Tag Archive | birds calgary blog

Postcards from Texas: Adventures in Big Bend (Part 2)

Mar17

Posted by Matthew Sim

There are several factors that make Big Bend such a holy grail for birders. Factor number 1? The fact that the park offers the easternmost limit for many western species and the westernmost limit for many eastern species of birds. Factor number 2? The park is located on a major migratory flyway and is an important stop-off for many bird species. And factor number 3? Located close to Mexico, the park has many southern specialty birds that can’t otherwise be seen in the U.S. (such as Lucifer Hummingbird and Colima Warbler). The facts didn’t change anything for us though; we were having a blast and seeing many great birds in the process!

Dawn of our second day saw me up bright and early, as the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm (actually, it should be more like: ‘the early birdwatcher gets to watch the bird getting the worm’). Anyway, no matter how the saying goes, I was awake before the sun peered over the hills. I headed down to the feeders, spotting a Bewick’s Wren on my way down. Down at the feeders, I saw no new species but all the same, it was very exciting.

A Curve-billed Thrasher trying to figure out just how to get down on the bird feeder.

I did also manage to spot a Ladder-backed Woodpecker slightly closer than before and managed to get a half-decent shot in the dim light.

We didn’t spend too long at the feeders though as we had decided that today was the day to challenge ourselves. I mean really challenge ourselves. We had decided to hike the Emory peak, the tallest mountain in the park at 7,825 feet high. It is a strenuous hike and the roundtrip is… 10.5 tough miles. We started our climb at about 11am, with the temperature slowly starting to rise. Starting our climb, we were treated to the sounds of several Bewick’s Wrens singing as well as a Crissal Thrasher. While we climbed higher and higher, we started to hear the noise of several Mexican Jays and soon came across a flock of 8.

We were sweating now, hardly even half way up, yet we carried on. As we neared the top of the peak, our effort was payed off. The view was breathtaking.

As we reached the summit we watched nearly 100 White-throated Swifts swirling and diving through the air. Occasionally, as they passed closely by us, we could hear the wind rushing through their wings.

After enjoying the breath-taking scenery for a little longer, we began the long hike back down. Through our exhaustion, we even managed to find two Black-crested Titmice calling from the steep slopes.y the time we reached the bottom of the mountain, thoroughly worn out and incredibly sore, we decided unanimously to call it a day. When we reached our campground, we saw a Common Poorwill (a relative of the nighthawk), perched on the road and darting up into the air every couple of seconds to catch insects. The best part of the day though? Seeing countless stars in the night sky back at the camp. My photo does not even come close to doing the stars justice.

The next morning, due to our serious state of exhaustion, we woke up very late. Upon coming to the decision that it had been fun, but that it was now time to slowly head for home (we were very tired!) we did just that. Heading home slowly meant frequent stops to admire scenery, nature and whatever else we might see. By the time the sun was setting, we had reached Kerrville (about halfway home) and decided to stop for the night. As we reviewed all the excitement of the last several days, we realised the star of the show was still missing. The one bird you always expect to see out west. The bird that is famous worldwide. We hadn’t yet seen a Roadrunner!!!

Upon doing some quick research, we found a state park in Kerrville that might just yield us a Greater Roadrunner. To make a long story short, we spent the following morning looking for a Roadrunner without success. Just as we were beginning to despair, my dad suggested taking one last 5 minute spin around the road. No sooner had we started that 5 minute spin when… There it was! Greater Roadrunner!

Not quite where you would expect to see a roadrunner- in the woods!

We were happy- we had seen our Roadrunner. It was no time to head home.

Big Bend is a great park to visit, especially if you like birds!  I would highly recommend visiting it- just be warned, summer temperatures can get up to 49 degrees celsius. Though we barely scratched the surface of this great area, I’m already looking forward to going back-whenever that might be!

