Tag Archive | griffith woods

Rare Bird: Golden-winged Warbler

Posted by Bob Lefebvre. All photos by George Best.

Last Sunday morning, July 26, 2015, local birder and photographer George Best went down to Griffith Woods Park in SW Calgary to see what he could find. He had headed out in the morning to go to the Weaselhead, but was unable to park there due to a triathlon.

At Griffith Woods George was not looking for any particular bird species, and was not doing a long walk through the park. He decided to do something that often is very rewarding in terms of birds found and opportunities to photograph wildlife – he just went to a good birdy location, and more or less stayed put and let the birds come to him.

He chose a wooded area near the Elbow River, south of the big pond at the east end of the park. He spent about twenty minutes there, and was able to get a few photographs of a Swainson’s Thrush and a chipmunk. Then he moved to a new location nearby, where he knew Yellow Warblers could be found. After twenty minutes there, this bird appeared:

20150726-_1526958

When he finally got a good look at the whole bird with binoculars, George realized that it was a species he had never seen before (and he knows the local birds very well). The bird just sat and preened for about three to five minutes. George put the long lens on his camera and snapped the photos shown here.

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Eventually the bird left, probably flying across the river. George looked through his Ibird Pro app and realized he had seen a Golden-winged Warbler. But a look at the range map showed that it was a bird of eastern North America, whose normal range extends to Manitoba, but no farther west. After sending a few texts to some other local birders with a photo of the bird, it was soon confirmed that it did appear to be a Golden-winged.

George did a search on the eBird site and discovered that this species had never before been reported on eBird in Alberta. I looked on the Royal Alberta Museum site for the Official List of the Birds of Alberta. This is a list of all species for which there is at least one sighting that has been accepted and verified by a panel of experts. Golden-winged Warbler is listed as Accidental, with a “Need to Document” code that indicated that there had been less than eight verified sightings in Alberta. This meant that this new sighting needed to be properly documented (the form can be downloaded from the Museum site) and the photographic evidence supplied as well.

In corresponding with Jocelyn Hudon, chair of the Alberta Bird Record Committee, I found out that there had only been two previous reports of this species in Alberta, in 1985 from Medicine Hat, and in 1994 from the Porcupine Hills. Neither of those sightings had photographic evidence. George’s was a very special sighting indeed!

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If the sighting is accepted by the ABRC, it will be only the third ever for Alberta, and the first supported by photographic evidence. The museum site gives this bird a “Findability Index” of  5, which means:

“These species have been seen in the province on fewer than 10 occasions and some may never be seen in the province again. These birds are finds of a lifetime and the probability of finding these in the province is extremely low to next to nil.”

Imagine going out to see what birds come to you, and having the “find of a lifetime!”

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Although word of the sighting got out very quickly, no one has yet been able to re-find this bird. I guess we’ll have to get out and try to find our own rarities.

The weather warms, and Griffith Woods still provides a challenge

Posted by Dan Arndt

Last week, our little group of birders headed out to Griffith Woods park. With stories of Barred Owls, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and many other good birds we headed out for one of our longest walks of the season. I’ve often found that Griffith Woods can be rather boom or bust when it comes to birding, and this day was no exception. Sadly, this day was more on the bust side of the equation, though not a total loss, as we did find quite a few good birds, and enjoyed the warm weather and good company.

Griffith Woods, January 18, 2015

Griffith Woods, January 18, 2015

One of our first birds of the day was quite possibly our most exciting. A Sharp-shinned Hawk took off through the trees as we reached the second intersection on our clockwise loop of the park. Up until then, we’d only heard a couple of Black-capped Chickadees and a Common Raven or two flying high overhead. Sadly the light was completely against me, so this image was all I managed to capture. It is still good enough to get the proper field marks though!

Sharp-shinned Hawk Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

As we plodded west through the slushy pathways, we heard Bohemian Waxwings in the distance, a few Pine Grosbeaks here and there, and finally a Downy Woodpecker popped into the open, giving us a few seconds of entertainment and good looks at it after such a long break between birds!

