Winter Birding Course 2016
Winter Finches in the Weaselhead
Posted by Dan Arndt
Following our great excursion to Pearce Estate Park, we headed down to the Weaselhead as our first real cold snap started to descend upon Calgary. We did get a bit of a break in the weather by Sunday, and there were a good number of birds out enjoying the sunny day!
Weaselhead – November 22, 2015
The Weaselhead has always been a good location to find the many winter finches that come south from the boreal forest to gorge themselves on the spruce and willow seeds in years when the cone crop up north is in a low cycle, and the crop here is at a peak. In non-finch years, we still will get the usual winter birds, including four species of woodpecker, both Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches, and Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees as great stand-bys.
female Hairy Woodpecker
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The older trees down in the Weaselhead are great places for the woodpeckers to forage, as they have plenty of nooks and crannies for insects to huddle up for the winter, and plenty of holes and crevices for the birds to spend their cold winter nights out of the elements as well. It’s a great give and take relationship that many of these birds have with their environment.
White-breasted Nuthatch
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The other side of the coin is that for years, there have been many different individuals who have put up feeders on many of the trees along the main pathway, which have become hotspots for finding the expected winter species, but the occasional overwintering rarity as well, such as American Goldfinches and White-throated Sparrows.
female House Finch
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While checking out the feeders, this female House Finch flew up and allowed all of us good views of her, which should have been a hint at what we were in for later on in the day! I rarely get good looks at House Finches, either males or females, as they always seem to be actively foraging, flying, or singing high up in the trees with lots of branches in the way.
American Robin
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The warm weather had also allowed for some larger flocks of some of the American Robins that choose to spend the winter here in Calgary. We had fifteen (yes, 15!) of these typical “spring” birds here that day, but that’s not unusual at all. During the Christmas Bird Count each year, we usually record double digits of American Robins throughout the city, usually in some of the warmer microclimates around small creeks, springs, and outflows around the city.
male House Finch
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female House Finch
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Down at the bridge that crosses the small channel that feeds into the Elbow River, our day got a lot more exciting. Not only did we get great looks at another female House Finch, but we spotted this male that looks to have quite the Flames themed dye job in his facial markings. These male House Finches that show a little more orange, and sometimes even yellow in their normally red coloration tell us a bit about what they’re eating. The red pigments that House Finches normally show have found their way into the finch by what it’s been eating. Those that are a bit more yellow or orange simply aren’t eating as much of that red pigment in their food, and so look just slightly different to us. The other finches really don’t seem to take notice of the difference either way though.
female or juvenile Pine Grosbeak and male House Finch
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male Pine Grosbeak
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Along with the House Finches, a fairly large flock of Pine Grosbeaks were in attendance at the bridge, hopping above, below, and all around both sides of the bridge. You can really see just how much bigger the grosbeaks are than their smaller cousins in that first image.
Red Squirrel
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Unfortunately, once we headed a little further west from the bridge, everything seemed to quiet down and disappear. It wasn’t really that birdy, but there were at least a few Red Squirrels hanging about to pose for the camera.
Bohemian Waxwings
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We also found quite a few Bohemian Waxwings on that outing. These birds tend to trickle into the Calgary area as the fall and winter progress, until all of a sudden there are thousands of them all over town!
immature or female Pine Grosbeaks
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male Pine Grosbeak
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On our way back at the bridge and finishing up our day, we found a few more Pine Grosbeaks perched high up in the spruce trees, almost displaying their deep, vibrant colours. I just can never resist taking photos of these guys and gals. They’re one of the best winter birds we get here, and so many birders consider them the iconic “Christmas bird”.
And that was another week out with the Friends of Fish Creek!
Just a couple more weeks of blog updates until the New Year and a whole new Winter Birding Course!
Have a great week, and good birding!
2015 Calgary Christmas Bird Counts
It’s time again for the Christmas Bird Counts. Calgary’s count is Sunday December 20. You can help to count birds within the circle by going out with a group and walking or driving an area, or by watching birds at your feeders. To participate contact Phil Cram at crampj(at)gmail.com, or the Feederwatch coordinator, Donna Wieckowski at astolat(at)shaw.ca.
