Last week, I, along with many other keen birders, did the Calgary and area May Species Count. Two other great birders and I were assigned the south part of the city, our borders were; north to Glenmore Trail, west and south to the Bow river and east to the City limits. We had a great time, birding for 9 hours on Saturday, driving 139 kilometers and recording 87 birds. We saw many great birds, some of the highlights being 2 Hooded Mergansers, a Western Grebe, a Ferruginous Hawk, a Veery, a Blackpoll Warbler and a Townsend’s Solitaire. The Solitaire was a real surprise as it was far away from its normal habitat and was way too far south.
A Townsend’s Solitaire, way off course.
The Solitaire caught a bug and attempted to swallow it…
But had some difficulty. Eventually, the Solitaire got the bug down the hatch.
Other birds seen included several coots on nests…
Many Red-winged Blackbirds…
And a posing crow.
The May Species Count is held annually and will therefore be held again next year, if you haven’t done it yet, it could be a great time to start.
Grebes are a worldwide family of aquatic diving birds with lobed toes, making them strong swimmers. There are 22 species of Grebe found across the world with 6 of those being found here in Alberta. Grebes are very clumsy on land and therefore spend most of their time on the water, staying there to feed, sleep and court. One of the oldest living family of birds, they can dive down 6m below the surface and can remain submerged for up to 30 seconds, where they search for small fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans to eat.
Of the 6 species of Grebes that live in Alberta, 5 of these can be seen in the Calgary region; above is the Horned Grebe, an attractive grebe that may be seen in Calgary on the Mckenzie Towne Ponds, which is where I saw this one last week.
Similar to the Horned Grebe is the Eared Grebe which can be distinguished from its close relative by its yellow feathered “ears” instead of compact “horns”. I find that one of the best places to see Eared Grebes is at Frank Lake, near High River.
The Western Grebe, together with Clark’s Grebe (which is only seen in the far south of Alberta), is a very large grebe. Below, is a procession of birds; from left to right; first is an Eared Grebe, then a Western Grebe, followed by another Eared Grebe and another Western Grebe. After that is a Franklin’s Gull and an Eared Grebe bringing up the rear.
The Pied-billed Grebe is the most common grebe in North America; it is also very intelligent. When apprehensive, the Pied-billed Grebe will sink slowly, expelling air from the body and feathers to lower their gravity, then they will swim with only their head above the water, facilitating an escape if need be. The adult Pied-billed Grebe is similar to the juvenile (juvenile below), except it will have uniformly colored cheeks and a black ring on its beak.
The last Grebe that can be seen in Alberta is the Red-necked Grebe, a large noisy bird with a broad black crown, white cheek patches and chestnut neck.
Grebes are a very varied family of birds and all are beautiful; makes sense when you find out that they are related to loons; a family of birds that amaze many people!
June is another great month to go birdwatching, migrants can still be seen during the early parts of the month and the summer residents have started to settle down. In June, the first fledglings appear, learning to survive and to fly. Our list for the month of June contains a varied list of species, some beautiful and others simply impressive.
1. Ruddy Duck
A small diving duck, the male Ruddy Duck has a black cap, white cheeks, a reddish body and a bright blue bill, rendering it a colourful duck. The female is dark brown above and lighter below with white cheeks and a gray bill. When disturbed, the Ruddy Duck will be more likely to dive then to fly. The Ruddy Duck may be seen at Frank Lake, which is where I see many Ruddy Ducks.
2. Mountain Bluebird
The male Mountain Bluebird is a beautiful sky-blue passerine from the thrush family. The female is brownish grey above and grey below, with some blue on the wings, rump and tail. A truly brilliant bird, the bluebird made it onto the list with ease. Look for Mountain Bluebirds in the Cochrane area or the Water Valley area in June. You can also visit the Ellis Bird Farm near Red Deer which is dedicated to the conservation of many birds, the Mountain Bluebird being one.
3. Great Horned Owl
The Great Horned Owl is a widespread owl throughout much of North America but never fails to impress thanks to its large size and regal composure. It has been described as the fiercest, most aggressive and most impressive owl of North America. The Great Horned Owl is also the official provincial bird of Alberta. There are many different places to see this large owl, there is currently a nest in the Sikome area of Fish Creek.
4. Spotted Towhee
A member of the sparrow family, the Spotted Towhee is rather inconspicuous, except in the summer when the male can be found singing his distinctive call; one or two short introductory notes followed by a fast trill. The song may sound like the bird is singing, ‘drink your tea’. The best places to see the Spotted Towhee in Calgary are in the Weaselhead and in Votier’s Flats, in Fish Creek.
