Tag Archive | calgary bird blog

95+ Years of Pigeon Roosts

Oct18

If you’ve ever driven south on Deerfoot Trail, you would have passed the Federal Grain Elevator in Bonnybrook, on the west side of the road.

This grain terminal was built around 1916, and over the years, has provided roosting and nesting sites for untold thousands of rock doves. When the grain trucks were delivering to the building on a daily basis, the spilled grain also attracted ducks and geese from the nearby Bow River. All that terrestrial bird activity naturally attracted the predators, and it was often a good place to spot a Northern Goshawk in the winter.

As of last Sunday, the rock doves have lost their perch. Apparently the high cost of operating the aging structure meant it was no longer financially advisable, so it was imploded at 8:00 am Sunday morning.

On a chilly pre-dawn morning, we were lined up on the hill to the west of the elevator with the media, police and a host of spectators. I was there because I was curious about the bird aspect of the whole thing.

The charges were set mid-way down the building, so when it went down, the rock doves on the roof went up. They circled the area, drifting in and out of the large dust cloud as it wafted towards the east.

The explosion also lifted a flock of geese off the river, and a small flock of ducks.

The whole thing was over in less than two minutes. As the sun rose through the dust, the rock doves gradually settled on a small, remaining tower, no doubt wondering what on earth had just happened to their world.

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 13

Oct14

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Albert was recorded on Oct 13, 2011.

OCT 7

PEREGRINE FALCON – off Hwy 2 near Crossiron Mills – Thomas Glen

OCT 8

LONG- BILLED DOWITCHER – 250 seen by Gordon Sick at Weed Lake

OCT 10

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – second cycle year bird, seen by Ilya Povalyaev at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
MEW GULL – 2 reported as above
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER – Terry Korolyk, immature at Weed Lake
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER – immature, as above
AMERICAN AVOCET – as above
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER – 200, as above; also 20 at the slough on Twp Rd 250 just east of Hwy 817
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER – one seen by TK at the slough mentioned above
SNOW GOOSE – TK, juvenile at Cattleland Slough
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE – 200, as above
WILSON’S WARBLER – 4, Jim Davis’s yard in Douglasglen
YELLOW WARBLER – hatch year bird seen by JD as above

OCT 11

RED-THROATED LOON – at the south end of Chain Lakes, by Joan and Malcolm Macdonald
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER – 2 at Chain Lakes, JM and MM
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – seen by IP again at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER – 8 seen by Gus Yaki and the Friends of Fish Creek PP, in east Fish Creek PP along the Bow River

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Mon Oct 17.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 10

Oct12

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Alert was recorded on Monday Oct 10 at 10:15 am.

Bird Sightings:

Oct 5:
-COMMON NIGHTHAWK flying over the yard of Matthew Sim, Willow Pk. Calgary.

Oct 8:
-CLARKE’S GREBE (1), 1200 SNOW GEESE, including 2 BLUE varients, 12 SURF SCOTERS, at Eagle Lake on a CFNS field trip, Rob Worona etc.
-800 SNOW GEESE at Third Lake, south of Hwy 552, SE of Calgary, Terry Korolyk.
-GREATER SCAUP (3) on a pond on Leighton Center Rd south of Calgary, TK.
-150-200 SNOW GEESE, RUSTY BLACK-BIRDS (3) at the Calgary Zoo Ranch, Dunbow Rd,south of Calgary, CFNS field trip, Gus Yaki etc.
-SURF SCOTER (1) on Glenmore Reservoir, Bill Wilson.
-SWAINSON’S THRUSH (4), HERMIT THRUSH, TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (13) at Inglewood B.S., BW.
WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS (2), HERMIT THRUSH, NORTHERN SHRIKE, at S Glenmore Pk, GY and FFCPP.
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS (10) on the ridge behind Spruce Meadows, TK.
-GRAY CATBIRD, PACIFIC WINTER WREN, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS (4), VARIED THRUSH, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (8), WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS (2), DARK-EYED JUNCOS, SLATE COLORED (24), DARK-EYED JUNCO, PINK- SIDED (1), LAPLAND LONGSPUR at the Mt. Lorette Raptor watch, Kannaskis, Jim Davis etc.

A record number of migrating raptors (583) and record GOLDEN EAGLES (556) were counted at Lorette.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday Oct 13.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 6

Oct7

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Alert was recorded on Thursday Oct 6 at 9:50 am.

Bird Sightings:

Oct 2:
HERMIT THRUSH west side of Nose Hill Park, Steve Kassai.

Oct 3:
HERMIT THRUSH (3), FOX SPARROW (red), several large flocks of GRACKLES, and a raft of 143 COMMON MERGANSERS at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Greg Meyer.

