Register here to join backyard feeder watchers, or urban walking or driving routes.
The more eyes we have looking for birds during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count on December 15th, the better picture we will have of winter bird populations in Calgary.
Cassin’s Finch, the first ever seen on the Calgry CBC, in 2023. Photo by Laura Bentley.
We could use a few more people to join existing teams who will be covering established routes driving or walking in a few parts of the city. (Refer to the section numbers on the map below.) This includes routes in the far NW (N9), Beaverdam Flats area (E1), Dover/Erin Woods/Forest Lawn/Marlborough neighbourhoods (E-5), the area south of Downtown along the Elbow River (W-3), a large section of the SW including North Glenmore Park (W-5), the large western edge of the Count Circle from Canada Olympic Park south to Griffiths Woods (W-6), and even Carburn Park (S-1) which is the section that usually finds the most species of birds. Please register if you’d like to help out in one of these areas – you can specify your preferred section number when you register.
Some sections have no one covering them at all yet. If you would like to do one of these by yourself, or lead a small team, again please register. Areas available include Bowness including Bowness Park (N1), The U of C grounds and parts of Varsity and Shouldice (N-4a), Parkdale and the rest of Shouldice (N-4b), and the Capitol Hill area (N-7 lower).
As always, in addition to the field teams, we will accept as many people as we can get counting birds at their feeders in their yards. You can watch for as little as 30 minutes on Count Day. Just select “Feeder Watcher” on the registration form under “How do you want to participate?” (Note that you must live within the Count Circle as shown on the map, in order that your Feeder Watcher results can count for the CBC.)
Once again, the count is Sunday December 15th.Register here!
Please register to take part in the field or at home
The Calgary CBC will be on Sunday December 15. We need birders to take part out in the field counting birds, as well as Feeder Watchers counting in their yards. All participants, whether new or returning birders, must register so we have up-to-date contact information, and, for Feeder Watchers, correct addresses.
Redpoll (at the time, Common Redpoll) taken by Lou Zaganelli on the 2023 Count.
Here is everything you need to know about the Christmas Bird Count, from organizer Matt Wallace:
I am inviting you to take part in the upcoming 2024 Calgary Christmas Bird Count (CBC) happening on December 15!
As you likely know, the CBC is the longest-running citizen science project which began in the year 1900 as a way to encourage people to appreciate birds while helping to conserve them through data collection. The Calgary event began in 1952 and is one of the largest CBC events in Western Canada with nearly 400 people participating annually.
Consider this event to be the annual census of our winter birds in Calgary! It requires lots of people and effort to conduct this event, so we are always looking for birders of all experiences and abilities to take part. We really aim to use this event as a way to build up our community of nature enthusiasts and would love for you to share the event information with your friends, family, colleagues, and community.
We have 38 circle sections and assign people to survey designated sections. All birds are identified and counted, and it usually runs the entire day depending on our participant’s availability. Bird submissions are made via eBird and shared with our CBC Compiler account. We also accept field templates from people who prefer to use them.We have section leaders who work with their groups to determine meeting locations, targeted areas, summarize effort data, and submit it back to our compilation team. We are looking for both field participants and field leaders (both returning and new).
Feeder Watchers (FWs):
People (individuals and families) observe birds visiting their yards and feeders for a minimum of 30 minutes on count day. FWs submit their data using a pre-formatted template which we provide. FWs are very important for our count as they help to fill in the data gaps where our field teams can’t access due to time or privacy. FWs must reside within the count circle, but we will confirm your address to ensure you are eligible to participate.
Data Entry/ Analysis:
Anyone interested in helping us to compile data is welcome! I often receive hundreds of emails with data templates, photos, and stories of the CBC. I manage but would love to have an assistant to help with this!
We continue to expand on our ways of showcasing the hard work of our volunteers. We have approximately 20 years of data (30 binders or so) which includes the detailed “section data” for the Calgary count. Yes, we submit all of the cumulative count “Circle” data to Audubon each year, but the section data is of interest to us on a local scale for showing how changes in our landscape and may influence bird populations.We would like to get all of this data entered prior to the 2024 count so that we can provide some additional infographics and analysis at the results presentation in January 2025.
