Volunteers Needed For Bird-Building Collision Research
Oddly Overwintering Avians in Alberta
Posted by Dan Arndt
For those of us who feed (and water) birds, every once in a while we get a special treat in the form of a new bird species at our feeder or bird bath. Even less common though, are those that decide to stick around and make your yard a semi-permanent home away from home, and become regular visitors. But the most special of all are the rare and wonderful hardy little birds that have decided to make you responsible to making sure it survives the winter, by deciding to overwinter, sometimes thousands of kilometers away from their regular wintering grounds, right in your yard. While those aren’t the only birds that overwinter in Calgary and Southern Alberta, they are sometimes the most visible.
Take, for instance, this Yellow-rumped Warbler that’s spent this winter in the SW Calgary in the yard of Joanne Nemeth, one of the regular attendees of the FFCPP Birding Courses.
Yellow-rumped Warbler foraging (Photo by Joanne Nemeth)
Yellow-rumped Warbler showing off it’s namesake (Photo by Joanne Nemeth)
After showing up for the first time in December, it’s made regular appearances and seems to be surviving quite well!
Yellow-rumped Warbler at the bird bath (Photo by Joanne Nemeth)
Of course we can’t forget the Mourning Doves that our fearless leader Pat Bumstead has had regularly in her yard.
Mourning Dove in February, 2013
Mourning Doves in November, 2012
One odd pairing was a small flock of five Eurasian Collared Doves, along with a pair of American Robins in the southeast community of Parkland in January, which have also managed to tough out the winter.
Eurasian Collared Dove, January 14, 2013
American Robin, January 14, 2013
A little less exotic, and one of a fairly large flock that has overwintered successfully in Calgary for a number of years, is this American Crow. Even still, it does make one think twice when identifying Common Ravens in Calgary in the winter.
American Crow, February 3, 2013, Carburn Park
Outside the city limits, but only a short drive away, are the now famous (infamous?) Weed Lake Five. This incredibly odd assemblage of a male Lesser Scaup, female Mallard, female Green-winged Teal, female Gadwall, and female Northern Shoveler have so far successfully overwintered in a patch of water no larger than 25 meters across at the widest point. The fact that not a single one fell prey to coyotes, raptors, or even the harsh cold snaps we’ve had on such a small patch of water is astounding.
The Weed Lake Five, February 2, 2013
Not all overwintering bird stories have happy endings though. This Song Sparrow in Votier’s Flats, Fish Creek Provincial Park, made a good attempt at overwintering at a storm water outflow on Fish Creek. While it was regularly seen up until the beginning of February, it hasn’t been seen since. While I still hold out hope that it’s managed to survive, it’s hard to say for sure.
Song Sparrow, November 25, 2012, Votier’s Flats
Oh, and of course, who could forget the birds that inspired this post, the pair of Killdeer that we found in Griffith Woods Park today.
Killdeer pair, March 17, 2013, Griffith Woods Park
Killdeer, March 17, 2013, Griffith Woods Park (image uncropped)
Have you spotted any unusual overwintering birds this year? Let us know!
Good birding!
Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 10 – Snowed out… again!
Posted by Dan Arndt
For the second week in the last three, our Sunday walk seems to have drawn the short straw when it comes to the weather. With high winds and blowing snow, getting to our location was near impossible, and Gus sent out an email informing everyone that it was cancelled. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that email until it was too late, so Bob and I headed out to Griffith Woods a bit later than usual to try to add at least one new species to our year count. We did manage to find a pair of Killdeer that have successfully overwintered, and that particular find spurred on an idea for a make-up post, which will be posting shortly!
Stay warm! Only one more week until it’s officially spring!
Sunday Showcase: Leucistic Mallard
Rob English photographed this leucistic Mallard in Beaverdam Flats in mid-February. This might be the same duck seen in the same area last winter.
