Tag Archive | fish creek provincial park

Birding the Lafarge Meadows ponds

Posted by Matthew Sim

In the last few weeks, I have made several trips on my own down to the sloughs at Lafarge Meadows. There is always action there; be it coots feeding young ones, Pied-billed Grebes fishing, Ruddy Ducks courting, Red-necked Grebe diving or Yellow-headed Blackbirds chasing every other bird.

One of my favorite parts about the Lafarge Meadows sloughs are the Red-necked Grebes. I have counted as many as 4 pairs at a time on the ponds and have also enjoyed watching them court side by side.

Red-necked Grebe

The Red-necked Grebe is not the only grebe that can be seen at the ponds. The smaller Pied-billed Grebe also calls the sloughs home.

Pied-billed Grebe

So far, I haven’t seen any young Red-necked Grebes but I have seen several families of Pied-billed Grebes.

There are also several other families on the ponds, including Mallards and Common Goldeneyes.

Common Goldeneye family

And while I was enjoying these great sights; I couldn’t forget the birds that truly make a southern Albertan slough like the Ruddy Duck, the American Coot, the Yellow-headed Blackbird- and of course, on the mammal side of things, the Muskrat.

A Ruddy Duck- attempting to fly like an eagle?

Baby American Coot, looking nothing like an adult.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Muskrat

A Big Day in Fish Creek

Jun10

Posted by Matthew Sim

This past Friday, I did a Big Day in Fish Creek. For those of you who do not know what this is, a Big Day is when you try to see and hear as many species as possible within a 24 hour day. For my Big Day, I spent more than 10 hours in Fish Creek, doing the entire day by bike, riding about 74 kilometers (46 miles) throughout the park and recording 93 species of birds, falling short of my goal of 100. Temperatures ranged from 6-15 degrees Celsius and there were a few showers. I started at about 5am and took a 2 hour weather break at lunch time, hoping for some of the rain to blow over, before returning at 2 and counting for another 3 hours. A full list and a more detailed report of the day can be seen here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Albertabird/message/20841

Here are some photos from the day:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Red-necked Grebes

Blue-winged Teal

Tennessee Warbler

Ruddy Ducks

Male Common Yellowthroat

May Species Count – Hull’s Wood to Lafarge Meadows – Highlights

May31

Posted by Dan Arndt

One of the birding events that I have wanted to take part in since learning of it last year was the May Species Count. This is one of the many events that contribute to real science research on behalf of Bird Studies Canada. I was a little worried when taking on an entire area of my own, since I was certain that I’d miss some calls that a more experienced birder would have picked up and identified in seconds, or that I’d misidentify warblers, sparrows, or other shorebirds. Thankfully, I didn’t hear anything that really threw me for a loop (aside from a Western Meadowlark that sounded like it was a little confused) and didn’t see anything that I couldn’t readily identify with a quick reference to my Sibley Guide or Audubon’s Field Guide to Birds app.

Starting at about 5 AM, we hiked from the parking lot at Bow Valley Ranch, meandering south to 194th Avenue, then back north to the Ranch, which I’ve mapped below.

Hull’s Wood to Lafarge Meadows – May Species Count Route

Paul Turbitt came along both for the photo opportunities as well as to help out with spotting birds, but I always find the viewpoint of an experienced hunter and photographer incredibly valuable in the field. That, and having someone else around to see and hear birds that you might otherwise miss is indispensible. We racked up a total of 70 species, which included 3 new year birds for me, and something like 10-12 for Paul. It’s always great to show people new birds that they’ve never seen before, but also to get better views (and photos) of birds that you’ve seen dozens or hundreds of times before. Below are a few of my favourites from Saturday’s portion of the May Species Count.

Spotted Sandpiper

Alder Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

Great Horned Owls eating breakfast

Northern Shoveler

American Wigeon

Killdeer

Blue-winged Teal

Eastern Kingbird

Great Blue Heron

Red-winged Blackbird and Heron

: Great Horned Owl Fledgeling

Sunday’s photos and recount of the May Species Count from the Weaselhead, North Glenmore Park and Reservoir, and Pearce Estate Park to come soon…

Lafarge Meadows – Finally!

Apr12

Posted byDan Arndt

The final Sunday Morning excursion by the Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding Course took us to Lafarge Meadows. After going there for the first time with the Fall course, I was looking forward to getting back there as the spring migrants began to filter through, and what a visit it was!

One of the birds that most non-birders consider a sure sign of spring, is the charismatic and well known American Robin, many of which were present and singing their spring song.

