Tag Archive | calgary birds

Votier’s Flats – Not as boring as it sounds.

Feb6
Posted by Dan Arndt

Clear skies and warm sun help make any day out in Fish Creek Provincial Park more fun for everyone, and birders are no exception. 3 hours of trekking through Votiers Flats added four new birds to my year list, bringing year total to 43 after a successful previous day that added a Prairie Falcon, Gyrfalcon, and Northern Hawk Owl to the list. I was hesitant to begin “listing” but I can definitely see the appeal to it now, as it not only helps track the birds you’ve seen, but the when, the where, and the numbers seen, which can then be added to a more usable database, such as eBird, for instance, where I’ve been tracking the numbers each week so far for the course.

Votier's Flats

Votier's Flats

We started off at 9 am, as usual, and walked towards the McLeod Trail underpass, searching for an American Dipper that had been seen earlier in the week, and fairly regularly since December. On our way over Bridge 8, we stopped to pay attention to some Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches who dropped in to pick at some seeds that had been left on the railings.

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch and Black-capped Chickadee

Around the corner and… no sign of the dipper. While there’s a bit of open water, there’s no sign of the elusive swimming songbird. On a lighter note, we did manage to get some great light to show off the always stunning iridescence of one of the most maligned city birds, the Rock Pigeon.

Rock Pigeon

Rock Pigeon

We decided to follow the river bank on the south side, as there appeared to be more open water up closer to the storm water drainage, and after spotting some Mallards splashing about, the mysterious and wonderful American Dipper made its appearance. While it was a bit far off, we viewed it from afar and snapped away, thinking this shy creature would keep its distance.

American Dipper - At a distance

American Dipper - Keeping its distance

American Dipper making a splash

American Dipper making a splash

After it disappeared around a bend, we stopped above the outflow of the drainage pipe to peer across the river at a Northern Flicker, and I just so happened to look down at the right moment, as the light caught it just right… the American Dipper! There it sat, not 40 feet away, and about 10 feet below us, casually sunning itself and searching for insects in the open water. In fact, it behaved as if nothing at all was unusual about fifteen people staring at it for what seemed like an eternity, that it was us that decided it was time to carry on.

American Dipper

American Dipper

American Dipper - nictating membrane

The white nictitating membrane over its eyes allow the American Dipper to see under water while protecting its eyes. It also has a pair of scales that close off its nostrils while under water.

American Dipper

American Dipper

 Around the curve of the pathway, another sharp-eyed attendee spotted an unknown falcon sitting high up on the slope, and we heard the tell-tale harassing calls of a trio of Blue Jays from an adjacent tree. After considering the field marks and weighing the size, body proportions, and discussing the differences between the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, we ultimately decided that this was in fact a Merlin. Merlins, Coopers Hawks, and Sharp-shinned Hawks all share similar markings, size, and from a distance can be troublesome to identify. Juveniles of all three species are typically separated out on only a few field marks, most of which only apparent from close observation, but adults, such as this one, are much easier to properly ID. Note the faint moustache, brown streaky chest and belly, dark eye with pale eyebrow, and mostly pale and indistinct facial markings. The brown crown feathers indicate that this is either a female or juvenile Merlin, as the male has a light blue-gray crown. Also note that my photo of the Merlin from 400 meters away was so indistinct that I was forced to return later to attempt some better shots of this little beauty. Thankfully, she cooperated.

Merlin

Merlin

As we were heading out,  Bob Lefebvre managed to spot a Golden-crowned Kinglet alighting atop one of the trees near the Merlin, and with that, we headed back into the park. Near Bridge 8 we spotted two of our only Downy Woodpeckers of the day.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Back into the brush we headed west, and after a quiet bit of walking, we found a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches feeding from a small hole in this spruce, that had been repurposed as a feeding station.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

We continued through the forested area, hearing a call not unlike that of a European Starling, but more steady and higher pitched. It’s a song I haven’t heard in months, and while I couldn’t place it, once again Bob’s expert ear identified it as a Pine Siskin, a good number of which we saw flitting amongst the treetops.

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin

Onward to the last leg of our journey – a copse of spruce that was home to a group of Boreal Chickadees, as well as a Brown Creeper seen earlier in the week. The Boreal Chickadees made themselves known fairly quickly, and while we heard the Brown Creeper a number of times, we could not spot it after spending a good twenty minutes searching for it.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

All in all, it was a great day! If I can keep up at this rate, I’ll hit my goal of 200 species by May… and then what will I do?

