Tag Archive | birds and beers

Birds & Beers, Friday May 13, 2022

May10

The next Calgary Birds & Beers meeting will take place this Friday.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday May 13, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

After 7 pm, there will be a presentation by the award-winning photographer Mark Garbutt, featuring birds of the world.

Green-winged Macaws. Photo by Mark Garbutt

Growing up in Western Quebec, Mark developed an interest in birding and wildlife at a very young age, and that passion has continued throughout his life.  While many years of his adult life were spent in Alberta, he has also lived in Texas, Alaska, and the UK. This further fuelled his passion for nature and led Mark to a 20+ year career in leading photography trips for groups to Alaska, Brazil, Patagonia, the Galapagos, many countries in Africa, and India.  In addition to leading trips, he and his wife are always looking for new nature destinations to explore, from the Arctic to the Amazon, South America, Europe and beyond.  Mark has received many recognitions for his photography including Natures Best Wildlife Photography Award in North America and runner up in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year.  He currently lives outside Okotoks and can often be found at Frank Lake.

Everyone is welcome. The meeting begins at 6 pm, with the presentation to begin at about 7:15. Come early and have a beer, socialize, and have something to eat. You are welcome to come at 7 just for the presentation if you prefer. We will be meeting in the back room of the Legion.

Birds & Beers, Friday April 8, 2022

Apr6

The next Calgary Birds & Beers meeting will take place this Friday.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday April 8, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

Greg Wagner will present a talk on “Will the Foothills Solar Project Impact Bird Populations At Frank Lake?” Greg manages the Frank Lake Important Bird Area and is the expert on the birds of Frank Lake and area. There is a proposal to build a large solar array immediately adjacent to the lake.

White-faced Ibis. These birds are relatively recent additions to the breeding birds of Frank Lake. Photo by Tony LePrieur

Everyone is welcome. The meeting begins at 6 pm, with the presentation to begin at about 7:15.

For more information on Frank Lake, see this page.

Birds & Beers Goes Ahead Friday March 11th

Mar9

Finally, the Calgary Birds & Beers meetings will resume, starting this Friday March 11th.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday March 11, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

Bob and Dianne Leonhardt will give a presentation on A Visit to Grasslands National Park. See this previous post for details.

Please note that vaccine passports are no longer required or checked, and masks are optional.

Birds & Beers Delayed Until March 11

Feb2

We have had to postpone the return of Birds & Beers once again, to Friday March 11. The programme remains the same:

Covid Protocols will be in place, but anyone who has a vaccine passport is welcome. If anything changes between now and then, I will post an update.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday March 11, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

We will be meeting in the smaller back rooms since the ballroom is not available. There will ba a very small charge to attend since we now have to pay for the rooms. Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost.

Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew. Photo by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt.

The meeting begins at 6 pm. You may come early if you want to eat before most of the people arrive. At about 7 pm, a special presentation by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt will begin.

A Visit to Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park in South-western Saskatchewan is Canada’s only national park dedicated to the presentation and protection of the Prairie Grasslands Natural Region. It is one of North America’s best parcels of mixed grass prairie habitat. In late May of 2021 we visited the Park to explore and experience the beautiful scenery, birds and other wildlife of the region. We encountered about 100 species of birds, some of which we will show you in this presentation. Bob and Dianne Leonhardt

The Return of Birds & Beers

Jan18

Depending on how things go with Covid, we plan to finally resume the Birds & Beers social events in February! Covid Protocols will be in place, but anyone who has a vaccine passport is welcome. If anything changes between now and then, I will post an update.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday February 11, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

We will be meeting in the smaller back rooms since the ballroom is not available. There will ba a very small charge to attend since we now have to pay for the rooms. Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost.

Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew. Photo by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt.

The meeting begins at 6 pm. You may come early if you want to eat before most of the people arrive. At about 7 pm, a special presentation by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt will begin.

A Visit to Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park in South-western Saskatchewan is Canada’s only national park dedicated to the presentation and protection of the Prairie Grasslands Natural Region. It is one of North America’s best parcels of mixed grass prairie habitat. In late May of 2021 we visited the Park to explore and experience the beautiful scenery, birds and other wildlife of the region. We encountered about 100 species of birds, some of which we will show you in this presentation. Bob and Dianne Leonhardt

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we can meet in February!

Birds & Beers, April 2020 – CANCELLED

Mar21

The Birds & Beers event that was scheduled in Calgary for Thursday, April 2, 2020 has been cancelled due to concerns about Covid-19.

Future scheduled Birds and Beers events of Thursday, May 7 and Thursday, June 25 are on hold until further notice.

In the meantime, you can drink beer and watch birds in your yard. That’s what I’ve been doing!

