Clash of the herons

Jul27

Posted by Matthew Sim

On a recent bike ride of mine to Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek P.P. I came across a juvenile Great Blue Heron in a storm water pond so I got myself into a good position to photograph it. I sat watching and photographing the heron for some time when suddenly, an adult Great Blue flew in.

Juvenile Great Blue Heron

A rather impressive landing…

The adult heron seemed to “own” the ponds and did not take kindly to the young heron fishing in his waters. The adult proceeded to hunch himself up in a bid to frighten the juvenile.

All hunched up, the adult Great Blue proceeded to hurriedly chase the juvenile around the pond until finally the young heron took a running start and flew off.

Taking off with a running start.

Far from being content however, the adult flew after the young one and the two of them disappeared over the hills. I didn’t move from my position however, because I had a feeling that at least one of the herons would be returning. Sure, enough, several minutes later, the adult returned finally content at having chased the young upstart off of his territory.

Finally able to relax and scratch his head.

Friends of Fish Creek Autumn Birding Course

Jul26

Posted by Dan Arndt

 

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park have announced the dates and times of their Autumn birding course. The contact information and details are in the poster below. Each day of walks is led by either Gus Yaki, Rob Worona, Wayne Walker, or any number of other local birders who are incredibly knowledgeable, friendy, and enthusiastically share their love of birds with all in attendance. Bob Lefebvre and I will continue to lead one of the Sunday morning groups, and will be looking forward to seeing some new faces on our Sunday walks! (These photos may look familiar to sharp-eyed readers as well…)

FCPP Autumn Birding Course

FCPP Autumn Birding Course

A trip to Waterton

Jul25

Posted by Matthew Sim

Recently, the Fur & Feathers 500 team ( a group of 4 birders/ naturalists from Calgary attempting to see 500 species of birds and mammals in Canada in 2012) visited Waterton Lakes N.P. in the hopes of adding several species of birds and mammals to their year totals and they kindly invited me along. We left the afternoon of Wednesday July 18th and came back the next evening after a great trip. You can see the full story on the Fur & Feathers 500 blog here.

Cameron Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park

Barn Swallow; en route at Frank Lake near High River

Travel Tuesday – Birthday Birding with Bob

Jul24

Posted by Dan Arndt

As I have done for a few years now, I decided this year that I would take a day off around my birthday and get a few new life-birds and a few other target species off my list. As the week came closer, the weather looked more and more like it simply was not going to cooperate, and when my birthday arrived, it rained straight through the day. Two days later, the clouds cleared long enough for Bob Lefebvre and I to get out and find some birds. While the wind was more active than I would have liked, the day turned out quite nicely, topping out at 27 degrees C, (or about 81F for our readers south of the border).

We planned our route a few days before to tie in with Bob’s scheduled trip on the Loon survey. We would hit the entrance to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park, then go over to Horse Creek Road, up Grand Valley Road, then down through Bragg Creek to the Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, then back up to Leisure Lake to do the loon survey. Finally, we would make a trip down to Frank Lake, to get Bob’s shorebird count up, and finally we would head home from there.

Our list of locations

Birthday Birding Locations

 

With our route planned, we headed out at 5 AM, and got to our first site just as the sun was clearing the horizon.

Bob had heard of a number of Rock Wrens on territory just north of the main entrance to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park, and when we stopped the car and listened for a few moments, it was immediately apparent that they were still present. With a little help from some call playback, we were able to get some extremely good views of one of the males loudly defending his territory.

 

Shaken, not stirred.

This bird is appropriately named.

Rock Wren

Rock Wren closeup

We headed up Grand Valley Road shortly after, in search of one of the many Great Gray Owls that have been seen there many times this spring and summer, but also historically seems to be the best spot around to find them. We drove for quite some time before Bob’s eagle eyes spotted one flying behind a gravel pile, so we stopped and waited, and moments later, it flew out and onto a nearby fencepost. This reclusive individual only stayed around long enough for us to get a handful of photos, but we did manage a few that turned out.

Great Gray Owl

Watching us very closely.

Great Gray Glare of Death

Great Gray Glare of Death

As we headed down to Horse Creek Road, the wind had picked up quite a bit, and when we stopped to listen for the rails distinctive clicking calls, we could barely hear anything over the wind. No rails were heard or seen on this trip, but we did get some very nice close ups of these Wilson’s Phalaropes.

Wilson's Phalarope

Wilson’s Phalarope

After that brief stop, we headed straight down to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, and got incredibly close views of another life-bird for me, the Cape May Warbler. It seemed that there were quite a number of them in the park, most on nests, along with Wilson’s Warblers, which never quite came out to give us decent views.

Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler in the dark

Cape May Warbler in the dark

Bob’s annual Loon Survey up at Leisure Lake was part of our trip, and we did manage to circle the lake, find the nest and eggs, and saw both the male and female Common Loon out on the water.

Common Loon

Common Loon

We finished up our day out at Frank Lake, and planned to head down to Basin 2, where we saw a huge number of species, and I was able to add Northern Harrier to my year list finally as well, but as far away as it was, paired with the heat, the photos simply would not suffice. So instead, here’s a Marbled Godwit to distract you.

 

Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwit

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: July 19

Jul20

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com.  To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

Possible south bound migration is on the way with the sightings recently of one OVENBIRD, SWAINSON’S THRUSH(2), and one TENNESSEE WARBLER, all seen near Marcel Gahbauer’s home, or nearby Lowery Gardens, which is location just west of the Crowchild Trail bridge.

July 14
TRUMPETER SWAN,(adult), oversummering at a slough E.of Hwy.#22, sw of Calgary, by Terry Korolyk.

July 18
SWAINSON’S THRUSH(4), DARK-EYED JUNCO(oregon subsp), seen by Bill Wilson in Griffith Woods.
RED-TAILED HAWK (rufous morph), Votier’s flats, FCPP, there for the third summer, by TK.

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon Jul.23.

The State of Canada’s Birds #1

Jul18

Bird Canada is featuring a series of posts from Ted Chesky, Nature Canada’s Manager of Bird Conservation. He is outlining the findings in The State of Canada’s Birds report which draws on 40 years of data to create the first-ever comprehensive picture of the current health of Canada’s birds. Released by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI-Canada), under the leadership of Environment Canada, Bird Studies Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Wildlife Habitat Canada, the report points to the strong influence of human activity on bird populations, both positive and negative, as well as the need for urgent action for bird conservation.

The first post deals with birds in our big backyard – Canada’s Grassland Birds Face Declining Populations

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: July 16

Jul17

Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary?

If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com.  To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

Compiled by Terry Korolyk

JUL 14

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER – Raven Rocks area of west Fish Creek Prov Park
HARLEQUIN DUCK – on Kananaskis River at Hay Meadow near Mt. Lorette in Kananaskis Country

JUL 15

STILT SANDPIPER – 33 at the slough at the junction of Hwy 547 and Rge Rd 255 north of Herronton – Terry Korolyk; 80 seen by Bill Wilson at Weed Lake
PECTORAL SANDPIPER – 6 as above (TK); 3 seen as above by BW
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER – 8, as above (TK); 3 seen as above by BW
LEAST SANDPIPER – 1 as above (TK)
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER – 50, as above (TK)
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER – 3, as above (TK)
GREATER AND LESSER YELLOWLEGS – 300 seen by TK at a large slough on 304 St SE, 2 kms south of hwy 552
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE – 2 at Weed Lake, BW
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER – 15 as above
UPLAND SANDPIPER – 338 Ave, just east of 320 St north of Blackie, TK
EVENING GROSBEAK – Glenfield in east Fish Creek Prov Park

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu Jul 19.

Birding App Review – Birdlog for Android

Jul17

Posted by Dan Arndt

Note: This review is for Birdlog version 1.05. As apps mature and are upgraded to newer versions, some features may change for the better or worse, and new bugs may arise or be removed.

I’ve long been a fan of technology, and while I’ve only seriously been using eBird since January, there are so many times in the field that I had wished I’d been able to just post my exact location and what I saw there right to eBird, without having to stop, take notes, and try to remember where exactly this pond or that grove of trees was. I’ve got a bit of a talent for spotting locations using satellite or aerial photos, but remembering the exact time of day, all the assorted additional species around (and numbers), can be a bit of a task.

My wishes were granted when BirdLog was released for Android (along with iPhone, and iPad apps, if those are more your style) by Birds In The Hand LLC. Right from the App, you can find your location down to incredible precision using the GPS, which uses satellite photos from Google Maps.

Current GPS Location

Current GPS Location

Nearby eBird Hotspot

Nearby eBird Hotspot

From there, you can enter in the time you started your observations, and the list is sorted taxonomically, and split between the Likely birds in my area, to All reportable birds in my area, and lastly, by the birds actually seen in the report.

Likely Birds List

Likely Birds List

Every time I turn around, I am again amazed at what this thing can do. In the search bar, you can search for the bird species instead of scrolling through the list by name (Red-breasted Nuthatch), or banding code (RBNU), which saves a whole ton of time if you’re trying to record numbers in real time, while also lifting your binoculars or camera to try to get your eyes on the bird itself.

