Tag Archive | birds calgary blog

Backyard Birds: Baltimore Oriole

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Most birders know that Baltimore Orioles will feed on oranges, but have you ever tried this in your yard? Even if you aren’t near their nesting habitat, you may get one on migration, as I did five years ago.

Below is a re-post of something I posted originally on June 1, 2011. Since then, I haven’t had any more Orioles (and still no Catbirds) in my yard – but I’m still trying!

___________________________________________________

Oranges for Orioles – originally posted June 1, 2011, by Bob Lefebvre.

For the last couple of years I have been putting out slices of oranges in my yard in the hopes of attracting Baltimore Orioles or Gray Catbirds. I place the oranges on my tray feeder and in suet cages. So far this has attracted only ants. Last Friday morning, I thought that perhaps the heavy rain might force some migrants down, so I put out two fresh orange halves on a flower planter. Within a half hour of arriving home in the afternoon, I looked out to see this bird feeding on the orange.

This first-year Baltimore Oriole stayed around the yard for two days, feeding on all the oranges, including the ones in the suet cage that I had placed there about two weeks before.

So if you want to see a Baltimore Oriole in your yard, putting out oranges really does work. Now I’m just waiting for that Catbird.

Western Grebe Surveys

May29

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Here is a bird survey that any birder can participate in, to increase our knowledge of this threatened bird.

Click to access WESTERNGREBESURVEYSINALBERTA2016-1.pdf

grebe with chick

Western Grebe with chick. Photo by Dan Arndt, May 29, 2016.

One of the many hazards these diving birds face is from discarded fishing lines and equipment. In 2014 we found a dead Western Grebe on the shore of the Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary. (Something had been feeding on it.)

dead grebe

Dead Western Grebe, Glenmore Reservoir, Calgary, May 19, 2014. Photo by Dan Arndt.

On inspection, one of its legs was tangled in fishing line as you can see here.

bob with grebe

Here I am holding up the dead Western Grebe, May 19, 2014. Photo by Dan Arndt.

Please help to monitor the Western Grebe’s habitat, and please keep their habitat clean!

Pinned Robin

May28

Posted by Bob Lefebvre.

In May 2006, before I was a serious birder (and before I had a digital camera), I saw an American Robin in my yard with an unusual blue spot on its back.

On closer inspection, the blue spot turned out to be the plastic head of a long metal pin that passed right through the bird’s body.

IMG_0003 trimmed

If you look closely at the above photos you can see the pin protruding from the robin’s breast. Here is a better look at the front of the bird.

I called the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, and they said if I could capture it I should bring it in. But I wasn’t able to get close enough to it to capture it. The bird could fly and feed normally, and appeared healthy. I even watched it evade a feral cat once. The robin was in the vicinity of our yard for a week.

It may be a little hard to tell from these photos, but the pin was not just through the feathers but right through the centre of the bird.

I’ve always wondered what this pin was and how it got in the robin. At first I thought it might be a tracking device, but it looks like an ordinary pin. Was it pushed through the bird by someone? Shot at it? Someone speculated that perhaps it was pushed through the egg and the bird grew around it! I haven’t seen a pin quite like it – does anyone recognize this type or have any idea how this could have happened?

IMG_0002trim

Over the course of the week, the pin gradually worked out the back of the bird so the head was about two inches from its back. Then I never saw it again, or if I did, it was pin-less.

Furry Friday: Young Moose

May27

Diane Dahlin photographed these two young Moose west of Calgary on April 30, 2016.

[exif id=”15601″]

You can see more of Diane’s photos at I Kiss Horses Photography.

Rare Backyard Bird: Lesser Goldfinch

May26

Posted By Bob Lefebvre

On May 15, 2016, Linda Vick photographed this bird in her yard in Cochrane. It is a Lesser Goldfinch, a very rare bird for Alberta. This is only the second record ever of this species in Alberta, the first being two years ago.

Lesser Goldfinch, Cochrane, May 15, 2016. Photo by Linda Vick.

If I saw this bird in my yard and didn’t look too closely I might think it was an American Goldfinch. Lesser Goldfinches breed in the SW United States, so I’m sure many of you, like me, are unfamiliar with it. Keep an eye out!

Lesser Goldfinch males have a black cap but can be distinguished from American Goldfinches by the greenish back (sometimes black, but unlike the yellow back of an American Goldfinch), the white at the base of the primaries, and the grey rather than pinkish bill colour. The pictured bird looks like a young male, developing its black cap.