In addition to the data entry, we would love anyone with skills in GIS and data visualization to join our compilation team in producing the final report (for media and the community).
So, all that’s left to do is register so I have your contact information, and we will be in touch soon! We look forward to you joining our CBC and thank you! Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions citynatureyyc@gmail.com.
The City Nature Challenge is unique in that anyone can participate anywhere in the area from April 26-29. But if you want to take part with an organized group there are many events being offered.
To contribute to the CNC you have to post your observations on the iNaturalist app or website. If you would like to learn how to use iNaturalist, or if you need a refresher or have any questions about the CNC, organizer Matt Wallace is offering a tutorial tonight, Tuesday April 23, at 7 pm. This will be done over Zoom. Here is the link to the meeting.
The CNC area includes Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Any iNaturalist obserations made in this area from April 26-29 will contribute to this project.
Matt has organized a number of events throughout the weekend. These include all-day blitzes, birding walks, and more specialized events such as pond study and a pollinator walk. Click the link below to see all the events!
For Nature Calgary members, there are three events on Sunday April 28 which are not full. These include a Birding Blitz on St. Patrick Island near the Zoo, a Bryophyte Blitz in the Weaselhead, and a Plant Walk in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. See this page to register.
More information from Matt Wallace:
April 26-29 take photos of wild plants and animals in your yards, neighborhoods, and favorite parks. Then upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or to iNaturalist.ca before Midnight May 5. This is the sixth year I have organized the Calgary CNC and it has grown immensely. There are over 700 cities involved worldwide and we are competing with them to see how many observations we can make, the number of species we can document, and the number of people we can get to participate. The two metrics I am most concerned with for our area are the number of observations and the participants.
My personal goal for CNC is that we can make a combined 10,000 observations or more during the four days. I also hope that we can make 250K observations by 2025 (We are currently at 169,000 observations just in Calgary). If each of us were to make even 10 observations over the weekend, we could make the CNC target and could be the top-performing Canadian city (49 participating Canadian cities this year).
The area which you can participate in during CNC includes: Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Foothills County, and Rocky View County. Participate in groups, at events or even go exploring on your own. Heck, make a “big day” out of the four days if you’re up for the challenge. I have helped to organize around 15 events across the region all happening Friday-Monday which can all be found on the website below.
Types of subjects we love to see shared on iNaturalist include Birds, Plants, Butterflies, Insects, Fungi, Lichens, Mosses, Mammals (pretty much everything and anything but NO people or pets).
The sixth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge is coming up soon. This four-day bioblitz is an effort to try to record as much of the Calgary and area biodiversity as possible. Cities around the world will be taking part in this effort, and competing to see who makes the most observations and records the most species. As usual, Calgary will be competing to try to increase our own participation and species numbers here.
From CNC Organizer Matthew Wallace:
The sixth annual Calgary City Nature Challenge takes place April 26-29! Over 650 cities worldwide will compete and collaborate to showcase their urban biodiversity! Participate by taking photos of wild plants and animals in your yards, neighborhoods, and favorite parks over the four days. Then, upload your observations to the iNaturalist app or iNaturalist.ca!
There are several public events happening across the city which include pollinator walks, guided birding tours, and park bioblitzes. You can also just head out to explore on your own or with a group of friends.
Participate anywhere within the Calgary Metropolitan Region which includes Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, Rocky View County, and Foothills County.
The deadline to upload your observations to iNaturalist is midnight May 5.
Cities will compete to see which can make the most observations, document the most species, and engage the most people. Calgary aims to be the top-performing Canadian city with a goal of over 10,000 observations posted. Make as many observations as you can April 26-29 so get outside and help to put Calgary’s biodiversity on the map!
Check out all of the CNC resources on the following pages:
As birders, we can participate by taking as many photos of birds as we can over the four days. Any identifiable photo is good so don’t worry too much about the quality of your pictures. We also need to document everything, so don’t hesitate to photograph House Sparrows, Black-billed Magpies, and other common species. Then you have until midnight on May 5 to upload your photos to iNaturalist.
