Tag Archive | calgary bird blog

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!

Movie Time: Billing & Cooing

Mar11

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Yes friends, my overwintering Mourning Doves are still hanging around the yard. Judging by this affectionate display, I can soon look forward to having even more of them to feed! Last year they nested in my neighbor’s spruce tree, so I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on that location in the coming months.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7N4A3vfnIg“&rel=0”

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

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: March 5

Mar6

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.

February 28
–RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER. Present in George Lane Park in High River since Oct.2011; seen recently by Phil Quinn.
–BARROW’S GOLDENEYE(3), Bow River at Carburn park, by Gus Yaki et al.

March 1
–HOODED MERGANSER(1), seen during Elbow River survey, by GY et al.
–SNOW BUNTING(1), N. end of Nose Hill park, by PQ.

March 3
–SWAN (sp), seen at Frank Lake by Terry Korolyk. May be the same bird seen there since Dec.2011.
–GREEN-WINGED TEAL(F). Bow River at Policeman’s Flats SE of Calgary, by TK.
–THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, Griffith Woods park, by Steve Kassai.
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK, Griffith Woods park, by SK.
–PILEATED WOODPECKER, (same as above) by SK.
–HORNED LARK. small numbers seen by TK between High River and Carseland.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday, March 8.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September-May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary.The next meeting will be Wednesday March 7. The program is titled “High Science: The The Natural History of Alpine Ptarmigan”, by Kathy Martin.

Thousands of Snow Buntings

Mar3

Snow buntings are notoriously difficult to photograph, as they’re always in motion. Duane Starr was lucky to run into thousands & thousands of them and managed to get a series of wonderful pictures of these hyperactive little birds. He says when the flock was in the air they were everywhere and when they were on the ground they were everywhere. Click here to view his snow buntings on the fence, in the air, on the ground…

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: March 1

Mar2

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.

February 25
– –MALLARD (leucistic female) Beaverdam Flats in SE Calgary, Rob English
–SPOTTED TOWHEE, farm ca. 5 km. N of Irricana, John Corbin 403-935-4340

February 26
–NORTHERN SHRIKE, Weaselhead Natural Area, SW Calgary, Phil Quinn – February 28
–CACKLING GOOSE, Mackenzie Meadows, Phil Quinn
– –GREATER SCAUP, Hwy 22x bridge E end of Fish Creek Prov. Park, Terry Korolyk
– –SNOW BUNTING (60), N. of Linden, Corinne Griffin
– –COMMON GRACKLE, Lynnwood subdiv., SE Calgary, Pat Bumstead

February 29
–GREAT BLUE HERON (6) Southland Dog Park parking lot, Deerfoot Tr. And Southland Dr., observer unknown
– –KILLDEER, Bow R. S. of Glenmore Tr. Bridge, Gus Yaki,
–
The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday, March 5.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday March 7. The program is titled “High Science: The The Natural History of Alpine Ptarmigan”, by Kathy Martin.

Snowy Owl Action Shots

Mar2

Duane Starr has had some excellent snowy owl luck lately, and sent us a couple of links to his photo galleries.

The first set has some wonderful in-flight and action shots. Click here to view, then click on Slideshow on the right hand side.

His second set of snowy pictures shows the complete sequence of an owl coughing up a pellet, which looks like an extreme amount of hard work! View here.

Wednesday Wings: Leucistic Mallard

Feb29

Rob English has sent us some photos of the leucistic (white) mallard duck that’s been hanging around Beaverdam Flats this winter. Click photos to enlarge.

This bird is getting a lot of attention from photographers. Duane Starr has more views of this beautiful bird you can view in his photo gallery.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Feb 27

Feb28

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.

February 22
–SNOWY OWL, Storney Trail and McKnight Blvd., by Lori Anderson et.al.
–AMERICAN ROBIN(18), Queen’s Park Cemetery , by Dan Arndt.

February 23
–RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER(1) still in High River’s George Lane Park, by LA. Has been there for several months.

February 24
–NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, yard of Paul Kuelker in Montgomery. Not seen following day.

February 25
–GREEN-WINGED TEAL(F), Bow River, Policeman’s Flats, end of Bow River Bottom Rd, off Dunbow Rd., by Terry Korolyk
–GREATER SCAUP(2M) , Bow River, just N. of Hwy. 22x bridge, by TK.
–AMERICAN ROBIN(6+), backyard of Margaret Brunner in Oakridge subdivision.

February 26
–KILLDEER(2), Elbow River at Griffith Wood park, by Bob Lefebvre and Dan Arndt
–AMERICAN DIPPER(1), Elbow River at Griffith Wood park, by Bernie Diebolt and Janet Gill. One was also seen recently by Steve Kassai in Big Hill Springs PP.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday, March 1.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday March 7. The program is titled “High Science: The Natural History of Alpine Ptarmigan”, by Kathy Martin.