Another of the early migrants we were treated to at the beginning of the walk was the ever beautiful song of the aptly named Song Sparrow.

While the field marks weren’t easy to see from that distance, the song was so distinctive that there was no way you could mistake this bird for any other. Over at the boat launch we had some decent views of Common Mergansers (pictured below) and a pair of Lesser Scaup.

We then turned southward to head into LaFarge Meadows proper, checking a few of the ponds near the bridge where we found a few close-ups of some Lesser Scaup and American Wigeon.

As we edged further south along the river, we took note of the huge numbers of gulls both along the river, and in the ponds along the west side that were still frozen, and were greeted by some nicely posing Herring Gulls on a gravel bar in the Bow River, as well as a small number of another new bird for the year, the Franklin’s Gull.

Finally, as we headed back north toward the beginning of our route, I spotted a small bird atop a nearby tree, thinking it may be another sparrow, or maybe even an early swallow species, but was immediately alerted to its identity by the single sharp note of its call, identifying itself as a Northern Shrike!

As we reached the vehicles, all of us were forlorn at the prospect that this was our last walk of the season with that particular group, but all attendees were looking forward to the next round of courses, starting up immediately the following week! Travel will keep me away for the first two weeks of the course, from which I will post some photos on my regular schedule, and but until then, good birding!

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

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

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

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 - Keeping its distance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

Birding at Bow Valley Ranch and Sikome Lake

Jan16

This week marked the first of thirteen weeks of the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park birding course. Since its inception in the mid 2000s, it has swelled from a course run twice a week, to six times a week; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and twice on Sunday. This marks my first attempt at leading one of these courses, with Bob Lefebvre and I leading the Sunday morning group. Unfortunately, Bob wasn’t able to make it out this week, and so Gus Yaki led the group on Saturday, as usual, and I tagged along to be an extra pair of eyes and ears to assist him, and Gus also led on Sunday, breaking in the new Sunday attendees with his expert wit, grace, and knowledge.

On both days, we began at Bow Valley Ranch, and then proceeded southward to Sikome Lake and Hull’s Wood. There we stopped briefly near the parking lot before heading first the site of a Great Horned Owl nest that’s been used regularly for a dozen or so years, then to the Bow River, before turning back and returning to the vehicles, then home. Once again, I logged the route taken and have mapped it in Google Earth, in case anyone would like to re-create the walk again in the future.

Bow Valley Ranch

Sikome Lake

At Bow Valley Ranch on Saturday, we spent about 45 minutes walking along the pathways, first stopping to find a pair of Great Horned Owls that were regular residents of the area.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl 2

We then stopped for a few minutes to watch for the Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches that are all too familiar with what humans may have to offer them, and as such, came in nice and close for some very good views.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Just as we were about to head down to Sikome Lake, I heard the distinctive trill of White-winged Crossbills in flight, and so we spent some time trying to track them down. Unfortunately, they were on a mission, and continued on in short order, allowing only the briefest of views.

White-winged Crossbill

Sunday, on the other hand, was a much colder experience. We spent a little time trying to coax out the chickadees and nuthatches again, but they would have none of it. Instead, we searched around until once again, that old faithful pair of Great Horned Owls was found, and then headed southward shortly after.

Great Horned Owl

Saturday was a great day on the Bow River. At the Sikome Lake parking lot, we were greeted by Downy Woodpeckers and Black-capped Chickadees, once again looking for a handout. Sunday was similar, but once again, in smaller numbers.

Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

Another pair of Great Horned Owls are commonly found down here, and both Saturday and Sunday they did not disappoint. Saturday found them just east of their usual roost, atop a spruce tree near the main building at Sikome Lake, and Sunday found only one at that same building.

Great Horned Owl

East to the Bow River we trekked. On Saturday, our travels were interspersed with a view of some Northern Flicker, as well as a single Killdeer, before reaching the Bow River, flush with Canada Geese, Mallards, Common Mergansers, Buffleheads and Common Goldeneye. After viewing them for a while in vain search of a Cinnamon Teal that had been sighted earlier in the week, we packed up and headed home.

Canada Geese

Common Goldeneye

Buffleheads

Sunday though, we were trudging our way through the fresh snow only to be stopped by the gurgling trill of a nearby Bald Eagle. In fact, two of them were perched above a bend in the Bow River, though as our travels brought us closer, they flushed and headed northward.

Bald Eagle and Black-billed Magpies

Bufflehead in Flight

Common Mergansers

Common Goldeneye

Sunday also treated us to a view of an anomalous bird that had been spotted the previous day. A lone Lesser Scaup among the Canada Geese and Mallards near the Boat Launch at Hull’s Woods. After pausing to take a few photos and get a positive ID, we headed back to the vehicles.