Image courtesy Wikipedia
5. Rufous Hummingbird
Our last bird for the month of June is the Rufous Hummingbird, a bird with fiery colors and a fiery temper. The male has rufous coloring on his back, sides, flanks and tail while his crown is glossy green. The male Rufous Hummingbird is very aggressive and territorial and will use many different displays to protect his territory. Look for this hummingbird in the Weaselhead or on the Many Springs Trail in Bow Valley Provincial Park, west of the city.
Image courtesy Wikipedia
Which of these birds can you find? Feel free to send us your photos and stories, they may make it up on the blog!
Two weeks ago I was in Edgemont in NW Calgary, so I stopped at Edgemont Ravines to check out the two ponds there. I didn’t have my camera, which was too bad, because I was able to see the elusive Sora. Soras are small waterbirds in the rail family, who spend a lot of time hiding in the reeds.
Last week I returned to the ponds, with camera in hand, to try to get a picture of the Sora. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find it, but I did find some other interesting birds and mammals. The pictures below are from that second trip.
Park on the east side of Edgebrook Boulevard NW.
The easternmost pond.
On my first visit I walked around both ponds, and saw an American Coot, several Mallards, and lots of male Red-winged Blackbirds. Suddenly, a strange bird popped up onto a cattail…
Every time the first of these comes into view in the spring, I briefly believe that I have discovered a bird unknown to science. This, of course, is a female Red-winged Blackbird. They look so unlike the males that at first it seems to be a different species altogether.
It turned out that there were many Red-winged Blackbirds, both male and female, and they were engaged in courtship behaviour and nest-building.
As I finished up the circuit, I heard the hair-raising whinny of a Sora coming from a corner of the pond. This Sora specialty is one of my favourites, because it sounds like demented laughter.
Soras are very elusive birds, who skulk around the margins of ponds, rarely showing themselves. You hear them far more often than you see them.
I slowly moved towards the spot where the Sora was hidden: step, wait; step, wait; until I was finally rewarded with a shoe-ful of water. Drat. I was too close to the pond.
Luckily, back on shore, there was a convenient “surveillance bush” right near the spot where the Sora was concealed.
I lurked behind the bush for ten minutes or so, trying to hold still while mosquitoes treated my neck like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Finally, there was some movement in the grass, and there was the Sora! The bird came almost out into the open. I regretted not having that camera. Naturally, when I returned the following week with camera, there was no sign of the bird. The shot below remains the best picture I’ve got of a Sora, taken at Valleyview Park pond in southeast Calgary in 2008.
Soras almost always seem to keep some vegetation between themselves and the camera.
Despite missing out on the Sora, I continued to the second pond, where last year I had found a Pied-billed Grebe. Wouldn’t you know it; this time there were no grebes, but there was a pair of scaup.
Lesser or Greater Scaup?
A breeding American Coot didn’t like them around and repeatedly emerged from the rushes to chase them off.
Determined Coot chug-chug-chugging towards his foes!
On my way back to the parking lot, I noticed a small plump rodent scurry into the bushes. Eventually, I got some pictures. It was a Vole, probably a Meadow Vole.
So although you don’t always find what you’re looking for, you usually see something interesting, even at the smallest ponds. All in all, a rewarding outing.
At this time of year, the earlier you can get out birding the better. The sun is up and the birds are singing before 6:00 am. Sometimes it can be a little cold, but it’s a beautiful time of day to be out in the field.
Every Wednesday during the spring migration, Gus Yaki has been leading an early morning bird walk at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Last week I was able to join Gus and a small group of birders, and we found 42 species of birds.
This is a Nature Calgary field trip, so it is free and open to everyone. The walk begins at 6:30 am at the parking lot and lasts for about two hours. This coming Wednesday, May 25, will be the last of these early morning walks, so if you can manage it, it’s a good opportunity.
Here are some highlights of last weeks’ walk.
