Winter Killdeer

Dec24

Last weekend on the Christmas Bird Count, I came across a very photogenic Killdeer. These abundant shorebirds, usually only stay the summer in Calgary, several birds, however, also stay the winter.

Despite our frigid winters, these hardy Killdeer seem to manage all right, we see them throughout the winter which must mean that they are surviving. They are definitely finding food, as can be seen in the photo below.

This Killdeer seemed to be finding enough food

At one point, I even saw this particular bird with a small morsel of food clenched in its beak.

This Killdeer was fearless and approached me; which is quite a nice change as a photographer! It also engaged in the species peculiar method of moving; they run for a few feet, stop, look around, flick their tail up, bob their head up and down a couple times, and then repeat this cycle over again.

Just finished a short run, the Killdeer stops, looks around and...

Bobs it's head out of the photo, leaving the photographer with an unusual result; but a good story!

Each year, Killdeer are seen wintering in Calgary, somewhere on the Bow River. Though it may seem like a daft idea to many of us, this species obviously are doing just fine!

A Merry Christmas to you from all of us here at the blog!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 22

Dec23

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This report was prepared on Thursday December 22.

Bird Sightings

Several Christmas bird counts over the last week produced some interesting birds as follows:

December 18, Calgary bird count produced 69 species, including the following species of interest: AMERICAN PIPIT (first ever for the count); GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-INCH ( second ever for the count); CANVASBACK, PIED-BILLED GREBE, NORTHERN HARRIER, HARRIS’S SPARROW, RUSTY BLACKBIRD, COMMON GRACKLE, RED-TAILED HAWK, LONG-TAILED DUCK, HARLEQUIN DUCK AND AMERICAN DIPPER.

December 20, High River count produced a record 56 species, including the following species of interest: RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, TUNDRA SWAN, PEREGRINE FALCON , and COMMON MERGANSER, all a first for the count. Five species of owls included LONG-EARED AND NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL.

December 18:
–KILLDEER: Up to 12 different birds were seen by three different parties along the Bow River; near the 22x bridge; at Policeman’s Flats; and two at Griffith’s Woods along the Elbow River.

December 19:
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL(1), just W. of Turner Valley along Hwy.546; by Andrew Slater
–GOLDEN EAGLE (imm), 1km. S. of Turner Valley along 208 Str., by AS.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday, December 26.

Schoolyard Swainson’s

Dec22

Last July, right before I moved to Texas, I was treated to an incredible sight: a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk perched on a fence in a school parking lot. This hawk was incredibly close to the sidewalk and allowed for some great photos, all the while sitting calmly on its perch.

 This hawk didn’t seem to be injured, it just seemed to be very tolerant of people. Supposedly, Swainson’s Hawks are accepting of human activity and tolerate even more in areas where this activity is more frequent. This species will often become accustomed to disturbance from humans, thus the higher level of tolerability. This hawk, however did still seem to be giving me the evil eye!

After a couple minutes, the impressive raptor, slowly turned away (above) and resumed its activities as if I wasn’t even there.

This is not the first time this year that a Swainson’s Hawk has allowed me to get very close to it, back in May, while we bloggers were doing the Big Sit, we observed a Swainson’s that allowed us to watch it from merely several feet away http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/swainsons-hawk/.

This was definitely one of the cooler birding parts of the summer!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on CBC

Dec21

Coordinating all the people and data for the Christmas Bird Count is a tremendous undertaking, and we thank  Phil Cram for his dedication to the birds.

On Thursday Dec 22, Phil will be talking about the Calgary count with David Gray on the CBC Eyeopener show. Tune in to CBC Radio One at 6:40 in the morning – start your day with bird thoughts and discussion.

Update to the Christmas Bird Count

While my Common Grackle didn’t show up on Sunday, he obligingly visited my feeders on Tuesday Dec 20, so he did make it into count week!

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Carburn and Southland Park Christmas Bird Count

Dec21

This year, I also did the Christmas Bird Count; I was assigned the S1 route, encompassing both Carburn and Southland Park. We started the morning birding from the Eric Harvie bridge in Southland, right beside the dog park, before splitting up, 2 groups going south along the river (one on each side) and 2 groups going north along the river. The day was off to a good start as we observed 2 adult eagles and 2 immature eagles flying low overhead; the rising sun was beautiful, adding to the good beginning and silhouetting the many ducks and geese on the Bow River.

We observed thousands of Mallards, Common Goldeneyes and Canada Geese throughout the day with several hundred Buffleheads as well. There were also several Barrow’s Goldeneyes in these waterfowl flocks.

The Common Goldeneyes weren’t quite as numerous as the Mallards however they were still present in large numbers.

