Tag Archive | golden eagle

Birds & Beers, Friday September 9, 2022

The fall season of Birds & Beers begins on Friday September 9th. Birds & Beers is a social get-together for birders at which you can meet and connect with others, have a meal and a drink, and enjoy a short presentation of interest to local birders.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday September 9, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome. We begin at 6 pm and the presentation will start just after 7pm. This month, Caroline Lambert will speak about the Eagle Migration Monitoring project that has been ongoing in Kananaskis for 30 years:

Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle, Coyote Valley OSP, Santa Clara County, CA. Photo by Caroline Lambert

Learn about the eagle migration count in Kananaskis! This count is celebrating its 30th year as a citizen science project contributing to the knowledge of Golden Eagle migration and population dynamics. This talk will cover the history of the count, what it’s like to be out at the count, trends determined so far, and how the count fits with other raptor counts across the continent.

Learn how you can get involved in tracking the birds at this beautiful location in Kananaskis.

Mount Lorette
Mount Lorette. Photo by Caroline Lambert.

Early October on the Irrigation Canal

Posted by Dan Arndt

Earlier this month I was able to take part in two walks with the Friends of Fish Creek out to the Irrigation Canal that runs parallel to the Bow River through south-east Calgary. Each day had its highlights and the overall experience was really quite incredible. While there’s not quite as much activity this late in the month, the week following the initial drainage of the canal can be quite productive for a wide variety of birds. From shorebirds to gulls to songbirds, the whole walk tends to be non-stop flying, foraging and feeding on everything living in the trees along the canal and the mud within it.

Irrigation Canal - October 6th and 8th, 2015

Irrigation Canal – October 6th and 8th, 2015

Two of the most common birds we often find along this walk are the two most easy to overlook, the American Robin and the European Starling. Their colors and contrasts really stand out on a bright clear fall day, especially with the right background!

IMGP1669American Robin – [exif id=”14915″]

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European Starling – [exif id=”14927″]

The Ring-billed Gulls are also one of the most numerous birds we find along the canal, aside from waterfowl, and until recent years, we’ve almost always had Bonaparte’s Gulls. We’re always on the look out for something a little more unusual, but so far we’ve failed to turn up anything less common.

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Ring-billed Gull – [exif id=”14920″]

The main draw along the canal are the ever-present Hooded Mergansers. It’s not unusual to find at least a few males and at least a couple females cruising around feeding on the small invertebrates and fish in the main channel of the canal.

IMGP1743male Hooded Mergansers – [exif id=”14919″]

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male Hooded Mergansers – [exif id=”14918″]

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female Hooded Mergansers – [exif id=”14911″]

This late in the season we also get a good number of Greater Yellowlegs (and very rarely an occasional Lesser Yellowlegs). Even more interesting are the occasional falcons and raptors hunting them, like this female Merlin that took a dive at a large group of yellowlegs, flushing the majority of them!

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Greater Yellowlegs – [exif id=”14917″]

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female Merlin – [exif id=”14913″]

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female Merlin in flight – [exif id=”14914″]

In addition to the Merlins we saw on both days at the canal, on the 8th we had a couple of interesting fly-overs. A Rough-legged Hawk and an immature Golden Eagle soared over on some high thermals, offering a few opportunities for us to identify them from below. Golden Eagles aren’t particularly common within the city limits, so my first thought was that it was an immature Bald Eagle. After reviewing the photos though, it was most certainly a Golden, which was quite an exciting find! Those broad, squared off wings, golden nape, and white patches in the middle of the underwing are really good features to look for on an immature Golden Eagle.

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Rough-legged Hawk – [exif id=”14922″]

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Golden Eagle – [exif id=”14921″]

New for me this year was a bit of variety in the makeup of shorebirds, with a fair number of Long-billed Dowitchers making an appearance, which we identified by their flight calls, and a lone American Golden-Plover, which is yet another relatively rare bird in the area, especially within the city limits!

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Long-billed Dowitchers – [exif id=”14923″]

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American Golden-Plover and Greater Yellowlegs – [exif id=”14924″]

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American Golden-Plover – [exif id=”14924″]

Our last bird of the day, and maybe the last members of this species of the season, were a small number of Double-crested Cormorants. While these birds are fairly uncommon around the city, they’re not quite as loathed here as they are in eastern Canada, so most of us still enjoy seeing them from time to time along the Bow River.

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Double-crested Cormorant – [exif id=”14916″]

While there aren’t usually too many mammals along this route, we did find a lone Muskrat on both of our outings, in almost exactly the same spot north of the Gosling Way bridge over the canal. He (or she) was foraging and collecting grasses and stems to store away for the winter.

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Muskrat – [exif id=”14909″]

And that’s it for another week here on the blog. Have a great one, and good birding!

Wednesday Wings: Golden Eagle & Snowy Owls

Mitchell Kranz spotted this juvenile Golden Eagle on January 20 near Lake McGregor, northeast of Vulcan.

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The same day, he also saw no less than 15 Snowy Owls between there and Blackie.

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You can see more of Mitchell’s photos here.

Sunday Showcase: A Golden Eagle

Logan Gibson spotted this adult Golden Eagle on November 4 about 5 km west of Turner Valley.  It had been feeding on carrion and flew to this tree to clean its talons before flying off.

Watch for more of Logan’s photography on the Alberta Birds Facebook group.

Sunday Showcase: Golden Eagle

Have you ever wondered how the Golden Eagle got its name? These outstanding photos  from Paul Turbitt answer that question. Paul took these  juvenile eagle pictures at The Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area (ASCCA) just south of Calgary. If you haven’t visited this magical place, put in on your to-do list!

The ASCCA is open to the public, but visitors must make a booking online prior to their visit. Upon arrival, you must also register at the kiosk and pay the $2/person user fee.