Tag Archive | bird blog calgary

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Nov 14

Nov15

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Alert was recorded on Monday Nov 14 at 10:05 am.

Bird Sightings:

Nov 10:
SNOWY OWL (possible) sitting in the middle of the road in Arbour Lake, NW Calgary.

Nov 11:
MACKAY’S BUNTING (possible) with a flock of 500 SNOW BUNTINGS on a frozen slough north of Blackie, at 338th Ave & Hwy 799. Seen very close to the vehicle, the
bird was almost completely white with black primary and tertial tips, buffy yellow crown and sides of neck and cheeks. Bill was bright yellow, eye black. Call Terrry Korolyk 403-254-1878 for more info.
GADWALLxLESSER SCAUP (likely) at Weed Lake N of Hwy 560 , TK and others.
GYRFALCON, SW of Water Valley, Malcolm MacDonald.
SNOW GOOSE juvenile, above Weir at Carseland, TK.

Nov 12:
GYRFALCON, gray morph, at the Yacht Club, Glenmore Res., Bill Wilson.
PACIFIC LOON at the dam at Chain Lakes PP, one also at the dam at Pine Coulee and another N of Hwy 522 bridge at Pine Coulee, TK.
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN above the weir at Carseland , Cedric Hitchon.

Nov 13:
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH (20) at feeders at Barrier Mtn Dr, Exshaw, Tony Timmons and Howard Heffler.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday Nov 17.

Flying Squirrels of Calgary

Nov14

I seem to be doing a lot of mammal posts lately, but as birders, we are interested in the entire web of nature.  I find that the more birding I do, the more interested I become in all other animals, and in plants as well.

Last Saturday, Dan Arndt and I, plus assorted wives and girlfriends, took a hike at dusk in the Weaselhead with the intention of finding and photographing Northern Flying Squirrels.  These rodents are strictly nocturnal, so many people aren’t even aware that they exist here.  But in fact they range across the entire northern boreal forest of Canada and Alaska, and down into the continental United States as well.

Photo by A. Freeman, from Wikimedia Commons

I first saw these animals in March of 2008 when I attended a Nature Calgary “Owl Prowl”, led by Gus Yaki, to listen for Northern Saw-whet Owls.  We didn’t hear any owls that night (according to Gus, it was Christmas – “the First No-owl”), but as we walked back through the woods in the dark I saw a shape streak through the trees against the dim sky.  I assumed it was a bird going to one of the nearby feeders, but what bird goes to a feeder in the dark?  Then someone shone a flashlight on the trees, and we saw that it was a small squirrel with very large reflective eyes!

Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service, from Wikimedia Commons

Since then Nature Calgary has had annual outings to this spot to see these amazing animals, and we did see them again in 2009 and 2010.  This spring they didn’t show, so I wondered if they were still around.

On Saturday we arrived a little early, so we walked around the forest on the south side of the Elbow River bridge for a while, hoping to see an owl.  Again there was no luck spotting any owls, but we did see one Pine Grosbeak and one Common Redpoll, plus dozens of Canada Geese overhead.  At dusk we headed back across the bridge to the feeders to set up our cameras.

Sunset was at 5:05 pm and two Northern Flying Squirrels glided in at 6:05 pm, right on schedule, as it seems that they make this feeder their first stop of the night, a half-hour or so after it gets dark.  The squirrels seemed reluctant to go right to the feeder – they hid in the trees somewhere for ten minutes or so before we saw them again.  We saw a few more gliding shapes and some squirrel silhouettes on tree trunks, and heard them scrabbling up and down the bark, but never got a good look at them.  Finally, my wife snapped a few shots with a flash when she heard one on the tree in front of her, resulting in a couple of fuzzy images as the squirrel tentatively climbed down toward the feeder. (Click on pictures to enlarge them.)

We will certainly be heading out again in search of the Northern Flying Squirrel.  Maybe someday we’ll get a photo as clear as the one below.

Photo by Bob Cherry from Wikimedia Commons

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Christmas Bird Count 2011 – Here’s Your Chance to Volunteer!

Nov13

House Finch

The 60th annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count will take place this year on Sunday, December 18th.  There are two ways to get involved – as a birder in the field, or as a feeder-watcher in your yard.

There are over thirty territories in the count circle, so we need to get a lot of birders out in the field to identify and count all the birds.  In recent years the number of field volunteers has dropped below 100, and we’d like to get it back up over that number for this 60th count.

The Count Circle (click to enlarge).