The Calgary Count Circle is fifteen miles in diameter.
There are many counts in the Calgary area in the period December 15 to January 3. See this Nature Calgary page for a complete list and the contact information for each.
Mid-November in Pearce Estate Park – But I LOVE identifying gulls!
Posted by Dan Arndt
… said no one ever. I kid, I kid. There are a few die-hard larophiles (from the Latin larus, meaning gull, and the Greek philos, meaning to have a strong affinity for, to love, AKA people with WAY too much time on their hands) out there who spend dozens of hours each year picking through flocks of Ring-billed and California Gulls to pick out a rarity, but I certainly don’t have the patience for that. Some people draw the line at flycatchers, others at shorebirds, specifically peeps, but me, I draw mine at gulls.
Don’t get me wrong. Gulls are wonderful in their own way, but spending hours picking through hundreds of them for something a slightly lighter or darker shade of grey is not my idea of a fun time.
November 15, 2015
As fall begins to cool and the ponds and creeks begins to ice over, there are a number of large gravel bars along the Bow River where gulls begin to accumulate in numbers. Our reason for visiting this park were specifically because a couple of uncommon gulls had been reported here resting among the dozens of Ring-billed Gulls. The three species we were here to find were the Thayer’s Gull, Mew Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull. We did come up with the first two, but our Sunday group was a few days too late, as the Lesser Black-backed Gull hadn’t been seen since Wednesday.
Mew Gull among Ring-billed Gulls
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This photo was taken through my Vortex Viper spotting scope using a PhoneSkope adapter and my Samsung Galaxy S5 built in camera. Can you spot the Mew Gull? I couldn’t for a good half hour. I’ve seen many Mew Gulls in British Columbia, usually associating with California Gulls but never among Ring-billed Gulls. I was expecting to find a gull with a bit of a lighter mantle, rather than darker. The Mew Gull is just a little bit to the left of center, resting with its bill hidden.
Mew Gull and Ring-billed Gulls
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Here’s a shot of the bird zoomed in a bit closer with its bill out. It’s now obvious that the bird is a shade or two darker than the Ring-billed Gulls on the mantle, and has a tiny, unmarked yellow bill. Again, the Mew Gull is the one just a little bit left of center with the round head and dark eye. A tough spot, to be sure!
Ring-billed Gulls on the weir
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immature Herring Gull
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We did get a good look at many of the other gulls, including this immature Herring Gull sitting on the remains of the old weir. It was particularly noticeable due to its large size, pink legs, and overall dark plumage, but that bill shape was also a good indicator!
Ring-billed Gulls
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And of course, here are a couple of the ever-present Ring-billed Gulls on the water. The low angle sunlight and the perfectly clear morning sky made it a bit tough to expose correctly, but it’ll be one of the last shots I would get of any gulls until late February or early March next year. It’s surprising every year how they just seem to totally disappear around the end of November and by the time the Christmas Bird Count rolls around, they’re almost a distant memory!
Double-crested Cormorant
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Another great sighting that day was this immature Double-crested Cormorant, who gave us a fly-by and perched in a tree across the river shortly after. This would be the latest sighting of this bird I’ve ever had, and from other reports, it is apparently sticking around a bit further downstream!
immature Bald Eagle
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adult Bald Eagle
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We headed a little west where earlier groups in the week had found a some Bald Eagles, and we certainly weren’t disappointed. At first, the immature eagle flew in to check us out, and a few minutes later the adult flew in and flushed the younger bird off. When I had visited the park earlier in the week, I noted that the gulls seemed to have a sixth sense for approaching eagles, flushing easily a full minute before they came into view from my angle. When you’re a gull you have to be on alert for predators, especially ones that can so easily take you out like a Bald Eagle can!
male Merlin
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While we were watching the Bald Eagles, we spotted this male Merlin as he flew in with what appears to be a House Sparrow in his talons. Because this part of the park is adjacent to a large residential area, it wasn’t too surprising to hear and see the House Sparrows, it was a bit of a surprise to see this guy!
female Merlin
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We walked all the way back to the east end of the park where we watched this girl fly in and perch above us. I suspect she was watching the ground for voles, as she sat there staring at the ground for quite some time while we watched.