Downy Woodpecker Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500

Downy Woodpecker
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500

We headed further up and through the park in search of the Barred Owl that had been seen earlier in the week, or a Great Horned Owl, or even a Mountain Chickadee or two, but the rest of the west end of the park was quiet. Even the pond at the top of the hill remained pretty much empty, except for a couple of Canada Geese flying off as a dog walker disturbed them. Even the bird feeders in the back yards of the homes nearby were quiet, and only three House Sparrows popped into view where there had been nearly twenty earlier in the week!

Canada Geese Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

Canada Geese
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

We slowly made our way back through the woods towards the parking lot, and we did manage to stumble upon a small flock of Boreal Chickadees near the condo complex that usually harbors at least one Pileated Woodpecker. Around the time that we reached that point, the sun came out for a few more minutes while these little birds fluttered around us in the bushes and trees nearby.

Boreal Chickadee Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Boreal Chickadee
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Boreal Chickadee Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

Boreal Chickadee
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

It’s days like this that you have to take the opportunity to find the beauty in the every day birds. As we rounded out our walk, a pair of Common Ravens were perched in a nearby tree. The light was hitting this one in just the right way to show off some of the iridescence that you so rarely get to see. I thought that the subject, background, and the deciduous tree it was sitting in gave a nice false black & white effect.

Common Raven Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

Common Raven
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

So with that, we left Griffith Woods for another long while, and on to chase down a rare bird at Beaverdam Flats this week, along with many, many waterfowl!

Have a great week, and good birding!

 

 

Another no owl day at Griffith Woods Park

Posted by Dan Arndt

Our walk this week returned to Griffith Woods, in search once again of the Great Gray Owl that had been a regular visitor there for well over a month now, as well as the Great Horned Owls and even a Northern Pygmy Owl that had been seen and heard there recently. The week got off to a good start, with Monday’s group having no trouble finding the Great Gray Owl, and the Tuesday group only missed it by a less than an hour before it flew off deeper into the dense spruce forest that are the hallmark of Griffith Woods.

Griffith Woods February 16, 2014

Griffith Woods
February 16, 2014

The story throughout the day was that of distant birds and minimal photo opportunities, but I was very pleased that I was able to snap the shots that I did. When I downloaded my camera card at home, I found that I had only taken 31 shots in the course of the outing, so to have  a 25% “keep” rate I think is pretty good!

The first real opportunity came when we spotted a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings high up in a spruce tree, and I was able to capture a pair of them breaking off from the group showing their rufous undertail coverts and the bright lemon yellow on the tip of the tail feathers.

Bohemian Waxwings Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/640sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 400

Bohemian Waxwings
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 400

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

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

We hunted along the trail under the power lines for any sign of the Great Gray Owl that was our quarry, but the only evidence we were able to find of it was this hunting impression in the deep snow, showing the impression of the head and wings as the owl hunted one of many unfortunate voles that had become its dinner.

Great Gray Owl hunting impression Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@150mm 1/800sec., ƒ/5, ISO 80

Great Gray Owl hunting impression
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@150mm
1/800sec., ƒ/5, ISO 80

Never let it be said that I know everything there is to know about all of the parks we visit. This week’s surprise was the discovery of another small pond on the north-west end of Griffith Woods Park. All it really would have taken was for me to look at one of the many maps that I’ve published even here on this website to actually notice its presence, but thankfully Gus Yaki came to the rescue again and showed us where all the Canada Geese we had seen all morning were flying to. Also on this pond was a lone Common Goldeneye, and much to our surprise and delight was a solitary, and very uncharacteristically quiet, Blue Jay along the hedgerow behind one of the nearby houses.

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

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

Common Goldeneye Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 400

Common Goldeneye
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 400

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

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

Another nice surprise was a pair of Dark-eyed Juncos feeding underneath a spruce on the way back into the park after we had finished exploring the pond.

Dark-eyed Junco Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Dark-eyed Junco
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

And then the wind picked up, and everything got quiet. While we retreated deeper into the wooded trails, the birds came fewer and further between, and only stayed in sight for mere moments at a time. Even our last species of the day, this Rough-legged Hawk, disappeared a few seconds after I spotted it soaring high above the nearby homes, but enough to positively identify it with its distinct dark wrist patches.

Rough-legged Hawk Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/640sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 320

Rough-legged Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 320

And so wraps up another week of the Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding course. Next week we head back to Bebo Grove in search of last week’s quarry, the American Three-toed Woodpecker, along with another Great Gray Owl, a Barred Owl or three, and hopefully a Northern Saw-whet Owl!