Q & A: Follow-up on Attracting Birds to Feeders
Last May we answered a question from a reader who had been trying unsuccessfully to attract birds to her yard in Calgary. The yard was in an awkward location at a small townhouse without trees or shrubs. Although she was putting out many types of high-quality seeds, the birds were not coming. We gave some advice on attracting birds, which you can read about here. We are happy to report that after nearly a year of persistent effort, finally there are birds coming to the yard.
———-
Hi,
Nearly a year ago I approached you looking for suggestions on how to attract birds to my feeder in my awkward yard. While I was not successful last year, I’m happy to announce that my patience has finally paid off.
I thought I’d send you an update because others in a similar situation may find what I did will help them as well. When we got our Christmas tree (real) I kept the branches that were cut off the bottom, and was able to take a bunch more from other people’s trees as well. When I got home I bunched all the branches together and made several boughs out of them, tied them with wire, put a pretty bow on them and hung them from our balcony. Within 24 hours I had birds foraging through my boughs and feeding at my feeders!
The last month has been wonderful, I’m finally able to watch birds from my own window and I have a steady flock of Common Redpolls and finches that come throughout the day. I’m not sure what I’m going to replace the boughs with once they’re all dried up, but I’ll figure something out. I’ve attached a few photos just to demonstrate my situation and solution. I hope my experience may help someone else in the future.
Thanks again for all the suggestions, all the best.
———-
Here are the photos of her yard:
Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 9 – Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Posted by Dan Arndt
After last week’s debacle, I won’t be complaining about flat light, poor light, or a little cold weather every now and then. This week’s walk was in the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, and while the skies were overcast, the weather was above freezing and there were plenty of new migrants in abundance on the Bow River. The Northern Flickers were displaying and staking out new territory, Ring-billed and California Gulls were back on the river, and we even spotted a surprise American Wigeon amongst the thousands of waterfowl along the banks of the river! Spring is on the way!
Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
These next few weeks are both incredibly sad, but also incredibly exciting for birders in Canada. With the temperatures warming, it means not only more hours of sunlight to allow greater opportunities to see more birds, but it also means the arrival of all the species that have been gone since September, October, or as late as November for some. It also means, sadly, the departure of our winter guests. Snowy Owls, Common and Hoary Redpolls, American Tree Sparrows, Rough-legged Hawks, and usually, the White-winged Crossbills back to either more northerly latitudes, or to higher elevations, until fall returns. One of the best places around town to find new arrivals in the spring, summer, fall and winter, is at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. For various reasons, it has just the right combination of trees, bushes, and prey species that make it the perfect habitat for many of our summer residents.
On our walk this week, we were greeted at the beginning of our route by a lone Mule Deer. Some years, there are between six and twelve Mule Deer that call this place home, much to the disappointment of many ground nesting birds, as the deer are known to be completely oblivious of nests and in many cases walk right over them.
Mule Deer
Another species in abundance on our walk were the Common Ravens. At times there were four or five of them grouped together calling back and forth and generally causing a ruckus. These birds typically don’t nest in the sanctuary, so either they were drawn to something along the river, or just choosing this place to air their grievances with each other.
Common Raven
The original administration and maintenance building of the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is the Colonel Walker House. Originally built in 1910, and home to Colonel James Walker of the Northwest Mounted Police. You can read more about the house and Colonel Walker here.
Colonel Walker House
Colonel Walker House
Just outside the Walker House, we were treated to the sight of some recently emerging Richardson’s Ground Squirrels. The first to awaken in the spring are the males, looking to build up their fat stores in anticipation of the upcoming breeding season, to better fight for and defend a mate in the coming months.
Richardson’s Ground Squirrel
These weren’t the only animals looking to make the upcoming breeding season a productive one. We could hardly walk for a few minutes without hearing the calls of one of the many Northern Flickers announcing their territory with their distinct vocalizations, or raucous drumming.
Northern Flicker
Even the Black-capped Chickadees were calling, defending their territory, and were a little bit less forward with us than they have been in the past few months, their attention also on other matters.