Oct 4:
AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (2) at Mallard Pt, FCPP, Terry Korolyk.

Oct 5:
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER rescued after a window hit at Uof C, Eileen Cora.
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS (15) in Bebo Grove, west FCPP, Al Borgardt.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday Oct 10.

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Oct 3

Oct4

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This Bird Albert was recorded on Oct 3, 2011.

SEP 25

SHARP-SHINNED HAWK – 5 seen on a Nature Calgary Field Trip to Plateau Mountain, led by Peter Roxborough
GOLDEN EAGLE – 2 seen on the same field trip

SEP 26

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL – reported by Gus Yaki who saw it at the Yacht Club on the south shore of Glenmore Reservoir

SEP 30

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE – 2000 reported by Cedric Hitchon and Ian Halladay at Stobart Lake southeast of Strathmore, seen by scope from a location off Hwy 901 which goes east of the south end of the lake. They also had 40 at the Cattleland Feedlots Slough.
BONAPARTE’S GULL – more than 100 at the south end of Eagle Lake – CH and IH
PEREGRINE FALCON – Thomas Glen saw one around the Bow Building in downtown Calgary

OCT 1

SURF SCOTER – 4 reported on Glenmore Reservoir by Youssif Attia
GREATER SCAUP – a female seen as above

OCT 2

AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER – 5 juveniles seen by Tony Timmons in the southwest corner of Langdon Reservoir on Hwy 22X
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH – 32 reported by Bill Wilson off the Mount Nakiska access road. For details call Bill at 403-230-0054
SWAMP SPARROW – at the Mount Lorette raptor watch off Hwy 40 in Kananaskis Country

*BLACK VULTURE – no further reports on this bird reportedly photographed on top of the City Hall building in Raymond, AB on Thu Sept 22

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu Oct 6.

BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, Room 211, BioSciences Building, U of C.  October meeting is Wednesday, October 5. Topic is “Birds of Prey”
presented by Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation. Meeting time is 7:30pm.

Movie Monday: Nose Hill Crow Roost

Oct4

There is a large nighttime roost of hundreds of American Crows on Nose Hill again this year.  Last week I took a short video as they were arriving at about 7:30 pm.  The location is near the Brisebois Drive parking lot.  Sorry for the poor quality of the video, but it gives you an idea of what it is like.  If you want to see this roost yourself, go within the next two weeks before the crows head south.

For an explanation of this behavior, see the previous post, Crows by the Thousands.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Sept 30

Oct1

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 zoxox@shaw.ca  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.

This report was prepared on Friday September 30.

September 24
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (4), Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation site near Mount Lorette, Bill Wilson
— NORTHERN GOSHAWK, Mt. Lorette, BW
— GOLDEN EAGLE, (4) Mt. Lorette, BW

September 25
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (5), Plateau Mountain, CFNS Excursion led by Peter Roxburgh
— SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (2), Plateau Mountain, CFNS Excursion

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday October 3.
BIRD STUDY GROUP:

Bird Study Group meets 1st Wednesday of the month, Room 211, BioSciences Building, U of C.

October meeting is Wednesday, October 5. Birds of Prey – presented by Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation. Meeting time is 7:30pm.

Famous birders

Sep30

There are many famous birders, some renowned for their birding accomplishments, others simply because of their non-birding accomplishments. Todays famous birder is Phoebe Snetsinger, a birder who had a remarkable story; and a strong will.

Phoebe Snetsinger was born June 9, 1931 in Lake Zurich, Illinois. One of three children of Naomi Geddes and the powerful advertising baron, Leo Burnett, she inherited a small fortune, thanks to her father. Upon seeing a Blackburnian Warbler in 1965 at her home in Webster Groves, Missouri, Phoebe was inspired to start birding. Birding remained a hobby for Phoebe until the moment in 1981 that would reshape her life; a doctor diagnosed her with terminal melanoma and told her she didn’t have long to live.

File:Dendroica-fusca-001.jpg

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

This news motivated Phoebe to observe birds; as many species as she could. It all started with one trip to Alaska. Phoebe returned home after the trip to Alaska and from then on, traveled the world seeing as many species as she could. Phoebe lived much longer than doctors thought she would and, in 1999, 18 years after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Phoebe was still going strong. Unfortunately, Phoebe’s travels were brought to an abrupt end. While in Madagascar looking for a Red-shouldered Vanga, a species discovered by science only two years earlier, the van Phoebe and her group were traveling in, overturned on the decrepit roads, killing Phoebe instantly.

This remarkable woman was very dedicated and persevering in her travels and still has one of the biggest life lists ever recorded. Phoebe’s last lifer on a list that totaled more than 8,400 species of birds, was the Red-shouldered Vanga.

Posted by Matthew Sim