Bird Alert Report March 21

Mar22

Welcome to the City of Calgary and CFNS Bird Alert. This report was prepared on Monday March 21, 9:00pm. To report a bird sighting,call 403-221-4519 and leave a message after the recording.

Thursday, March 17

–ROSS’S GOOSE(1), Frank Lake
–CACKLING GOOSE(1),Frank Lake

Friday, March 18
–SNOW GOOSE(2), flying near Longview
–TURKEY VULTURE(1),at Mt.Lorette hawk watch
–GOLDEN EAGLE(129), Mt.Lorette hawk watch
–SHARP-SHINNED HAWK(1),Mt.Lorette hawk watch
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK(1),Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
–NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL(2),Shannon Terrace, Fish Creek PP
–MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD(1)(m), w.of Longview

Saturday, March 19
–HARLEQUIN DUCK(2),Bow River at IBS
–HOODED MERGANSER((2) IBS
–COOPER’S HAWK(1),east Fish Creek PP
–NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL(1),IBS,

Sunday, March 20
–SHORT-EARED OWL(12),around Frank Lake
–AMERICAN TREE SPARROW(4), NE of High River

In Search of the Three-toed Woodpecker

Mar21
There are two species of three-toed woodpeckers that can be seen in Calgary.  They are the American Three-toed Woodpecker and the Black-backed Woodpecker.  Both of these woodpeckers are residents of the boreal forest.  They can occasionally be seen here during the winter months in the west end of the city, where the forest creeps in.  I, however, have never seen a Black-backed Woodpecker anywhere, and I’ve only seen American Three-toed Woodpeckers outside of Calgary.  But last week, with the expert guidance of Gus Yaki during an outing with the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society (FFCPPS), I was finally rewarded with close-up views of the American Three-toed Woodpecker. 

Last Saturday’s FFCPPS outing was to Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park, where we searched a stand of spruce south of bridge #5.  An American Three-toed Woodpecker has been seen occasionally in this area all winter.

Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park.  Access the parking lot from 24 Street SW in Woodbine.

There are many dying spruce trees in this area because of the high water levels.  When a spruce dies, wood-boring beetles move in, which in turn provide a food source for the woodpecker.  The birds chip off chunks of the bark to get at the larvae.  Listen for the soft tapping of the woodpecker, and look for trees which have the reddish-coloured wood under the bark exposed.  The bark chips will be scattered at the foot of the tree.

The tree on the right has had the bark chipped off by a woodpecker,
exposing the reddish wood below.

Bark chips on the snow under this tree show that a woodpecker has been feeding here recently.

We quickly found the bird, a male, working on a dying spruce.  (Males have a yellow patch on the top of their head).  These birds are not timid around people, so we were able to get quite close to watch it worry the bark.

 Hammering at the bark – wood bits flying!

 Prying up a bark chip.

“Maybe if I go at it from this angle…”

This bird will probably move out of the city to breed before too long, so if you want to see it this season, you’ll have to get out there soon.  Meanwhile, I’ll be in Griffith Woods Park looking for the elusive Black-backed Woodpecker. 

Good birding!

Bob Lefebvre

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Inglewood Birds

Mar20

We received the following email this weekend, and four incredible bird pictures. Thank you so much for sending them to us Rosanna!

My husband and I were down at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary this past week and were able to capture these images. Hope you can use them!

Mrs. Rosanna Evans
Calgary, AB

Bird Alert Report March 17

Mar18

Welcome to the City of Calgary and CFNS Bird Alert. This report was prepared on Thursday, March 17 at 9:00pm. To report a bird sighting, call 403-221-4519 and leave a message after the recording.

Monday, March 14
–NORTHERN HARRIER (1)-Along Horse Creek Rd, 11km. n.of Hwy.1A

Tuesday, March 15
–CACKLING GOOSE(1),Frank Lake. SE of Calgary
–AMERICAN WIGEON(2)-location as above.
–EURASIAN WIGEON(1)-same as above.
–NORTHERN PINTAIL(6)-same as above.
–RING-BILLED GULL(1)-same as above.
–ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK(3)-same as above
–SNOWY OWL(1)- same as above.
–GOLDEN EAGLE(103)-Mt.Lorette hawk watch, W. of Calgary.
–RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD(1)(M)- same location as above.
–SNOW GEESE(13)-near Taber
–LAPLAND LONGSPUR-same location as above.
–GYRFALCON(1)–same as above.

Wednesday, March 16
–MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD(1)(F)-1.5km.E.of Scope Reservoir, near Hays
–WESTERN MEADOWLARK(1)- west end of Scope Reservoir
–NORTHERN HARRIER(1)(F)- 10km. S. of Lomond

NOTE:Reports of migrating GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN PINTAIL, AMERICAN WIGEON AND AMERICAN ROBIN have come from several locations.

Welcome To Our New Look

Mar15

It’s spring in Alberta, a time for new beginnings and the start of birdwatching mania!

There will be three avid birders and photographers posting to this blog, sharing our sightings and our passion for our hobby. What better way to begin a new spring blog, than with a picture of our most welcome visitor?

