Tag Archive | birds & beers

Birds & Beers, Friday September 9, 2022

The fall season of Birds & Beers begins on Friday September 9th. Birds & Beers is a social get-together for birders at which you can meet and connect with others, have a meal and a drink, and enjoy a short presentation of interest to local birders.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday September 9, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome. We begin at 6 pm and the presentation will start just after 7pm. This month, Caroline Lambert will speak about the Eagle Migration Monitoring project that has been ongoing in Kananaskis for 30 years:

Golden Eagle, Coyote Valley OSP, Santa Clara County, CA. Photo by Caroline Lambert

Learn about the eagle migration count in Kananaskis! This count is celebrating its 30th year as a citizen science project contributing to the knowledge of Golden Eagle migration and population dynamics. This talk will cover the history of the count, what it’s like to be out at the count, trends determined so far, and how the count fits with other raptor counts across the continent.

Learn how you can get involved in tracking the birds at this beautiful location in Kananaskis.

Mount Lorette. Photo by Caroline Lambert.

Birds & Beers Update

Aug28

The monthly Birds and Beers socials have not been held since the start of the pandemic. Many local birders are hoping we can resume these events and the presentations soon. I’m sure quite a few birders are vaccinated and keep small cohorts. Joan Walker (who does the majority of the organization of these events) and I have discussed it, and we decided that the situation with the spread of the Delta variant is too uncertain to have such gatherings right now. I certainly would not be comfortable attending since I am in contact with many people every day. I don’t want to pass the virus on to others. So we will have a “wait and see” attitude for now.

Redhead, Bridlewood Pond, May 2021. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Joan has looked into planning events in the next few months. There are a few presentations ready to go. However, there are some complications. Our regular meeting-place is the Horton Road Legion. Of course the pandemic has been a difficult time for businesses like the Legion. They were closed for a while, and are currently only open a few days each week. When they re-opened, all the meeting rooms booked up completely until Christmas. So we are considering possibly re-starting in January.

Another issue is that the Legion will now have to charge for the use of the room. It is a minimal amount, but we would have to pass the cost on to the attendees.

There is the possibility of finding other venues but it would be very difficult to find another one that serves meals and drinks, can accommodate presentations of up to 100 people, and is cheap or free.

We would like to have some feedback on this. Should we plan to resume in the new year (assuming it is safe to do so) at the regular location? Would you be willing to pay a small amount (no more than two or three dollars per person; probably less) to attend? Would you like to try another venue and do you have any suggestions for an alternate location?

If you are a regular Birds & Beers attendee and you have thoughts on this, please email me at wbird7[at]gmail.com. -Bob Lefebvre

Birds & Beers, March 5, 2020

Feb24

We were unable to get our usual late-February date for Birds & Beers, so we will be meeting next on Thursday March 5th.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday March 5, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm.

Dan Edwards will be presenting “Birds of the Great Ocean Walk,” a birding-oriented travelogue of his trip hiking the Great Ocean Walk in southern Australia last October. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 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.

Birds & Beers, November 1, 2018

Oct21

The next Birds & Beers event in Calgary, which will include a special presentation by Dave Russum, will be held on Thursday, November 1. We were unable to get the room in late October so this will act as the October Birds & Beers. The following one will be on November 29.

Snowy Owl

In less than a month the Snowy Owls will be back in the Calgary area. Snowy Owl, northeast of Strathmore, January 2012. Photo by Rob English.

Everyone is welcome to come out to this social get-together, have a meal and a drink, and discuss birds with your fellow birders. We will meet in our usual location:

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch #285

9202 Horton Road SW

Thursday November 1, 2018, 6:00-9:00 pm

As a special treat, Dave Russum will give a slide show and brief talk about the Prairie Walks he led in 2018. He had participated in the walk that Gus led across southern Alberta in 2017, so in 2018 Dave followed up with two trips, to the Cypress Hills and to SW Alberta. He will also talk about the plan for more trips in 2019.