Have a great week, and good birding!

Griffith Woods: Lots of potential, but not much realized

Posted by Dan Arndt

After a week of great sightings at Griffith Woods, our walk on Sunday morning was greeted with a beautiful blue sky, above zero temperatures, and a whole lot of great birders out to see what we could see. Unfortunately, there weren’t too many birds around overall, and even fewer gave us any real photo opportunities.

As a bit of a filler, I thought I’d highlight my most recent post that was put up on Bird Canada on Sunday morning, recollecting my experiences over the Christmas holidays on Vancouver Island. I do hope you enjoy reading it, and look forward to providing many more photos of our local Calgary birds very soon!

Read my Bird Canada post here: Christmas Birding in the Comox Valley.

A turn in the weather is a turn for the better at Griffith Woods

Posted by Dan Arndt

 

Following the blizzard conditions in Calgary on Saturday, it was finally time for our Sunday group to dodge the bad weather bullet. Beautiful blue skies greeted us as we met at the east end of Griffith Woods Park on the west edge of the city, and it was a much earned change, given the past number of weeks of poor weather.

Griffith Woods Park

Griffith Woods Park

Griffith Woods is a prime example of the Boreal Forest biome that is found in northern Alberta, but also winds its way down along the eastern edge of the foothills. With the extreme cold, I suspected we’d still not have much luck with birds, despite the clear skies and calm weather, but we still had good views of birds we’ve been seeing often, and some that we’ve only caught glimpses of so far this fall.

Griffith Woods Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm 1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 500

Griffith Woods
Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm
1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 500

Aside from an early Blue Jay and the sound of Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees around us, the first real birds we were able to get a look at were these Canada Geese on one of tributary streams to the Elbow River. You know it’s a cold fall day when the ground water is giving off water vapor first thing in the morning.

Canada Geese in the mist Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/500sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

Canada Geese in the mist
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

Having very little luck with birds in the early minutes of our walk, I figured I’d take a few more scenery shots, and am I ever glad I did.

Griffith Woods Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm 1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 1250

Boreal Forest biome of Griffith Woods
Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm
1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 1250

While searching for evidence of Three-toed or Black-backed Woopeckers, and listening for kinglets and chickadees, I did notice this series of bark beetle trackways in this spruce trunk, and with the bark stripped away by foraging woodpeckers, the network of tracks really stood out.

Bark Beetle Burrows Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Bark Beetle Burrows
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

It wasn’t until we had reached the end of our walk and began the trip back that our real luck with bird sightings started to turn around.

Elbow River looking east Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm 1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 200

Elbow River looking east
Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm
1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 200

Elbow River looking west Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm 1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 125

Elbow River looking west
Pentax K-30 + Sigma 18-250@18mm
1/80sec., ƒ/16, ISO 125

Our first good sighting was a Brown Creeper, and while watching it creep up the trees in search of food, we were also alerted to the presence of a nearby Pileated Woodpecker, and a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets. It was really quite a busy place!

Brown Creeper Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/640sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Brown Creeper
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/640sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Golden-crowned Kinglet Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/400sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

Golden-crowned Kinglet
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/400sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

The Pileated Woodpecker eluded us until we turned back onto the pathway under the power lines that runs from east to west straight through the middle of the park, but after giving a loud call, he flew overhead and gave us quite a show while working his way up a dead tree.

male Pileated Woodpecker Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 320

male Pileated Woodpecker
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 320

And that seemed to be it for the day, with the cold keeping most of the birds up high and out of sight for the most part, and even lacking any real chickadee flocks along the way back. On one of our brief listening stops, this Red Squirrel chattered at us to get away, but then went back to its task of nibbling on the spruce buds.

Red Squirrel Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 320

Red Squirrel
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 320

Of course this particular day ended a little early, considering the minimal activity and cold weather briskly pushing along our pace, but one of the Black-billed Magpies watched over us as we got into our cars and headed back to the warmth of home.

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

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

Once again, good birding, and have a great week!

Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding 2013, Week 3 – Griffith Woods

Posted by Dan Arndt

There’s nothing quite like a quiet Sunday morning bird walk, and the gorgeous scenery of Griffith Woods was no exception. The unfortunate part is that it seemed like the birds decided that it was time for them to take a walk too, making it a little too quiet in the park!

