Rare Bird Alert: May 24

May24

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is a species on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the 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 Bird Alert was recorded on Monday May 23.

Bird Sightings:

May 18:
2 WHITE-FACED IBIS at wetlands on Hwy 567 between Airdrie & Hwy 791, John Corbin.
EURASIAN-COLLARED DOVE pairs at Patricia and Duchess, Lois Martin and Arlene Torkeson.

May 19:
2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS on Glenmore Res., Jeff Banks.
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK (or a hybrid ) between Airdrie and Irricana, Doug McQueen.

May 20:
4 CASPIAN TERNS at Glenmore Res., Bill Wilson.
A WILLOW FLYCATCHER, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, SWAINSON’S THRUSHES (10) at IBS,
banding project.
BLACKPOLL WARBLERS(3), SWAINSON’S THRUSH (7), ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, RED-EYED
VIREO, WARBLING VIREO, EASTERN & WESTERN KINGBIRDS, WESTERN TANAGER, CALLIOPE
HUMMINGBIRD between IBS and Glenmore Res, Bill Wilson.

May 21:
GLOSSY IBIS or GLOSSY/WHITE-FACED hybrid feeding with WHITE-FACED IBIS at Third Lake, 224 St SE approx. 1-2 km south of Hwy 552, Terry Korolyk.
BLACKPOLL WARBLER, TENNESSEE WARBLER at IBS, Bill Wilson.

May 22:
An unidentified HUMMINGBIRD at Priddis, unknown observer.
An albinistic SWAINSON’S HAWK, Hwy 560 east of Hwy 24, TK.

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

Early Morning Birding

May23

At this time of year, the earlier you can get out birding the better. The sun is up and the birds are singing before 6:00 am. Sometimes it can be a little cold, but it’s a beautiful time of day to be out in the field.

Every Wednesday during the spring migration, Gus Yaki has been leading an early morning bird walk at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Last week I was able to join Gus and a small group of birders, and we found 42 species of birds.

This is a Nature Calgary field trip, so it is free and open to everyone. The walk begins at 6:30 am at the parking lot and lasts for about two hours. This coming Wednesday, May 25, will be the last of these early morning walks, so if you can manage it, it’s a good opportunity.

Here are some highlights of last weeks’ walk.

There is a partially albino female American Robin which has building a nest near the south end of the lagoon, opposite Walker House. We were lucky enough to see it at close range, with its mate…

There were several pairs of Canada Geese and a few broods of goslings around…

A female Belted Kingfisher was perched over the lagoon…

Several Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen. This one is an Audubon subspecies…

Two male Harlequin Ducks on a distant island in the river…

Two male Wood Ducks on the river…

A yawning female Common Merganser…

And lots of these guys looking for handouts…

Afterwards I went over to the adjacent Inglewood Wildlands Park. There were several Savannah Sparrows singing…

And hovering over the pond, a Say’s Phoebe…

You don’t see these flycatchers in the city too often, and I got a good look at it…

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Sunday Showcase: Calgary Birds

May22

More stunning photographs of birds in the Calgary area, this time sent to us by Terry Chiddy. Thanks for sharing! Click pictures for a larger view.

American Avocet

Northern Flicker

Common Megansers

Osprey

Bird Profile: Black-crowned Night-Heron

May21

Herons are elegant birds, wading through water with their long legs, waiting to plunge their beaks into the water to spear their next meal, be it a frog a mouse or a small fish. Yesterday, I visited Frank Lake, near High River, south of Calgary. While I was there, I saw several Black-crowned Night-Herons; a mostly nocturnal heron with relatively large eyes. The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a small, stocky bird with a greenish black crown and long, thin, white head plumes. A colonial species, the Night-Heron can be found roosting in trees near its hunting grounds during the daylight hours.

This immature Night-Heron has yet to grow the fancier plumage of the adult.

Unfortunately, we did not find a colony of roosting birds; we did however, find two birds together in the same small pond. What struck me the most was the herons’ bright red eyes. They certainly looked like they would be able to see in the dark!!!

An adult Black-crowned Night-Heron in search of lunch.

That beak and those claws are pretty intimidating; especially if you are on this guy’s menu!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert: May 19

May20

This Bird Albert was recorded on May 19, 2011.