Lastly, before finalizing the list, submit the usual questions eBird uses to document the time, effort, and species data. How long it took, how the observation was made (Travelling, Stationary, or Incidental) along with distance covered, the number of observers in the party, and whether you’re listing all the birds you identified, or only a few species present. You can then choose to save it (in case you want to review it again before submitting to eBird) or just send it right there in the field, or from the pub, after you’ve stopped for your post-birding libations after recording your first ever sighting of your most recent life-bird observation.

Time and Effort Data

Time and Effort Data

Once you’ve submitted a checklist to eBird, if you decide you want to go back and view the list again, or make any changes to it, you’re greeted with this happy little screen, and a link to where you can edit the data on the eBird website.

Review

Review

And I was just getting into the habit of keeping a field notebook too…

Lafarge Meadows – Flooding, baby birds, and a tern for the better

Jul12

Posted by Dan Arndt

The final week of the Friends of Fish Creek Spring Birding course once again took us to the south end of Fish Creek Provincial Park, specifically, to the Boat Launch and south to Lafarge Meadows sloughs, which Matthew Sim has recently posted about. It was a good finish to a great course, and I am looking forward to joining a new group of fresh-faced and enthusiastic birders as fall migration is in full swing by September.

 

We started off with a new bird for our group (and for myself) for the year. Just north of the boat launch were a trio of American White Pelicans, one of which decided it was a bit too rainy for his liking and flew off before I took this photo. The water level both on the Bow River and in the sloughs adjacent to the pathway were incredibly high, and in some areas of the city, the weekend of June 24th was a time of some minor, or not so minor flooding. It seemed that the pelicans didn’t mind it so much, as they were seen regularly at this point all week long.

American White Pelican

American White Pelican

As we got looks at these gorgeous white birds, we couldn’t help but notice that a family of Tree Swallows had set up a nest inside one of the horizontal access gate poles. This male stood guard while the female was on the nest deep inside the gate.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

Just south of the boat launch, on the west side of the path, there are normally three large sloughs on the north side of 22X. Because of the flooding, they all had merged into one incredibly large slough, and this Black Tern, along with three of its buddies, were making short work of the small fish, arthropods, and worms that were found within.

Black Tern

Black Tern

As we headed underneath the 22X bridge, and emerged on the other side, we stayed close to the river in hopes of spotting another of our target species for the day, the Western Kingbird. While not quite what we were looking for, this Eastern Kingbird was harassing (or being harassed by?) a Black-billed Magpie. Inter-species territorial disputes are always fun to watch.

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

While having great views of one species of the tyrant flycatchers is always good, not fifty meters away we were greeted by the sound of at least three Western Wood-Pewees harassing a family of Common Ravens, not to far from their likely nest site. Once again, inter-species territory disputes are the rule of the day!

Western Wood-Pewee

Western Wood-Pewee

Western Wood-Pewee

Western Wood-Pewee

As we headed further south along the river bank, we began heading into a bit more open grasslands and sloughs, and got much closer views of a number of waterfowl and other wetland birds. As we rounded one corner, we saw a Spotted Sandpiper give a bit of a broken wing display before flying up off her nest and, seemingly, abandoning it. We got some very good views of the nest, albeit brief, before moving off to a safe distance. We weren’t twenty meters away before the doting mother was back down on top of her clutch of eggs.

Spotted Sandpiper nest

Spotted Sandpiper nest

Meanwhile, this female Common Merganser was not about to leave her perch no matter how close we got to her. This is the same female and nest that Paul and I noted on the May species count.

Common Merganser female

Common Merganser female

The closer we got to the southernmost sloughs at Lafarge Meadows, the more the landscape changed from woods to grassland. Savannah Sparrows became the norm, compared with the Song Sparrows and Clay-colored Sparrows back to the north, and we even got a few good looks at a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds, clearly indicating that we were in a well developed wetland.

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Yellow-headed Blackbird

No visit to the wetlands in the spring would be complete without seeing the assorted ducklings, and we got quite a treat on that front! Not only did we see a trio of Common Goldeneye chicks, but also a female Hooded Merganser with her brood in tow!

Common Goldeneye chicks

Common Goldeneye chicks

Hooded Merganser chicks

Hooded Merganser chicks

Hooded Merganser (female)

Hooded Merganser (female)

And last but not least, this Blue-winged Teal was eager to show off his namesake, and sat patiently while not one, not two, but five photographers got good, clear shots of the blue flight feathers that inspired his name.

Blue-winged Teal (male)

Blue-winged Teal (male)

A great note to end off another great season of birding.

 

Over the summer, I have a number of various blog posts planned, mostly based around a few road trips and birding trips I have planned here and there. I look forward to sharing my stories and photos with all of you all summer long!

 

Good birding!