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup in flight

I am definitely looking forward to assisting in this course, as many of our Sunday birders are eager to learn as much as we can teach them about the birds of Calgary and area, and I also look forward to watching the seasons change back to spring and experiencing the full extent of spring migration here in the frozen north of Calgary!

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them, and look forward to a new year of learning about these incredible animals with you all!

Posted by Dan Arndt

19th Annual Fish Creek Park New Years Day Bird Count

Jan2

Last week I was asked by Bob Lefebvre if I would be interested in participating in the Christmas Bird Count for Fish Creek Provincial Park, and I immediately jumped at the chance. I always look forward to the walks in Fish Creek Provincial Park, and I was very glad to be grouped once again with Gus Yaki, Bob Lefebvre, along with 11 other participants to do the count in the Marshall Springs area of Fish Creek.

If you’re not familiar with the area, Marshall Springs is located between Bebo Grove and Votier’s Flats, on the west side of Fish Creek Park, just south of the Bow River. I started up the GPS on my phone and mapped out our walking route, to explain a bit more graphically the route we took. I’ll be experimenting with this format in future posts, so let me know how you like it!

Walking route taken through Marshall Springs

Starting at the parking lot to Bebo Grove, we trekked south through the woods, then crossed the river into the Marsall Springs area proper. On the whole, I didn’t end up taking as many photos as I would have liked to, mostly due to the relatively quiet morning we had in terms of both species present, and population. One of the first birds seen all morning was this Pine Grosbeak, along with one other, in the trees just north of the base of hill at the southern boundary of the park.

Pine Grosbeak

If there was any bird that I felt best described the walk though, I would have to say it was the Downy Woodpecker, the first of which we spotted shortly after the Pine Grosbeak, tap-tap-tapping away at the trees for some food.

Downy Woodpecker

Followed shortly by our first sighting of a Hairy Woodpecker, also searching for food under the bark of the poplars and birch.

Hairy Woodpecker

I don’t know whether it was the company, the conversation, or the lack of birds present, but most likely a combination of all three that found my next photos taken near the end of the walk, when this Pine Grosbeak called from a nearby treetop, and across the banks of Fish Creek this White-Tailed Deer grazed on the edge of the slope.

Pine Grosbeak

Mule Deer

We convened later with the larger group near the main office of Fish Creek Provincial Park to collaborate data and share any interesting finds. Our group though had a fairly small number of species and individuals, and aside from a large overflight of Bohemian Waxwings, we had less than 100 individual birds among 12 species in our count area, detailed below:

11 Downy Woodpecker

1 Hairy Woodpecker

45 Black-capped Chickadee

4 Red-breasted Nuthatch

1 White-breasted Nuthatch

2 Common Redpoll

2 White-winged Crossbill

100 Bohemian Waxwing

11 Common Raven

8 Black-billed Magpie

1 Brown Creeper

8 Pine Grosbeak

One bird did stand out from the crowd at the reporting though, which Bob and I went in search of shortly after. I leave you with a (relatively bad) photo of a rare Winter Red-tailed Hawk, seen on the east end of Fish Creek Park.

Red-tailed Hawk

Posted by Dan Arndt

Autumn Birding in LaFarge Park

Nov28

I continue to be amazed at the diversity of birds in Calgary that for one reason or another choose to overwinter here. When I signed up for the Autumn birding course with Fish Creek Provincial Park, led by the legendary Gus Yaki, I was expecting to learn a lot about the bird population of Calgary, but also expected that once the temperatures dropped and the usual summer birds migrated southward, that the walks would turn to more of a discussion and less spotting and identification of birds themselves. So far, I have been thankfully disappointed. Thirteen weeks into the course, I am still spotting new birds and exploring new locations for birding within the city limits.

This past weekend I spent Saturday morning in LaFarge Park and Sikome Lake, as well as a brief stop at the visitor’s centre before heading home. The first highlight of the day was one of the Great Horned Owls that have been roosting near the buildings at Sikome Lake for the past few years.

: Great Horned Owl

: I see you seeing me

Moving on down we stopped to check out a local feeding spot that walkers, joggers and nature lovers keep well stocked year-round for the White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, and Downy Woodpeckers nearby.

: Downy Woodpecker

Picking back up down the road at the boat-launch parking lot, we walked along the Bow River for the next couple of hours, spotting a number of species. Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Mallards, Killdeer, and even a pair of Green-winged Teal were taking advantage of the warm weather to feed.