MAY 15

BLACK TERN – 6 reported by Dwight Knapik at the Calgary Zoo’s private facility just southeast of Calgary
RED KNOT – 2 by Richard Clarke at Kitsim Reservoir located in the southwest corner of the intersection of Hwys 36 and 539
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 130 as above

MAY 16

SWAINSON’S THRUSH – Peter Roxburgh had one in his yard in Lake Bonavista

MAY 17

CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD – one seen in Weaselhead by Dwight Knapik
ROCK WREN – at Kinbrook Island Prov Park near Brooks, by RC
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER ( Audubon subspecies) – Corinne Griffon saw a male at Rge Rd 35 and Twp Rd 320 NE of Cremona
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – reported by Bill Wilson at the west end of Glenmore Reservoir
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER – 6 reported as above
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER – 25 as above
CASPIAN TERN – Terry Korolyk saw 2 at Glenmore Reservoir
GOLDEN EAGLE – 1 on Nose Hill reported by Gus Yaki
TURKEY VULTURE – 2 reported flying over Willowpark subdivision, seen by Matthew Sim

GLAUCOUS-WINGED-HERRING GULL hybrid – 1st yr reported by TK at Glenmore Reservoir

MAY 18

RED KNOT – 30 reported by RC at Kitsim Reservoir
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – 400 as above
LARK SPARROW – 1 reported at Kinbrook Island PP by RC
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH – GY and a Nature Calgary group saw one at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
BARN SWALLOW – several reports in the Calgary area

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon May 23.

Photo Feathers: Splish Splash

May18

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: May 16

May17

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is a species on this Reportable_Birds list (PDF), please report it to the 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, email us at 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 Bird Albert was recorded on May 16, 2011.

MAY 12

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER – 2 seen in the west end of Glenmore Reservoir by Gus Yaki and the Friends of Fish Creek PP Society (FCCPPS)
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER – 30 seen as above
TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE – 1 seen by David Pugh at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (IBS)
SANDHILL CRANE – 2 at Winchell Lake reported by Ron Kube

MAY 13

SAGE THRASHER – one reported and photographed on private restricted access property moving along a fence along a range road east of Milo
YELLOW WARBLER – reported by Cedric and Robin Hitchon at Carburn Park
MEW GULL – adult at the west end of Glenmore Reservoir reported by Bill Wilson

MAY 14

STILT SANDPIPER – 26 reported by BW at the slough on TRd 232 east of the railroad tracks at Shepard
BLACK-NECKED STILT – 4 as above
WHITE-FACED IBIS – 1 as above
UPLAND SANDPIPER – on RR 250 at the southwest corner of Eagle Lake by Howard Heffler and Tony Timmons
NASHVILLE WARBLER – seen by Jim Davis at Hay Meadow at the Mt. Lorette Hawk watch site
SORA – heard by Terry Korolyk east of Shepard

MAY 14-15 (WEEKEND)

SANDERLING – in the Taber area reported by Lloyd Bennett
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT – 2 reports in our area
BROWN THRASHER – reported over the weekend
SPRAGUE’S PIPIT – as above
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE – as above
BALTIMORE ORIOLE – as above
SPOTTED TOWHEE – as above

MAY 15

TREE SWALLOW – thousands seen by TK along the Bow River in east Fish Creek PP
BANK SWALLOW – as above
CASPIAN TERN – 2 seen by BW at the west end of Glenmore Reservoir
EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE – 2 seen by TK in balsam poplars south of the Bankside parking lot in east Fish Creek PP

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu May 19.

Hidden in Plain Sight

May16

Canada Geese are abundant in Calgary year-round, and for the last month or so they have been nesting in various spots around the city. Like all birds, they try to find nesting sites that are secure from predators like coyotes. They will often nest on top of flat-topped buildings, and one of the best locations a goose can find is the top of a large broken tree.

Another good location is an island in a pond or the river. I’m always amazed at how difficult it can be to see the nesting goose even if it’s in the open like this…

Above, the male Canada Goose stands watch near the nest and is fairly conspicuous on the left-hand side of the gravel bar, but can you see the female on her nest?

There she is, on the right-hand side.

As seen below, it’s amazing how the colour pattern of a Canada Goose can allow it to blend in to its surroundings so that it is nearly invisible…

There are still plenty of geese on their nests in the city. I just saw my first goslings on Saturday, May 14, about ten days later than usual. For the next couple of months we will be treated to scenes like this:

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Swainson’s Hawk

May15

While we were at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary doing our Big Sit, we came across a very interesting sight. There, perched on the ground, maybe ten feet off the path, was a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk. The dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk has a dark-brown colour over most of its body; the more common light morph has a brown bib contrasting with white underparts. This particular hawk had a Richardson’s Ground Squirrel clutched in his claws and was regarding all the photographers and interested visitors with a haughty look.

This Swainson’s Hawk intrigued many visitors to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.

And there he sat; for over an hour we were told, he had stayed in the same spot. He finally got tired of all this hustle and bustle, deciding to try to find a quieter place to enjoy his meal in peace. However, he had not counted on catching such a heavy meal…

Attempted take-off

After he couldn’t achieve lift-off by taking a running leap, he tried a different tactic: taking off from the spot where he stood.

Flap!!!

Well that didn’t work either…

The hawk then decided that, seeing as he wasn’t going anywhere with his meal, he might try to eat it right then and there. And that’s what he did. He hopped back a couple of feet with his meal, to a slightly more secluded area and began to eat.