An adult Bald Eagle I photographed near the Inglewood Golf Course on the 2023 CNC. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
While you’re out there, you can also get photos of non-bird biodiversity with your camera. Maybe you won’t know what species you have, but iNaturalist has an artificial intelligence that can help with the ID, and even if you have no idea, other iNaturalist users will help to identify everything.
Green-striped GrasshopperCanadian Beaver (signs of a species also count)Western Terrestial Garter SnakeHunt’s Bumble Bee and Golden Bean (two observations)CoyoteTansy
These were a few of the other species I saw on the 2023 CNC. I didn’t know some of the species identifications until I entered them into iNaturalist. (Photos by Bob Lefebvre.)
Since I have my phone with me when I’m birding, I can use it to get photos of other species which are difficult to get with a big camera (photos by Bob Lefebvre):
Elegant Sunburst LichenBrickwork WoodlouseWormwood Wallflower (not yet confirmed by the iNaturalist community)
I have found it to be a great experience to use iNaturalist to learn more about our overall biodiversity. Like most birders, I am interested in all of nature, not just birds.
Watch this short video about the 2024 Calgary City Nature Challenge:
Matthew has set a goal of having 10,000 observations made over the four days this year. In 2023 we had 9,301, so we are getting closer! We also hope to better our total of 762 species recorded last year.
So check out the project links above and plan to participate in an event, or just head out on your own!
Register now for Brooks (May 17-19) and Writing-On-Stone (May 24-26) Bird Counts 2024
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Registration is now open for these two southern Alberta counts. Calgary birders will need to arrange camping or hotel accommodations ahead of time, so register soon. Note that our local Calgary May Species Count is on the same dates as Writing-On-Stone one, but some of you may want to try helping out with that one down in the very south part of the province for a change of pace (I will have information on the Calgary count closer to that weekend).
Ferruginous Hawk, photographed in southern Alberta in 2018. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
From Debra Hornsby, who organizes the count along with Donna Wieckowski:
2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the Brooks count –- come celebrate this milestone with us! To register, click here: Brooks and Writing-on-Stone 2024 registration form. Registration will close on April 30, 2024.
We will hold pre-count meetings on the Fridays before each weekend. At these meetings we will assign count areas, distribute maps and checklists, go over count protocols, introduce your fellow birders, and answer questions. Please plan to be there. We will also host informal gatherings on the Saturday evenings – a great opportunity to get together to swap birding stories and win some fun prizes! A full schedule for both weekends can be found in the brochure below.
Because weather is sometimes inclement on the Brooks weekend, we have reserved a meeting space at the Heritage inn (note new location). We are asking each participant in the Brooks count to contribute $12.00 to cover meeting room costs. If you plan to join the Brooks count, please e-transfer $12.00 per person to Donna Wieckowski astolat@shaw.ca no later than May 15. Cheques and cash also accepted. Thanks!
If you have any registration questions, or if you have trouble with the form, please email me. Happy to help! Thanks for your support and happy birding!
Results of the January 1, 2024 Fish Creek Park Count.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The annual half-day bird count in Fish Creek Park was a lot of fun and a great success again this New Year’s Day. We had a high number of species, with high counts for several, and some new species for the count. It was another mild day, as it had been for pretty much the whole winter up to then.
Sunrise in Fish Creek Park, January 1, 2024. Photo by Matt Wallace.
Forty-three birders went out to eight sections of the park. We found a total of 42 species, up from the ten-year average of 35. There were two new species not recorded before (Cackling Goose and Greater Scaup), and record high counts for six others.
Cackling Goose
10
Canada Goose
2,321
Trumpeter Swan
3
Tundra Swan
4
American Wigeon
7
Mallard
771
Northern Pintail
1
Green-winged Teal
4
Redhead
2
Greater Scaup
1
Bufflehead
179
Common Goldeneye
920
Barrow’s Goldeneye
13
Common Merganser
27
Ring-necked Pheasant
2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
17
Sharp-shinned Hawk
3
Bald Eagle
12
Great Horned Owl
2
Belted Kingfisher
1
Downy Woodpecker
31
Hairy Woodpecker
11
Pileated Woodpecker
5
Northern Flicker
53
Merlin
4
Northern Shrike
1
Blue Jay
5
Black-billed Magpie
133
American Crow
2
Common Raven
86
Black-capped Chickadee
219
Mountain Chickadee
7
Boreal Chickadee
11
White-breasted Nuthatch
42
Red-breasted Nuthatch
33
Townsend’s Solitaire
2
American Robin
1
Bohemian Waxwing
277
House Sparrow
78
Pine Grosbeak
12
House Finch
20
Dark-eyed Junco
1
Our group covered the Hull’s Wood/Sikome Lake/Boat Launch areas. Matt Wallace took some great photos of our day.
