Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Feb 2

Feb4

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.

This report was prepared on Thursday, Feb.2.

January 15
–NORTHERN CARDINAL(f). Seen in the Brittania area of Calgary since at least Jan.15.No further details known.

January 29
–AMERICAN ROBIN, Lowery Gardens, W. of Edworthy Park, by Steve Kassai.
–PINE GROSSBEAK, 11 found in Edworthy Park, 13 in Lowery Gardens, by SK.

January 30
–TRUMPETER SWAN(2). Seen on the Bow River W.of Exshaw, by G. Gorden.

February 1
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK(2).One along the Elbow River, by GY, and one in the Sandy Beach are of the Elbow River, by Phil Cram.
–NORTHERN SHRIKE(2). One seen along the Elbow River by Gus Yaki et.al, and one seen in W. Bowness Park by Gary Malcolm.
–TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE(4).Along the Elbow River during the monthly Elbow River Survey, by GY.
–HARRIS’ SPARROW(imm).Seen along 51st. Ave, about 2km east of 52nd.Str.SE. by Yousif Attia and Ilya Povalyaev.
–WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW(1) same location and observers as above.

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is Monday Feb 6.

Saw-whet Owl and Pellet

Feb3

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

By now most birders in Calgary have heard about the Northern Saw-whet Owl that was found in Carburn Park last Thursday. Phil Smith was there when it was found, and he captured an amazing sequence of pictures that show the owl coughing up a pellet.

Owls and many other birds regularly regurgitate pellets, which consist of the indigestible parts of the food they eat. Saw-whet owls eat a lot of Deer Mice, and their pellets contain mostly bones and fur.

Although these owls are thought to produce one pellet per day, it is a rare sight to see, and even rarer to photograph. The pictures have been assembled into a short video.

Below is the complete sequence of photos showing the owl coughing up the pellet. (Photos by Phil Smith, used by permission.)

To see more of Phil Smith’s photos, see his Flickr Page.

Anne Elliott also captured a photo of the pellet being produced:

To see more of Anne Elliott’s photos, see her Flickr Page.

Wednesday Wings: Juvenile Eagle

Feb1

Marg Matheson and Alan Plumb are new to the hobby of photographing birds, and sent us some juvenile Bald Eagle pictures. They are quite proud of these shots, and have every right to be! Click to enlarge.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Jan 30

Jan31

This report was prepared on Monday January 30.

–SNOWY OWL – seen is good numbers east of Hwy 9 and north of Strathmore over the past week

Sunday, JANUARY 29
–REDHEAD (1m) – Hwy 22x bridge over the Bow R by Terry Korolyk
–SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (1 or 2) – Carburn Park by Bob Lefebvre, Dan Arndt and Friends of Fish Creek PP Society (FFCPPS) field trip; and by Steve Kassai
–HARLAN’S HAWK (1) – Carburn Park by BL, DA et al
–BALD EAGLE (7) – Carburn Park by SK
–NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL (1) – Carburn Park; f irst seen on Thursday,January 26, by Gus Yaki and FFCPPS and then seen again by FFSPPS field trips on Saturday Jan 28 and Sunday Jan 29.
–AMERICAN CROW (75) – Carburn Park by BL, DA et al
–EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE (3) – Longview by Andrew Slater

Saturday, JANUARY 28
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – hunting Mallards just south of Ralph Klein Park in SE Calgary by TK
–BALD EAGLE (2) – hunting Mallards, location as above by TK
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE (1) – Sandy Beach by Bill Wilson
–SONG SPARROW (1) – residential area south of Carburn Park parking lot by Rob Worona
–AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (2) – location as above by RW
–HARRIS’ SPARROW (1) – SE Calgary by Hank Vanderpol. Call Terry Korolyk 403-254-1878 for precise location

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday, February 2.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday February 1. The program is titled “Understanding the Bird-brained: The Psychology of Bird Watching”, presented by Chip Scialfa. Dr Scialfa is a professor of psychology at the U of C,a birdwatcher and a volunteer for the Alberta Wilderness Assoc.

Birding Carburn Park (or the Bird Paparazzi find a local celebrity)

Jan30

Posted by Dan Arndt

This week the Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding course was at Carburn Park. After some initial reports of large flocks of Mallards, Canada Geese, along with Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye and Buffleheads, it seemed a great locale with the warmer winter weather. The Thursday group discovered a Northern Saw-whet Owl that has been found in its current location two other times in the last 12 years. Once in 2000, and again in 2005, which makes this bird, if it is the same individual, at least 13 years old. The route through the park was fairly circuitous, though we managed to identify twenty-three species in the three and a half hour tour of the park.

Carburn Park

We started at the parking lot and headed north along the river, spotting a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, and a small flock of House Sparrows as we headed to the north end of the park. At the river we were greeted by a large flock of Mallards and Canada Geese, and a few even flew directly overhead.

Canada Goose

Along the opposite bank were a flock of ten to fifteen Common Ravens, squawking and cawing at each other between the trees. From the river, we headed south along the path, stopping briefly to feed some Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches, while a pair of Downy Woodpeckers moved up and down the nearby birch trees searching for a meal.