The talk itself will start at about 7:15 or 7:30 pm, to give people time to eat and visit first. Feel free to drop in just for the presentation if you want. See you there!

Birds & Beers, September 13, 2018

Sep5

The September Birds & Beers meeting will be held next Thursday, September 13. We will meet in the big room at the Horton Road Legion, where Phil Cram will give a presentation.

American Redstart by Tony LePrieur.

We start at 6 pm as usual, and the presentation will be after 7 pm. Phil Cram has organized the Christmas Bird Count for many years, and his talk will include personal experiences about the counts, as well as a discussion of long-term trends in bird populations in Calgary.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch #285

9202 Horton Road SW

Thursday September 13, 2018, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome to come to this free event. Arrive by 6 pm if you want to have food or drinks before the presentation, and chat with your fellow birders.

Here is an excerpt from a Calgary Herald article about Phil by Tyee Bridge (“Birdwatching Isn’t Just for the Experts,” Calgary Herald, December 12, 2014):

“Phil Cram worked in the oil industry and has been recording a life-list of birds since he retired 16 years ago. His path was confirmed when he went on a Carburn Park bird count with legendary Calgary naturalist Gus Yaki in 2000—and Yaki pointed out a saw-whet owl perched in the poplars at head-level. “I’ve seen only probably half a dozen saw-whets in my life, and that was the first,” said Cram. ”It was a pivotal moment in a pivotal year. After that I started making birding a principal activity.” Now he travels in order to spot species: in 2012 Cram and three friends undertook what he calls “Fur and Feathers 500,” a trip criss-crossing Canada to see 500 species of animals. Pack ice in Nunavut’s Repulse Bay kept them from bagging a narwhal sighting, but they did see a polar bear. By year’s end they reached a total of 507 species, 431 of them birds, including a “very rare” rustic bunting in Haida Gwaii. Among other things Cram is the compiler of the Christmas Bird Count, a holiday tradition among Calgarians since 1952.”

Is it Fall Already? Back to Birding.

Aug17

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

My summer hiatus is over! Fall migration is well underway, with a variety of warblers, vireos, and flycatchers being seen in Confederation Park and along the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Flocks of young Robins and Chipping Sparrows have been passing through my yard daily. We even had a brief view of a hummingbird in our yard, which rarely happens.

The fall birding course offered by the Friends of Fish Creek begins on September 3. See this page to register.

The Bird Study Group of Nature Calgary resumes their season on Wednesday September 5 with a presentation by local photographer Marcy Stader. See the new Nature Calgary website for information on this and all upcoming talks at their Bird Study Group, and in their regular Speaker Series, which resumes September 19.

See the Nature Calgary field trip page for upcoming outings you can join.

Birds & Beers resumes with a special August get-together, next Friday, August 24. Our usual day for these if Thursday so we hope some of you who can’t make it on Thursdays (Brenda?) will come out this time for a drink or meal and a chat about birding. Meet at the Horton Road Legion at 6 pm.

The remainder of the fall dates for Birds & Beers are: Thursday, September 13 (with a presentation by Phil Cram); Thursday November 1; Thursday November 29.

Most of you probably know about the Alberta Birds Facebook group, where birders and photographers can post photos of birds from anywhere in Alberta. There are over 10,000 members of this popular page. Recently a new Facebook group was started called Calgary Birds. This one features photos only from within the 80-km Calgary count circle. Check it out, and join if you want to contribute photos.

There is also a Facebook group created by Ethan Denton called Bow Valley Birding which focuses on the Banff/Canmore area. This will be of interest to many Calgary birders who regularly visit this area. To me it this page is always surprising since the birding is a little different there and they seem to find a lot of rarities.

Good Birding!

Birds Calgary

A birding blog for Calgary, Alberta and area

Tag Archive | birds & beers

Birds & Beers, November 1, 2018

Is it Fall Already? Back to Birding.

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