The light wasn’t the greatest, but the company was excellent, and while the birds were scarce, it was otherwise a great morning.

Elbow River through Griffith Woods

Elbow River through Griffith Woods

Starting at the parking lot on the east end of the park, we worked clockwise around the park. While we heard a Common Raven or two on the early part of our walk, we didn’t get looks at any birds whatsoever aside from a Black-capped Chickadee or three for at least half an hour after our start.

Griffith Woods

Griffith Woods

Our first good looks were of a group of Boreal Chickadees, along with a number of Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches, who came down to investigate what all the commotion was. After a few minutes of posing and checking us out, they moved on, but not before allowing us some very close looks and a few photos.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

A few flyovers of some Common Redpolls and White-winged Crossbills were the only birds seen for nearly another half hour. Travelling from the east end to almost the very westernmost edge of the park, we were once again granted good looks at a few more species. A pair of Blue Jays began calling to the south of where we were standing, and as we scanned the horizon to the west, this gorgeous Rough-legged Hawk popped into view.

Blue Jay

Rough-legged Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

It seemed that our day was finally making a turn for the better, with the sun making an appearance, the birds seemed to become much more active. The ice on the river though, was just stunning.

Ice Crystals

Ice Crystals

It was, unfortunately, a short-lived reprieve. Heading back along the pathway was even quieter still. You know it’s a slow winter’s day in Calgary when a small flock of Mallards is the most interesting thing you’ve seen in a while.

Mallards

Mallards

It wasn’t completely uneventful on the walk back, but we did get a few nice looks at some more Black-capped Chickadees having a snack on one of the interpretive maps, along with a few Common Redpolls.

Black-capped Chickadee

Common Redpoll

Our last bird of the day was our first actual looks at a bird we’d been hearing all day, this Common Raven.

Common Raven

Common Raven

A few of us decided to explore the park a little more, as the sun came out once again, and we did manage to find a Downy Woodpecker and a few very cooperative Boreal Chickadees in near perfect light.

Downy

Downy Woodpecker

Boreal Chickadee

Curious Boreal Chickadee

Perched Boreal Chickadee

What’s up there?

You can’t see me!

Next week, Carburn Park! I hope there’s a bit more variety there, and there certainly should be greater numbers on the Bow River.

Griffith Woods – New surprises at every turn

Posted by Dan Arndt

As I wrote in my original post about Griffith Woods with the Winter Birding course,  I haven’t had much opportunity to visit this beautiful park on the edge of the city, and Sunday morning was only my second visit. The route we took this week was almost identical to the one we took in March, but the birds we saw were vastly different.

 

Griffith Woods

Griffith Woods – 5km Walking Route

We started by walking east from the parking lot, where we were inundated by a huge number of birds singing. Not only new birds for the year for many of us, but for myself at least one new life bird, and great views of others that I’d only seen in the distance or through foliage. Both White-crowned and White-throated Sparrow species were present and singing, but we also heard and saw a single male Purple Finch.

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

 

White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

 

On the river itself, a few Spotted Sandpipers searched for food along the shore, while a pair of Belted Kingfishers patrolled the river in search of small fish.

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

Further east, on the banks of the large eastern ponds, we had great views of an adult and a juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker, a House Wren at the entrance of a nest hole, and a Gray Catbird who flew in for a closer inspection as we played back a recorded call.

Red-naped Sapsucker

Red-naped Sapsucker

House Wren

House Wren

 

Gray Catbird

Gray Catbird

To top off those great views, we also spotted a pair of what we identified as Least Flycatchers along the edge of the ponds before they disappeared into the deeper brush.

Least Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

We left the ponds after searching a bit longer for some other birds that we could hear nearby, but only the briefest glimpses confirmed the songs of the Yellow Warbler, Lincoln’s and Song Sparrows, and the ever present Clay-colored Sparrows buzzed in the background.

Turning back west, we continued past the parking lot and deeper into the spruce forest of Griffith Woods, which meanders through a number of small tributary channels of the Elbow River, very small ponds and wetland areas, but is dominated by the White Spruce that make up a significant portion of the foliage. The birds were heard more than seen, and while we heard a number of Pine Siskins, White-winged Crossbills, Boreal Chickadees, and both Hairy and Downy Woodpecker species, it was hard getting our binoculars on them, let alone the camera lens!