Fish Creek near the Bow River. Photo by Matt Wallace.We found a group of four overwintering Tundra Swans on the Bow. Photos by Matt Wallace.We also count mammals. This Porcupine was snoozing up in a tree. Photos by Matt Wallace.WAY up in a tree.Despite the Park Rules, someone has been leaving seeds for the birds. This Downy Woodpecker was so used to being fed that it kept comng to our hands briefly even though we had no food. Photo by Matt Wallace.We wanted to take a team photo, so Dan grabbed a few seeds so that the Downy would stay long enough to get in the photo too. Photo by Matt Wallace.
This count is not an official Christmas Bird Count, but it has a pretty long history now, and it is an important tool to monitor the long-term population trends in the park. If you want to learn more about the count in all areas of the park, come to Birds & Beers this Thursday, February 8, where the Count Organizer Jim Washbrook will present the results and answer questions.
Results of the Calgary and Priddis Christmas Bird Counts will also be presented at Birds & Beers. In case you missed it, here are some of the results from the Calgary Count, showing the species recorded and the numbers of each:
Next Thursday, February 8th, we will have another Birds & Beers meeting in Calgary. As usual, we meet in the big ballroom at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW. The event starts at 5 pm.
A Black-billed Magpie seen by a Feeder Watcher on the 2023 Calgary Christmas Bird Count. Photo by Lou Zaganelli.
After some time for socializing, eating, and drinking, there will be a presentation on some of the recent Christmas Bird Counts that took place in the Calgary area. Matthew Wallace will present the results of the Calgary Count, Gavin McKinnon on the Priddis Count, and Jim Washbrook on the Fish Creek Park New Year’s Day Count. The presentation starts at about 7 pm.
A Common Redpoll seen on the Calgary Count. They have been scarce this winter here, but we had almost a hundred on the count. Photo by Lou Zaganelli.
Everyone is welcome at Birds & Beers! See you there!
The Calgary CBC will take place on Sunday December 17. If you want to take part either as part of a Field Team or as a backyard Feeder Watcher, please fill out the registration form. People who particpated last year will have already received this by email. Please only register once!
CBC Coordinator Matthew Wallace has created a CBC2023 Registration Form for all participants to fill out. We know that it’s a bit of a pain to have to fill this out annually. However, it drastically reduces the number of emails Matt receives and helps him to keep all of the information better organized (and updated if there are changes to your contact information). Please feel free to share the form with anyone you know who may be interested in taking part! The form is for ALL participants (Field Teams and Feeder Watchers).
Note that to be a Feeder Watcher, recording birds in your yard, you have to live within the Count Circle, which does not include the entire city. We will inform you if you resgister as a Feeder Watcher and your address lies outside the circle.
Great Horned Owl photographed by Matthew Wallace on last year’s Calgary CBC. December 19, 2021, Tsuut’ina Nation, Calgary.
Below is more information about the count from Matt Wallace:
Calgary Count Day: Sunday, December 17, 2023
As you know, we have two divisions for people to participate. Field Teams and Feeder Watchers. Both are critical roles for us to be able to get adequate coverage of the circle area. Below is a brief summary of the roles. I also want to thank both Lara Fitzpatrick and Bob Lefebvre for agreeing to assist with compilation of all of your data submissions!