Before I knew it, we were at the location of the local celebrity that had drawn its own crowd. Along with the group of fifteen birders with the FCPP birding course were no less than ten other local bird photographers, which led to some concern about the stress that type of crowd would put upon the small Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Northern Saw-whet Owl

After our brief visit with this beautiful little animal, we headed along the riverbank and stumbled across both a trio of White-tailed Deer, and a very unfortunate Coyote suffering from the worst case of mange I have ever seen.

White-tailed Deer

Coyote

Just beyond the coyote’s path, we stumbled across a fairly large flock of American Crows. We suspected they may be early migrants, as this flock numbered into the seventies, and they were harassing a trio of juvenile Bald Eagles on the far side of the river.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

As we continued down towards the southern end of Carburn Park, towards the bridge leading across to Southland Park, we scanned the flocks of Common Goldeneye for a few elusive Barrow’s Goldeneye. Our hard work paid off when one member of our group spotted a male and female pair very close to the near shore.

Common Goldeneye

Barrow's Goldeneye

After a slight loop south to look for a reported Song Sparrow and Ring-necked Pheasants, which we did not find, we headed back north to the vehicles. A few Common Redpolls were in the birch trees nearby, and many House Sparrows along the feeders behind the row of houses, but no Song Sparrow or Pheasants were to be found. After a brief stint at the bridge, we did manage to find one parting mystery, this Harlan’s Hawk, which we initially had passed over as one of the juvenile Bald Eagles!

Common Redpoll

Harlan's Hawk

Looks like next week is a trip down to Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek Provincial Park. Thanks for reading, and good birding!

Sunday Showcase: Northern Hawk Owl

Jan29

Rob English found this beautiful owl north of Turner Valley last month. Click to enlarge.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Jan 26

Jan27

This report was prepared on Thursday January 26.

January 22
— LESSER SCAUP, Carburn Park, Bow River (Calgary), Janet Gill, Bernie Diebolt, CFNS group

January 23
— GADWALL male, Fish Creek PP, Bow River (Calgary), David Lilly

January 24
— NORTHERN PINTAIL male, Carburn Park, Bow River, Gus Yaki, FFC group
— GYRFALCON, Hwy 8 west of Calgary, Richard Clarke

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday January 30.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday February 1. The program is titled “Understanding the Bird-brained: The Psychology of Bird Watching”, presented by Chip Scialfa. Dr. Scialfa is a professor of psychology at the U of C, a birdwatcher and a volunteer for the Alberta Wilderness Association.

Birds Calgary 2010 Competition Pages In New Location

Jan24

This blog was started in 2009 as a forum for keeping competitors informed about the Birds Calgary 2010 competition. After the competition ended we kept the blog going, and it has evolved into a general birding resource for Calgary and area birders. The information from the competition was still here, under the “2010 Bird Comp” page at the top of the blog. Now, as we approach the allowable size limits for this blog, and with lots of ideas for important new pages, we have decided to create a new blog to house all the information from the competition.

The new blog can be found at “2010 Birding Competition” and there is also a link to it under the “Blogroll” heading on our home page. It won’t be an active blog with new posts but all the competition pages are there. The 2010 pages on this blog will be removed in a few days.

Not only does this free up a lot of space here, but the competition pages display better and are easier to navigate in their new home. Check out all the stats and the great photos, and if you were a participant, relive the competition! Only eight more years and we can do it again.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Jan 23

Jan24

This report was prepared on Monday January 23.

Sunday, JANUARY 22
–LESSER SCAUP (1) – Carburn Park by Janet Gill, Bernie Diebolt & CFNS field trip
–RED-TAILED HAWK (light phase) – Raven Rocks in Fish Creek PP by Steve Kassai
–SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (subadult) – Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek PP by SK
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1m) – Shepard by Terry Korolyk

Saturday, JANUARY 21
–COMMON x BARROW’S GOLDENEYE (1m) – Bankside in Fish Creek PP by TK
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – Symon’s Valley Rd area just N of Calgary by Bill Wilson
–SNOWY OWL (1) – Symon’s Valley Rd near Hwy 567 by BW

Friday, JANUARY 20
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE (1) – still surviving the deep freeze, observed in Andrew Slater’s yard

Thursday, JANUARY 19
–GOLDEN EAGLE (1 subadult) – just east of Winchell Lake, south of Water Valley, by Ray Woods
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK (2) – one on Grand Valley Rd a mile north of Hwy 1A by RW; one in the Weaselhead by Gus Yaki & Friends of Fish Creek Society field trip
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1+) – one, possibly two, seen near the Scotia Centre in downtown Calgary by Wlad Franco-Valias
–SNOWY OWL (1) – Symon’s Valley Rd near Hwy 567 by RW
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL (1) – 300 m south of entrance to Bates Bar J Ranch on Grand Valley Rd by RW

Wednesday, JANUARY 18
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – near the Scotia Centre by WF-V

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday January 26.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday February 1. The program is titled “Understanding the Bird-brained: The Psychology of Bird Watching”, presented by Chip Scialfa. Dr Scialfa is a professor of psychology at the UofC, a birdwatcher and a volunteer for the Alberta Wilderness Assoc.