Postcards from Texas: Adventures in Big Bend (Part 1)

Mar16

Posted by Matthew Sim

Great scenery, pristine skies, rugged wilderness, abundant wildlife, all of this found in Texas- add these all up and what do you get??? The answer- Big Bend National Park in west Texas.

Spanning a huge 801,163 acres, Big Bend is the 14th largest national park in the U.S. and covers 3 different environments; mountain, desert and river. This huge area  attracts about 350,000 visitors each year and is immensely popular, with spring break being the most popular time to visit the park. This year, my family and I went to find out why the park is as popular as it is.

We left Houston early in the morning in preparation for the 11 hour drive that lay ahead of us. For  a good 5 hours of the trip, we drove through heavy rain and saw no break in the clouds. Once we arrived at our campground however, about 20 miles out of the park, we stepped out of the car beneath cloudless skies and almost immediately saw several bird feeders. Right after we found the bird feeders, we found the birds. Suddenly, we were surrounded by at least a dozen birds; Cactus Wren! Curve-billed Thrasher! Black-throated Sparrow! Pyrrhuloxia! Ladder-backed Woodpecker! House Finch! White-winged Dove! The birds were everywhere!

Black-throated Sparrow; a common yet beautiful sparrow of the southwestern U.S.

A conspicuous looking (and sounding) wren of southwestern deserts, the Cactus Wren is also the largest species of wren

Pyrrhuloxia; a distinctive songbird related to the cardinal

We soon had to leave the feeders though to pitch our tent as darkness was settling fast over the desert. As we set up our tent underneath the setting sun, I couldn’t help but feel excited for what I might see in the morning.

The sun rises over the hills around our campground.

After spending a somewhat chilly night in our tent, beneath countless stars, we awoke to the beautiful sound of a singing Pyrrhuloxia, which bears a striking resemblance (both in looks and sound) to a Cardinal. We headed to the nearby bird feeders to see what was about, and nearly immediately ran into a huge surprise- a covey of 35 Scaled Quail, dashing here and there.

We continued birding around the feeders and a small water dish, finding a Sage Thrasher, a single Lark Bunting, a Rock Wren and a pair of Canyon Towhees.

Canyon Towhee; a small drab sparrow-like bird with a very bright cinnamon rump (just visible in this shot)

By late morning, we decided to head to the Chisos Basin, a small valley surrounded by mountains, to do a little hiking. While hiking down into a valley on the Window trail, we were happy to see White-throated Swift, Pygmy Nuthatch, Spotted Towhee and Mexican Jay. This national park was really starting to amaze us by the sheer beauty of it all, nature and scenery standing out above the rest. Upon finishing the hot hike, we made a quick decision to check out the Rio Grande Village after getting a tip that a Common Black-Hawk, a rare bird in the U.S. but one that has nested here for several years, might be hanging around.

Unfortunately, no hawk for us. We were treated to fantastic views of several species though; Vermilion Flycatcher, Western Bluebird, Brewer’s Sparrow and Marsh Wren, all while being merely 50 feet away from the border with Mexico (which, by the way, several Common Ravens flew across without any security checks!).

The absolutely gorgeous Vermilion Flycatcher.

After birding the Rio Grande Village, we brought an end to our fun-filled (and bird-filled) day and headed back to the campground beneath a beautiful setting sun. We were already looking forward to Day 2!

Part 2 of our Adventures in Big Bend coming up tomorrow!

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: March 12

Mar13

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 birdscalgary@gmail.com.  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.