If you’d like to help with this, please consider volunteering.  You don’t have to be an expert birder – there will be at least one experienced birder in each territory, so you will be assigned to help them out.  Most groups will be going out for the full day, but you can participate for a half-day if you wish.

Contact Phil Cram at crampj@telusplanet.net to volunteer, or for more information.  

American Wigeons

Feeder-watchers:

If you are unable to get out birding with us on December 18, you can still participate by spending some time counting the birds in your yard.  You needn’t spend all day at this, but should try to record the maximum numbers of each species in your yard, and the time spent watching.

To participate as a feeder-watcher, you must register to take part, and live within the above 24-km-diametre count circle.  If you are outside the circle, perhaps you have friends who feed birds and live within it – you could persuade them to take part, and assist them with their counting.

Contact Jean Moore at jmmoore@ucalgary.ca or phone 403-282-4162 for more information on the feeder-watch program, or to volunteer.

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

There are several other Christmas Counts in the Calgary region every year.  Keep an eye on our “Free Nature Walks” tab at the top of this page for updates on these, or see the Bird Studies Canada page to find a list of all counts in Canada.

(Previous blog posts on this topic: 2009 Christmas Count.  2010 Christmas Count.)

Posted by Bob Lefebvre.  All photos by myself unless otherwise indicated.  Click on pictures to see a larger version.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Nov 10

Nov11

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Alert was recorded on Thursday Nov 10.

Bird Sightings:

WEDNESDAY, NOV 9
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL (1) – Grand Valley Rd and RgeRd 274 by Ron Kube
–DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (3) – weir on the Bow River in Calgary by Terry Korolyk. Terry also saw the birds earlier on Monday, Nov 7.

TUESDAY, NOV 8
–AMERICAN BLACK DUCK (1) – Bankside recreation area in E Fish Creek PP by Greg Wagner.
–HARLEQUIN DUCK (2m) – Bow River near Inglewood Bird Sanctuary by Gus Yaki and Friends of Fish Creek PP Society

MONDAY, NOV 7
–RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (4f) – Glenmore Reservoir by Jeff Bank

SUNDAY, NOV 6
–GYRFALCON (1 dark morph) – south end of Eagle Lake by Ross Lein
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – near a slough on north side Twp 232 near Eagle Lake by Andrew Slater
–RUSTY BLACKBIRD (1) – along the Bow River in the Southland Dog Park by Eugene West

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday November 14.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Nov 7

Nov8

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This report was prepared on Monday November 7.

Early in week
— BLACK SCOTER female, Eagle Lake, Rob Worona

November 2
— LONG-TAILED DUCK, Glenmore Reservoir, several observers

November 3
— SURF SCOTER, Eagle Lake, Brian Elder, Joan & Malcolm McDonald
— WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, same, BE, J&MM
— BLACK SCOTER, same, BE, J&MM (Hat Trick!)

November 4
— HOODED MERGANSER, Glenmore Reservoir, Ilya Povalyaev
— RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, same, IP
— BONAPARTE’S GULL, same, IP
— DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, Pearce Estate weir, Terry Korolyk

November 5
— WHITE-FACED IBIS, Frank Lake, Greg Wagner
— MOURNING DOVE, Calgary yard, Pat Bumstead

November 6
— LONG-TAILED DUCK, Pine Coulee Reservoir, TK
— RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, same, TK
— PACIFIC LOON, same, TK
— AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, Clear Lake, TK
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, Mallard Point, Tony Timmons group
— NORTHERN GOSHAWK subadult, Weaselhead, Steve Kaffat(?)
— CHIPPING SPARROW, Hay Meadow near Nakiska, Bill Wilson

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday November 10.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Nov 3

Nov4

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Alert was recorded on Thursday Nov 3.

Bird Sightings:

WEDNESDAY, NOV 2
–LONG-TAILED DUCK (1) – Glenmore Reservoir by Andrew Slater
–SURF SCOTER (2) – location as above by AS
–LOON sp (1) – unidentified loon in flight, Glenmore Resevoir by AS
–RUSTY BLACKBIRD (4) – east shore of Chestermere Lake by Terry Korolyk

MONDAY, OCT 31
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER (1m) – observed by Keith Logan and another birder on an acreage S of Water Valley, along Dogpound Creek just W of Horse Creek Road (NW of Cochrane). The identification of the bird was confirmed by photographs and is the first Alberta record for the species. The bird has not been reported since. For more
info call Terry Korolyk at 403-254-1828 or 403-801-8501
–THAYER’S GULL (3 juv) – on the Bow River in east Fish Creek PP, east side of the river north of Hwy 22X bridge by TK

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday November 7.