Tag Archive | Cedar Waxwing

Winter Waxwings of Calgary – Cedar and Bohemian

Posted by Bob Lefebvre. All photos by Ron Chiasson.

One of the awesome things about winter birding in Calgary in the chance to see flocks of up to 5000 Bohemian Waxwings in flight, feeding on berries and apples, or eating snow on rooftops.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Carburn Park, February 6, 2018.

These beautiful birds are only here in the winter, and their relatives, the Cedar Waxwings, are an uncommon summer breeder here. Although Cedar Waxwings are a late migrant, arriving in late May, and departing in October, there are usually some that attempt to overwinter here and they can sometimes be seen mixed in with the Bohemian Waxwings.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018, .

We usually find at least a couple of dozen Cedar Waxwings on the Calgary Christmas Bird Count. They seem to be concentrated in the Elbow Valley downstream from the Glenmore Dam. This year, there were quite a few in Carburn Park in the southeast, and in the north end of the city, in Confederation Park and Queen’s Park Cemetery. In February I saw a flock of 36 Cedars in a residential neighbourhood near those north-end parks.

Here are two shots of Ron’s that show the two species side-by-side:

Waxwing

Bohemian (left) and Cedar Waxwing (right), Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 6, 2018.

Waxwing

Bohemian (left) and Cedar Waxwing (right), Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 6, 2018.

These shots show some of the most obvious differences between the two: Bohemian Waxwings have cinnamon-red undertail coverts whereas Cedars have white; Bohemians are larger and more round-bodied than the sleek Cedars; Bohemians have a gray body including the belly, whereas Cedars are more brownish and have a pale yellow belly (sometimes white, but never gray). In the following shots you will also see that Bohemians have white tips on their wings (as well as red and yellow on adult birds) while Cedars only have the red tips (the wax) on adult birds and never show white in the wing.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing flock, Calgary, February 6, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Carburn Park, February 6, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 1, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing, Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 1, 2018.

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwings, Confederation Park, March 1, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing portrait, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Confederation Park, February 28, 2018.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing, Queen’s Park Cemetery, March 6, 2018.

See more of Ron Chiasson’s photos here.

Autumn Birds by Tony LePrieur

Some birds photographed in Calgary and area this fall by Tony LePrieur.

Warbling Vireo

Solitary Sandpiper

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

American Redstart

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Greater Yellowlegs

Wilson’s Warbler

Cedar Waxwing

Common Grackle

Song Sparrow

Great Horned Owl

Merlin

Swainson’s Hawk

White-throated Sparrow

Greater Yellowlegs

To see more of Tony’s nature photographs, see his Flickr page.

Summer Birds by Tony LePrieur

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

We’re back! After a really long summer hiatus, it’s time to get posting again. I have a lot of great photos that readers have sent in, and we’ll start with some of Tony LePrieur’s excellent photos of summer birds. Be sure to check back on Friday for his photos of a wide variety of mammals.

First I wanted to mention that although it may seem like a quiet time of year, especially with the steady hot weather we have had, the past couple of weeks have been pretty good for fall warblers and other migrants. Confederation Park in the NW and several locations in the river valleys (notably Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park and Carburn Park in the SE) have had some good birds. Black-and-white, Townsend’s, Magnolia, Canada, Blackburnian, Mourning and Cape May Warblers have all been reported, among others. A Lark Sparrow has been seen at Mallard Point.

I also wanted to mention that a Peregrine Falcon has been seen perched on the Peter Lougheed Hospital in NE Calgary on two occasions by reader R. Michael Fisher, on August 12 and 20. It may be worth checking for it if you’re in the area.

And now for Tony’s photos.

Cedar Waxwing, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Eastern Kingbird, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Spotted Sandpiper, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Great Gray Owl, Priddis area, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Great Gray Owl, Priddis area, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Calliope Hummingbird, Weaselhead. June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Sora, Bridlewood Wetlands, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Creek Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Wood Duck female with chicks, Carburn Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Yellow Warbler, Carburn Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Frank Lake, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Wilson’s Phalarope, Frank Lake, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Yellow Warbler, Fish Creek Park, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Creek Park, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

To see more of Tony’s photos, go to his Flickr page.

