Birds & Beers next Friday, May 12, will feature a presentation by Jack and Phyllis Shier on their trip to the Falkland Islands. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The Legion is located at 9202 Horton Road SW. Socializing starts at 6 pm, and the presentation will be after 7 pm.
The next Birds & Beers is on Friday April 14. We meet at the Horton Road Legion in Calgary starting at 6 pm. Everyone is welcome, and there is good food and drink available. The Legion is located at 9202 Horton Road SW. We have the rooms starting at 6 pm, and you can eat and socailize for about an hour and a quarter before we have our presentation. This month will feature Gordon Sick again, with part two of his trip to central America: The Birds of the Galapogos Islands. Just as in last month’s talk about the birds of the Ecudorean Cloud Forest, there will be many great photographs of birds, and there is no overlap in the species shown in the two talks at all!
Birds of the Galapagos Islands: This presentation covers migratory birds (Waved Albatrosses, Boobies, Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds, for example), as well as endemic birds (Darwin Finches and Mockingbirds, for example). We will cover some of the 51 species that were photographed. Some non-avian flora and fauna will also be included.
See you there! We will ask for a donation of $1 per person to go to the Legion to cover the cost of the room.
Birds & Beers is on again this Friday. We will have a presentation by Gordon Sick on Birds of Ecuador’s Andean Cloud Forest.
We meet at the Horton Road Legion beginning at 6 pm:
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch #285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Friday March 10, 2023, 6:00-9:00 pm
We start at 6 pm, and there will be time for socializing, eating, and drinking before the presentation begins after 7 pm. Here are the details of the talk.
Birds of Ecuador’s Andean Cloud Forest
This presentation involves photographs taken at altitudes over 8000 feet in the Andean Highlands to the East and West of Quito. Colourful birds include Cotingas (like Andean Cock-of-the-rock) and a variety of Hummingbirds. We will cover some of the 145 species that were photographed.
Everyone is welcome to attend. We will ask for a donation of $1 per person to go to the Legion to cover the cost of the room. See you there!
The next Calgary Birds & Beers meeting will be this coming Friday at the the Horton Road Legion. There will be a presentation by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt about their 2022 trip to Elk Island and Cold Lake parks.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch #285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Friday February 10, 2023, 6:00-9:00 pm
We start at 6 pm, and there will be time for socializing, eating, and drinking before the presentation begins after 7 pm. Here are the details of the talk.
Gas Yaki Walk 2022: A camping trip to Elk Island National Park and Cold
Lake Provincial Park by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt
In 2017 a group of us hiked across Southern Alberta with our friend and outstanding naturalist,
Gus Yaki. Since that time some of the group, and anyone else who was interested, has been
conducting an annual trip involving exploring some of the beautiful scenery and wildlife in
Alberta and Saskatachewan. In 2022 we traveled north to visit Elk Island National Park and
Cold Lake Provincial Park. Elk Island, only about 35 kilometres east of Edmonton, is a
wonderful location for seeing wildlife and doing some hiking. Cold Lake, about 250 kilometres
north east of Elk Island, is one of the premiere places in Alberta to witness the spring migration
of warblers.
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Everyone is welcome to attend. See you there!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
We now have the Birds & Beers social events scheduled for the first half of 2023. All the meetings will be held on the second Friday of each month, from 6 to 9 pm, at the Horton Road Legion (9202 Horton Road SW). Everyone is welconme to attend! We will try to have a presentation at each event. The January meeting, on Friday January 13th, will feature Andrew Hart and Lara Fitpatrick speaking about the Calgary May Species Count, with results from 2022 and a look ahead to the 2023 count.
I will post more details on each meeting and each presentation a week or two before the event. Below is the schedule (which is also always posted on the right-hand sidebar of the blog). Remember, the second Friday of each month!
January 13 – May Species Count presentation.
February 10
March 10
April 14
May 12
June 9
We take a break from Birds & Beers in July and August, then resume for the fall season, September to November. I will post that schedule once the dates are booked. See you in January!
Unfortunately the Birds & Beers meeting that was scheduled for November 11th has been cancelled. There is an issue with staffing at the venue. We have been unable to re-schedule this month, and we don’t meet in December due to everyone being busy with Christmas Bird Counts and other Christmas events. Therefore, our next meeting will be in January 2023. We have several presentations lined up for the new year already. I will post the schedule for January to June as soon as we have the dates booked.
Sorry about this, and see you in January!
The next Birds & Beers event is this Friday, October 14th. 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 October 14, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm
Everyone is welcome to attend. Unfortunately we had a late cancellation by our scheduled presenter, but we hope to have an update from Greg Wagner on the proposed Frank Lake solar power project. Greg may not be able to make it, but in that case we will still have some information from him on the status of the project, how to get more information on it, and how you can get involved.
Come out and meet your fellow birders!
The next Calgary Birds & Beers meeting will take place this Friday.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Friday May 13, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm
After 7 pm, there will be a presentation by the award-winning photographer Mark Garbutt, featuring birds of the world.
Growing up in Western Quebec, Mark developed an interest in birding and wildlife at a very young age, and that passion has continued throughout his life. While many years of his adult life were spent in Alberta, he has also lived in Texas, Alaska, and the UK. This further fuelled his passion for nature and led Mark to a 20+ year career in leading photography trips for groups to Alaska, Brazil, Patagonia, the Galapagos, many countries in Africa, and India. In addition to leading trips, he and his wife are always looking for new nature destinations to explore, from the Arctic to the Amazon, South America, Europe and beyond. Mark has received many recognitions for his photography including Natures Best Wildlife Photography Award in North America and runner up in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year. He currently lives outside Okotoks and can often be found at Frank Lake.
Everyone is welcome. The meeting begins at 6 pm, with the presentation to begin at about 7:15. Come early and have a beer, socialize, and have something to eat. You are welcome to come at 7 just for the presentation if you prefer. We will be meeting in the back room of the Legion.
The next Calgary Birds & Beers meeting will take place this Friday.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Friday April 8, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm
Greg Wagner will present a talk on “Will the Foothills Solar Project Impact Bird Populations At Frank Lake?” Greg manages the Frank Lake Important Bird Area and is the expert on the birds of Frank Lake and area. There is a proposal to build a large solar array immediately adjacent to the lake.
Everyone is welcome. The meeting begins at 6 pm, with the presentation to begin at about 7:15.
For more information on Frank Lake, see this page.
Finally, the Calgary Birds & Beers meetings will resume, starting this Friday March 11th.
Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,
9202 Horton Road SW.
Friday March 11, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm
Bob and Dianne Leonhardt will give a presentation on A Visit to Grasslands National Park. See this previous post for details.
Please note that vaccine passports are no longer required or checked, and masks are optional.