Black-capped Chickadee
As we reached the southernmost point of our walk and turned back up the river, we were treated to the sight of over ten thousand waterfowl in the course of our walk, split between the Mallards and Canada Geese, with a few Common Goldeneye thrown in, and a pair of female American Wigeon for good measure.
Mallard
Canada Geese
American Wigeon (center) surrounded by Mallards
The real treat for those of us who’d been reading the reports all week was the return of the gulls. California Gulls had been reported all week. On Tuesday, only one was seen, but those numbers had swelled to over 30 individuals by today, and a trio of Ring-billed Gulls were also present.
California Gull
California Gull
As we tore our eyes away from the river and began the final leg of our walk back to the start, a few of us straggled behind and were treated to the sight of a pair of Northern Flickers calling, challenging, and displaying at each other by fanning out their tail feathers and trying to simply look bigger than their rival.
Northern Flickers fighting over territory
On our way back out, we also found a second Richardson’s Ground Squirrel, this one a bit bigger and a bit more vibrant, also gathering food and preparing his own part of the sanctuary for his future mate and offspring!
Richardson’s Ground Squirrel trying to hide. Completely unsuccessfully, I might add.
Here’s hoping your birding week is as successful as ours was! See you next week!
Sunday Showcase: Great Grays of Grand Valley Road
Grand Valley Road northwest of Cochrane has been a really good place to find Great Gray Owls. Logan Gibson photographed this one while it was snowing on February 25:
On March 2, Brett Mahura found three different Great Grays on Grand Valley Road:
Furry Friday: Porcupine
This North American Porcupine was spotted feeding on a Water Birch on the Inglewood Golf Course during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count on December 16, 2012.
Photo by Troy Bourque
Photo by Ian Neilson
Photo by Ian Neilson
Photo by Troy Bourque
Wednesday Wings – Short-eared Owls
Posted by Dan Arndt
Last Saturday evening I made a quick trip to Frank Lake and managed to find a pair of Short-eared Owls displaying and posing in the late day sun.
male Short-eared Owl
female Short-eared Owl
female Short-eared Owl
male Short-eared Owl
male Short-eared Owl calling in flight
Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding, Week 8 – Beaverdam Flats – Snowed Out!
Posted by Dan Arndt
The week was beautiful leading up to Sunday’s walk. Much of the snow had melted off, migrating European Starlings and American Crows were arriving regularly, and temperatures were as high as 10 degrees Celsius some days! I was looking forward to a full walk in Beaverdam Flats, though it was predicted to be a snowy, wet day. When I left the house, about 2 centimeters had accumulated, but by the time we arrived at Beaverdam Flats, this is what the scene looked like.
Blizzard in Beaverdam Flats
In addition to the terrible weather, one of the main roads leading to the park was closed due to a fallen power line, and with both of these contributing factors, our small group of three decided to make a quick trip of it. We pushed through the wind and snow to find a few hardy Bald Eagles, many hundreds of Mallards, and a couple hundred Canada Geese, with a small smattering of smaller birds. Needless to say, none of my photos of the birds turned out in any recognizable way, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to share a few photos of the regular visitors to my bird feeders this winter.
female Red-breasted Nuthatch
male Red-breasted Nuthatch
This pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches are regular visitors to my feeders all year long. They roost in the spruce tree in my neighbour’s back yard each night, and forage around sunrise and sunset mostly, but on bad weather days, they’re active all day long.
male Northern Flicker (intergrade)
Northern Flickers absolutely love the suet I put out. I find that they are very skittish and fly at the first sign of danger, but shooting from out of a window they hardly even notice me.
male Downy Woodpecker
This male Downy Woodpecker is one of a pair that have been regular visitors to my feeders since I put them out. This SquirrelBuster nut feeder has been incredibly helpful at keeping the squirrels out. I’ve gone from filling the nut feeder two or thee times a week to maybe once a month!
male Common Redpoll
While Common Redpolls have only started showing up at my feeders in the last month or so, there are half a dozen or so on an average day, and are regular visitors to my feeder with nyjer and black-oil sunflower chips.
I hope this makes up for the lack of my usual update today!