Yesterday, December 2, 2017, Tony LePrieur photographed some birds at Bebo Grove in Fish Creek Provincial Park, SW Calgary.
Northern Pygmy-Owl with Meadow Vole, Bebo Grove, December 2, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Northern Pygmy-Owl, Bebo Grove, December 2, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Pileated Woodpecker (male), Bebo Grove, December 2, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
American Three-toed Woodpecker, Bebo Grove, December 2, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Ethan Denton is an accomplished young birder who lives in Canmore, an hour west of Calgary at the entrance to Banff National Park. We have birded together and it has has been a pleasure to get to know him and his family. Ethan has had a blog for a few years already called Bird Boy. Although he is just thirteen years old, he has organized the Canmore Christmas Bird Count for the past two years. He also takes part in the Great Canadian Birdathon, and you can sponsor him at this page.
Lincoln’s Sparrow, April 27, 2017, West Banff Townsite. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Now Ethan has begun to lead birding field trips in Canmore every week. Every second Sunday morning, there will be an informal birding walk along Policeman’s Creek in Canmore. This is one of the best locations in Canmore. Ethan had recorded over 100 species there.
Below is the information poster. Use the scrollbar on the right-hand side to see the whole page.
Click to access Canmore-Bird-Walk.pdf
The next walk is on Sunday May 21. The walks are free and everyone (children included) is welcome. So if you are a Canmore-area birder, or an interested Calgary-area birder, please join Ethan and see some birds like these:
Wood Duck pair, Canmore boardwalk, April 9, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Pileated Woodpecker, Canmore boardwalk, March 18, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Hammond’s Flycatcher, Canmore boardwalk, April 27, 2017. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Hammond’s Flycatchers are uncommon in Canmore in the summer, so an early spring record is almost unique. This is a bird we don’t see in Calgary.
Cassin’s Finch (female), April 27, 2017, West Banff Townsite. Photo by Ethan Denton.
Cassin’s Finch is only rarely seen in Calgary.
Ethan will post about each walk on his blog afterwards, so check back there to see what they have spotted and to see more of Ethan’s photos.
If you are out in the mountain parks this summer, note that there are also twice-weekly bird walks held at the Cave and Basin in Banff, run by the Bow Valley Naturalists. If you are out there on Saturday or Monday mornings, join them. Information here.
Michael Kim, a thirteen-year-old birder and photographer from Canmore, has sent us some photos of spring birds in the foothills west of Calgary.
Trumpeter Swans, Exshaw, April 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Trumpeter Swans, Exshaw, April 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Pileated Woodpecker (male), Canmore, March 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Northern Flicker (male), Canmore, April 2017. Photo by Michael Kim.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
The spectacular crow-sized Pileated Woodpecker is always a treat to see, and they are not very shy birds, so occasionally you can get great close-up looks at them. They are not common in Calgary. Look for them in three areas: Around the Glenmore Reservoir, including the Weaselhead, and upstream on the Elbow River through Griffith Woods Park; The west end of Fish Creek Park; The east end of Fish Creek Park on the Bow River, and north on the river as far as Carburn Park. They are year-round residents here, so look for them any time you are out in these parks. If you live near these areas you may also get them coming to suet or nut feeders occasionally.
All photos by Tony LePrieur.
Pileated Woodpecker (male), Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, December 4, 2016.
In the above photo you can see the distinctive rectangular hole that these birds make when feeding. They eat Carpenter Ants, which often infest large trees and deadfall. If you see a fresh hole like this, often near the base of a large tree, you will know you are in a Pileated Woodpecker’s territory.
Female Pileated Woodpecker, Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, December 4, 2016.
The female above (likely the mate of the male in the first photo) is distinguished from the male by the black stripe from the bill to the throat, which is red in males. In addition, the red crest does not extend all the way to the front of the head on the female as it does on the male.
The nest hole of a Pileated Woodpecker is a large oval, usually high in a dead tree, or occasionally in a power pole (as seen in Griffith Woods Park). The male will make a new nest hole each year.
Below are more of Tony’s photos of Pileated Woodpeckers in Calgary.
Pileated Woodpecker (female), Fish Creek Park, January 31, 2016.
Pileated Woodpecker (male), Fish Creek Park, November 26, 2015.
Pileated Woodpecker (male), Fish Creek Park, October 25, 2015.
Pileated Woodpecker (male), Fish Creek Park, October 25, 2015.