We continued to walk further down the river, spotting Redpolls, plenty of waterfowl, Killdeer, magpies and… RUSTY BLACKBIRD!!! As we were hiking along the river, we flushed up a brownish-black bird about the size of a Robin from the bank. It landed nearby at the top of a poplar where we all got good looks at it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my photographs of this species! This blackbird, is an unusual bird in Calgary, explaining, perhaps, my excitement at the sighting (also, this was only my second time seeing this species).

We headed back to the meeting spot, the Eric Harvie Bridge, where we saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk and discovered that another group had found an American Wigeon. We then headed to our next stop, Tim Hortons! After warming up and getting refreshments at Tim Hortons, we headed out near the Glenmore bridge, where at a pullout, we walked out and did some more birding, turning up a Killdeer and a Hairy Woodpecker.

The next and final stop for our group was Carburn Park. Our goal at Carburn, was to find an American Pipit  that had been reported here a little while earlier. Though we couldn’t agree to the location where this bird had been seen, we did manage to find it. This happens to be the first pipit recorded on the Calgary CBC since its beginning, 59 years ago.

Also in Carburn, we found a pair of Great Horned Owls, that were extremely well camouflaged against the tree branches they were perched on, several more Barrow’s Goldeneyes and another juvenile eagle. I decided to head home early and only found out later that the rest of the group had also found a Northern Pintail and a Wood Duck in Carburn. I birded around my neighborhood, which was inside our count circle, and managed to add both species of crossbills, a robin and a Merlin to our list, among other species.

The pipit and the Rusty Blackbird were definitely the highlights of the day for me, however they were only two of the 33 species and 7924 individuals recorded by 10 counters in this particular area. Here are the complete results:

Canada Goose, 1500; Wood Duck, 1; American Wigeon, 1; Mallard, 3000; Northern Pintail, 1; Bufflehead, 150; Common Goldeneye, 2800; Barrow’s Goldeneye, 20; Common Merganser, 20; Bald Eagle, 5; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1; Merlin, 1; Killdeer, 5; Rock Pigeon, 25; Great Horned Owl, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 5; Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Northern Flicker, 3; Black-billed Magpie, 125; American Crow, 3; Common Raven, 12; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 3; White-breasted Nuthatch, 3; American Robin, 1; Dark-eyed Junco, 1; Rusty Blackbird, 1; House Finch, 4; Red Crossbill, 12; White-winged Crossbill, 26; Common Redpoll, 25; House Sparrow, 110; American Pipit, 1.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 19

Dec20

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This report was prepared on Monday December 19.

December 17
–RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: Been around for over a month at feeders behind 506-4str., High River, behind George Lane Park.
–BLUE-WINGED TEAL:(F) Bow River at Policeman’s Flats, end of Bow River Bottom Trail, off Dunbow Rd, by Terry Korolyk.
–AMERICAN WIGEON: same as above.
–GADWALL: near 22x bridge on the Bow River, by TK
–LESSER SCAUP: same as above.
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL: SW of Turner Valley, at 226 Ave and 112 Str, by Ross Lein.
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE(3): Beaverdam Flats, by Steve Karsai.
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK: same as above.

December 18:
The following species were all seen during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count:

–AMERICAN PIPIT: Bow River at Carburn Park.
–GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH: at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.
–CANVASBACK: Bow River near downtown Calgary.
–PIED-BILLED GREBE: mouth of the Elbow River.
–NORTHERN HARRIER: along 50th Ave on eastern edge of the city.
–HARRIS’S SPARROW: substation on 50th Ave. SE., and another also in SE Calgary.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday December 22.

Calgary Christmas Bird Count Results

Dec20

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 60th Calgary Christmas Bird count on December 18, 2011. A record number of 239 birders took part in this year’s count, with 117 feeder-watchers and 122 observers in the field.

Conditions on count-day were excellent. Light overnight snow stopped just at the start of the count and it was generally cloudy throughout the day. The temperature remained in a narrow range between minus 3 deg and zero deg. Snow cover was around 10 – 15 cm. Glenmore Reservoir was fully frozen and the Bow and Elbow Rivers were partly frozen. Birders in the field put in a total of 238 party-hours, 68 percent on foot, covering 229 km on foot and 1021 km by car.

Some Count Highlights

69 species were recorded, tied for third highest-ever; we have averaged 65 species for the past 20 years. Two additional species have been recorded in count-week (December 15-21) so far, Long-tailed Duck and American Dipper

66,529 individual birds were counted, our highest-ever. Bohemian Waxwings were the most numerous, with almost 20 000 counted, and over 1000 individuals were counted for another ten species, four of them finch species.