Lesser Goldfinch, Cochrane, May 15, 2016. Photo by Linda Vick.

[exif id=”15620″]

Here are American Goldfinches for comparison:

American Goldfinch (breeding male). Photo by Bob Lefebvre.

IMG_9305 adj trim copy

American Goldfinch (female). Photo by Bob Lefebvre.

Wednesday Wings: Nuthatch, Sparrow, Hawk, Falcon, Owls

May25

Here are some recent photos of local birds taken by some of our readers.

Great Horned Owl adult, taken by Caroline Soles in her backyard in Alderheights, near the Mazeppa gas plant, north of High River, May 22, 2016.

Caroline Soles also had this Clay-colored Sparrow in her yard. We can get them in our yards in the city on migration too.

Another shot of the Clay-colored Sparrow by Caroline Soles.

Cooper’s Hawk, Bowmont Park, NW Calgary, April 2016. Photo by Lorraine Glass.

A Merlin, also from Bowmont Park, April 2016, by Lorraine Glass.

A close-up of the Merlin, by Lorraine Glass.

Brian Simpson RBNU

Red-breasted Nuthatch at nest hole. Photo by Bryan Simpson, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, May 2016.

Tim Reynolds GHOWlets

Finally, here are the two downy Great Horned Owlets from Sikome Lake in Fish Creek Park. Taken May 15, 2016 by Tim Reynolds.

If you have some recent photos of local birds that you’d like to share, send them to us at birdscalgary(at)gmail.com and we may post them. Please include the date and location, and the photographer’s name.

Bonus Sunday Showcase: More Spring Birds

May22

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

More photos by Tony LePrieur of spring birds of the Calgary area, taken on the weekend of May 14-15, 2016. Great Blue Heron from Fish Creek Park, Swainson’s Hawk just south of Calgary, and the rest at Frank Lake.

Great Blue Heron

Swainson’s Hawk

Tree Swallows

White-faced Ibis

Western Meadowlark

Franklin’s Gull

Common Tern

Savannah Sparrow

Northern Shoveler (male)

Blue-winged Teal (male)

Do you have photos of birds from the Calgary region that you’d like to share? Send them to us at birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them.

Sunday Showcase: Spring Birds of Calgary

May22

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

These photos were taken on the weekend of May 7-8, 2016 by Tony LePrieur, in Calgary and at Frank Lake.

Western Meadowlark

Killdeer

American Avocet

Sora

Swainson’s Hawk

Red-necked Grebe on nest

Cinnamon Teal pair

Wilson’s Snipe

Willet

Do you have photos of birds from the Calgary region that you’d like to share? Send them to us at birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them.

Wee Little Nuthatch Nest Camera

May1

Posted by Bob Lefebvre. Photos copyright by themorningsideoflife.ca.

An avid birdlover in Calgary has set up a nest box camera in her yard, affording great views of a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches that are trying to nest there. I say “trying” because after they brought in loads of nesting material, a pair of Black-capped Chickadees, working together very quickly, moved in and cleaned it all out again. Then the nuthatches recaptured the box and are bringing in more grass and wood shavings to line their nest. (The chickadees settled into a different nest box in the yard.)

2016-03-15 16-33-49

One of the Nuthatches in the nest box, no doubt keeping a watch for Chickadees.

The nest box can be watched live on Ustream at this link. There are also many saved video clips that you can play to see what has happened up to now. The live camera is not always online, but it usually is during the daytime, and when it’s on you can comment on what you see using your Facebook or Twitter account. The nuthatches are most active at the nest from 6 to 10 am.

2016-04-05 08-45-32

The female nuthatch, named Lucy, at the nest box.

It will be extremely interesting to watch if they they do successfully have young. The vocalizations and behaviors recorded up to now are fascinating to see and hear. It’s a view of Red-breasted Nuthatches that we don’t usually get!

2016-04-12 09-28-21

The male nuthatch, named Ricky (of course), ready to drive off chickadees.

The camera link will be on on our right-hand sidebar throughout the nesting season, along with the Osprey and Peregrine Falcon camera links. The camera link can also be found at the camera owner’s blog, The Morning Side Of Life. Check it out for great bird photos. You can also find a link to her blog on our sidebar with the other blog links.

You might want to also check out a new Facebook group called Alberta Backyard Birds (& Feeder Watch) for more photos and discussion of yard birds.