 

Sunday Showcase: Baby Birds, Summer Adults

Photos taken by Tony LePrieur on the weekend of June 26, 2016, at Fish Creek park and Bridlewood Wetlands in Calgary, at Frank lake, and in the Priddis area. There are lots of juvenile birds being fed out there right now!

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Male Red-winged Blackbird feeding juvenile.

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American Coot babies.

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Yellow-headed Blackbird feeding juvenile.

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Cedar Waxwing.

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Gray Catbird.

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Willet in an unusual spot.

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Eastern Phoebe.

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Mallard with ducklings.

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Hungry Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird.

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Adult Black Terns.

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Female Mountain Bluebird with nesting material – raising a second brood?

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Male Mountain Bluebird.

Sunday Showcase: Birds of Late Spring

Here are some photos taken by Tony LePrieur in the Calgary region in mid-June. Many young birds have now fledged. The photos were taken in Fish Creek Park and at Frank lake.

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American Avocet.

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American Avocets with chick.

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American Avocet.

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American Avocet chick.

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Great Horned Owl (juvenile).

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White-faced Ibis.

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Swainson’s Hawk with Meadow Vole.

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Eastern Kingbird.

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Western Kingbird.

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Clay-colored Sparrow.

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House Wren.

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Least Flycatcher.

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Cedar Waxwing.

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Warbling Vireo.

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American Coot with chick.

Do you have bird photos you’d like to share? Send them to our email address and we may post them.

Winter Surprises at Beaverdam Flats

Posted by Dan Arndt

There are few parks in town that I have such a love/hate relationship with more than Beaverdam Flats. While it’s great for getting good, close looks at Bald Eagles, and also seeing a huge number of them, there really tends not to be too much here that you can’t get better looks at, or see greater abundance in some of the other parts of town. Waterfowl are generally more diverse at Carburn Park, or along the Bow River in the eastern parts of Fish Creek Park. Songbirds are usually more abundant at Votier’s Flats and Bebo Grove, and the rare chances of seeing Great Horned Owls here are more regularly seen at Sikome Lake or at the Bow Valley Ranche. This time around was not too much different, but right at the end we had a couple very nice surprises that made the quiet morning a little more worthwhile.

Beaverdam Flats - January 17, 2016

Beaverdam Flats – January 24, 2016

While our usual route is picked so that we can have the sun at our backs for the majority of the walk, that morning was, as was typical of much of January, gloomy, overcast, and a little windy. We weren’t really expecting too much in the way of snow or bad weather though, so our luck has held fairly solid this season so far. Our first couple birds of the day aside from a few distant Bald Eagles were some Common Redpolls down along the creek, which turned out to have a Hoary Redpoll among them after I’d looked at my photos afterward!

Common (left) and Hoary (right) Redpolls

Common (left) and Hoary (right) Redpolls

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Along the river, as is usual for this time of year, were hundreds of Canada Geese. By this time of the morning, many had already begun to fly off to the fields surrounding Calgary to feed, but there were still a good number right on the water, and many more travelling up and down the river bed.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

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During the first half hour of our walk, again, quite typical of the expected birds at Beaverdam Flats, we observed half a dozen different Bald Eagles, some adult, some immature of varying ages. Almost at random it seemed, the flyovers of some would cause the waterfowl to flush off the water, while others simply got a casual eye turned up at them. One reason seems to be that the waterfowl are able to tell how full the crop of these raptors is, so they can tell whether the eagles are actively hunting or simply checking the menu.

adult Bald Eagle

adult Bald Eagle

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In addition to the numerous Canada Geese and Mallards on the river, Common Goldeneye were abundant, though those three species were pretty much the only ones out that day. Many years we’ll have numerous Common Mergansers, Barrow’s Goldeneye, even Hooded Mergansers and occasionally American Wigeon as this stretch of river is downstream from a water treatment plant.

