Tag Archive | north glenmore park

Weaselhead and North Glenmore Park in Early April

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

For the first week of the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park (FFCPP) Society’s spring birding course, the groups birded the Weaselhead from the north parking lot down to the other side of the bridge over the Elbow River, and North Glenmore Park, including the stormwater ponds opposite the canoe club. The goal was to look for some spring migrants such as American Tree Sparrows in the Weaselhead and for Swans on Glenmore reservoir, and possibly Snowy Owls on the remaining ice.

Trumpeter Swans, Glenmore Reservoir, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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Max Ortiz Aguilar went with the Sunday morning group on April 9th and took photos of some of the birds and mammals they saw, including the Trumpeter Swans shown above. Glenmore Reservoir is a good place to find migrating swans in spring once the ice begins to go out. (All photos taken with a Canon 6D and a Tamron SP 150-600mm.)

In the Weaselhead, the group spotted American Tree Sparrows.

American Tree Sparrow, Weaselhead, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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American Tree Sparrow, Weaselhead, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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Tree Sparrows are arctic nesters and an early migrant in the spring. Sometimes a few will overwinter here. Note the reddish streak behind the eye, the two-toned bill (black above, yellow below) and the dark central breast spot. These features distinguish it from the similarly rusty-capped Chipping Sparrow, a species which is common here in the summer but which doesn’t arrive back until early May.

The Weaselhead is a great place to find mammals too. Snowshoe Hares are common, and are now mostly in their brown summer coats.

Snowshoe Hare, Weaselhead, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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Red Squirrels and Least Chipmunks often are seen at the bird feeders by the path through the Weaselhead.

Red Squirrel, Weaselhead, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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Coyote, Weaselhead, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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Finally, here is Max’s black-and-white shot of a Mallard on a rock in the reflecting waters of the Glenmore Reservoir.

Mallard, Glenmore Reservoir, April 9, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

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To see more of Max Ortiz Aguilar’s photos, see his website, Photos by MOA.

The end of Winter in the Weaselhead and North Glenmore Park

Posted by Dan Arndt

For our last outing for our Friends of Fish Creek Winter Birding group, we headed to the Weaselhead and North Glenmore Park to see what winter birds remained, and if any spring migrants had shown up around the Glenmore Reservoir and in the Weaselhead itself. While many of our winter birds had already left, a few die-hards were still around in good numbers, and we definitely were not disappointed with the numbers of spring birds we found all around the park.

Weaselhead - March 20, 2016

Weaselhead – March 20, 2016

We headed down into the Weaselhead first thing, checking the feeders along the way. I had headed down before our group to fill some of the feeders, and managed to spot an overwintering American Goldfinch, but when the rest of our group headed down as a whole all of the feeders were completely devoid of activity. Part of the reason for the vacancy is that now that the weather has turned, the birds were not quite as reliant on the feeders as insects had begun to hatch, and caches stored during the winter would provide plenty of food. We did have one little fellow who turned up, as always, at the tail end of the winter session.

Least Chipmunk

Least Chipmunk

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Fresh from his winter hibernation, this Least Chipmunk seemed completely oblivious to our presence as he stuffed his face full of black-oil sunflower, peanuts, and various other seeds I’d placed at the feeder earlier in the morning. I just love how much character these little mammals have, and how single-minded they can be when they first wake up.

female Hairy Woodpecker

female Hairy Woodpecker

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While she wasn’t right at the feeder, this Hairy Woodpecker was hanging out nearby, hammering a hole in the side of this tree to pick out a tasty meal.

male House Sparrow

male House Sparrow

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A little further down the path and across the bridge we found this male House Sparrow and his mate picking out some twigs, grass and leaves to make their nest for the coming season. Given where they were loafing about, they may have even been considering setting up shop in one of the Cliff Swallow nests on the bridge!

American Tree Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

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American Tree Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

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Before we turned around to head back up the hill, we stopped and checked the logs and information signs that have been used all winter as a feeding station, and sure enough we found some American Tree Sparrows singing away in the brush, and coming out to feed. These little sparrows have an amazing song, and are just as striking to look at.

American Wigeon

American Wigeon

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We headed back up the hill and off to the east end of the Glenmore Reservoir to find our returning migrants, and were not disappointed on the first pond. A pair of American Wigeon were floating along the back end of the pond, well away from the Canada Geese and Mallards who were clearly set up on their nesting territories closer in.