Black-billed Magpie
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As we watched the Merlin, a couple of Black-billed Magpies flew in and began foraging on the ground, but also keeping a sharp eye on her. They spent a good amount of time keeping an eye on us as well.
Around this time, the traffic on the pathway started to pick up due to a running race, so we headed back in to the inside of the park.
distant Common Redpoll
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One of the birds we had heard flitting about overhead for most of the morning was a single Common Redpoll. Towards the end of our walk that morning it popped up into this shrub and perched for a few minutes, giving everyone good (but distant) looks at it. While this season is a pretty good one for these birds, I still haven’t had a chance to see one up close and personal.
male Mallard
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On our way out of the park, we walked past a couple Mallards in the floating fen ponds near the entrance, showing off once again their bright green breeding plumage, curly black tail feathers, and complex browns and grays. It’s nice to see them back in full colors after a few months of seeing them in eclipse plumage!
And that’s it for another week! Have a great week, and good birding!
Attention Calgary Birders
The City of Calgary has begun the process of consolidating several open green spaces along the Bow River into a regional park – Bend In The Bow. Phase 1 includes the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and the Wildlands Park. Calgary birders need to be aware of what is planned for the sanctuary.
Please read the Open House Presentation Materials from a November meeting in Inglewood. Once you have calmed down from reading that (or not) there is an online survey that all Calgary birders should complete before the Dec 30 deadline. A word of warning though – you have to be determined to complete that survey. Spaces for responses are black, on a black background. You can’t submit your answers unless you give each section from 1-5 “thumbs up”. There are no options for thumbs down.
The Presentation Material and the survey can be accessed at calgary.ca/bendinthebow
If you live in Ward 9, please email Gian-Carlo Carra, our City Councillor, with your comments on the new park. His office can be reached at ward09@calgary.ca. Posted by Pat Bumstead.
Making friends with the birds at Votier’s Flats
Posted by Dan Arndt
The week following our outing to Bebo Grove, we headed a little bit east to Votier’s Flats in search of overwintering birds. Occasionally there are American Dippers, Wilson’s Snipe, and even the occasional sparrow.
Votier’s Flats – November 8, 2015
After a meeting up at the parking lot, we headed west to look over one arm of the creek where we’ve suspected that American Dippers could be found in the winter, and where we’ve found American Mink and often get good looks at Pine Grosbeaks. Unfortunately we came up short in this area, but we were rewarded down the hill by a mixed flock of Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees, as well as a few Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches.
Black-capped Chickadee
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Aside from this little flock, we heard a number of other birds flying overhead and feeding in the tree tops. Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, and both White-winged and Red Crossbills were readily apparent all morning long. A little further along the trail we heard a small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos flitting about at the base of the spruce trees. They were a little hard to track closely, but one of them popped up behind us for a brief look before flying off.
Dark-eyed Junco
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We headed a little east along the river, following a few small trails finding another mixed flock of chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers. We had good looks at one of the White-breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers at this spot, always great birds to find!
White-breasted Nuthatch
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Downy Woodpecker
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We headed from there over to the storm water outflow where we’d found the aforementioned snipe, dipper, and sparrows, but unfortunately again came up empty. Even though the temperature had dropped in the past few days, there was still a lot of open water between Calgary and the Rocky Mountains, and plenty of places for any of these birds to enjoy our slow, warm onset of winter this year.
From there, we headed up the hill to check out some of the bird feeders at the top of the hill, where other groups this week had found a few more Boreal Chickadees, and a good number of other regular visitors to the feeders. We lucked out and had a couple of Boreal Chickadees going to and from one feeder, and I managed to snap off a couple shots of one of them.
