Thank you to David Lilly for sending us these amazing pictures taken at Frank Lake on April 9/11.
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Tundra Swan displaying
Rough-legged Hawk
Posted and species identified by Pat Bumstead
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Never a Dull Moment: Mallard Point
On Saturday, upon finally having good weather after a long winter, the Friends of Fish Creek Park group went to Mallard Point to see what could be found on the river.  There were seventeen people on the outing, which meant lots of pairs of eyes on the lookout for birds. We saw many of the usual species, but even so, one never tires of the quirks of bird behavior.
Black-capped Chickadee excavating a nest hole…
… and emerging with a beak full of sawdust.
Male Common Goldeneye declaring his love…
…and then a pair of Goldeneyes demonstrating how diving ducks have to run on takeoff.
Male Ring-necked Pheasant chasing the female all over the island.
And for some reason it always seems odd to see Canada Geese up in the trees:
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They can’t be thinking of nesting on the picnic table, can they?
We were also lucky enough to see some returning migrants:
Franklin’s Gulls. The one on the right has a pinkish breast colour.
But the highlight was a rare bird sighting, a male Red-breasted Merganser. These are only seen in southern Alberta on migration, and not very frequently within the city. This was a life bird for about ten of us, and even Gus Yaki, the trip leader, said he had not seen one in Calgary for about five years.
 
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Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Foraging Flocks
We’ve seen it often enough; you’re out bird watching, looking at the deserted trees and bushes and wondering where all the birds are. Suddenly, they are upon you, lots of them, making it next to impossible to follow them all. It’s a foraging flock. But what is a foraging flock?
These congregations of several different species, often insectivorous, occur where there is an abundance of food. There has to be a ‘nuclear’ species as a basis for the flock’s hierarchy; with this species being central to the flock’s formation and movement.
Attendants come next. Attendant species often don’t join in on the activities until the flock’s activities enter their territory. Titmice and chickadees often fill the roles of a ‘nuclear’ (‘core’) species in North America and are soon followed by nuthatches, creepers, woodpeckers, kinglets and New World warblers all of which are insect-eating birds. These flocks are seen mostly in the non-breeding season when birds come out of the secrecy of breeding and raising a family.
Downy Woodpeckers use chickadees as sentinels in the foraging flocks
The benefits are great for birds in these flocks, namely; the increased vigilance by more eyes, lowering the risk of predation. There could also be a rise in feeding efficiency; as bugs flee from one bird, they head right into the beak of another. Feeding together heightens the chance that someone will locate a rich feeding patch and birds benefit from the different abilities, such as a woodpecker’s strong beak.
Chickadees often act the part of the ‘nuclear’ species
Nuthatches will often join in on the action of feeding flocks.
But there are costs as well, for example, kleptoparasitism, or parasitism by theft. This is when one more aggressive bird, steals the food caught by another bird. The costs, however, are often outweighed by the more advantageous benefits.
Well, birds of a feather don’t always flock together, but they sure know who to flock with!
Posted by Matthew Sim
Dove Love
Before…
During…
After…
Posted by Pat Bumstead
Photo Feathers: Thirsty Robin
 
Photos taken April 2, 2011, Calgary.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Bird Alert April 5
Welcome to the City of Calgary and CFNS Bird Alert. This Bird Alert was recorded on Monday Apr 04.
Bird Sightings:
Mar 28:
RED-TAILED HAWK , dark morph, south of Longview
Mar 31:
A SNOW GOOSE in a flock of CANADA GEESE just east of Calgary
Apr 1:
PEREGRINE FALCON, Bow Building, (downtown),
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (2), east side Frank Lake
RED- BREASTED MERGANSER female, EURASIAN WIGEON male, flocks of LAPLAND
LONGSPURS at Clear Lake
Apr 2:
Possible LONG-EARED OWL east of Parkland Blvd/146 Ave SE
GREATER SCAUP, male, on the Bow River at Glenmore Tr. bridge
Apr 3:
NORTHERN HAWK OWL , TURKEY VUKTURE, Votiers Flats to Bebo Grove, FCPP
PEREGRINE FALCONS (2) Bow Bldg .
FERRUGINOUS HAWK over Turner Valley
CEDAR WAXWINGS (15) in Willow Park district
CEDAR WAXWING (1), in Douglas Glen dist
VARIED THRUSH (2) males at Harvie Heights
Backyard Birds: Common Redpoll
An abundant breeding bird of the boreal forest, the Common Redpoll is seen in Calgary primarily in the winter. Even then, it generally occurs during cyclical irruptions, when flocks of seed eaters occasionally leave the forest and move south.
Redpolls are about 5″ high, and have a bright red forehead and a black chin. This little flock of four birds that visited last week are either juveniles or females, as the males have a pink breast. Very rarely, you may see a Hoary Redpoll, which is a very similar species that has lighter streaking on the flanks, and a stubbier bill.
These tiny members of the finch family move through our area in early October and late April. They often travel in mixed flocks with other finches such as the Pine Siskin or House Finch. In my yard they all prefer the sunflower chips to the niger seed feeders.
