Featuring a presentation by Stephen Boucher on winter birding in the Ebro Delta, Spain.
Birds & Beers continues next Thursday, May 9th, from 5 to 9 pm at the usual location, the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW in Calgary. At about 7 pm there will be a presentation by Stephen Boucher on a trip he made in November 2023 to the Ebro Delta and the Catalan Pyrenees in N.E. Spain.
Everyone is welcome at Birds & Beers. We meet in the large ballroom. Come early if you want to have something to eat or drink, or just come for the presentation if you wish.
Diane Stinson will present on Canada’s High Arctic.
Next Thursday, April 11th, we will have another Birds & Beers event at the Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW in Calgary. The event starts at 5 pm and at 7 pm there will be a presentation by Diane Stinson on a trip that she and her husband Rob took to the High Canadian Arctic last summer.
Northern Fulmar. Photo by Diane Stinson.
Canada’s High Arctic – Diane Stinson Rob and I went to Canada’s High Arctic in August last year. The original itinerary had us exploring Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands, including stops at Devon and Beechy Islands. The wildfires in Yellowknife changed that. Instead, we started in Iqaluit, sailed north along the east coast of Baffin Island through the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, crossing the Arctic Circle, and into Lancaster Sound. There we explored areas on Devon and Beechy Islands (Franklin Graves), finishing in Resolute. While we didn’t see some of the bird species we were expecting initially, we did see some great birds (largest colony of Northern Fulmar in Canada), as well as major mammals (polar bears, walrus, Bowhead Whales).
The expedition team of experts included Noah Strycker (author of “Birding without Borders” – a book about his global big year in 2015) and three other ornithologists. A historian, an archeologist, a glaciologist, and a marine biology expert all gave excellent talks. Our outings included zodiac cruising, shore walks, and helicopter excursions. We experienced an amazing “Tundra to Table” dinner and the “Polar Plunge,” before exploring Resolute.
Polar Bears. Photo by Diane Stinson.
Everyone is welcome to Birds & Beers! Come for the good food and drinks that are available, visit with your fellow birders, and stay for the presentation!
Featuring a presentation on the East African wilderness.
Birds & Beers will resume next Thursday, March 14, at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW. Doors open at 5 pm, and we meet in the big ballroom. Enjoy food, drinks, and visiting with your fellow birders. At 7 pm there will be a presentation by Melanie Seneviratne on the wildlife of East Africa.
Secretary Bird. Photo by Melanie Seneviratne.
Here is the presentation description:
Join me as I delve into the heart of East Africa’s wilderness and share with you my amazing journey through Tanzania’s untamed landscapes. You will see where every moment unfolds in a mesmerizing tapestry of safari adventures, awe-inspiring wildlife encounters, and vibrant birding.
Little Bee-eater. Photo by Melanie Seneviratne.
We will also see some African mammals, like these lions.
Next Thursday, February 8th, we will have another Birds & Beers meeting in Calgary. As usual, we meet in the big ballroom at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW. The event starts at 5 pm.
A Black-billed Magpie seen by a Feeder Watcher on the 2023 Calgary Christmas Bird Count. Photo by Lou Zaganelli.
After some time for socializing, eating, and drinking, there will be a presentation on some of the recent Christmas Bird Counts that took place in the Calgary area. Matthew Wallace will present the results of the Calgary Count, Gavin McKinnon on the Priddis Count, and Jim Washbrook on the Fish Creek Park New Year’s Day Count. The presentation starts at about 7 pm.
A Common Redpoll seen on the Calgary Count. They have been scarce this winter here, but we had almost a hundred on the count. Photo by Lou Zaganelli.
Everyone is welcome at Birds & Beers! See you there!
Featuring a presentation on the birds of Indonesia
From January through June 2024 we will be meeting monthly at the Horton Road Legion in Calgary for a social get-together and birding presentation. Everyone is welcome to attend these events, have some food and drinks, and enjoy a birding talk from one of our many local volunteers.
The first Birds & Beers of 2024 will be on Thursday January 11. We meet in the big ballroom at the Legion, at 9202 Horton Road SW in Calgary. The doors open at 5 pm. At about 7 pm there will be a presentation by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt on their recent trip to see the birds and wildlife of Indonesia.
Critically endangered Bali Mynas in West Bali National Park.
Presentation Description by the Leonhardts:
Indonesia is the fourteenth largest country in the world by area. It consists of over 17,000 islands. By population it is the fourth largest country in the world with approximately 279 million people. This may seem like an odd choice for a birding tour, however, Indonesia also contains approximately 1800 species of birds, including 786 endemics. So in September of 2023 we flew from Calgary to Vancouver to Tokyo and on to Jakarta to participate in a 20 day birding tour with Naturalist Journeys. On this tour we visited five islands, including Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores and Komodo. We experienced several different types of environments and ended up seeing approximately 270 species of birds, the majority of which were lifers for us. Some of the most notable species were the Javan Trogon, the Javan Banded Pitta, the Bali Myna, Red and Green Jungle Fowl, and Milky Storks. There were many more, some of which will be shown in this presentation. A final highlight of the tour was a trip to Komodo National Park on Komodo Island to see the infamous Komodo Dragons.
Here are the dates for the upcoming 2024 Birds & Beers events:
Thursday January 11.
Thursday February 8.
Thursday March 14.
Thursday April 11.
Thursday May 9.
Thursday June 13.
July and August is a summer break, and Birds & Beers will resume in September.
