Tag Archive | birds calgary blog

Postcards from Texas: Hawks and hummingbirds

Posted by Matthew Sim

Here I am, back in Houston, Texas once again for the school year and enjoying the southern birding. Last weekend I was able to make a trip from Houston down to the Gulf coast to several world-reknown birding spots, Smith Point and High Island.

We started out at Smith Point, where a hawk watch is held every year from September through November at the Candy Abashier Wildlife Management Area, counting migrating raptors on their journeys south. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we were treated to good looks at several American Kestrels and Sharp-shinned Hawks passing by upon their migration. Also, several groups of American White Pelicans greeted us. We got onto the 30 foot observation tower next, stopping to watch dozens of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed at the hummingbird feeders set up for them on the platform. While watching the hummingbirds, we noticed one leucisitic female. Leucism is when reduced pigmentation in an animal causes it to be partially white. In this case, the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s forehead was white, instead of being the normal green.

After watching the hummingbirds for several minutes we scanned the sky looking for migrating raptors though by this time it was late morning and most of the hawks had already soared upward on the thermals (columns of warm, rising air) and were mere specks in the sky. We did see several small groups of Broad-winged Hawks, a Peregrine Falcon, a Northern harrier and many Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, the latter two which thankfully stayed fairly low, making some nice passes right by the tower. We also spotted several distant Magnificent Frigatebirds.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

We stayed for a while longer, realizing, that the earlier we get out the better birding there will be, though it was a couple hours drive just to get to Smith Point. Eventually, we left the hawk watch and went to another spot on the point, James H. Robbins Park where we saw quite a few shorebirds, including Least Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, American Oystercatchers and Semipalmated Plovers.

Semipalmated Plover

By now, the temperature was starting to climb so we decided to make just one last stop before heading home, world famous High Island which is well known for its amazing spring migrations, though it can be good in the fall as well. We attempted to get to Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary though we soon discovered that the sanctuary was filled with mosquitoes, who spared no mercy on our exposed arms, legs and necks. After 3 minutes we were done. Dismayed we tried the Boy Scout Woods sanctuary, also in High Island though it was filled with mosquitos as well and a 5 minute stay was all we could manage. The one positive of High Island was I did get to see 2 Inca Doves, a new bird for me at Boy Scout Woods, though the ferocious mosquitoes made sure I did not get to fully enjoy these lifers.

It was a great trip and I did learn some new things about Texas birdwatching:

try to get to Smith Point before the hawks soar into the stratosphere!
High Island+ fall= lots of mosquitoes!

Bird Profile: Least Sandpiper, the smallest of them all

Sep21

Last week I went out for a walk in my neighborhood down here in Houston, Texas. As I walked along a storm water retention basin, I noticed 2 very small shorebirds hanging out with the usual Killdeer. Upon further investigation, I discovered that they were Least Sandpipers, a species that shows up several times a year in my neighborhood during migration.

These Least Sandpipers are quite unique and their name might give you a hint as to why; this species is the smallest shorebird in the world at a mere 13-15 cm in length and weighing only 19-30 grams. The pair that I saw provided an interesting look at differences in plumage, while one was a drab adult in winter plumage, the other was a more brightly colored juvenile.

Adult Least Sandpiper in winter plumage

Juvenile Least Sandpiper

The Least Sandpiper is a shorebird known as a peep, a group of small, difficult to identify sandpipers. While many “peeps” can be challenging to identify, the Least Sandpiper is usually fairly easy to name. The number one characteristic that separates the Least from other peeps is its yellow legs, (the others have black legs) though sometimes their legs can appear dark in poor light or when covered with mud. I once read an interesting article from the American Birding Association (ABA) that described how to identify peeps based on posture; the Least Sandpiper, it said, could be separated from the other 4 regularly occurring North American peeps by these habits:

They typically feed from a crouched position with their “knees” (tibia-tarsus joint) almost brushing the ground
The way they plant their feet can often make it seem like they are feeding between their toes though this is not quite as evident in my photos
Least Sandpipers also seem quite nervous, glancing around a lot and freezing at any sudden noise or motion.

Least Sandpiper in breeding plumage

I found this ABA article quite interesting because it adds a whole new dimension to birding, birding by posture, that not everybody may use or be aware of. You can read the full article here.

