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
3 AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES and 4-5 WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS have been in the Marlborough yard of Dorothy Johnston during this reporting period.
OCT 25
SHORT-EARED OWL – found dead at Lafarge Meadows – Rick Robb
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER – 7 at Glenmore Reservoir – Gus Yaki and FFCPP
WESTERN PALM WARBLER – Carburn Park – Nick Bartok and Mike Potter
OCT 26
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW – at 3rd Vermilion Lake in Banff NP – Joan and Malcolm Macdonald
HERRING-GLAUCOUS GULL hybrid – 1st yr at point north of 22X Bridge in East Fish Creek PP , also one bird south of the Shepard Landfill – Terry Korolyk
THAYER’S GULL – two 1st yrs north of 22X as above
OCT 27
SURF SCOTER – 5 immatures at dam at Chestermere Lake – Terry Korolyk
PACIFIC LOON – on Glenmore Reservoir – Gus Yaki and FFCPP
THAYER’S GULL – 1st yr north of 22X bridge – TK
OCT 28
RED-THROATED LOON – on Glenmore Reservoir in east end – Bob Storms
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER – 29 at dam at Pine Coulee Reservoir west of Stavely – TK
SURF SCOTER – 2 at Clear Lake 15 kms west of Stavely – TK
NASHVILLE WARBLER – on Barrier Mtn. Drive in Exshaw, Ross Leins and Val Haynes
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET – as above
RUSTY BLACKBIRD – 16 along the river in Fish Creek PP Hull’s Wood Lafarge Meadows area – Tony Timmons and Nature Calgary
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD – 6 as above
RED-TAILED HAWK – imm in west end of Glenmore Reservoir – Steve Kassai
THAYER’S GULL – 1st yr at Pine Coulee Dam – TK
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thu Nov 1.
BIRD STUDY GROUP:
Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, 7:30pm in Room 211 of the BioSciences Building, U of C. WEDNESDAY, NOV 7, 7:30PM – DANIEL ARNDT AND DAVID PUGH will share their experiences with technology in the world of birding.
I’m not an avid bird watcher, but I’m sure the other day I spotted what looked to be a large pure black hawk sitting on a fencepost near Vauxhall, AB. Is this possible??? It also looked like he had a lot of head feathers standing up, almost like a cockatoo…..very strange….
This is most likely a Rough-legged Hawk, which breed in the Arctic and are now in the area for the winter. A dark morph Rough-legged Hawk can look almost black, and sometimes their head feathers can look messy (perhaps due to wind or molting).