Boreal Chickadee
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Unfortunately we didn’t have much luck up here, and the birds were up fairly high, but we did manage to see a couple of Northern Flickers and White-winged Crossbills high in the trees.
White-winged Crossbill
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Northern Flicker
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As we searched the top of the hill, we came across another small mixed flock of birds, this time a few Golden-crowned Kinglets with a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches mixed in. Kinglets are by far some of the toughest birds to get good looks at, and we had to spend a few minutes to even get a brief glimpse of them out in the open. The Red-breasted Nuthatches, on the other hand, were a little easier to track down!
Golden-crowned Kinglet
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Red-breasted Nuthatch
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With only a couple more weeks in the Autumn Birding course, and upcoming Christmas Bird Counts, there’s plenty more to see and many more birds to find over the coming weeks on the blog. Stay tuned, and good birding!
Bebo Grove and the arrival of winter birds
Posted by Dan Arndt
It certainly didn’t feel anything like fall on our last few outings with the Friends of Fish Creek. Aside from a little bit of snow sticking around, and a bit of a brisk start, we’ve had incredible luck with our fall weather here in Calgary, or at least on our Sunday walks!
Bebo Grove is one of our most anticipated outings in the fall for a number of reasons, all of which are owls. Northern Pygmy-Owls were the star last fall and winter, and there’s always the chance of finding Great Gray Owls, Barred Owls, and of course Great Horned Owls. It is also relatively dense spruce forest, which draws in both species of crossbill, Pine Grosbeaks, and even Common and Hoary Redpolls.
While we didn’t have much luck in the redpoll department, we did have a good variety of everything else, and even had a couple bonus raptors show up!
Bebo Grove – November 1, 2015
For the third (maybe fourth?) year in a row, the star of our show was Bob. Bob is a Red-breasted Nuthatch with a fairly prominent patch of leucism (read: white feathers) on his head. He’s the dominant bird in his little mixed flock of Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Brown Creepers, which is noticeable immediately when he is being fed. He flies in, right to the food, flushing every other bird nearby, and coming back time and time again to gather more for his numerous caches.
Bob the leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch
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We searched for American Three-toed Woodpeckers, Black-backed Woodpeckers, and even Pileated Woodpeckers in the area surrounding the picnic tables, but came up almost entirely empty. We did find a Hairy Woodpecker a little bit to the west, but once we entered the next stand of spruce between Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace, things really started getting busy!
Hairy Woodpecker
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We stopped shortly after to investigate the tops of the nearby spruce trees, as cones began raining down onto the pathway in front of us. Nearly a hundred White-winged Crossbills were filling the trees above us, calling, feeding, and flying about in a frenzy.
male White-winged Crossbill
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As we were walking through the dense spruce, we heard some agitated chattering of chickadees and nuthatches, as if they were harassing a predator of some sort. We searched around and as we came into a clearing to get close enough to investigate, a young Great Horned Owl flushed up from a spruce across the clearing, flying west and away. It definitely pays to check these things out, even if its only a rare occasion where you actually do stumble upon a prize like that! As we scanned the trees north of the clearing for where the owl went, we did spot this distant Sharp-shinned Hawk. It’s just too bad it didn’t stick around when we got just a little bit closer later on.
Sharp-shinned Hawk
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A little further to the west, we found yet another mixed flock, and had a few Boreal Chickadees, Black-capped Chickadees, Brown Creepers and still more Red-breasted Nuthatches feeding heavily in the trees, and a few even posing nicely for us.
female Red-breasted Nuthatch
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Coming into the next clearing, we had a bit of a close encounter with a big Mule Deer buck. We actually found him first having a bit of a sparring match with a willow shrub, but as we walked by, he took notice of us and just had to show off his antlers.