Boreal Birds of the Weaselhead

Jan23

Another weekend, another excursion (or three) with the Friends of Fish Creek Birding Course. Once again I joined Gus Yaki on his Saturday walk, and returned a little later that day when the clouds cleared and the light allowed for some better photos. The Sunday morning course was business as usual, but staying behind briefly to catch up with Bernie Diebolt, who would be leading the afternoon group along with Janet Gill, allowed me to tally another bird on my 2012 list, and one that I hadn’t seen in nearly two years. Stay tuned until the end for those photos!

Saturday morning stayed fairly cool, at around -15 degrees Celsius, but was considerably nicer than the week leading up to it. Sunday was much warmer, around -5C to -2C towards the end of the walk, but we walked a slightly different route in hopes of seeing a few different birds.

Saturday Route

Sunday Route

Saturday began with the sighting of a number of Pine Grosbeaks at the parking lot, and then many more we trekked down the hill into the Elbow River Valley.

Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeaks

Midway down the hill, as the path curves, a number of feeders have been set up and are regularly filled by a few local birdwatchers. This week though, these feeders have been empty each day, due to the cold. Whether that is due to the birds emptying them each day, or that they’re not being refilled currently, we’ve been filling them with some black oil sunflower seeds, much to the delight of the resident Black-capped Chickadees, Common Redpolls, and both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers.

Black-capped Chickadee

Down at the bottom of the hill are a number of other feeders, and one of the only Hairy Woodpeckers we saw this weekend was down there, tapping away at the birch and poplar trees, looking for a tasty snack, though I’m sure while we weren’t looking, he may have eaten a sunflower seed or two as well.

Hairy Woodpecker

Across the bridge and through the woods, we were led to a small clearing behind a line of spruce trees where the Boreal Chickadees have been seen all week. At least three came down Saturday morning, and paused to allow for a few photos, though I was determined to come back later in the day once the location was confirmed.

Boreal Chickadee

I thought that nothing could top that, as we sat there for close to half an hour as the Boreal and Black-capped Chickadees ate out of our hands. Through the woods and towards the river we trekked, and I will admit a very bad identification moment, when I spotted this Red-breasted Nuthatch at the peak of a spruce tree, swearing it was something new and that we hadn’t seen all day. I don’t recall seeing these little guys sitting at the top of trees very often, if at all before. Needless to say, almost every birder I know has misidentified a bird from time to time, even the best of us. If we didn’t, there’d be no point in having Field Guides and databases of photos to refer to from time to time.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

At the fork in the path, we headed back towards the vehicles, preparing to end our trip for the day, though we were pleasantly surprised to see this Rough-legged Hawk being harassed by Black-billed Magpies on the north wall of the valley, across the river from our vantage point.

Rough-legged Hawk

After that, it was back to the main path, and up to the vehicles, though I was not quite done for the day. After stopping to have some lunch, I headed back to the Weaselhead as the clouds had burned off and the light was much better. In retracing my steps, I happened to get some photos of some more Boreal Chickadees, a very large flock of Bohemian Waxwings, and a Bald Eagle flying about 100 feet overhead.

Boreal Chickadee

Bohemian Waxwing

Bald Eagle

Sunday morning was similar early on, with the Pine Grosbeaks meeting us at the parking lot.

Pine Grosbeak

The feeding station midway down the hill was occupied as we approached by a number of Common Redpolls, which flushed after a few minutes of observation, but not before everyone had seen them. They really are quite pleasant birds that way!

Common Redpoll

Over the river we spotted a Rough-legged Hawk being chased down by a number of Common Redpolls before it stopped to rest at the top of this spruce tree.

Rough-legged Hawk

After stopping at the Boreal Chickadee location again and only coming up with a very small number of Black-capped Chickadees, we opted to head down the main pathway a little further and loop back again, in hopes that they would arrive later in the day. Though there weren’t too many other species around, we did have a few Black-capped Chickadees on the path, and a Rough-legged Hawk at the far west end on the southern valley slope. As we headed back north, I spotted another Red-breasted Nuthatch once again sitting atop a spruce tree. Two in less than 24 hours doing this same behaviour? Maybe it’s not as uncommon as I previously thought!

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Before we reached the Boreal Chickadee clearing, a flock of 50+ Bohemian Waxwings flew into this spruce tree nearly about a hundred meters away.

Bohemian Waxwings

After a brief few minutes of searching the clearing, we were preparing to leave, but as I turned to head home in defeat, a lone Boreal Chickadee flew towards the group. I was very pleased to get to see this beautiful little bird again today.

Boreal Chickadee

Calling it a day, we headed back towards the vehicles, and while I chatted with Gus a bit before heading home, I wanted to give Bernie a call to let him know what we saw, and where we saw it. As we talked, I noticed a shape in one of the trees near the parking lot, and just had to put him on hold while I grabbed some photos of it. The last Dark-eyed Juncos I had seen were in Waterton Lakes National Park, back in the summer of 2010, so these were a very pleasant surprise!

Dark-eyed Junco

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Dan Arndt

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