We had a new bird for the count, our first since 2005. This was an American Pipit found on the Bow River. The bird had first been sighted there on December 3. Other rarities were a Pied-billed Grebe found at the outlet of the Elbow River (4th count record) and a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (2nd count-record). Excellent photographs were taken of these rarities which will greatly aid the documentation process.

Other unusual species (recorded in two or less years in the prior ten): Canvasback (1), Northern Harrier (1), Hoary Redpoll (21) and Evening Grosbeak (2).

Record numbers for Cooper’s Hawk (6), Rough-legged Hawk (17), Northern Flicker (142), Pine Grosbeak (852) and White-winged Crossbill (1129).

High Counts (more than three-times the prior ten-year average) for two regularly recorded species: Prairie Falcon (3) and Common Redpoll (1543).

Low counts (less than one-third the prior ten-year average) for one regularly recorded species: American Wigeon (2).

Five “missing” species (seen on count-day in seven or more years in the prior ten, but missed this year): Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Harlequin Duck, Mountain Chickadee and American Dipper.

I will be presenting the results at the Bird Study Group meeting on Wednesday January 4, 2012 at 7:30 PM in Room 211 of the Biosciences Building, University of Calgary, as part of the traditional Calgary region CBC review evening. Please let me know if you notice any omissions or errors in this provisional compilation. Final results will be posted on the Audubon database as soon as it is re-functioning.

MOST IMPORTANT — please inform me of any count-week sightings of any species not on the list below.

List of species recorded on count-day

Cackling Goose, 2; Canada Goose, 8191; Wood Duck, 7; American Wigeon, 2; Mallard, 14623; Northern Pintail 1; Canvasback, 1; Lesser Scaup, 1; Bufflehead, 178; Common Goldeneye, 2993; Barrow’s Goldeneye, 20; Hooded Merganser, 5; Common Merganser, 60; Gray Partridge, 125; Ring-necked Pheasant, 24; Ruffed Grouse, 3; Pied-billed Grebe, 1; Bald Eagle, 19; Northern Harrier, 1; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 8; Cooper’s Hawk, 6; Northern Goshawk, 6, Red-tailed Hawk, 1; Rough-legged Hawk, 17; Merlin, 19; Gyrfalcon, 2; Prairie Falcon, 3; Killdeer, 5; Gull sp., 1; Rock Pigeon, 3221; Great Horned Owl, 5; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 131; Hairy Woodpecker, 24; Northern Flicker, 142; Pileated Woodpecker, 1; Northern Shrike, 2; Blue Jay, 102; Black-billed Magpie, 2366; American Crow 51; Common Raven, 192; Black-capped Chickadee, 1360; Boreal Chickadee, 10; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 344; White-breasted Nuthatch, 55; Brown Creeper, 12; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 18; Townsend’s Solitaire, 8; American Robin, 63; European Starling, 515; American Pipit, 1; Bohemian Waxwing, 19593; Cedar Waxwing, 10; American Tree Sparrow, 6; Harris’s Sparrow, 2; Dark-eyed Junco, 213; Snow Bunting, 3; Rusty Blackbird, 1; Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, 1; Pine Grosbeak, 852; Purple Finch, 1; House Finch, 1280; Red Crossbill, 139; White-winged Crossbill, 1129; Common Redpoll, 1543; Hoary Redpoll, 21; Pine Siskin, 571; Evening Grosbeak, 2 and House Sparrow, 6214

Total species, 69. Total individuals, 66 529.

Phil Cram

crampj@telusplanet.net

Christmas Bird Count in the Weaselhead

Dec19

This year marks my first ever Christmas Bird Count. As the date approached and the weather forecast flip-flopped from cold and blustery to a warm winter chinook, I was confident that no matter the weather, I’d make the best of it and tough it out. Thankfully, we had a beautiful day. Almost no wind to speak of, and the birds were out in force.

The organizer, Philip Cram, had put me in one of the walking groups by request, with Rob Worona, David Pugh, and Bernie Diebolt, all familiar names to me, but my first time birding with Rob, the group leader, and David, a fellow photographer.

Starting at western-most parking lot at South Glenmore Park, we made our way across the valley wall and westward into the Weaselhead proper. It started out quiet, with the usual suspects making their appearances. The Common Redpoll, the Black-capped Chickadees, and the White-winged Cross-bills we’ve seen so much of lately.

Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
White-winged Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
As we headed further toward the bridge spanning the Elbow River, we were mobbed by a group of Black-capped Chickadees, and were alerted to the presence of a rarer Chickadee species, the Boreal Chickadee. As the Black-capped Chickadees flocked, the wheezy, higher pitched nasally tones of the boreal species edged closer and closer, until finally it made an appearance. Though not brave enough to hand-feed, it did come close, and finally dropped down to eat some of the black-oil sunflower seed on offer.
Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

Continuing down the path we were greeted again by another new sight. Perched high up across one of the smaller tributaries to the Elbow River was this juvenile Northern Goshawk. The bright white eyebrow and the jagged tail-bars were distinct enough for Rob to confidently make the species ID.

