to share some of my other photos in the coming weeks!