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

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Sadly, once we turned back to head along the north stretch of our walk, things got very, very quiet. We heard a handful of White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, and even a small number of Downy Woodpeckers fighting over territory, but it seems the flood damage in the interior part of the park is still keeping the usual songbird numbers low, at least in the winter.

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

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Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

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The northern section of this park is currently closed and under remediation by the City of Calgary due to flood damage, and more details about this repair can be found here: City of Calgary – Beaverdam Flats

We turned around at the fenced off area and had a quiet walk back to the base of the hill below where we had parked, and it seemed like that’s when things really started to get busy for us! A few juvenile Bald Eagles soared by low overhead and gave some great photo opportunities, especially this guy who was maybe 50 feet overhead.

immature Bald Eagle

immature Bald Eagle

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While we were watching this young eagle, there was some faint tweeting and rustling in the shrubs behind us. This is a usual spot for us to find Townsend’s Solitaires, Rusty Blackbirds, and American Robins in the winter, though the number of juniper bushes along this hill has seemingly disappeared in the years since the 2013 flood. There were a pair of American Robins bustling about in the berry shrubs on the far edge of the shrubline, making it hard to get a really good look at them, but there were a few openings here and there.

American Robin

American Robin

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It wasn’t until we got close enough to get these shots of the robins through the shrubs that we heard the tell-tale trill of waxwings feeding low in the bush. When they popped out into the open, it was clear that these weren’t Bohemian Waxwings, and that there were more than a handful of these birds down there. In all, five Cedar Waxwings were present in the bushes, with one little one appearing to only be a few months old, likely a late hatching immature bird from last September or early October.

adult Cedar Waxwing

adult Cedar Waxwing

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immature Cedar Waxwing

immature Cedar Waxwing

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It always makes it worthwhile to get out there, no matter how uncertain the weather or how typically dull one park or another can be, and it’s these random finds that you’d never even think to look for that turn up at the most unusual places.

Have a good week, and good birding!

North Glenmore Park and the Glenmore Reservoir

Posted by Dan Arndt

On our visits to the Weaselhead on both May 31 and June 14, we visited parts of North Glenmore Park in search of shorebirds, Brown Thrashers, and whatever else might turn up.

North Glenmore Park - May 31 and June 14

North Glenmore Park – May 31 and June 14

We found a couple of great birds on both days, with a Nelson’s Sparrow and a Brown Thrasher as their usual spots on May 31, and on June 14 we found a Caspian Tern and a beautifully lit Cedar Waxwing during a brief moment of pale sunshine.

This Brown Thrasher has been a regular visitor to the park during the May Species Count, usually found just below Parking Lot “C”, but we also heard two others singing in the Weaselhead that morning, which is a good sign that they’re actually increasing in numbers around here. Their random, rambling, repeating song is distinctive, and usually how we find them first, long before we ever see them. This guy decided to pop up into the aspens and sing for us as we watched.

Brown Thrasher Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 500

Brown Thrasher
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 500

On the north end of the park are a series of small ponds for stormwater runoff. Thankfully, on May 31, it was fairly calm and clear, so we did get a chance to walk out onto one of the small spits of land where I was hearing a Nelson’s Sparrow singing, and again, he decided to pop out into the open for us to get a few looks at him.

Nelson's Sparrow Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 2000

Nelson’s Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 2000

On June 14, I was notified of a Caspian Tern on the Glenmore Reservoir, so after our morning walk a few of us headed over to take a look for it. Thankfully we found it right where it had been seen all morning, at first resting, and then a few times lifting its head to display that bright red bill and gape at some of the low flying swallows. Perhaps it was simply tired of being buzzed by their nearby flights!

Caspian Tern and Franklin's Gulls Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640

Caspian Tern and Franklin’s Gulls
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640

We went over to look for the Brown Thrasher again, but sadly we only caught a brief glimpse of it. We did find this Cedar Waxwing sitting nice and pretty in the same tree that the Brown Thrasher was singing from two weeks prior.