Juvenile Northern Goshawk

Juvenile Northern Goshawk

Finally we reached the bridge, and in amongst the Common Redpolls earlier, we thought we may have seen a Hoary Redpoll or two in amongst the flock. We were granted a second, much closer view of one of them, and as we compared it to the others, we became more and more convinced. Another first for me, the Hoary Redpoll:
Hoary Redpoll

Hoary Redpoll

We stopped for lunch to compile our count numbers and to re-energize, but again were mobbed by hungry birds and a Red Squirrel or two, but as we were finishing up, a couple of very brave Red-breasted Nuthatches flew in for a bite.
Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Though it was a fairly warm winter’s day, the sun hadn’t really made much of an appearance, but when it did, these Pine Grosbeaks began singing and for the first time, I heard a soft cooing from the females, almost like that of a Rock Pigeon or Eurasian Collared Dove. I was completely unaware that Pine Grosbeaks made sounds anything like this.
Female Pine Grosbeak

Female Pine Grosbeak

 At this point, we stopped once again for a water, coffee, and snack break while this Common Raven vocalized above us with its unearthly and very unusual croaking call. I’m always amazed at the variety or Raven behaviour and vocal range. I’ll have to follow-up with a post on the variety and uniqueness of corvid behaviour among the birds.
Common Raven

Common Raven

Around a bend and over another tributary channel of the Elbow River and we were back to the base of the southern valley wall. At the crossroads of the trail heading back to the top of the southern wall we stopped at a feeding station to where a number of species were found. The White-breasted Nuthatch, Hairy Woodpecker, and Downy Woodpecker:
Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

The last few hundred meters did turn out productive though, granting us a Ruffed Grouse, a few House Finches, a Pine Siskin, and a very good angle at some close Pine Grosbeaks atop the spruce trees bordering the path.

Ruffed Grouse

Ruffed Grouse

House Finch

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin

Male (R) and Female (L) Pine Grosbeak

Male (R) and Female (L) Pine Grosbeak

All in all, a great day both for the birds, and for the hardy birders who were out in Calgary yesterday. Once the numbers are tallied up and made public in the New Year, they’ll be posted here, though I suspect we’ve got a banner year for finches with the huge number of Grosbeaks, Redpolls and Crossbills seen in the last few months.

Posted by Dan Arndt

It’s good to be back…

Dec19

I flew in to Calgary from Houston last Friday night and was greeted by snow on the ground! Something that I haven’t seen since April. Never thought that I would be so excited to see snow. My first day back, Saturday, I took a walk around my neighborhood and was fortunate enough to see most of the locals; no not the neighbors, the birds.

First thing in the morning, I woke to see several Black-billed Magpies jumping and hollering about in the willow. Several Common Ravens flew overhead and 2 pairs of Chickadees visited the feeders. I was very happy to see the Black-capped Chickadees, nothing can compare with this species’ friendliness!

I have been following the reports from Albertabird still and I have seen all the reports of winter finches; I knew what a good year it was for these birds. I just didn’t know how good! In my hour or so walk, I saw more Crossbills then I did all last winter. I must have seen more than 100 crossbills!

Most of the crossbills were White-winged however there were a few Red Crossbills in the mix ( see photo above). I also observed many Pine Siskins that were flocking with the crossbills and feeding on the abundant cones.

My neighborhood, for some reason, never seems to be popular with Common Redpolls, however this year, within my first 24 hours of being back in Calgary, I had already seen 2 in my community. Also, we hosted a Pine Grosbeak, which is unusual for us. At one point, I was privileged to see several crossbills, a redpoll and many siskins on the ground just feet in front of me, licking up some sort of salt or rock from the ground.

Then, later on in the day, I discovered why my feeders were so empty. Three Sharp-shinned Hawks were all together in a tree. When 3 raptors start calling your neighborhood home, there are definitely going to be some songbird declines.

All in all, it’s good to be back!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Red-bellied Woodpecker Photos

Dec18

Red-bellied woodpecker from Wikipedia

As many of you know, there has been a Red-bellied woodpecker living in George Lane Park in High River for the last few weeks. Blog reader and photographer Duane Starr visited the park on December 17, and took a series of excellent photos of this rare bird.

You can see his collection of Red-bellied woodpecker photos on his  website. Just click any of the thumbnail pictures on the left to see a larger view of the photo.

Once you’ve enjoyed the woodpecker pictures, you must travel on over to his photos of the Great Gray Owl – they are fantastic.

Thank you Duane, for sharing your work!

Posted by Pat Bumstead