There is a partially albino female American Robin which has building a nest near the south end of the lagoon, opposite Walker House. We were lucky enough to see it at close range, with its mate…
There were several pairs of Canada Geese and a few broods of goslings around…
A female Belted Kingfisher was perched over the lagoon…
Several Yellow-rumped Warblers were seen. This one is an Audubon subspecies…
Two male Harlequin Ducks on a distant island in the river…
Two male Wood Ducks on the river…
A yawning female Common Merganser…
And lots of these guys looking for handouts…
Afterwards I went over to the adjacent Inglewood Wildlands Park. There were several Savannah Sparrows singing…
And hovering over the pond, a Say’s Phoebe…
You don’t see these flycatchers in the city too often, and I got a good look at it…
Canada Geese are abundant in Calgary year-round, and for the last month or so they have been nesting in various spots around the city. Like all birds, they try to find nesting sites that are secure from predators like coyotes. They will often nest on top of flat-topped buildings, and one of the best locations a goose can find is the top of a large broken tree.
Another good location is an island in a pond or the river. I’m always amazed at how difficult it can be to see the nesting goose even if it’s in the open like this…
Above, the male Canada Goose stands watch near the nest and is fairly conspicuous on the left-hand side of the gravel bar, but can you see the female on her nest?
There she is, on the right-hand side.
As seen below, it’s amazing how the colour pattern of a Canada Goose can allow it to blend in to its surroundings so that it is nearly invisible…
There are still plenty of geese on their nests in the city. I just saw my first goslings on Saturday, May 14, about ten days later than usual. For the next couple of months we will be treated to scenes like this:
While we were at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary doing our Big Sit, we came across a very interesting sight. There, perched on the ground, maybe ten feet off the path, was a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk. The dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk has a dark-brown colour over most of its body; the more common light morph has a brown bib contrasting with white underparts. This particular hawk had a Richardson’s Ground Squirrel clutched in his claws and was regarding all the photographers and interested visitors with a haughty look.
This Swainson’s Hawk intrigued many visitors to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.
And there he sat; for over an hour we were told, he had stayed in the same spot. He finally got tired of all this hustle and bustle, deciding to try to find a quieter place to enjoy his meal in peace. However, he had not counted on catching such a heavy meal…
Attempted take-off
After he couldn’t achieve lift-off by taking a running leap, he tried a different tactic: taking off from the spot where he stood.
Flap!!!
Well that didn’t work either…
The hawk then decided that, seeing as he wasn’t going anywhere with his meal, he might try to eat it right then and there. And that’s what he did. He hopped back a couple of feet with his meal, to a slightly more secluded area and began to eat.
Here, he shields his meal from potential thieves.
Hopefully his meal didn’t weigh him down too much after he ate it; otherwise, he might not be able to take off again!!!
A very windy morning was spent down at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary by us three bloggers; several people came by to join us. The large gusts of wind kept the birds down and hard to hear but we still had some great birds. From 8 -10 a.m., we counted birds down at the river recording 24 species of birds.
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Osprey
Swainson’s Hawk
Merlin
Spotted Sandpiper
Franklin’s Gull
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow (heard 5 minutes before 8a.m.)
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
At 10a.m., due to the frigid wind, we moved base to the Walker house ( we were there 10:30-12:15) where we added:
Cooper’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Black-capped Chickadee
Chipping Sparrow
House Finch
All and all, not a bad morning to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day; a grand total of 29 species of birds from within the count circles. There were also some good birds from outside the circles; right after we called it a morning and took down the circle, an American Kestrel showed up. We also saw White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, House Wren, Warbling Vireo, Northern Pintail and a Barn Swallow. One of the highlights was a Swainson’s Hawk less than twenty feet off the path, with a kill. A story will follow shortly!
Ponds can be a great place to see birds. They provide a home to not only birds, but many plants, mammals, insects, fish; the list could go on forever! The key factor is the water. Water attracts birds almost without fail; they need it to bathe, to drink and to keep cool. You can see birds at big lakes, such as Frank Lake, or you can see birds at small ponds, like the one close to my house.
A male Red-winged Blackbird calling. These birds are common at ponds that have rushes and reeds along the banks.
At my local pond, which sits on the Willow Park golf course, you can just about always see Mallards, Common Goldeneye, American Wigeon, Redheads and Red-winged Blackbirds. Lately, there has been a pair of Canvasbacks on the pond as well. Ponds where you are likely to find birds need to be the right types of ponds. Several characteristics define a good pond, including: moderately deep water, plenty of vegetation, both on and under the water, reeds around the banks and good, fairly undisturbed nesting spots. These factors can make ponds irresistible to many birds.
The male Redhead is a striking duck with its rust red head and dusky grey back.
Do you have a pond near you? If you do, go check it out, you never know what you might see!