While the Least Sandpipers I saw this past week were quite timid as always, once I sat down and waited patiently, the juvenile approached me and passed by me within feet, though I had to be careful not to make any sudden motions.

Least Sandpipers have likely all passed through Calgary already on the way back from their arctic breeding grounds to warmer regions in the southern U.S.A., Mexico and South America where they will spend the winter however next May they will be right back again, to complete their long travels once again.

Q & A: Odd-looking Birds on the Light Standards

Sep15

By Bob Lefebvre

Here at the Birds Calgary blog, we receive a lot of questions from bird-friendly folks throughout the province. We are sharing some of them with our readers as just another way to spread bird knowledge.

If you have a question, email us at birdscalgary@gmail.com. We may post your question and our answer. We won’t print your name or email address without permission.

Here’s a question we received last September, but which is relevant again this year.

Q: Hi. There are birds that sit on the light standards on 16^th Ave NE over the tracks alongside Deerfoot Trail. They appear to be sleeping when I drive by at 8 AM, I am curious to know what they are. There have been 2 or 3 on the westbound side and usually one on the eastbound side. Thanks.

A: It’s hard to say what they are without some idea of the size, shape, or colour of the birds. But I’m familiar with the area, and I think you might be referring to the “odd” birds that are sometimes seen there, which look long, slim, long-necked, and black. If so, those are Double-crested Cormorants. Their silhouette looks like this (photo taken in Fish Creek Park last week [September 2011]):

In better light they look like this, also taken last week [September 2011]:

Double-crested Cormorants are waterbirds that dive for fish and crustaceans. They are often seen holding their wings out to dry off after a dive. There are quite a few in the area of the weir on the Bow River, but they will soon be heading south.

Q: It’s definitely the Cormorants – last year there was just one, but now there are 2 or 3 on the westbound side and one on the eastbound side of 16th. They are always there in the morning but not always on my way home at 4:30. It’s quite high up so I can’t see much details from the car but definitely have the yellow beak and dark feathers.

(Note: In the past three weeks I have been seeing up to 35 cormorants in the area of Harvie Passage (the old weir on the Bow River) often perched in trees or on light standards along Deerfoot Trail.)

Sunday Showcase: More on Loons

Aug26

Posted by Matthew Sim

Here are some more Loon shots from my camping trip; enjoy.

Migration at Hull’s Wood

Aug25

Posted by Matthew Sim

Last week I rode my bike down to Hull’s Wood in Fish Creek P.P. twice to see how migration was coming along; I was not disappointed! As I rode through the woods both times, the chips of warblers and sparrows emanated from the trees and shrubs along the river. The woods were full of Yellow Warblers, Chipping Sparrows, House Wrens, Least Flycatchers and Warbling Vireos (not all of these were migrants) while several American Redstarts, Tennessee Warblers, Northern Waterthrushes and Baltimore Orioles were also present. There was also a single male Wilson’s Warbler, a single Yellow-rumped Warbler and a single Connecticut Warbler.

Least Flycatcher

Connecticut Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

This was all quite exciting but by 10:30 a.m. both days things quieted down for warblers so I went to Lafarge Meadows to check out shorebirds. Both days I found 6 species of shorebirds in Lafarge Meadows along the Bow River; Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer and Wilson’s Snipe.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

Migration is coming along well, so if you have the opportunity, get out there! There are lots of great spots in and around Calgary for migrating birds whether it be Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Confederation Park, Weed Lake, Fish Creek P.P. or your own yard, find your favorite spot for migration and sit back and enjoy the show!

Beyond the reflection: the dangers of windows

Aug24

Posted by Matthew Sim

As the fall migration starts to heat up and southbound warblers, vireos, flycatchers, sparrows and more pass through Calgary, birding can become quite exciting. While for us, this is a great time to be out and about, for the birds, it is dangerous; very dangerous. Migrating passerines (perching birds), for example, have to travel long distances all while on the lookout for predators such as hawks and cats, try to get food themselves and hope they don’t get caught in an early cold-snap which could potentially kill them. And this is just the beginning, there are even more dangers; one of them which is the most lethal of them all.