They’re back, and soon our yards will be filled with the wonderful sounds of spring.

Stay tuned!

If you’re looking for information on the Birds Calgary 2010 Competition, please see the page listing at the top.

Bird Study Group March Meeting

Feb21

The next meeting of the Nature Calgary Bird Study Group will be held on Wednesday March 02 in Room 211 of the Biosciences Building of the University of Calgary. Doors are open at 7:00 PM and the meeting will begin at 7:30 PM.

Howard Heffler will be presenting the results from the 2010 Calgary Bird Watching competition.

There is a large map of the University of Calgary campus at http://www.ucalgary.ca/map The Biosciences building is in the right of the map and is marked BI. Parking is available in lots L21 and L25. Evening parking is available for $5.

The Bird Study Group meets indoors on the first Wednesday of each month from September through May. Our goal is to encourage birding in the Calgary area and beyond by helping local birders develop their knowledge and skills. Our members are active local birders of all skill levels who are keen to share their knowledge and experiences. Please see the Bird Study Group website http://birdcomp.fanweb.ca/ for information.

Bird Competition Results for 2010

Feb9

Congratulations to all birders who participated in our year-long bird count! We hope you had a lot of fun, and met some new birds and birders along the way.

The total number of bird species reported within the city limits was 262. We used the Calgary area check list which has 369 species, so that leaves 107 species that were not reported.

The highest individual count was reported by Michael Harrison, who racked up an amazing 240 species. There were another five participants with a count of over 200.

The committee unanimously picked the Oct 22 sighting of an Anna’s Hummingbird as the Bird of the Year, reported by Katrina Lybbert and family.   This is only the sixth or seventh record ever of an Anna’s Hummingbird in Alberta. It was first seen on October 22 by Gilbert Lybbert in their yard in Braeside SW. It was also seen by his mother Katrina that day, and it returned again on October 23. On October 25 and 26 it was again sighted by the Lybberts, and several other Calgary birders also managed to see it at that time. It was observed feeding on a honeysuckle bush in a neighbour’s yard. The final sighting of presumably the same bird wasn’t until three weeks later, on November 16, the day after the first big snowfall of the winter.

The winner of the photography contest was Brian Elder, with his outstanding picture of a Willet in flight. Second place went to Ken Johnson for his remarkable Red-breasted Nuthatch photo.Third place went to 13 year old Matthew Sim who captured for his stunning Bohemian Waxwing.

Winners in Other Categories:

  • Advanced:
  • Michael Harrison – 240 species
  • Colin Young – 238
  • Tony Timmons – 222
  • Intermediate:
  • Linda Bailey – 204
  • Cindy & Dan Parliament  – 175
  • Ed Kissinger – 172
  • Novice:
  • Susan Konopnicki – 142
  • Louise Moreau and Michael Geldorp – 120
  • Vic Urban – 62

Non-motorized Travel

  • Advanced:
  • Michael Harrison – 240
  • Colin Young – 234
  • Bill Wilson – 209
  • Intermediate:
  • Andrew Hart – 95
  • Linda Bailey  – 86
  • Bob Lefebvre – 78
  • NMT Youths:
  • Matthew Sim – 107
  • Jacob Farkas – 37

Youth Categories

  • Sub-adult:
  • Katie Donahue – 146
  • Reggie Lybbert – 85
  • Fledglings:
  • Matthew Sim – 151
  • Jacob Farkas – 103
  • Gilbert Lybbert – 96
  • Nestlings:
  • Jarom Lybbert – 72
  • Lucianna Lybbert – 69
  • Stephanie Sim – 48

Yard List:

  • Sim family – 81
  • Linda Bailey – 68
  • Brian Elder – 64

Fourth Quarter Winners

Feb9

 Here are the top finishers in each category in the fourth quarter of the Birds Calgary 2010 competition.

Advanced:

•Kristin O’Connell- 76
•Jim St Laurent – 67

Intermediate:

•Janet Gill – 72
•Andrew Hart – 67
•Ed Kissinger – 67
•Jim Donahue – 67

Novice:

•Louise Moreau and Michael Geldorp – 48

NMT Advanced:

•Colin Young – 85
•Bill Wilson – 63

NMT Intermediate:

•Andrew Hart – 38
•Bob Lefebvre – 24

NMT Fledgling:

•Matthew Sim – 57

Youths:

•Katie Donahue (sub-adult) – 67
•Matthew Sim (fledgling) – 63
•Gilbert Lybbert (fledgling)– 32
•Stephanie Sim (nestling) – 26
•Lucianna Lybbert (nestling) – 21
•Jarom Lybbert (nestling)- 18
•Reggie Lybbert (sub-adult) – 17

Yard:

•Sim family – 35
•Lybbert family – 21
•Bob Lefebvre – 19

Photography Competition Entries

Jan16

We have received 38 magnificent submissions for the Photography Competition portion of Birds Calgary 2010, and we’re happy to share them with you on this blog.

Because of the high number of entries, we have put them up on five separate pages.  The photos are presented on these pages in random order, and have been resized to allow for quicker page loading.