Mule Deer buck
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Mule Deer buck
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We headed towards the barn at Shannon Terrace before turning back. It was a little more quiet to the west than we usually have it, but it wasn’t too much further along that we found out exactly why. This female Merlin was keeping a sharp eye on the ground below, especially one of the feeding stations, and looked quite interested in any little movement nearby.
female Merlin
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So with that, we headed back to take a second look for Northern Pygmy-Owls, Barred Owls, and American Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers, but came up (mostly) empty, so we followed the edge of the wetland back to where we had found Bob earlier in the day, but were alerted to the presence of yet another Great Horned Owl by the chattering and squawking of a pair of Blue Jays.Â
Blue Jay
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Great Horned Owl
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It didn’t take too long for the Blue Jays to lose interest and fly off, leaving this big, beautiful owl to snooze the rest of the day away.
Thanks again for reading, and have a great week and good birding!
Fall Birding With the Friends of Fish Creek
Posted by Bob Lefebvre. All photos by George Best.
Here are some of the photos that George Best has taken on recent walks with the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society fall birding course.
For the week of October 12-18, we went to Elliston Park on the eastern edge of the city. Besides walking around the lake, we also viewed the wetlands immediately to the east.
Bonaparte’s Gull
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Eared Grebe
Purple Finch
Ring-billed Gull
The following week we went to South Glenmore to try to find Scoters and Loons, among other birds. The winter finches were also arriving by then. Here are some photos from October 19 and 25.
Bufflehead
Herring Gull
White-winged Scoters
Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll
Common Redpolls
Western Grebe
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbills
Finally, here are some photos from October 26 at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Park.
Great Horned Owl
White-winged Crossbills
Black-capped Chickadee
Tomorrow, Dan Arndt will post a full account of our group’s tour of Bebo Grove on November 1.
November Birds & Beers
The next Birds & Beers event will be held at the usual location, the Horton Road Legion, on Friday November 13. This will be the last one before the new year.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch #285
9202 Horton Road SW
Friday November 13, 6:00-9:00 pm
Lynn Gratz will give an introduction to her upcoming Nature Calgary talk, Protecting Wetlands in Alberta. Lynn lives by Marsland Basin, a great birding hotspot east of Calgary. She has become an expert in the law concerning wetlands and how to protect them. Lynn will speak at about 7:30.
Greater White-fronted Geese flying over Marsland Basin, October 7, 2015. There were about 4,500 more of these birds there that day. Photo by Bob Lefebvre [exif id=”14952″]
In addition, a few local birders/photographers will be selling their 2016 bird calendars at the event. Bring cash and get your calendars for Christmas presents or for yourself!
We will be meeting in a private room in the back  of the building. When you arrive at the front lobby, the door may be locked so you will have to buzz and wait for someone to let you in. Then proceed to the back, past the food counter. There will be signs with directions.
If you are planning to attend and need directions or any more information, send us an email at birdscalgary@gmail.com.
Birds & Beers, Calgary Chapter on Facebook
Bob Lefebvre
Competition Update, October 31
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Rusty Blackbird, a hard-to-find autumn bird. Photo by Dan Arndt, October 25, 2015 at Lower Kananaskis Lake (outside the competition circle). [exif id=”14946″]
Leaders, 80-km circle:
Here are the top competitors listed with their species totals and categories (the “Not Eligible” competitors are on the organizing committee). Also included is the number of complete checklists they have submitted to eBird within the 80-km circle. This total does not include “incidental” sightings.
Using the arrows you can sort the columns to see all the participants in one category listed together, or sort by number of species, or number of checklists. You can also increase or decrease the number of lines shown.