Active feeding!

Jan21

While I was in Calgary over the holidays I took some photographs of feeding nuthatches and I thought I would share them with you so as to illustrate some of the effort that these little guys put into this common daily activity!

Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the way nuthatches feed perfectly, ” an intense ball of energy “, is exactly what they are!

When they start hacking away, usually their legs are the only part of their bodies not moving!

 

Posted by Matthew Sim

 

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Jan 16

Jan17

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 Jan 16, 2012.

JAN 12

NORTHERN HAWK OWL – 2 in Water Valley area; one seen 3 kms south of Water Valley on Twp Rd 292, the second at the north end of the Grand Valley Rd 9.6 kms southeast of Water Valley and 2.5 kms north of the Larson Pasture Road (Twp Rd 284) junction, seen by Ross Lein and Val Haynes
NORTHERN PYGMY OWL – in a logged area at the southwest corner of Grand Valley Road – Larson Pasture Road junction, seen by RL and VH
HERMIT THRUSH – in west Fish Creek PP about 300 metres west of Bebo Grove on the gravel path, Hank Vanderpol

JAN 13

GOLDEN EAGLE – Linda Vaxvick saw one on Hwy 27 just west of Hwy 837

JAN 14

LESSER SCAUP – immature reported by Bill Wilson at the 22X Bridge in Fish Creek PP
TURKEY VULTURE – seen by Steve Ayrheart on Hwy 1A just east of 84 Street between Calgary and Chestermere Lake
GREAT GRAY OWL – near Water Valley, seen by Richard Clarke, phone Richard at 253-8063 for location
BELTED KINGFISHER – in Griffith Woods Park , Steve Kassai
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER – as above
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH – 100+ reported by RC at Barrier Mtn Dr in Exshaw

JAN 15

LESSER SCAUP – reported by Gus Yaki and the FFCCPP at the same location as reported the previous day
MOURNING DOVE – 2 in Pat Bumstead’s yard in Calgary Lynnwood, call at 403-279-5892
AMERICAN ROBIN – 8 in PB’s yard on Jan 15
DARK-EYED JUNCO – appearing in Margaret Brunner’s yard in Calgary for the past week
COMMON GRACKLE – in Pat Bumstead’s yard for the past week

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu Jan 19.

My not-so-Common Redpolls

Jan12

This topic has come up a lot this winter; all the wintering finches here this year. I am going to add on to this topic once again.

My yard in southeast Calgary has gathered a fairly respectable list; about 90 species of birds have visited it in the last 10 years. The Common Redpoll is on this list, having been seen in my yard once in 2009 for all of about 10 seconds. For whatever reason, my community is not favored by redpolls. This year, though, they were everywhere, including my yard.

On December 23, I had a redpoll in my yard for almost half an hour. And not only was it in my yard, but it visited my feeders as well.

We have been seeing so many finches this winter likely because it is an irruption year; a year when food sources (such as catkins and cone crops for finches and lemmings for Snowy Owls) are hard come by on these birds’ normal wintering grounds.

It’s neat for me to be able to see birds I don’t usually see in my backyard, such as the not-so-Common ( in my neighborhood) Redpoll.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Winter Killdeer

Dec24

Last weekend on the Christmas Bird Count, I came across a very photogenic Killdeer. These abundant shorebirds, usually only stay the summer in Calgary, several birds, however, also stay the winter.

Despite our frigid winters, these hardy Killdeer seem to manage all right, we see them throughout the winter which must mean that they are surviving. They are definitely finding food, as can be seen in the photo below.

This Killdeer seemed to be finding enough food

At one point, I even saw this particular bird with a small morsel of food clenched in its beak.

This Killdeer was fearless and approached me; which is quite a nice change as a photographer! It also engaged in the species peculiar method of moving; they run for a few feet, stop, look around, flick their tail up, bob their head up and down a couple times, and then repeat this cycle over again.

Just finished a short run, the Killdeer stops, looks around and...

Bobs it's head out of the photo, leaving the photographer with an unusual result; but a good story!

Each year, Killdeer are seen wintering in Calgary, somewhere on the Bow River. Though it may seem like a daft idea to many of us, this species obviously are doing just fine!