According to Sibley Guides Bird Mortalities, window strikes (when a bird hits a window) kill between 97 and 976 million birds each year, more than any other cause of bird deaths. (http://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/). I was in my neighbor’s yard when I noticed one of these fatalities on his patio. While I had been there, a migrating Ovenbird had struck his window and had died. Though birds can crash into windows at any time of the year, window strikes tend to happen more frequently during migration as an influx of migrants come through unfamiliar territory, passing from tree to tree. As you can see in the photo below, it is quite easy for a bird to see its habitat reflected in a window and believe that it is simply another tree they are heading to; I’m sure most don’t know what hit them.

If I were a bird, I would probably fly towards these trees too.

Many bird populations are declining already due to a number of reasons and we don’t need to help them along with reflective windows when we could easily prevent window strikes occurring.

This Ovenbird had struck my neighbor’s window while I was in his yard.

A closer look at the detail on the Ovenbird’s feathers

Probably the worst part of all this is that window strikes are senseless; it’s not like natural selection where it was meant to happen, window strikes are part of our devastating side effects on nature; however, they can also be easily prevented.

There are many ways to prevent birds from striking windows. If you are having birds fly from your feeders or bird baths into windows, you can either move these bird attracting features further away (25-30 feet) from the window or closer (1-3 feet) to the window so that if the birds do hit the window at just 1-3 feet they will not be going fast enough to do any harm to themselves.

Apparently, there is also a material called CollidEscape which can reduce reflectivity and transparency on the outside but still leave the windows transparent from the inside. You can check it out here.

Here are a few more options:

plant shade trees outside windows to break down reflections
install snap-on window dividers
put a hanging plant outside of the window

These are just a few of the ways you can avoid window strikes and help reduce the number of avian mortalities each year. Often, preventing window strikes can be as simple as closing the curtains or blinds when not using the windows. You can see even more solutions here.

If you have birds hitting your windows, there are many ways to stop it; help out bird populations!

Something old, something new

Aug23

Posted by Matthew Sim

For the third straight year, on a camping trip to southeastern British Columbia, I watched a family of Common Loons as they went about their lives despite living on a very busy lake and getting quite a bit of disturbance from vacationing families. As we watched the parents (something old as I have seen them before) tending to their young (something new) I couldn’t quite help but be amazed at how they can continue call the lake home despite the popularity of the lake among campers.

This year, there were two young loons. You may remember from last year’s post that there was only one chick last year (last year’s post can be seen here). It was quite remarkable to watch how the adult loons worked together this year with two chicks instead of one; sometimes each parent would take care of one of the chicks while at other times, one parent would give the other a break and watch over both chicks for a while before the parents eventually switched.

Though loons can be very sensitive to disturbance, these loons seem to have adapted well to human presence. Also, there is no motorized boat traffic on their lake, so maybe they are fine with kayakers, canoes and swimmers.

Off to feed its young

Common Loons nest on small islands, muskrat lodges and sometimes on the shores of their lake if these shores are forested and undisturbed. They lay one or two (sometimes three) eggs and take turns incubating these eggs for 28-30 days before the black, downy chicks are hatched. These chicks can swim immediately and they leave the nest with their parents within 24 hours of hatching. Though they can swim, for the first 2 weeks they will often ride on their parents backs perhaps to stay warm and avoid predators. Within six to eight weeks the young will be the size of the adults but until about eight weeks, they will continue to be fed by their parents. I noticed that of the 2 chicks, one seemed to be very independent already while the other one stayed close to at least one adult. Perhaps they had hatched several days apart?

The more dependent of the two chicks being fed; or maybe it just enjoyed free food?!

By three months, mountain lakes such as this one start to get colder and eventually the loons will have to leave; by three months the young can fly. During the 4 days that I was there, the young loons attempted flying a few times, though judging by all the splashing and flopping around, they still need some more practice.

Learning to fly

I found it quite interesting to observe the loons. Often, when I would watch them from a distance, patience would pay off and they would eventually swim quite close to me, within a few feet. The young ones seemed to be especially curious and would often linger around my raft. I had a great time watching the loons and spent many hours with them up close, learning different aspects of their lives. I got plenty of photos and as these seem to tell a story better than words I will leave it at that.