Thank you to all the wonderful photographers out there who entered the competition. All of these photos are excellent, but some of them are truly amazing jaw-droppers!

Photography Competition Entries Page 1

Photography Competition Entries Page 2

Photography Competition Entries Page 3

Photography Competition Entries Page 4

Photography Competition Entries Page 5

 

Winning Entry By Brian Elder

 

Second Place by Ken Johnson

Third Place by Matthew Sim (13 years old)

59th Calgary Christmas Bird Count Results

Dec27

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 59th Calgary Christmas Bird count, December 19, 2010. Almost 200 people took part in this year’s count, with 102 feeder-watchers and 93 birders in the field.

Special thanks go to Lenora and Dick Flynn for hosting a most enjoyable wind-up party, to Donna and Arthur Wieckowski, Bob Lefebvre and John McFaul for helping with the compilation, to Jean Moore and her team captains for organising the feeder-watch part of the count, and to Terry Korolyk, John McFaul and Jim Washbrook for helping to organise the teams in the field.

Conditions on count-day were cool but very pleasant. The temperature remained in a narrow range between minus 15 deg and minus 13 deg, and light snow fell during part of the morning. Snow cover was around 20 cm, probably deeper in places. Glenmore Reservoir was fully frozen and the Bow and Elbow Rivers were more than half-frozen.

Birders in the field put in a total of 205 party-hours, 70 percent on foot, covering 230 km on foot and 881 km by car.

Some count highlights were:
63 species recorded, the same as last year, compared with an average of 65 species for the past 20 years. Two additional species have been recorded in count week so far, Gull sp. and American Dipper.

43 705 individual birds were counted, which is 15 percent below the average for the past ten years. For the more common species, more were at below-average levels than above-average, perhaps reflecting mortality due to the recent periods of cold .

Unusual species (recorded in two or less years in the prior ten): Cackling Goose (5), Trumpeter Swan (2), Mourning Dove (1), Black-backed Woodpecker (1) – second count record) and Purple Finch (at least 1).

Record numbers for: Trumpeter Swan (2), Bald Eagle (30), Hairy Woodpecker (32), Common Raven (364) and House Finch (1551).

High Counts (more than three-times the prior ten-year average) for three regularly recorded species: White-throated Sparrow (6), Snow Bunting (9) and Red Crossbill (195).

Low counts (less than one-third the prior ten-year average) for five regularly recorded species: Wood Duck (3), Common Goldeneye (404), European Starling (65), Cedar Waxwing (3) and Common Redpoll (55).

Eight “missing” species (seen on count-day in six or more years in the prior ten, but missed this year): American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Harlequin Duck, Gyrfalcon, American Dipper and American Tree Sparrow.

Species seen by only one route (All feeder-watchers counted as one route): Trumpeter Swan, Wood Duck, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Prairie Falcon, American Coot, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Black-backed Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Cedar Waxwing, Purple Finch and American Goldfinch.
Species seen by only two routes (All feeder-watchers counted as one route): Barrow’s Goldeneye, Ruffed Grouse, Red-tailed Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Mountain Chickadee and White-throated Sparrow.

List of species recorded on count-day:

Cackling Goose, 5; Canada Goose, 9,705; Trumpeter Swan, 2; Wood Duck, 3; Mallard, 12,044; Greater Scaup, 2; Lesser Scaup, 1; Bufflehead, 114; Common Goldeneye, 404; Barrow’s Goldeneye, 22; Hooded Merganser, 4; Common Merganser, 37; Gray Partridge, 64; Ring-necked Pheasant, 9; Ruffed Grouse, 2; Bald Eagle, 30; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 7; Cooper’s Hawk, 3; Northern Goshawk, 3; Red-tailed Hawk, 2; Rough-legged Hawk, 2; Merlin, 19; Prairie Falcon, 2; American Coot, 1; Killdeer, 4; Rock Pigeon, 1,777; Mourning Dove, 1; Great Horned Owl, 4; Belted Kingfisher, 1; Downy Woodpecker, 142; Hairy Woodpecker, 32; Black-backed Woodpecker, 1; Northern Flicker, 108; Pileated Woodpecker, 3; Northern Shrike, 1; Blue Jay, 54; Black-billed Magpie, 1,870; American Crow, 44; Common Raven, 364; Black-capped Chickadee, 1,476; Mountain Chickadee, 2; Boreal Chickadee, 20; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 287; White-breasted Nuthatch, 58; Brown Creeper, 8; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 12; Townsend’s Solitaire, 4; American Robin, 89; European Starling, 65; Bohemian Waxwing, 4,104; Cedar Waxwing, 3; White-throated Sparrow, 6; Dark-eyed Junco,134; Snow Bunting, 9; Pine Grosbeak, 28; Purple Finch, 1+; House Finch, 1,551; Red Crossbill, 195; White-winged Crossbill, 89; Common Redpoll, 55; Pine Siskin, 460; American Goldfinch, 1; and House Sparrow, 8,155

Total species 63. Total individual birds 43,705.

Phil Cram