A Merry Christmas to you from all of us here at the blog!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Schoolyard Swainson’s

Dec22

Last July, right before I moved to Texas, I was treated to an incredible sight: a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk perched on a fence in a school parking lot. This hawk was incredibly close to the sidewalk and allowed for some great photos, all the while sitting calmly on its perch.

 This hawk didn’t seem to be injured, it just seemed to be very tolerant of people. Supposedly, Swainson’s Hawks are accepting of human activity and tolerate even more in areas where this activity is more frequent. This species will often become accustomed to disturbance from humans, thus the higher level of tolerability. This hawk, however did still seem to be giving me the evil eye!

After a couple minutes, the impressive raptor, slowly turned away (above) and resumed its activities as if I wasn’t even there.

This is not the first time this year that a Swainson’s Hawk has allowed me to get very close to it, back in May, while we bloggers were doing the Big Sit, we observed a Swainson’s that allowed us to watch it from merely several feet away http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/swainsons-hawk/.

This was definitely one of the cooler birding parts of the summer!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Carburn and Southland Park Christmas Bird Count

Dec21

This year, I also did the Christmas Bird Count; I was assigned the S1 route, encompassing both Carburn and Southland Park. We started the morning birding from the Eric Harvie bridge in Southland, right beside the dog park, before splitting up, 2 groups going south along the river (one on each side) and 2 groups going north along the river. The day was off to a good start as we observed 2 adult eagles and 2 immature eagles flying low overhead; the rising sun was beautiful, adding to the good beginning and silhouetting the many ducks and geese on the Bow River.

We observed thousands of Mallards, Common Goldeneyes and Canada Geese throughout the day with several hundred Buffleheads as well. There were also several Barrow’s Goldeneyes in these waterfowl flocks.

The Common Goldeneyes weren’t quite as numerous as the Mallards however they were still present in large numbers.

We continued to walk further down the river, spotting Redpolls, plenty of waterfowl, Killdeer, magpies and… RUSTY BLACKBIRD!!! As we were hiking along the river, we flushed up a brownish-black bird about the size of a Robin from the bank. It landed nearby at the top of a poplar where we all got good looks at it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my photographs of this species! This blackbird, is an unusual bird in Calgary, explaining, perhaps, my excitement at the sighting (also, this was only my second time seeing this species).

We headed back to the meeting spot, the Eric Harvie Bridge, where we saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk and discovered that another group had found an American Wigeon. We then headed to our next stop, Tim Hortons! After warming up and getting refreshments at Tim Hortons, we headed out near the Glenmore bridge, where at a pullout, we walked out and did some more birding, turning up a Killdeer and a Hairy Woodpecker.

The next and final stop for our group was Carburn Park. Our goal at Carburn, was to find an American Pipit  that had been reported here a little while earlier. Though we couldn’t agree to the location where this bird had been seen, we did manage to find it. This happens to be the first pipit recorded on the Calgary CBC since its beginning, 59 years ago.

Also in Carburn, we found a pair of Great Horned Owls, that were extremely well camouflaged against the tree branches they were perched on, several more Barrow’s Goldeneyes and another juvenile eagle. I decided to head home early and only found out later that the rest of the group had also found a Northern Pintail and a Wood Duck in Carburn. I birded around my neighborhood, which was inside our count circle, and managed to add both species of crossbills, a robin and a Merlin to our list, among other species.

The pipit and the Rusty Blackbird were definitely the highlights of the day for me, however they were only two of the 33 species and 7924 individuals recorded by 10 counters in this particular area. Here are the complete results:

Canada Goose, 1500; Wood Duck, 1; American Wigeon, 1; Mallard, 3000; Northern Pintail, 1; Bufflehead, 150; Common Goldeneye, 2800; Barrow’s Goldeneye, 20; Common Merganser, 20; Bald Eagle, 5; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1; Merlin, 1; Killdeer, 5; Rock Pigeon, 25; Great Horned Owl, 2; Downy Woodpecker, 5; Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Northern Flicker, 3; Black-billed Magpie, 125; American Crow, 3; Common Raven, 12; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 3; White-breasted Nuthatch, 3; American Robin, 1; Dark-eyed Junco, 1; Rusty Blackbird, 1; House Finch, 4; Red Crossbill, 12; White-winged Crossbill, 26; Common Redpoll, 25; House Sparrow, 110; American Pipit, 1.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Rare Bird Alert Calgary: Dec 19

Dec20

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 Monday December 19.

