Two of the resident male Wood Ducks at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. Photos taken in summer 2012 by Laurie Rutter.
Tag Archive | bird blog calgary
Reflections on my New Years Resolution
Posted by Dan Arndt
As I mentioned in a previous post, I made a New Year’s Resolution to see 200 species of birds in the Calgary Region. I had no real idea of how difficult a proposition this would be, and if I’d known the lengths I would end up going to to get there, I might have reconsidered it. In the end, it turned out to be an improvised “Big Year” of sorts. While I’m not really sure where the records sit exactly, or what the highest number would be for the traditional 80km May Species Count circle in the Calgary area in the calendar year, I do know that I learned a whole lot about the species that live in my home town, the best places to go to track down certain types of birds, and that there are some places, for one reason or another, that seem like they’d be the perfect habitat for wildlife that seem to be somewhat devoid of birds.
80km circle centred in downtown Calgary
As I write this, my 80km Calgary circle Patch List on eBird sits at 236. I’m happy with that number. It’s a nice, even number, and my original hopes of 200 are long in the past. After finding my Upland Sandpiper, I spent a bit of time searching Confederation Park, Chestermere Lake, and various other places to add a few new birds to my list. It seems that my excursions outside the city ended up being far more fruitful than my quick jaunts just up the hill to the warbler paradise of Confederation Park, as I found #205, Loggerhead Shrike, thanks to fellow blogger Matt Sim coming across this family of 5 just east of Chestermere Lake.
Loggerhead Shrike – species #205
As fall set in, and the cold and dark became more prevalent as the days wore on, I knew the days of adding multiple species to my list were in the past. Fall migration turned out to be a bit disappointing as I had hoped to tack on at least 4 or 5 species of migrating songbirds to my list, but as the Glenmore Reservoir closed up, I, along with many in the Calgary birding community were surprised to find a good number of vagrants showing up. From the three scoter species (White-winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, and Black Scoter) to the Pacific Loon (which I missed, sadly) and Red-throated Loon (which I managed to find on multiple days) topped off with a fairly large flock of Long-tailed Ducks at the beginning of November.
White-winged Scoter – My 219th species seen this year in Calgary
Dunlin at Weed Lake – Species #224 for the year
Long-tailed Duck – This group of four seemed to be fairly comfortable getting close to the shore, and many excited birders – #227
Add to that an Anna’s Hummingbird a few days later, a few late gulls into mid-November, a few “catch-up” species in a couple of places I hadn’t visited as much earlier in the year, and to top it all off, a rogue Steller’s Jay in mid-December, and here I am at 236. I certainly missed a few species that I expected to find, but ended up with a well-rounded list and far exceeding my original goal!
Anna’s Hummingbird – #228
Mew Gull amongst a number of Ring-billed Gulls – #231
Steller’s Jay – a fairly rare bird in these parts, and my last new tick for the year. – #236!
So this ends my birding year in Calgary, and I am looking forward to starting all over again in 2013. I know there’s still a week left for me to find some of my nemesis birds, but tomorrow (December 25) I’m heading off to the Mayan Riviera for a couple of weeks, and so my year total will sit comfortably at 236. I plan to do a whole lot of vacationing, a bit of birding here and there, and just taking it easy in the sun, and maybe thinking about another birding resolution for 2013!
Calgary Christmas Count in Inglewood
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Last Sunday was a great day to be out counting birds. The weather was pleasant for the most part, and the sun came out, allowing for a few good photographs. I was covering the Inglewood Golf Course, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Pearce Estate, and adjacent areas with Ian Neilson and Troy Bourque (both excellent photographers). At the end of the day I checked out the zoo grounds by myself – counting only wild birds.
We started the day walking the golf course and spent about two and a half hours checking the Bow River and looking for passerines. (We had permission from the club to be on their grounds for the count – you don’t need permission to walk the riverbank, but it is a very difficult walk in spots.) There were plenty of Canada Geese and Mallards on the river, plus a few Common Goldeneyes, but nothing else.
Mallards on the river. Photo by Troy Bourque
On the golf course itself we did find one mixed flock of several Black-capped Chickadees, three White-breasted Nuthatches, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and a Brown Creeper. A Rough-legged Hawk made a low flyover – the first RLHA I recall seeing in this part of the city. Across the river we spotted an adult Bald Eagle, which then flew over us, and was joined by its mate. The pair settled in the same tree on the golf course where they have nested for the past few years (they always overwinter and spend a lot of time near this tree).
Bald Eagle on the Inglewood Golf Course. Photo by Troy Bourque
One of the adult eagles. Photo by Ian Neilson
Eagle on takeoff. Photo by Ian Neilson
A little farther along we came upon a porcupine perched in a Water Birch at eye level, feeding. The porcupine didn’t mind us at all, so the photographers got some very close shots!
You don’t see these every day! Photo by Ian Neilson
Don’t you just want to give him a big hug? Photo by Troy Bourque
Photo by Ian Neilson
Our best mammal of the day. Photo by Troy Bourque
It was some pretty tough walking through the snow and brush along the river, so we stopped for a rest and a hearty breakfast at the clubhouse. Then we were off to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary across the river. It was the middle of the day and pretty quiet. The chickadees were aggressively looking for handouts of seeds as usual, but we offered only to take their portraits.