Coming to one of the first bridges, we saw a pair of sandpipers, which initially we thought were also Spotted Sandpipers, as before, but the white breast, greenish legs, and drastically different demeanor identified them as Solitary Sandpipers, which can sometimes nest in trees, as we noticed a few minutes after this shot was taken.

Solitary Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

We meandered for the next half hour with very few birds seen, but heard Chipping Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and what we thought was a flock of Black-capped Chickadees mobbing a predator, but turned out only to be an unusually vocal flock. A moment later, the call of the Audubon’s subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler was heard only a few meters away. Once again, we had great views of it as it was protective of its territory, indicating that it would very likely be breeding in the area if it can find a mate this season.

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s subspecies)

Our last really great views were of the male Pileated Woodpecker that we originally saw back in March, once again protecting the nest hole in an abandoned power pole near the condominium complex.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

On our way out, we did get one other new bird on the year in Calgary. High above us soared a juvenile Golden Eagle, with bright white patches under the wings, and that incredible golden brown hue over the rest of its body. While my camera couldn’t quite zoom in far enough to get a decent shot of it, my binoculars gave me good enough views that I’m looking forward to getting back out into the country to see these birds up close again. As for Griffith Woods, I look forward to exploring it once again this summer, and into the fall once the warblers begin heading south once again.

 

Griffith Woods – New to me!

Posted by Dan Arndt

 

This week, the Friends of Fish Creek Birding course ventured out to Griffith Woods Park, on the southwest corner of the city. This was a new location for me, as my birding prior to September was limited to a handful of well traveled patches near the center of the city. After spending a few hours here last Sunday, I know that I’d be terribly remiss to not get out there again in the spring and summer.

It was, unfortunately, a relatively grey day, which lately has also meant fairly quiet in terms of both species and populations of birds, but we still got a couple new ones for our little group. As usual, I’ve posted the route we took on our little walk below, with the highlights noted in the captions.

Griffith Woods

Griffith Woods

Of course, the regulars were in attendance for the walk. The Canada Geese, which I’ve almost started to take for granted, were paddling up and down the Elbow River.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Common Redpolls were seen at the far east end of our walk, right at the beginning, along with an incredibly distant Blue Jay, which also alerted us to the presence of a Belted Kingfisher, which flew just a little too fast for me to get my camera up before it was gone.

Common Redpolls

Common Redpolls

About mid-way through our walk, Bob Lefebvre pointed out this beautiful little nest of one of the hummingbird species found in the Calgary area. Thankfully, nobody was home. (Special thanks to hand model Wayne Walker for presenting his world-famous hands for scale.)

Hummingbird Nest

Hummingbird Nest

On the far west end, while moving through a stand of very large white spruce, I was alerted to the sound of the Golden-crowned Kinglet. Not one, not two, but a flock of six(!) of them flitted amongst the trees while I wheeled and turned to get my lens on just one of them. Sadly, this was the best I got…

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

On our trip back, following the power lines that, for some reason were slated to cut directly through the center of the park, we heard the call of this male Pileated Woodpecker, who treated us to a wonderful series of aerial displays and a drumming serenade.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

And that seemed like the end of the day for us… I was a little disappointed in the number of usable shots I was able to get on the walk, and the light was opening up just a touch, so I convinced Bob to walk back to try for another shot or two of the Belted Kingfisher. Sadly, though we heard it call at least twice, the only thing we were able to find were a whole bunch of rocks.

Nothing here but us rocks

Nothing here but us rocks

Wait… what’s that in the middle of the frame? When the Belted Kingfisher called for the last time before we left, we happened to spot two smaller birds with white on the underside of its primary flight feathers, which we thought might just have sounded like Killdeer.

Turns out, much to our surprise, we were right. Not one, but two Killdeer on the Elbow River at Griffith Woods. Hardy survivors of a relatively mild winter here in Calgary.

Killdeer

Killdeer

Killdeer

Killdeer

Definitely the highlight of the day was seeing this pair. It is unfortunate that the attendees of our walk didn’t get a chance to see them, but there will definitely be more of these little shorebirds around very soon!

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you soon!