Cedar Waxwing Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

Cedar Waxwing
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

Have a great week, and good birding!

A new season of birding begins with the Friends of Fish Creek

Posted by Dan Arndt

This post recounts our first Sunday outing of the season with the Friends of Fish Creek, Autumn Birding course on September 7, 2014.

While it’s been a few weeks since our first outing, it’s still great to be back birding in Calgary’s incredible parks. Our first week back was a visit to Carburn Park, where Gus Yaki had led a few late summer birding trips in search of fall warblers, turning up a wide variety of great birds. By the time we got there in early September though, most of them had moved on, though a few Yellow-rumped Warblers were still to be found here and there!

Yellow-rumped Warbler Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 800

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 800

Along the river was our best and most productive area throughout the walk though. Early on, a male Belted Kingfisher flew across the river and right over our heads, not too common a sight!

Belted Kingfisher Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 250

Belted Kingfisher
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 250

A bit further down the river, a young Bald Eagle flew overhead and gave some great flybys. It’s likely that this is one of the young from a nearby nest across the river from Carburn Park. This is one of the best places to view Bald Eagles in the late fall and through the winter as the river freezes over and the waterfowl congregate in the open water.

immature Bald Eagle Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 160

immature Bald Eagle
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 160

Cedar Waxwings were everywhere, picking mosquitos and other small insects out of the air by the dozen, while much higher overhead the Franklin’s and Ring-billed Gulls did the same with recent hatches of flying ants.

Cedar Waxwing Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500

Cedar Waxwing
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500

We did have some great looks at some Double-crested Cormorants at the furthest north “pond”, or what used to be a pond, anyhow. The flood of 2013 stripped away the banks and trees at the north end, turning what used to be a large, deep pond into the primary river channel, and good habitat for the Double-crested Cormorants and even one Great Blue Heron to sun themselves and hunt for fish.

Double Crested Cormorants Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 640

Double Crested Cormorants
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 640

Great Blue Heron sunning itself Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 400

Great Blue Heron sunning itself
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 400

This young heron took the opportunity to open up its wings and absorb the sun, like some of the cormorants were doing further up on the debris. Soon, both of these species will be headed south to warmer climes while the mercury dips close to the freezing point and below through the course of our walks this fall.

Thanks again for reading, and good birding!

 

Waxwings, From Egg to Fledgling

This summer Tony LePrieur found a Cedar Waxwing nest in Fish Creek Park, and he managed to capture this amazing sequence of photos showing the young birds from hatching to fledging, over a period of sixteen days.

The nest was about three feet off the ground, in the Votier’s Flats area of Fish Creek Provincial Park. Tony was careful not to be intrusive, making four very short visits over a period of just over three weeks. Initially there were four eggs in the nest. Photos were taken with a Canon 60d and a 18-135 mm lens.

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As a bonus, I will post a photo of a slightly older juvenile Cedar Waxwing. It was spotted by Cicely Schoen hunkering down under a lawn chair in the Woodlands neighbourhood in SW Calgary during last week’s snowstorm. She calls it “The Original Angry Bird”.

The Original Angry Bird

“The Original Angry Bird” – Juvenile Cedar Waxwing.   Photo by  Cicely Schoen

Nikon 5100 with Nikkor lens 55-200mm.

Did you know…

Posted by Matthew Sim

 

I am going to try this out as a new weekly post in which I will feature a fact or two about a bird species or birding topic and hopefully with a photo included. So, for this week`s Did you know… we feature the Cedar Waxwing.

 

Did you know…

The Cedar Waxwing is one of the few birds in North America that can live primarily off fruit. Thanks to this eating habit, when young cowbirds are raised in Cedar Waxwing nests the cowbirds usually don`t survive because they can`t live off a diet of fruit. This is a double-edged sword for the waxwings though as sometimes they get quite drunk and can occasionally die when they eat overripe berries that are fermenting and producing alcohol.

Cedar Waxwing