Can you please hold still for 1/500 of a second? Photo by Troy Bourque
Photo by Bob Lefebvre
We had an unusually low number of woodpeckers for the day – no Downies, only one Northern Flicker, and this bird.
Hairy Woodpecker at IBS. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
After the sanctuary Ian had to depart, and Troy and I had a quick walk around Pearce Estates, which was even quieter than IBS. Then Troy had to leave, and I rushed over to cover the zoo before it got dark. The zoo grounds attract quite a few wild birds because there is a lot of food scattered around for the zoo animals, and lots of cover. It was a little strange to be rushing past Snow Leopards and Siberian Tigers with hardly a glance, but taking note of every House Sparrow.
Mallards. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
Over half of the European Starlings reported on the count were at the zoo – 56 out of 109, which is a fairly low number for starlings on the Calgary count.
European Starlings in winter plumage. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
As the light started to fade, I heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet in a stand of Spruces, but couldn’t see the bird. I remembered something that Dan Arndt had told me – kinglets will respond strongly to a playback of their call even in winter – so I played the call on my smart phone app. Within a fraction of a second, three aggressive little kinglets materialized right in front of me, flitting about, vocalizing, and flaring their crown feathers.
Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
Here you can even see some of the red in the centre of the golden crown. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
Then it was off to Arthur and Donna Wieckowski’s to compile the data and enjoy a great chili dinner. For a while it looked like we were going to have a low number of species for the count, but as the last few routes reported, we ended up with 65 species, exactly on our average for the last twenty years.
It was a very long day of birding but also very enjoyable, as always!
Postcards from Texas: Yardbirds
Posted by Matthew Sim
As I’m sure many of you know, there can be some very busy points in our lives; right now I’m preparing for semester finals at school, keeping up with sports, preparing for a return to Calgary over Christmas and trying to keep up with the birding. While I can’t always get out, there is always time to notice the birds in my backyard. Here are some of the regulars.
Yellow-rumped Warbler; showing off that characteristic yellow rump!
Orange-crowned Warbler; is it just me or can anybody else see a faint orange streak just above his eye?
Chipping Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
By the time you see this I will be back in Calgary for 2 weeks; I’m looking forward to some good northern birding again!
Furry Friday: Red Squirrels
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Red Squirrels always seem to strike interesting poses.
Christmas Bird Count – Canmore, AB
Posted by Dan Arndt
Canmore’s Christmas Bird Count is was held this year on December 15th, the day before Calgary’s. While I’ve lived in and around Calgary for almost my entire life, I’ve never really spent much time birding around Canmore. Hiking, mountain biking, and road-tripping, sure, but just looking for birds? Never before. Quarry Lake is also an area that I hadn’t ever set foot in, so it was an adventure to explore and learn more about the native birds to the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains.
My Canmore Christmas Bird Count area
The added bonus about birding in Canmore is the amazing scenery.
EEOR, or East End of Rundle peak, just west of Canmore
Left to right: Princess Margaret Mountain, Mount Charles Stewart, Mount Lady Macdonald
My total area was about 1.5 square kilometers, and within that area I tallied up nearly 8km of traverses back and forth in the park, and up and down the streets of the adjoining neighborhood. I was fairly impressed too, with 14 species, including a couple that I would be very lucky to have on any Calgary list.
I did manage to get a few decent shots of some absolutely gorgeous birds in my morning out, and I hope you had as much fun on your Christmas Bird Count adventures as I have this year!
Boreal Chickadee
female White-winged Crossbill
male White-winged Crossbill
male Pine Grosbeak
Clark’s Nutcracker
Townsend’s Solitaire
Sunday Showcase: Sharp-shinned Hawk
This Sharp-shinned Hawk was keeping a close eye on the feeders in this Brentwood yard on November 10, 2012. Photos by Eric White.
Furry Friday: American Pika
Bob Lefebvre photographed these Pikas at Rock Glacier Trail in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in September 2012. You can see why one of their common names is ‘rock rabbit.’
Christmas Bird Count – Count Week Birds
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The Calgary Christmas Bird Count is coming up this Sunday, December 16, and that means that we are now in the Count Week period. Any species which are seen from December 13 to 19, but missed on the count day itself, are included in the database as Count Week birds. Sometimes there are very good birds which are known to be around but can’t be found on count day, and sometimes it’s an unexpected bird showing up before or after the count.
If you see an unusual or out-of-season bird during count week, and it is inside the Count Circle, make a note of the sighting. If the bird is not reported on count day, pass the information about your sighting to Phil Cram, the count coordinator, at crampj(at)gmail.com.
The Count Circle for the Calgary CBC. Note that the circle does not include all of the city.
This Song Sparrow has been hanging out at Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek Park for a few weeks – outside the count circle. Can we find one inside the circle? (Photo by Daniel Arndt)
There have been several sightings of Snowy Owls inside the city recently. This would be a great bird to add either on Count Day or as a Count Week bird.
Wednesday Wings: Leucistic Redpoll
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
This bird has been in my yard for the last couple of weeks. When I first saw it, on a feeder with its back facing me, I thought it was a new species for the yard, but it turned out to be a male Common Redpoll with some white feathers in its wings and tail.
From some angles it looks normal…
Feeding on the ground…
Next to a normal (if out of focus) Common Redpoll…