Field Teams: Field Teams are composed of a circle Section Leader and section teams which help to survey a specific region of the circle. Leaders are generally carried forward from previous years but we often require a handful of NEW leaders to assist in circle areas which are unable to participate in any given year. The teams of volunteers communicate with their leaders to find out where they will survey. Sometimes this is as a group and other times teams are split up to cover their section. Each year we try our best to get everyone who has expressed interest in joining field teams out in the field and in an area of the city that they are interested in (BUT this is not always possible due to having too many people in one section and not others). Participants who are assigned to teams will be contacted by their Section Leaders to coordinate meeting locations or objectives (i.e. areas to search) in early December. Any late registrations will be offered spots where we are lacking participants. Trust me when I say we’ll do our best to get you in a zone that’s interesting but please have an open mind and be willing to travel if needed.
Field Team Data Submission: Once again, we are using eBird to submit our information: bird data (All birds identified and counted). Effort Data is collected by the section leaders for the entire team and is submitted via email using a template.
On the form this year I included a “Comments” section where you can express any interest in potentially being a new field leader.
Feeder Watchers:
FWs are responsible for counting birds at their properties on count day (Dec. 17). Feeder Watchers must reside or be participating at a residence within the count circle for us to be able to use the data. The minimum time required for counting birds is 30 minutes over the course of the day. This can be as a single session or broken up at various times throughout the day. Counting for longer than 30 minutes is encouraged! There is a specific methodology into how birds are counted as an FW. So if you register to be an FW, we will send out instructions into how this works prior to the count.
Feeder Watcher Data Submission: FW data is collected using templates and submitted back via email.
Count Week (December 14-20):
The CBC is essentially a census of all of the birds within our area. Occasionally, we can miss a couple rare birds so count week is an opportunity to scout locations and pick up any birds we may have missed. If you see any interesting birds during this period, please email me directly [citynatureyyc@gmail.com] so that we can include them as “Count Week” birds or notify section leaders to try and find them on count day!
The Calgary May Species Count is next Weekend, Saturday May 27 and Sunday May 28. There are a few routes still uncovered this year. You have a choice of several small city areas or some larger rural routes. You can do the count either day. Simply cover the area as well as you can, while recording all species of birds you can identify, and the numbers of each. While eBird is the preferred way to do this, you will still be able to participate and submit your observations for the count if you don’t use eBird.
The count organizer, Andrew Hart, will be able to give you more details on each route and on the procedure for the count. If you are interested, contact Andrew by email at andrewhartch@icloud.com, or by phone at (403) 608-8918.
Red-tailed Hawk with Garter Snake, Longview Area, 2017 May Species Count. Photo by Bob Lefebvre
City Routes Available:
Confluence Park. This is the area along the two branches of Nose Creek just north of Beddington Trail and west of Deerfoot Trail. There are paved paths throughout and it is a great area for birds.
Nose Hill North. This part of Nose Hill has never been covered so if you know the area, you can really contribute.
Twelve-Mile Coulee. A really nice area on the eastern side of Tuscany in the far NW.
Paskapoo Slopes. A significant wild area of the city near Canada Olympic Park. It has many hills and ridges and can be tough walking.
Nose Creek Valley. Another area along Nose Creek.
St. Patrick’s Island and Princes Island. Two adjacent parks in the downtown on the Bow River. I know many people have been attending all the birding walks on St. Patrick’s Island, so one of you should be able to cover this!
I spend one of the two count days doing a large rural route, and the other day going to a few small city areas. If someone wants some nice city routes or is familar with the areas, I would give them up so I could help on a larger rural route. The city routes are:
Bridlewood Pond. A really nice set of two small ponds where you can get up close and personal with the birds. Located on the SE edge of Bridlewood, just north of 22X near Spruce Meadows.
Strathcona Ravines. Two adjacent ravines in Strathcona in the west end. Really nice area to walk.
Rural Routes – refer to the numbered map areas below:
Area 15 – Water Valley South. Quite a different habitat than you find in the city.
Area 18 – Kananaskis – Mount Lorette. This is the spot where the Golden Eagle count is conducted.
19b – SW of Cochrane. Not too far out of the city.
30 – Didsbury East Bluebird Trail. The far northeast edge of the circle.
32 – Strathmore North. The eastern edge of the circle.
37 – Acme/Carbon. A large rural area, also in the northeast near the Didsbury area.
We want to cover the count circle as completely as possible. Please contact Andrew if you have any interest in this count, or if you may be interested in future years.