White-winged Crossbill

immature White-winged Crossbill

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White-winged Crossbill

immature White-winged Crossbill

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White-winged Crossbill

immature male White-winged Crossbill

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While we were scanning the ponds for waterfowl, sparrows, and anything else we could find, we heard a flock of late White-winged Crossbills in the spruce trees to the north, picking through the few remaining cones that had made it through the winter. Both males and females were in fine form, with the majority of the birds being immature, and as always, seemed to be completely oblivious to our presence.

Canada Geese harassing some Mallards

Canada Geese harassing some Mallards

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These Canada Geese seemed to have their feathers ruffled by the Mallards (in the shade of the rock on the left). It wasn’t until the Mallards had simply had enough and moved on that the geese left them alone. Seeing these inter-species interactions is always a treat, and late winter and early spring can lead to some great opportunities for this behaviour.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

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Our best surprise of the day was coming across this male Great Horned Owl high up in a spruce trying to have a nap… until we disturbed him. He wasn’t pleased to see us. At all.

Common Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

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These Common Goldeneye (and a very confused Mallard) were still trying to display for the few remaining single females, though most others of their kind we’d found this late in the winter/spring season. Despite that, at least two of them seemed to making a positive impression!

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

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One of our last birds of the day, and a great one at that, was this Dark-eyed Junco of the Oregon subspecies that sang a bit for us, but also perched high up in the nearby bushes and allowed everyone very good looks.

The spring course with the Friends of Fish Creek is now well under way, so expect some new posts in the next few weeks from our more recent outings. Have a great week, and good birding!

 

North Glenmore Park and the Glenmore Reservoir

Posted by Dan Arndt

On our visits to the Weaselhead on both May 31 and June 14, we visited parts of North Glenmore Park in search of shorebirds, Brown Thrashers, and whatever else might turn up.

North Glenmore Park - May 31 and June 14

North Glenmore Park – May 31 and June 14

We found a couple of great birds on both days, with a Nelson’s Sparrow and a Brown Thrasher as their usual spots on May 31, and on June 14 we found a Caspian Tern and a beautifully lit Cedar Waxwing during a brief moment of pale sunshine.

This Brown Thrasher has been a regular visitor to the park during the May Species Count, usually found just below Parking Lot “C”, but we also heard two others singing in the Weaselhead that morning, which is a good sign that they’re actually increasing in numbers around here. Their random, rambling, repeating song is distinctive, and usually how we find them first, long before we ever see them. This guy decided to pop up into the aspens and sing for us as we watched.

Brown Thrasher Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 500

Brown Thrasher
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1250sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 500

On the north end of the park are a series of small ponds for stormwater runoff. Thankfully, on May 31, it was fairly calm and clear, so we did get a chance to walk out onto one of the small spits of land where I was hearing a Nelson’s Sparrow singing, and again, he decided to pop out into the open for us to get a few looks at him.

Nelson's Sparrow Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 2000

Nelson’s Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 2000

On June 14, I was notified of a Caspian Tern on the Glenmore Reservoir, so after our morning walk a few of us headed over to take a look for it. Thankfully we found it right where it had been seen all morning, at first resting, and then a few times lifting its head to display that bright red bill and gape at some of the low flying swallows. Perhaps it was simply tired of being buzzed by their nearby flights!

Caspian Tern and Franklin's Gulls Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640

Caspian Tern and Franklin’s Gulls
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640

We went over to look for the Brown Thrasher again, but sadly we only caught a brief glimpse of it. We did find this Cedar Waxwing sitting nice and pretty in the same tree that the Brown Thrasher was singing from two weeks prior.

Cedar Waxwing Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

Cedar Waxwing
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600

Have a great week, and good birding!

A Windy Washout at North Glenmore Park

Posted by Dan Arndt

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later but a confluence of conditions this week led to a major lack of bird activity and a significant lack of photographs. Not only did we have fairly strong wind gusts for the course of our walk, but the damage done to the Glenmore Reservoir in terms of flushing out a majority of the aquatic vegetation, fish and insects made the bird life on and around the reservoir the least diverse I, and many others in our group, have ever seen it.

 

There will be a full length follow-up post tomorrow to make up for it though, which I’m sure everyone will appreciate, and the announcement of the winner in our Bird Butts contest will be made later on today!