: Buffleheads

: Common Goldeneye

: Male (front) and female (rear) Common Goldeneye

: Green-winged Teal (male)

: Male (left) and two female (center, right) Common Mergansers

The highlight for me was the family of Bald Eagles that had taken up residence just south of Highway 22X. They were very tolerant of our intrusion into their park, and even posed quite nicely for us.

Adult Bald Eagles

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Adult Bald Eagle

A little further south , we were alerted to a flock of Common Redpoll in feeding from a stand of water birch, which allowed us to get very close before being flushed by something nearby, which would soon make its presence known.

Common Redpoll

Just before reaching the southernmost point of our journey, we spotted a lone Killdeer walking across a gravel bar in the centre of the river, and it was moments later that the culprit who flushed the Common Redpolls appeared just over the opposite bank of the Bow River; this juvenile Northern Harrier.

Northern Harrier

Wheeling northward once again along the pathway we passed by the two juvenile Bald Eagles, who again seemed undisturbed by our proximity, and then onward to the vehicles. Only one more brave bird would present itself so beautifully at this far southern extent of the walk. A female Hairy Woodpecker industriously worked away at a fallen log, poking not one, but two separate holes through the bark and both times coming up with a tasty morsel.

Hairy Woodpecker

In our walk around the visitors centre a little later on, we were once again gifted with a Red-breasted Nuthatch along with a number of Black-capped Chickadees along the pathway, and a Northern Shrike being chased by a Black-billed Magpie as we returned to the parking lot. Sadly I wasn’t quite fast enough with the camera to catch that pair.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Posted by Daniel Arndt

Northern Hawk Owl

Mar31

It was a warm day, already at noon it was a couple of degrees over freezing. March 29th, half way through my spring break and already I’m looking for something to do. So I decide to head out to Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek Provincial Park with my brother and sister. Votier’s Flats is located off Elbow Drive and consists of a mix of both coniferous and deciduous woodlands with Fish Creek running near the paved path.

That day, we were not expecting to see anything. Noon is not the most productive time to bird and besides, we were hardly going to be going for a long hike. We started out doing a short loop before climbing up the hill beside the parking lot. It was there that I saw a hawk flying…no wait…not a hawk, a Northern Hawk Owl!

First impressions.

Northern Hawk Owls have a long tail and a falcon-like profile, distinguishing them from other owls in North America. The facial disk is somewhat whitish, bordered by black on either sides, framing two pale yellow eyes that scour the ground, often from an exposed perch at the top of a tree, searching for the next meal, some unfortunate mouse or vole.

We did get some great views but the Hawk Owl was some ways away and only stuck around for a couple of minutes before vanishing into the woods, never to be seen again, until…

My dad heard about our incredible sighting and, as you can imagine, was quite jealous. This paved the way for a return visit. The next day, as the sun slowly fell from the sky, we made our way back to Votier’s Flats. We searched for a couple minutes, coming up with a Great Horned Owl calling; beautiful, but not quite satisfying. We wanted a Hawk Owl. We carried along the paved path for a short ways when we spotted something. Is that it? Had we done the improbable? There it was perched high on an exposed perch, just waiting for us.

I see something...

We had to leave the paved path to get some better views. I was first, stepping into the snow with much gusto, only to find myself sinking into snow over a foot deep. As I was carrying a camera with a heavy 500mm lens, this was not good news. I righted myself after a couple moments and we carried on, undeterred.

Insolent birders.

It was a long way and we kept advancing through the snow that was as deep as ever, only to see the owl fly away. Luckily, it was not too far and we caught up, only for him to fly off again. We decided to carry on once again, stumbling up a steep hill with a heavy camera and an even heavier tripod, slipping on mud and ice, following a deer trail covered with unpleasant evidence of the deer. Finally we caught up to where the owl was waiting for us, seemingly amused. We got some amazing views and some great shots.

Is that dinner?

We came home, exhausted, wet, muddy, covered in burrs and happy; extremely happy. We had seen a Northern Hawk Owl, a difficult bird to see at the best of times and very rare here in Calgary.

Posted by Matthew Sim

Birds Calgary

A birding blog for Calgary, Alberta and area

Tag Archive | fish creek provincial park

Birding the Lafarge Meadows ponds

A Big Day in Fish Creek

May Species Count – Hull’s Wood to Lafarge Meadows – Highlights

Lafarge Meadows – Finally!

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

Birding at Bow Valley Ranch and Sikome Lake

19th Annual Fish Creek Park New Years Day Bird Count

Autumn Birding in LaFarge Park

Northern Hawk Owl

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