Eurasian Collared-Doves in my yard. This photo was taken in April 2019, but the pair is back nesting here again this year. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Birds & Beers, January 23, 2020

Jan18

The next Birds & Birds social get-together will be held this Thursday, January 23, 2020. Gavin McKinnon will give a presentation, featuring photographs like the one below, on his Big Year in 2019. Gavin’s goal was to record over 300 species in Alberta in the calendar year.

Evening Grosbeak
Evening Grosbeak, photographed in 2019 by Gavin McKinnon.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday January 23, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 so if you can’t make it at six pm, come later.

See you there!

Birds & Beers, November 27, 2019

Nov20

The next Birds & Birds social get-together will be held on Wednesday November 27, from 6 to 9 pm, at the usual location:

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Wednesday November 27, 2019, 6:00-9:00 pm

Note that this is a Wednesday, not our our usual Thursday.

We are very pleased to have Chip Scialfa do a presentation at this meeting. He will speak on “Birding With Uncertainty: Psychology and Errors in Decision-Making.”

Chip Scialfa
Chip Scialfa

Avid birders are keen to add to their lists and often this means identifying birds that are uncommon and easily confused with other species. What are some of the psychological errors that we make when birding under uncertainty and how can they be minimized or avoided? Chip Scialfa, an experimental psychologist and keen birder, will talk about these issues in what will likely be a “mind-bending” presentation.

Chip is a very animated and entertaining speaker, so this promises to be a fun and informative talk. Some of you may have attended a version of this presentation at Nature Calgary’s Bird Study Group a few years ago, but Chip has modified and updated the talk considerably.

As usual, everyone is welcome to attend and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 so if you can’t make it at six pm, come later.

A few local photographers will have calendars with their bird and nature photos available for sale for the Christmas season, so bring cash! These usually sell for $20 for a full-size calendar.

See you there!

Birds & Beers, October 31, 2019

Oct25

The next Birds & Birds social get-together will be held on Thursday October 31, from 6 to 9 pm, at the usual location:

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday October 31, 2019, 6:00-9:00 pm

Black-capped Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee, Bebo Grove, October 26, 2015. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

We will meet in the large auditorium which is to the right after you enter the Legion. Everyone is welcome to attend (including children if accompanied by an adult), and food and drinks are available.

This month, rather than have a presentation, will be having a special “Popcorn and Video” night! We will be showing a video about birds, and attendees have permission to bring their own popped popcorn and share it with their table.

The Life of Birds  Hosted by David Attenborough.  Episode 1: TO FLY OR NOT TO FLY (Approx. 50 minutes).The history of birds, from the first flying reptiles to today’s consummate navigators.  From giant flightless birds to modern ostriches and emus, see how birds have made a claim to populate not only the air but also the land. (Note: this is part of a 10 episode (3 DVD set) series by BBC Video).

The video will begin after 7 pm so everyone will have time to eat and socialize beforehand. If you are unable to arrive early, feel free to just come for the movie. It should be very interesting, and even if you’ve seen it before, it should spark some good conversations afterwards. See you there.

Future Birds & Beers meetings are as follows:

Wednesday November 27, 2019 (Note the out-of-range day of the week, a Wednesday rather than a Thursday). Chip Scialfa will do a presentation on “Problems in decision-making in field identification.”

Thursday January 23, 2020

Thursday March 5, 2020

Thursday April 2, 2020

Thursday May 7, 2020

Thursday June 25, 2020

There! Your social life (or mine, anyway) is set for the next eight months. All of the above meetings will be in in the big auditorium and we plan to have presentations, except for at the April 2nd meeting, which is in the smaller dining rooms. We may do a quiz or have a discussion of some kind at that one. Mark your calendars!

Birds & Beers, October 3, 2019

Sep26
Irrigation Canal Calgary
The Irrigation Canal at Gosling Way SE. The water supply will be cut off on Monday September 30, creating a great birding location for the first few weeks of October. See this Nature Calgary page for information on a field trip to the area.

The next Birds & Birds social meeting will be held on Thursday October 3, from 6 to 9 pm, at the usual location.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday October 3, 2019, 6:00-9:00 pm

Birds & Beers is a casual social get-together that is free and open to everyone. Children may attend if accompanied by an adult. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices.

We will meet in the large auditorium which is to the right after you enter the Legion. At about 7:30 I will be giving more details about the upcoming 2020 city-limits birding challenge. Gavin McKinnon will talk about a recent trip he made to the Cold Lake area in pursuit of 300 species of birds in Alberta.

Thanks to the generosity of our attendees, we now have our own projector, which will be ready for this meeting.

We have booked the dates for the next two Birds & Beers as follows, so mark these dates in your calendars. (Note the unusual Wednesday date in November.)

Thursday October 31

Wednesday November 27

All of these will be in the same location, in the big auditorium at the Horton Road Legion. We plan to have presentations but these aren’t finalized yet.