Tag Archive | bird blog calgary

Wednesday Wings: Horned Larks

Mar7

If you’ve taken any pictures of interesting birds in the Calgary region, you can share them with us by emailing birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them on the blog.

We received these amazing photos of Horned Larks from Joe Harley.  Horned larks have been returning to the area for the past few weeks and can be seen along rural roads.  They can be very hard to photograph but Joe got a few great shots.

Joe writes:

We’d like to compliment the writers of the blog; we enjoy all the articles (and photos).  Thought I’d share the Lark family, photographed on Family day [February 20], not far from Kinbrook Marsh.  That’s all I was able to get of the Larks. We were in the midst of photographing Pronghorns when the Lark opportunity occurred.

(click photos to enlarge)

Spring Birding Course 2012

Mar3

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society is once again offering a spring birding course which will run for twelve weeks, from April until late June.  The course consists of weekly field trips to many parks and natural areas within Calgary.  There are sessions offered on almost every day of the week.

For more information or to register, email chris@friendsoffishcreek.org or phone 403-238-3841.

Griffith Woods – New to me!

Mar2

Posted by Dan Arndt

 

This week, the Friends of Fish Creek Birding course ventured out to Griffith Woods Park, on the southwest corner of the city. This was a new location for me, as my birding prior to September was limited to a handful of well traveled patches near the center of the city. After spending a few hours here last Sunday, I know that I’d be terribly remiss to not get out there again in the spring and summer.

It was, unfortunately, a relatively grey day, which lately has also meant fairly quiet in terms of both species and populations of birds, but we still got a couple new ones for our little group. As usual, I’ve posted the route we took on our little walk below, with the highlights noted in the captions.

Griffith Woods

Griffith Woods

Of course, the regulars were in attendance for the walk. The Canada Geese, which I’ve almost started to take for granted, were paddling up and down the Elbow River.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Common Redpolls were seen at the far east end of our walk, right at the beginning, along with an incredibly distant Blue Jay, which also alerted us to the presence of a Belted Kingfisher, which flew just a little too fast for me to get my camera up before it was gone.

Common Redpolls

Common Redpolls

About mid-way through our walk, Bob Lefebvre pointed out this beautiful little nest of one of the hummingbird species found in the Calgary area. Thankfully, nobody was home. (Special thanks to hand model Wayne Walker for presenting his world-famous hands for scale.)

Hummingbird Nest

Hummingbird Nest

On the far west end, while moving through a stand of very large white spruce, I was alerted to the sound of the Golden-crowned Kinglet. Not one, not two, but a flock of six(!) of them flitted amongst the trees while I wheeled and turned to get my lens on just one of them. Sadly, this was the best I got…

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

On our trip back, following the power lines that, for some reason were slated to cut directly through the center of the park, we heard the call of this male Pileated Woodpecker, who treated us to a wonderful series of aerial displays and a drumming serenade.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

And that seemed like the end of the day for us… I was a little disappointed in the number of usable shots I was able to get on the walk, and the light was opening up just a touch, so I convinced Bob to walk back to try for another shot or two of the Belted Kingfisher. Sadly, though we heard it call at least twice, the only thing we were able to find were a whole bunch of rocks.

Nothing here but us rocks

Nothing here but us rocks

Wait… what’s that in the middle of the frame? When the Belted Kingfisher called for the last time before we left, we happened to spot two smaller birds with white on the underside of its primary flight feathers, which we thought might just have sounded like Killdeer.

Turns out, much to our surprise, we were right. Not one, but two Killdeer on the Elbow River at Griffith Woods. Hardy survivors of a relatively mild winter here in Calgary.

Killdeer

Killdeer

Killdeer

Killdeer

Definitely the highlight of the day was seeing this pair. It is unfortunate that the attendees of our walk didn’t get a chance to see them, but there will definitely be more of these little shorebirds around very soon!

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you soon!

Sunday Showcase: Pileated Woodpecker

Feb26

Rob English got these last Friday in Carburn Park in southeast Calgary, and says this was the first time he’d ever managed to see one there. The bird was so easy going he couldn’t stop taking pictures. When she did fly it was only 50 or 60 feet so he stayed with her for about an hour just shooting and watching her peel bark. Click on the photos for a larger view.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Feb 20

Feb22

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, us 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.

February 18
— RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER, George Lane Park, High River, AB, Yousif Attia
— HORNED LARK, Frank Lake area, Andrew Slater

February 19
— HORNED LARK, NW of Strathmore, Terry Korolyk & CFNS Group
— AMERICAN TREE SPARROW (25+), Irricana Sloughs area, Tony Timmons, Howard & Lynn Heffler
— GYRFALCON (gray morph), Frank Lake, Andrew Slater; adult female dark gray morph on 226 Ave. SW Terry Korolyk
— GRAY JAY, Bebo Grove/Shannon Terrace, FCPP, Bob Lefevre, Dan Arndt, FFCPP Group
— AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, as above
— NORTHERN HAWK OWL (2), Grand Valley Road, Jeff Bingham
— COOPER’S HAWK, possible sighting west Fish Creek PP, Gus Yaki
— NORTHERN GOSHAWK (2), Big Hill Springs PP, Steve Kassai
— SNOWY OWL, Hwy 1 & 84St NE (in the city), Brian Elder, Ray Woods
— DARK-EYED JUNCO, SW Calgary, Phil Quinn

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday, February 23.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday March 7. The program is titled “High Science: The The Natural History of Alpine Ptarmigan”, by Kathy Martin.

Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace – Fish Creek Park’s quieter, calmer west side

Feb20

Posted by Dan Arndt

This week the Friends of Fish Creek course was touring through Bebo Grove, over to Shannon Terrace, then back again. It’s approximately a 5 km route, return, and throughout the week, some great new birds were seen, such as the American Three-toed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadees, and a fairly good number of White-winged Crossbills.

Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace Route

I was most excited for the American Three-toed Woodpecker, since that would be a new bird for me for the year, and probably a more satisfying sighting than my original sighting of it, which ended up being back at my computer scanning through my photos and later realizing that yes, that little black and yellow lump on the trunk of the tree was, in fact, the American Three-toed Woodpecker I’d been looking for.

Here’s that photo, for reference, taken back in August 2010 at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park.

American Three-toed Woodpecker

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Unfortunately, both Saturday and Sunday groups missed out on good sightings of the woodpecker, but at least on Sunday we got to hear it calling amongst the trees, and a brief flyover allowed at least one confident ID, but certainly no photo opportunities. Flyovers of uncommon birds seemed the rule of the day, as we also had a Grey Jay towards Shannon Terrace, which, to my understanding, hadn’t been seen in the park for a number of years.

The good side is that we did get great views of Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, the amazingly adorable Boreal Chickadee, and a few Townsend’s Solitaires.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

I was particularly happy with this shot of the Common Raven, which are always hard to shoot against a light sky, which tends to wash out their features. Thankfully, this bird decided to perch in the foliage, allowing much better views of its somewhat iridescent plumage.

Common Raven

Common Raven

Add to that the many great angles we were given of the White-winged Crossbills, such as this one, detailing the presence of the crossed-bill for which it gets its name.

White-winged Crossbill

White-winged Crossbill

The gender of the Red-breasted Nuthatch can be identified by the color of the crown. The male, seen below, has a jet black crown.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - male

Red-breasted Nuthatch - male

The female, on the other hand, has a grey crown. Even without the two of them together, just a quick comparison of the color of the eye line and the crown can show that telltale difference.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - female

Red-breasted Nuthatch - female

Both the male Downy and Hairy Woodpecker can also be identified by the bright red patch on the back of their heads, while the female lacks the red patch.

Hairy Woodpecker - male

Hairy Woodpecker - male

Downy Woodpecker - male

Downy Woodpecker - male

Downy Woodpecker - male

Downy Woodpecker - male

I was quite impressed at this little Townsend’s Solitaire on Saturday. While preening, it stretched out its wings again and again, showing off the thick yellow bar in the primary flight feathers of the wing. Unless it’s displaying like this, that yellow bar is almost invisible, and in some individuals, nearly absent.

Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Wednesday Wings: Bathing Merlin

Feb15

If you’ve taken any pictures of interesting birds in the Calgary region, you can share them with us by emailing birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them on the blog.

Dave Arnold took these great shots of a Merlin having his Sunday bath on the edge of the Bow River.  Thanks for sharing, Dave!

Ian Chatt also witnessed this and got these three photos:

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Feb 13

Feb14

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, us 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.

January 28
–COMMON GRACKLE, seen off and on in SW Calgary, by Richard Clarke.

February 10
–RED CROSSBILL(F) , Silver Springs area of Calgary, by Gary Malcolm
–AMERICAN KESTREL(M), Grain elevators just S.of 22x, and W. of #797, by Hank Vanderpol.
–LESSER SCAUP, Bow River, just. N. of 22x bridge, by HV.
–HARLEQUIN DUCK, Bow River, IBS, south lookout at N. end, by Howard Heffler.

February 11
–WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, end of Earl Gray Cresc. by Phil Cram.
–REDHEAD(F), Prince’s Island channel, by Bill Wilson.

February 12
–DARK-EYED JUNCO, Queens park Cemetery, by BW.
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE(3). Two in Beaverdam Flats, and one in FCPP, east of Raven’s Rock, by Michael Geldorp.
–GADWALL(M), Bow River, near old outfall in FCCP, Burnsmead, by Terry Korolyk.
–RED CROSSBILL(2), High River, at a feeder, by Jill Bhar.
–MALLARD, leucistic female, Bow River, Beaverdam Flats near old RR bridge. by B.Diebolt and J. Gill.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday , Feb.16.

A grey day at Beaverdam Flats

Feb13

posted by Dan Arndt

 

Sometimes it doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in a weekend to get a proper update in! It certainly doesn’t help when it seems like such a quiet day with very little bird activity.

Sunday morning walking through Beaver Dam Flats seemed eerily quiet. Despite the sheer numbers of Canada Geese, Mallards, and Common Goldeneye on the Bow River, once we steered away from the eastern bank and into the primarily barren deciduous wooded area, the bird activity seemed to completely quiet down. We were treated to a good number of low flyovers by both juvenile, immature, and adult Bald Eagles, and a great sight of a Common Merganser gulping down an extremely large fish, the highlight of the morning were the Townsend’s Solitaires along the eastern slope of the valley. We counted three separate individuals, one in particular allowed us an extremely close view.

Enjoy the pictures, and I’ll be back to my regular wordy posts next Monday!

Canada Geese and Mallards on the Bow River

Canada Geese and Mallards on the Bow River

 
Canada Geese

Canada Geese

 

 

Canada Geese in messy formation

Canada Geese in messy formation

 

Catch of the day!

Catch of the day!

 
Down the hatch

Down the hatch

 
And it's gone...

And it's gone...

 
Juvenile Bald Eagle

Juvenile Bald Eagle

 

Immature Bald Eagle

Immature Bald Eagle

 
Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

 
Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire

 
Townsend's Solitaire

Townsend's Solitaire