Canada Day, last Friday, I rode my bike out to Fish Creek once again to see what I could find. At a storm water pond, I found a total of 9 cute Common Goldeneye ducklings; swimming and diving about.
In Hull’s Wood, I was alerted to a Common Raven and her two young by some loud croaking, the immature birds hungrily calling for food, despite being able to feed themselves.
As I passed by the Bow River, I could hear a Song Sparrow singing and after a quick search, I located this melodious little sparrow.
As I worked my way back to the intersection of Canyon Meadows and Bonaventure Dr. I passed over Bridge #11. As I did so, I could hear a pair of House Wrens scolding me.
I soon found out why I was being scolded. Just beyond the bridge, was a railing, and inside the railing was the Wren’s nest with several young on the inside. The parents flew inside several times to feed the young and it was quite a tight squeeze!
I continued on my way, not wanting to bother the young family. As I came to the last storm water pond between the ranch and the Glennfield area of Fish Creek, I saw an interesting shape in a tree. I stopped my bike, took a closer look, and found the object to be a porcupine! This was great, as I had never seen one before.
Almost out of the park, I saw a perched Osprey near a small path through long grass. I stopped and approached for a closer view… And got absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes. I added to my bug bite collection by at least 20 in less than 5 minutes!
This year I decided to take part in another Citizen Science project, the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, conducted by Bird Studies Canada. The basic requirements are quite simple: visit the lake once in each of June, July, and August to see if there is a breeding pair of Loons present, if they fledge young, and if the young survive. Each visit should be at least two hours, but of course you can spend more time and may visit the lake more often if you like. You also keep track of other birds associated with the body of water. I knew of a small lake southwest of Calgary in the Bragg Creek area that has been occupied by loons for a few years, so I checked with BSC to see if it was being monitored. It hadn’t, so I registered to monitor the lake.
We arrived at the lake in the afternoon and soon spotted a lone Loon.
There are two islands in the lake, and I knew that the loons had built a nest on the south island in each of the past three years. We climbed into the local rowboat which is always on the shore, and headed out into the water.
We tried to keep clear of the south island so as not to get too close to a nest if there was one, although I did want to see how many eggs were present if possible. We went between the two islands, keeping close to the north one, and checking the south one through binoculars for a nest. There had also been a cow moose who calves on the south island every year, and if she was there, we didn’t want to disturb her either. To our delight ,we soon saw the Moose and her calf through the dense foliage. I got a quick picture of the cow, but not the calf, and didn’t linger near the island – Moose can swim very well!
We soon noticed that there were in fact two Loons on the lake, a breeding pair.
The Loons were acting strangely, diving and then surfacing very close to the boat, and diving again with a noisy splash, only to come up again on the other side.
We were getting some great close-up views, but then I realized why the Loons were so agitated: their nest was on the north island, and we were only a few feet away from it.
There were two eggs on the nest! We quickly retreated, and were relieved to see one of the Loons take its position on the nest. They are probably quite used to people being around – there were the remains of a campfire on their island – but we certainly hadn’t intended on disturbing them.
When we returned in the evening for another look at the Loons, we came across the cow Moose which was feeding on the path to the lake. Luckily, since the calf was still on the island, she was not aggressive.
Doing the survey is a great opportunity to contribute to our knowledge of Common Loons, and you get to witness scenes like this:
I will post Part Two of the Loon Survey later, after I return to the lake in late July and see if the chicks have successfully fledged.
If you are interested in taking part in the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, contact Bird Studies Canada. Here is a link to their website . You can also contact Kathy Jones at volunteer@birdscanada.org or by phone at 1-888-448-2473 ext. 124, or register online. The CLLS is a self-supporting program, so you must hold an active BSC membership to participate. For more information, select this link to view the program brochure, or to view a map of available Canadian lakes and their most recent survey year, select this link. (Above information taken from the Nature Calgary website )
More fantastic photos sent to us by Rob English. If you’ve never seen baby American Coots, you’re in for a surprise. Click on images for a larger view, and enjoy!
See if you can identify the bird in the photograph below; then let us know what you think by posting a comment.
The bird in this photograph is a large, noisy and conspicuous shorebird typical of the prairie sloughs. Do you know what it is? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
July is another great month to go birdwatching in the Calgary region. By now, most birds are in the process of raising hungry families while others, such as hummingbirds and certain shorebirds, start their southward migration in late July. Our must-see birds for July are as follows:
1. Western Grebe
Featured before in one of our previous posts (Grebes, Grebes, Grebes), the Western Grebe is a gregarious grebe that is easily recognized thanks to its contrasting black and white plumage, thin green-yellow bill and slender neck. Colonial nesters, the Western Grebe is usually found on medium to large lakes such as Frank Lake ( Glenmore reservoir during migration) where they mainly consume small fish.
A pair of Western Grebes, front, on a crowded Frank lake.
2. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a beautiful black-and-white songbird with a rosy red breast, lives up to its name. The female is a brownish-streaked bird with yellow wing linings. Emitting a robin-like song, only richer, more energetic and more rapidly delivered, both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeak sing. This bird may be seen in the Glenmore and the Weaselhead area or at Griffith Woods along the banks of the Elbow River in southwest Calgary.
Adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak feeding a juvenile.
3. Canvasback
The largest diving duck found in the province, I find Canvasbacks to be very beautiful. The male is resplendent with a canvas coloured back and a chestnut head and neck. This species prefers lakes and ponds with emergent vegetation and vegetated margins. Weed lake is a good place to observe these ducks. The Canvasback uses its long sloping bill to strain seeds from the mud on the bottom of ponds.
4. Wilson’s Phalarope
The only shorebirds that normally swim, the sex roles are reversed in phalaropes, the female being larger and more colorful than the male; a black stripe going down from the eye, down the side of the neck and then merging into chestnut. Favouring sloughs and shallow lakes where wet meadows and grassy marshes are present, the Wilson’s Phalarope may be seen on most southeast sloughs and lakes.
5. Cinnamon Teal
Our final bird for the month of July is the Cinnamon Teal, a conspicuous cinnamon red duck that is striking in the right light. This teal prefers shallow lake margins, marshes and ponds; on larger bodies of water, it is never found very far from shore. Look for Cinnamon Teal in early July, before they molt, in the southeast sloughs, Frank Lake, or in Fish Creek at Burnsmead, among other spots.
Let us know which of these birds you saw this month! Happy Canada Day!
The boy paused to make some adjustments to his gear before moving the long black object that was glinting in the sunlight up to his eye. He slowly, carefully took aim, lining up his target into the right position, not wanting to miss this golden opportunity. Not this time. He paused another moment before finally taking the shot. Snap! The boy looked down at his camera screen, pleased with the result. He rapidly took some more shots before quietly leaving the way he came.
Sunday afternoon, my dad and I headed out to Frank Lake, eager to see some young birds starting to emerge. As we were leaving this birding hotspot, we passed a small marsh beside the road; a fence running along the edge of the water. “Stop!” I suddenly exclaimed. We turned the car around when the traffic had died down and found a quiet place to park. On a fencepost, I had seen a Wilson’s Snipe, a long-billed shorebird often seen in and around wetlands. We hopped out of the car, listening to the music of the wetland around us; boreal chorus frogs, yellow-headed blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds and coots, all adding to the cacophony of sounds around us.
We slowly and cautiously made our way closer and closer to the snipe, not wanting to scare it . We had never been quite so close to a snipe before and we approached to within a couple of meters of the bird before stopping. We admired and observed this well-marked little bird, delighted to have such a close encounter.
After doing some research on this remarkable little bird, I found that its long bill is really quite amazing. The bill of the Wilson’s Snipe is flexible and the tips can be opened and closed with no movement at the base of the bill. Sensory pits at the tip of the bill act a little bit like sonar, allowing the snipe to feel its prey (small invertebrates) deep in the mud.
In South Glenmore Park, just where the trail drops down into the Weaselhead, there is a path leading through the bush to a spot with two benches.
Not only does it provide a great view of the pond and Weaselhead, but someone has turned it into a feeding station for the birds. I have been there a few times, and there is always birdseed on the rails and ground, and oranges in the trees. If you sit still and are patient, you get great close-up views of the birds. These pictures were taken on June 17, and we saw 23 species from the lookout that day. Here are some of them. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.
Downy Woodpecker:
Hairy Woodpecker:
Clay-colored Sparrow:
Black-capped Chickadee:
Rose-breasted Grosbeak:
Brown-headed Cowbird:
Some small mammals got in on the action as well. Red Squirrel:
Least Chipmunk:
A Pine Siskin and a Red-breasted Nuthatch squabble over a good feeding spot:
Pine Siskin:
Red-breasted Nuthatch:
White-breasted Nuthatch:
Finally, this little Red Squirrel rested his head on his hands while he patiently waited his turn at the feeder:
At Valleyview Park pond in SE Calgary, I recently saw a single Common Goldeneye chick trailing after its mother. I took a little video of the pair. Watch the instinctive reaction of the chick when it hears the “sputter” call of a Red-winged Blackbird. It obviously hasn’t yet learned that this sound doesn’t mean danger! (Sorry about the helicopter noise.)
Last Tuesday when I was down at the Bow River, I was witness to a great birding spectacle; photogenic pelicans putting on a show of flying, landing and swimming. I was able to count up 27 of these social and gregarious birds at one time, half of them circling in the sky while the other half loafed around on the banks of the river. Among the world’s largest birds and gracing the air with a wingspan of over 2 meters, the American White Pelican can swallow fish up to 30cm (12 inches) long and must eat 2 kg (4 lbs) of fish a day.
Several Pelicans made a show of coming in for a landing.
They came closer and closer…
Until it seemed as though they were right beside me…
Their feathers were absolutely stunning against the blue sky.
This Pelican was demonstrating the mechanics of a good landing…
Before finally putting down the landing gear.
If you look carefully at this last photo, you may just be able to make out a Franklin’s Gull at the far right of the screen. This gull was flying at roughly the same altitude as the pelicans and shows the massive size difference between the two. After Tuesday, Pelicans have become a bird I love to watch.