80-km Circle, October 31| Name | Species | Checklists | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Elder | 272 | 126 | Experienced |
| Blake Weis | 251 | 534 | Experienced |
| Daniel Arndt | 250 | 228 | Not Eligible |
| Ray Woods | 249 | 71 | Experienced |
| Andrew Hart | 233 | 241 | Not Eligible |
| Dan Parliament | 231 | 165 | Experienced |
| George Best | 230 | 198 | Experienced |
| John Thompson | 230 | 248 | Experienced |
| Cindy Parliament | 229 | 137 | Experienced |
| BirdBoy Canada | 219 | 151 | Youth |
| N Denton | 217 | 147 | Experienced |
| Andrew Slater | 216 | 127 | Not Eligible |
| Aidan Vidal | 216 | 63 | Youth |
| R Painter | 215 | 282 | Not Eligible |
| Lorrie Anderson | 214 | 392 | Experienced |
| John Anderson | 214 | 397 | Experienced |
| Graeme Mudd | 214 | 172 | Beginner |
| Aphtin Perratt | 213 | 94 | Beginner |
| Bob Lefebvre | 211 | 441 | Not Eligible |
| Chris Macintosh | 211 | 92 | Beginner |
| Nicole Pellerin | 205 | 165 | Beginner |
| Christopher Naugler | 201 | 74 | Experienced |
| Phillip Cram | 201 | 67 | Experienced |
| Linda Vaxvick | 199 | 222 | Experienced |
| Judy Swan | 195 | 161 | Experienced |
| Darlene Shymkiw | 193 | 128 | Beginner |
| Trevor Churchill | 187 | 81 | Experienced |
| John Bargman | 187 | 124 | Experienced |
| Janet Gill | 174 | 90 | Experienced |
| Simone Pellerin-Wood | 173 | 93 | Youth |
| Peter Hoyer | 172 | 67 | Experienced |
| Rob Worona | 170 | 32 | Experienced |
| Anne Belton | 169 | 100 | Experienced |
| Dave Russum | 167 | 283 | Experienced |
| Jan Roseneder | 148 | 262 | Experienced |
| Jeremy Quickfall | 147 | 49 | Beginner |
| Joan Walker | 131 | 14 | Experienced |
| Saravana Moorthy | 130 | 71 | Beginner |
| Sue Konopnicki | 127 | 54 | Experienced |
If you are an eBird user you can view the current standings at any time. Go to eBird Canada and click the “Explore Data” tab. Click on “Patch Totals” and change the region to Alberta. Below your patches (if you have any) you will see a list of all patches in Alberta, which you can sort by day, month, or year. The competition competitors use the patch name “2015 Calgary Patch Challenge, CA-AB.”
Brian Elder’s Patch total of 272 species is the top patch in all of Canada. Eight of the to 20 patches in Canada belong to birders in the competition.
eBird Usage:
We continue to be among the leading regions in Canada in eBird submissions. Here are the top counties in Canada in number of checklists submitted for October 2015. (Calgary county is entirely within the competition circle, but the circle also includes parts of three other counties.)
eBird submissions by county, October 2015| Metro Vancouver | 6275 |
|---|---|
| Camrose-Lloydminister | 3550 |
| Ottawa | 1989 |
| Capital | 1723 |
| Cowichan Valley | 1517 |
| Calgary | 878 |
| Peterborough | 847 |
| Toronto | 750 |
| Nipissing | 684 |
| Yukon | 679 |
| Fraser-Fort George | 660 |
| Montreal | 654 |
| Essex | 619 |
| Wellington | 612 |
| Laval | 599 |
| Halifax | 579 |
| Avalon Peninsula - St. John's | 550 |
| Hamilton | 520 |
| Bruce | 493 |
With the winter birding season upon us, now is the time to get out and find the winter birds you missed in January and February. It’s a great chance to add new species for the those trying to win the Latecomer Challenge (most new species added after August 1). There are lots of winter finches around already so it promises to be a great end to the year.
White-winged Crossbill. Photo by Tony LePrieur, Fish Creek Park, October 31. [exif id=”14947″]
Donate to the competition
Thank you to all who have generously donated money to be put towards prizes for the competitors. If you would like to support the goals of our competition, please go to Nature Calgary’s Competition page. There are instructions about how to make a contribution using their “Donate” page, and how to specify that your gift is for the competition. Nature Calgary is a registered charity. 100% of all gifts will be used to purchase prizes for participants.