MAR 9

CALIFORNIA GULL – 8 reported by Dan Arndt at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

MAR 10

CANADA GOOSE – thousands at Frank Lake (Richard Clarke)
TUNDRA SWAN – 7 at Clear Lake (Joan and Malcolm Macdonald), 3 on Silver Lake (Terry Korolyk)
EURASIAN WIGEON – 1 male at Frank Lake (Joan & Malcolm Macdonald)
CANVASBACK – 4 as above
REDHEAD – 11 as above
NORTHERN PINTAIL, AMERICAN WIGEON AND MALLARD – numerous, as above
NORTHERN HAWK OWL – just east of Range Road 20 and south of Twp Rd 302 southwest of Carstairs (Phil Evans)
GYRFALCON  pale grey one on Hwy 8 near Hwy 22 (RC); a gray morph adult in Williams Coulee west of Nanton (TK)
GOLDEN EAGLE – an immature at Frank Lake (RC)

MAR 11

TUNDRA SWAN – 3 at Third Lake, 2 kms south of Hwy 552 on 224 St SE (TK)
EURASIAN WIGEON – 2 males, as above
AMERICAN WIGEON – 25 at Frank Lake (Andrew Hart and Nature Calgary)
GREEN-WINGED TEAL – 3, reported by TK; also 2 seen by Andrew Hart and a Nature Calgary field group at Frank Lake
NORTHERN PINTAIL – thousands, as above
CANVASBACK – 8 at Frank Lake (Andrew Hart and Nature Calgary)
REDHEAD – 20, as above
RING-NECKED DUCK – 1, as above
AMERICAN COOT – 1, as above
RING-BILLED GULL – 1 south of the Cushing Bridge (Terry Poulton and Sam Williams)
CALIFORNIA GULL – 17, as above
AMERICAN CROW – 2 north of Black Diamond (TK)

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu Mar 15.

Lost Forever?

Mar8

Posted by Matthew Sim

Back in November, the Calgary Herald ran an article on the Sage Grouse, a large and impressive grouse that faces a bleak and dismal future. For me, this was a depressing article; it opened my eyes to a species I never knew even lived in Alberta, only to present very pessimistic prospects for the bird here.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

A scarce permanent resident with a very limited distribution in our province, the sage grouse needs large stands of sagebrush as well as wet meadows, river bottoms or green areas for foraging. This habitat is crucial for the bird and without it, the grouse cannot survive. It is for exactly this reason that population levels have decreased in Alberta since the 1960’s, in fact, the sage grouse population in Alberta is down to just 13 males. Many experts have already given up any hope of saving Alberta’s prairie sage grouse, however, led by the Alberta Wilderness Association, 12 environmental groups are acting to save the species. These groups have asked that the federal government enact an emergency protection order, which would force Environment Canada to do whatever it can to save this species’ habitat. Though it may be too late, let this species plight be a lesson to all of us, and let us ensure that this never happens again.

To read the Herald’s article, follow the link below:

Iconic prairie Sage Grouse facing local extinction

Wednesday Wings: Horned Larks

Mar7

If you’ve taken any pictures of interesting birds in the Calgary region, you can share them with us by emailing birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them on the blog.

We received these amazing photos of Horned Larks from Joe Harley.  Horned larks have been returning to the area for the past few weeks and can be seen along rural roads.  They can be very hard to photograph but Joe got a few great shots.

Joe writes:

We’d like to compliment the writers of the blog; we enjoy all the articles (and photos).  Thought I’d share the Lark family, photographed on Family day [February 20], not far from Kinbrook Marsh.  That’s all I was able to get of the Larks. We were in the midst of photographing Pronghorns when the Lark opportunity occurred.

(click photos to enlarge)

Spring Birding Course 2012

Mar3

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society is once again offering a spring birding course which will run for twelve weeks, from April until late June.  The course consists of weekly field trips to many parks and natural areas within Calgary.  There are sessions offered on almost every day of the week.

For more information or to register, email chris@friendsoffishcreek.org or phone 403-238-3841.

Wednesday Wings: Bathing Merlin

Feb15

If you’ve taken any pictures of interesting birds in the Calgary region, you can share them with us by emailing birdscalgary@gmail.com and we may post them on the blog.

Dave Arnold took these great shots of a Merlin having his Sunday bath on the edge of the Bow River.  Thanks for sharing, Dave!