December 17
–RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER: Been around for over a month at feeders behind 506-4str., High River, behind George Lane Park.
–BLUE-WINGED TEAL:(F) Bow River at Policeman’s Flats, end of Bow River Bottom Trail, off Dunbow Rd, by Terry Korolyk.
–AMERICAN WIGEON: same as above.
–GADWALL: near 22x bridge on the Bow River, by TK
–LESSER SCAUP: same as above.
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL: SW of Turner Valley, at 226 Ave and 112 Str, by Ross Lein.
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE(3): Beaverdam Flats, by Steve Karsai.
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK: same as above.

December 18:
The following species were all seen during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count:

–AMERICAN PIPIT: Bow River at Carburn Park.
–GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH: at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.
–CANVASBACK: Bow River near downtown Calgary.
–PIED-BILLED GREBE: mouth of the Elbow River.
–NORTHERN HARRIER: along 50th Ave on eastern edge of the city.
–HARRIS’S SPARROW: substation on 50th Ave. SE., and another also in SE Calgary.

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday December 22.

It’s good to be back…

Dec19

I flew in to Calgary from Houston last Friday night and was greeted by snow on the ground! Something that I haven’t seen since April. Never thought that I would be so excited to see snow. My first day back, Saturday, I took a walk around my neighborhood and was fortunate enough to see most of the locals; no not the neighbors, the birds.

First thing in the morning, I woke to see several Black-billed Magpies jumping and hollering about in the willow. Several Common Ravens flew overhead and 2 pairs of Chickadees visited the feeders. I was very happy to see the Black-capped Chickadees, nothing can compare with this species’ friendliness!

I have been following the reports from Albertabird still and I have seen all the reports of winter finches; I knew what a good year it was for these birds. I just didn’t know how good! In my hour or so walk, I saw more Crossbills then I did all last winter. I must have seen more than 100 crossbills!

Most of the crossbills were White-winged however there were a few Red Crossbills in the mix ( see photo above). I also observed many Pine Siskins that were flocking with the crossbills and feeding on the abundant cones.

My neighborhood, for some reason, never seems to be popular with Common Redpolls, however this year, within my first 24 hours of being back in Calgary, I had already seen 2 in my community. Also, we hosted a Pine Grosbeak, which is unusual for us. At one point, I was privileged to see several crossbills, a redpoll and many siskins on the ground just feet in front of me, licking up some sort of salt or rock from the ground.

Then, later on in the day, I discovered why my feeders were so empty. Three Sharp-shinned Hawks were all together in a tree. When 3 raptors start calling your neighborhood home, there are definitely going to be some songbird declines.

All in all, it’s good to be back!

Posted by Matthew Sim

Tips on Bird Photography

Dec12

I think it is safe to say that most of us here have an interest in birdwatching. Some of us are also interested in photographing birds, documenting what we see and also enabling others to enjoy these sightings . Bird photography can be very tricky though and doesn’t always come out the way we want it to. Through trial and error as well as tips from other nature photographers, I have slowly learned different tricks of the trade and am still learning. Here is one trick that I have found helps me a lot.

Take a look at the picture above. Probably doesn’t do much for you, right? Just a killdeer photograph, nothing exciting about the shot itself. What could have been done to make this a better photograph? I have found that getting low can often drastically improve the photo. Get down at eye level with the bird, you can often create better eye contact with the bird, bringing the viewer into a connection with the photo. The Killdeer will then seem more interesting, not only because of the lower angle, but because of the  change in the depth of field of the shot.

Depth of field (also known as DOF), is the term for the amount of distance between the closest and farthest objects that appear sharp in the photograph. In the second picture above, a shallower depth of field (meaning a blurry background) makes the photo less distracting and more pleasing to the eye. In the photo pictured below, I took it one step further, instead of simply kneeling, I lay on my stomach, creating a very shallow depth of field and therefore, a picture that is more likely to catch your eye than the first photo.

Changing the depth of field is a remarkably simple technique but incredibly powerful in the way a photo comes out. By getting low, chances are you can improve your bird photography.

Posted by Matthew Sim