Wanted: Plant, fungus, insect, and bacteria experts!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The 5th annual City Nature Challenge took place last week, from April 28 to May 1. The period for making observations has ended, but participants have until midnight on Sunday May 7 to upload their photos. Many of us are still working on that. In addition, all the observations need to be identified and have at least two people agree on the species to be considered Research Grade. You can help with this!
But first an update on where the challenge stands. Calgary is doing very well again, and has set new city records for the number of observations, species recorded, and participants. Matthew Wallace, the organizer of the Calgary CNC, had set a goal of 10,000 observations made in the Calgary area. Although we are not there yet, we are close.
Although the CNC is not really a competition between cities due to differences in climate, habitats, and human populations, nevertheless we should note that Calgary is among the Canadian leaders in total observations made, and may well finish with the most. On Monday evening Montreal was leading with 6,516 observation, with Victoria at 6,344 and Calgary in third place with 6,137. As of late Friday (May 5) Calgary has taken the lead among Canadian cities:
It’s interesting to look at the statistics for the Global CNC:
Over 64,000 observers made 1.75 million observations and identified over 55,000 species worldwide in the four days. The numbers from the leading city, La Paz in Bolivia, are staggering! Over 3,000 people made 122,000 observations and identified over 5,000 species! It shows the difference that climate and geography make, but it also shows what can be achieved with a year-round concerted effort to get people involved. La Paz has a metropolitan population of about 2 million, so it is comparable to Calgary.
Below are the statistics for Calgary as of late Friday. So far, 760 species have been reported by 336 observers. Identifications have been provided by 392 people.
Once again Matthew Wallace was extremely busy on the weekend, making over 1,100 observations and recording 214 species (so far). But many others have also made hundreds of observations and recorded over 100 species each.
As you can see above, the Prairie Pasqueflower (the familiar spring crocus) is by far the most commonly reported species. Usually it is Mallard in first place, but the unusually hot and dry weather this year means that there were more early flowering plants reported, and more insects as well. This is where you come in.
When a photo is uploaded to iNaturalist, the artificial intelligence will try to identify it, and the observer can accept one of the suggestions or, if they know the species, can write it in or override a suggestion. Then all the other iNaturalist users in the world are able to view the observation, and agree with the identification or suggest an alternate one. Once an observation is uploaded with date, location, and a photo or sound file (and is wild or uncultivated), it is labelled “Needs ID.” Observations become “Research Grade” once 2/3 of identifiers agree on a species-level (or lower) ID. These are then eligible to be used in research projects.
There have been many observations submitted for the Calgary CNC that do not yet have a species-level ID, so are not Research Grade (this is normal; we want to get the photos of every species we can, whether we can confidently identify it or not. Identification comes later). All of the yellow ones below (about 3,000 observations) need additional identification. (Casual observations are not eligible for Research Grade. An example is a captive animal or cultivated plant.)
Any iNaturalist user can help to identify our observations from the CNC, or from anywhere in the world at any time. To see the Calgary observations, go to the Calgary Project Page. Click on the Observations tab, then “Identify.”
Here you can agree with the observer’s ID, or suggest another. See what the AI suggests. Where there are multiple photos of a species (like the Canadian Beaver, which has 3 photos) you can view them all. The filter set is the Calgary CNC region, but you can click that and set many more filters. For example, you might only be confident identifying birds, so you can set it to show only those. Birds are often quite easy to ID and there is a big birding community, so most of the bird observations quickly become Research Grade. But there are some unusual ones or less-than-perfect photos that still need ID for you keen birders. You can set a filter for “Needs ID” and only those will come up.
The Filters tab on iNaturalist. I set it to show reptiles that need ID and have photos.
If you are a plant, fungus, insect, or bacteria expert, there are many more observations that need to be verified. So if you think you can help, please open an account on iNaturalist Canada and give it a try! As I said, the project is complete at midnight on Sunday, but you can continue to contribute identifications (and observations!) to iNaturalist year-round. I find it is a lot of fun and a great way to learn to identify more species of all kinds.
For those of you who are interested in taking part in bioblitzes like the City Nature Challenge, the next such local event on iNaturalist is the Metro Calgary Biodiversity Challenge from June 8-11. See the project page for more information.