Next Thursday we will meet at the usual place, the Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW in Calgary. Doors open at 5 pm. Once again we will meet in the big ballroom. At about 7 pm there will be a presentation by Roland Dechesne on The Impacts of Light Pollution on Birds.
Earth’s City Lights from Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
Light pollution has both hormonal and behavioral negative impacts on birds. Though pervasive in our modern world, outdoor artificial lighting is a pollutant that is relatively easy to control, if we can get past some of our irrational attachment to our beliefs that more light at night is better.
Roland Dechesne, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), is a member of the RASC Light Pollution Abatement Committee (LPA Committee) as well as a Past President of the Calgary Centre of the RASC and an amateur astronomer with over 40 years’ experience. He has been a popularizer of astronomy to the public for much of that time. His interests are astrophotography, meteorites and light pollution abatement. He ‘moonlights’ as an oil and gas geologist during the day. He was recently honoured by having asteroid #10087 named for him. He runs the Society’s @RASC_LPA twitter account that focusses on light pollution and the health impacts of light at night on health and the natural world.
Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers. See you there!
This coming Thursday is the second B&B of the season.
We have a short turnaround time for Birds & Beers this month. The next one will be Thursday October 12 at the usual place, the Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW in Calgary. Doors open at 5 pm. Once again we will meet in the big ballroom.
At about 7 pm there will be a presentation by Dianne and Bob Leonhardt: Birding In Southern Mexico.
Gartered Trogon.
Birding in Southern Mexico
January 12-30, 2023
By: Bob and Dianne Leonhardt
In January of 2023 we flew to Oaxaca, Mexico to go on a fourteen-day birding tour with Eagle Eye Tours. The tour began in the city of Oaxaca on January 15th. This small group tour then travelled by van southward and eastward ending up in Villahermosa on January 28. Along the way we travelled through an assortment of environments, including deserts, high alpine forests, jungles, coastal estuaries and more. This allowed us to encounter approximately 350 species of birds as well as seeing some spectacular scenery in a part of Mexico that is unfamiliar to the majority of tourists. We also experienced the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban and the Mayan ruins of Palenque. It was a very enjoyable experience, and we wish to share some of it with you.
Everyone is welcome at Birds & Beers! Come early if you can but if not, come for the presentation!
The new season of Birds & Beers will begin with a presentation by Gordon Sick about his trip to Newfoundland.
Atlantic Puffin with Capelin. Photo by Gordon Sick.
Newfoundland is for the Birds: It’s an Aukward Province We spent 3 weeks of the summer on the Newfoundland coasts and viewed a variety of nestlings, fledglings and adults of species including Puffins, Murres, Razorbills, Guillemots, Gannets, Shearwaters, Kittiwakes, Black-backed Gulls, Terns, Sandpipers and Plovers. We searched New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland for a Piping Plover, which was an interesting exercise, with results to be disclosed at the presentation. We’ll also show an iceberg and a whale breaching to prove that we were in Newfoundland.
Birds & Beers meetings are held at the Royal Canadian Legion, 9202 Horton Road SW. This year we have the big ballroom, which is a very large space with excellent sightlines for presentations. We have the room starting at 5 pm, which should give many attendees more time to have a meal and socialize. You can arrive later if needed, and the presentation will begin at about 7 pm.
Razorbills. Photo by Gordon Sick.
Everyone is welcome to attend, including children if accompanied by an adult. See you there!
The October Birds & Beers will be on Thursday October 12, again from 5-9 at the Horton Road Legion. Dianne and Bob Leonhardt will do a presentation on their recent trip to Mexico.
Wood Ducks, Okotoks, August 2023. Photo by Lloyd Bligh
Joan Walker has booked the new season of Birds & Beers and we will begin on Thursday September 28. As usual, all Birds & Beers events will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton SW in Calgary. Previously we were meeting on Fridays, but the reason for switching to Thursday is that we will now be able to use the large ballroom! The ballroom is a much larger space than the one we had the last couple of years, and it has comfortable seating and a large drop-down screen for presentations. A short-order menu will be available for food and drinks, and there are some new menu items.
Meetings will now begin at 5 pm, which will give more time for eating, drinking, and socailizing before the presentations, which will still begin at about 7 pm. People are welcome to arrive at any time between 5 and 7.
The first couple of presentations have been arranged (more details on them in upcoming posts) but we are always looking for more. If you have a presentation about a trip you took or anything about birds locally or in general, please contact us. You can email me at birdscalgary@gmail.com and I will put you in touch with Joan.
Save these dates in your calendar:
Thursday September 28 – Gordon Sick sharing his Newfoundland experience.
Thursday October 12 – Bob and Dianne Leonhardt sharing Mexico.
Thursday November 23 – TBA
We do not meet in December but will announce the dates for January-June as soon as they are booked.
This Friday will be the last Birds & Birds before the summer break. We meet, as usual, at 6 pm at the Horton Road Legion, 9202 Horton Road SW.
There will be a presentation after 7 pm by Liz Goldie, about our native bees.
Hunt’s Bumblebee (I think!). Photo by Bob Lefebvre
Come and join us as we get the “Buzz” on our native bees. Our guest speaker, Liz Goldie from the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association, will take us on a closer look at these industrious and necessary critters. Most of us are aware that bees support the growth of trees, flowers, and plants, provide food and contribute to complex ecosystems. But did you know that at least 24 species of bird, including Blackbirds, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and European Starling, prey on bees? Come and learn about these fascinating creatures!
To help Liz with travel expenses, a small contribution would be appreciated.