Posted by Pat Bumstead
Starling Invasion
 The non-native, much-maligned, and beautiful European Starling.
There are usually a few European Starlings roosting overnight in the spruce trees near my house during the winter. Then, starting in late January, there is a big influx of starlings as the first returning migrants arrive. For the last ten weeks, there have been hundreds around the neighbourhood every evening.
The starlings start appearing at about sunset. Most of them settle first in bare deciduous trees, and they move around in small groups from tree to tree, with very little noise. (It’s when they disperse in the morning that they show off their incredible vocal skills.)  Within an hour or so, as it is getting dark, they have all moved deep into spruce trees to roost quietly for the night. You’d never know they were there.
There are already dozens of European Starlings hidden in this spruce tree. (The singing bird is a House Finch.)
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Starlings arriving in their nighttime roost during Saturday’s snowstorm.Â
I wondered if the masses of birds that appear at dusk each day were all local birds that disperse to feed during the day and return at night, or if they were new migrants arriving.  When they arrive, they don’t seem to come from any particular direction, and often seem to appear in the trees out of nowhere. I’ve seen them drop down from such a great height that they first appear as tiny dots. It seems that it is a new batch of migrating birds each night. There is nothing special about the trees near my yard, and there are starlings landing in every tree I can see for blocks around. I can’t even guess at how many there might be in the whole city. But starlings are one of our most numerous birds, and recently there was a flock of tens of thousands seen in High River.Â
It will be interesting to hear if other people are seeing such big flocks of starlings in the city.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Bird Alert March 31
Welcome to the City of Calgary and CFNS Bird Alert. This report was
prepared on Thursday,March 31, at 10pm. To report a bird sighting,call
403-221-4519 and leave a message after the recording.
SIGHTINGS FOR:
Monday, March 28
–FRANKLIN’S GULL(2),Frank Lake
–AMERICAN COOT(1), same as above
–LESSER SCAUP(1m), same as above
–RING-NECKED DUCK(1m), same as above
–VARIED THRUSH(1m), North Haven backyard
–SHORT-EARED OWL((12), Frank Lake
–PRAIRIE FALCON(1) Frank Lake
Tuesday, March 29
–GLAUCOUS GULL(1st.yr.), Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL(1)Votier’s Flats, Fish Creek PP
Wednesday, March 30
–WOOD DUCK(1), Elbow River, Votier’s Flats,Fish Creek PP
–PRAIRIE FALCON(1) south cliffs of Bearspaw dam, Calgary
–EUROPEAN STARLING(10,000-20,000) 4 km. north of High River
Posted by Pat Bumstead
Northern Hawk Owl
It was a warm day, already at noon it was a couple of degrees over freezing. March 29th, half way through my spring break and already I’m looking for something to do. So I decide to head out to Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek Provincial Park with my brother and sister. Votier’s Flats is located off Elbow Drive and consists of a mix of both coniferous and deciduous woodlands with Fish Creek running near the paved path.
That day, we were not expecting to see anything. Noon is not the most productive time to bird and besides, we were hardly going to be going for a long hike. We started out doing a short loop before climbing up the hill beside the parking lot. It was there that I saw a hawk flying…no wait…not a hawk, a Northern Hawk Owl!
First impressions.
Northern Hawk Owls have a long tail and a falcon-like profile, distinguishing them from other owls in North America. The facial disk is somewhat whitish, bordered by black on either sides, framing two pale yellow eyes that scour the ground, often from an exposed perch at the top of a tree, searching for the next meal, some unfortunate mouse or vole.
We did get some great views but the Hawk Owl was some ways away and only stuck around for a couple of minutes before vanishing into the woods, never to be seen again, until…
My dad heard about our incredible sighting and, as you can imagine, was quite jealous. This paved the way for a return visit. The next day, as the sun slowly fell from the sky, we made our way back to Votier’s Flats. We searched for a couple minutes, coming up with a Great Horned Owl calling; beautiful, but not quite satisfying. We wanted a Hawk Owl. We carried along the paved path for a short ways when we spotted something. Is that it? Had we done the improbable? There it was perched high on an exposed perch, just waiting for us.
I see something...
We had to leave the paved path to get some better views. I was first, stepping into the snow with much gusto, only to find myself sinking into snow over a foot deep. As I was carrying a camera with a heavy 500mm lens, this was not good news. I righted myself after a couple moments and we carried on, undeterred.
Insolent birders.
It was a long way and we kept advancing through the snow that was as deep as ever, only to see the owl fly away. Luckily, it was not too far and we caught up, only for him to fly off again. We decided to carry on once again, stumbling up a steep hill with a heavy camera and an even heavier tripod, slipping on mud and ice, following a deer trail covered with unpleasant evidence of the deer. Finally we caught up to where the owl was waiting for us, seemingly amused. We got some amazing views and some great shots.
Is that dinner?
We came home, exhausted, wet, muddy, covered in burrs and happy; extremely happy. We had seen a Northern Hawk Owl, a difficult bird to see at the best of times and very rare here in Calgary.
Posted by Matthew Sim