Ian Chatt also witnessed this and got these three photos:

Postcards from Texas: Galveston and Bolivar Flats

Feb11

Posted by Matthew Sim

This past weekend, I took a trip out to Galveston, Texas, about an hour south of Houston on the gulf of Mexico. Galveston has many world-reknowned birding spots in and around it and is a great spot to observe birds year-round. This weekend was rainy and cool, but that didn’t stop the birds! On a short ferry ride to Bolivar peninsula, home of the famous Bolivar Flats shorebird sanctuary, we saw many birds, including both species of pelicans and Common Loons and Red-breasted Mergansers, the latter two which winter down here.

Brown Pelican

Upon arriving on Bolivar, we stopped at a small pond and got great looks at many birds, including an American Avocet in winter plumage (a little different than what I am used to seeing up at Frank Lake in Alberta in the summer!) and a Texas specialty; the very bright Roseate Spoonbill.

Roseate Spoonbill

From a distance, the spoonbill is gorgeous, and even from close up its amazing plumage is simply stunning, yet I found that its head was somewhat unnerving. Its face looks almost extraterrestrial, I find!

From the pond, we went to the Bolivar Flats shorebird Sanctuary where we saw some Black-bellied Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones and… All I could say to myself was, “What the heck are those little shorebirds?” Why did I ask myself this? Because these little guys ran and ran and ran. They did not quit running! I soon got closer and identified them as Sanderlings, which I had seen before, yet never acting quite as comical. Never had I seen a bird run so much!

Running Sanderling

Ruddy Turnstone

We birded Bolivar for a while longer before returning to the ferry and heading back to Galveston. On the ferry back, we were treated to views of 4 species of Gulls (Herring, Laughing, Ring-billed and Bonaparte’s) and 3 species of tern (Forster’s, Common and Royal).

Bonaparte's Gull

Royal Tern

Birds weren’t the only wildlife seen from the ferry however, as a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins made an appearance towards the end.

It was an exciting trip with close to 70 species seen; this excursion really got me excited for spring migration here, which is absolutely fantastic, from what I’ve heard!

Saw-whet Owl and Pellet

Feb3

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

By now most birders in Calgary have heard about the Northern Saw-whet Owl that was found in Carburn Park last Thursday.  Phil Smith was there when it was found, and he captured an amazing sequence of pictures that show the owl coughing up a pellet.

Owls and many other birds regularly regurgitate pellets, which consist of the indigestible parts of the food they eat.  Saw-whet owls eat a lot of Deer Mice, and their pellets contain mostly bones and fur.

Although these owls are thought to produce one pellet per day, it is a rare sight to see, and even rarer to photograph.   The pictures have been assembled into a short video.

.

Below is the complete sequence of photos showing the owl coughing up the pellet.  (Photos by Phil Smith, used by permission.)

To see more of Phil Smith’s photos, see his Flickr Page.

Anne Elliott also captured a photo of the pellet being produced:

To see more of Anne Elliott’s photos, see her Flickr Page.

Birds Calgary 2010 Competition Pages In New Location

Jan24

This blog was started in 2009 as a forum for keeping competitors informed about the Birds Calgary 2010 competition.  After the competition ended we kept the blog going, and it has evolved into a general birding resource for Calgary and area birders.  The information from the competition was still here,  under the “2010 Bird Comp” page at the top of the blog.  Now, as we approach the allowable size limits for this blog, and with lots of ideas for important new pages, we have decided to create a new blog to house all the information from the competition.

The new blog can be found at “2010 Birding Competition” and there is also a link to it under the “Blogroll” heading on our home page.  It won’t be an active blog with new posts but all the competition pages are there.  The 2010 pages on this blog will be removed in a few days.

Not only does this free up a lot of space here, but the competition pages display better and are easier to navigate in their new home.  Check out all the stats and the great photos, and if you were a participant, relive the competition!  Only eight more years and we can do it again.