For more photos of Pileated Woodpeckers see these posts.
You can see more of Tony LePrieur’s photos on his Flickr Page here.
Bohemian Waxwing by Dan Arndt.
Black-capped Chickadee by Tony LePrieur.
Red-breasted Nuthatch by Dan Arndt.
White-winged Crossbill by Tony LePrieur.
Pileated Woodpecker by Tony LePrieur.
Pine Grosbeak by Tony LePrieur.
Golden-crowned Kinglet by Tony LePrieur.
Boreal Chickadee by Tony LePrieur.
Downy Woodpecker by Tony LePrieur.
Dark-eyed Junco by Dan Arndt.
Brown Creeper by Dan Arndt.
Common Redpoll by Dan Arndt.
Tony LePrieur got this close-up photograph of a Ruffed Grouse west of Calgary, and this Pileated Woodpecker in the city, both on the weekend of October 30, 2016.
Ruffed Grouse.
Pileated Woodpecker (male).
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Catching up with some great autumn photos of Calgary Birds and Mammals, taken by Tony LePrieur from September 25 to October 16, 2016. The locations were the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Carburn Park, Fish Creek Provincial Park, and the Weaselhead Nature Area.
Boreal Chickadee, Bebo Grove, FCPP, September 25, 2016. The bird has no tail. Birds don’t molt all their tail feathers at once, so this indicates it probably survived an attack of some kind.
Great Horned Owl, Bebo Grove, FCPP, September 25, 2016. These resident owls are fairly common it the city. Pairs will be spending the days resting on their winter roosts now, and by February (or sometimes even January) they will be on their nests, incubating eggs.
Great Blue Heron, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, October 16, 2016. The herons have usually all migrated by mid-October, but a few may stay later.
Harris’s Sparrow, seen at the south end of the big bridge over the Elbow River in the Weaselhead on October 16, 2016. The bird was seen for at least a week, from October 16 to October 25. These Sparrows mostly migrate well east of Calgary and are a bit of a rarity here. They sometimes overwinter, so it is worth looking for.
American Tree Sparrow. These arctic breeders are passing through here now and some overwinter here.
Dark-eyed Junco. These sparrows are pretty common here in the winter and can be seen in residential areas right now, often feeding on the ground under bird feeders.
American Robin bathing.
American Robin. They passed through here on migration in huge numbers a few weeks ago, but there are always quite a few that overwinter here, mostly in the river valleys.
Northern Flicker (male). A migratory woodpecker, but again there are always lots in Calgary in the winter – either some local breeders that overwinter, or birds that bred farther north and migrated this far. They will readily come to suet and nut feeders.
Downy Woodpecker (male). A year-round resident that also will come to feeders.
Coyote.
Black-backed Woodpecker. A bit of a rarity in the city, they are occasionally seen in the west end of Fish Creek Park, from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace. This one was photographed there on October 23, 2016.
Pileated Woodpecker (male). Another resident woodpecker.
Rough-legged Hawk. This is the common buteo in our region in the winter. They have arrived in good numbers from their northern breeding grounds. Most commonly seen outside the city, especially west of the city.
Black-capped Chickadee. Year-round resident.
Muskrat. They are active all winter in open water.
Mule Deer buck.
See more of Tony’s Photos on his Flickr page.
Share your bird photos from the Calgary area. Just email them to birdscalgary@gmail.com.
Tony LePrieur photographed these birds on January 30 and 31, 2016.
Pileated Woodpecker (female), a year-round resident of Fish Creek Park.
Downy Woodpecker (male), a resident of Carburn Park.
White-winged Crossbill (female or immature), an annual winter visitor to Queen’s Park Cemetery.
White-winged Crossbill (male), Queen’s Park Cemetery.
White-winged Crossbill (female or immature), Queen’s Park Cemetery.
Varied Thrush (male), an occasionally overwintering bird, Fish Creek Park.
Varied Thrush (male), Fish Creek Park.
Posted by Dan Arndt
Following the first outing to search for the continuing rare birds at Carburn Park, we headed to Bebo Grove in search of a possible return of the Northern Pygmy-owl from last winter, or maybe a Barred Owl, or a little less charismatic, but nonetheless interesting American Three-toed Woodpeckers. While we didn’t find any of those three species, we did find a few more elusive birds in some of the best upland boreal habitat you can find in the city of Calgary.
Bebo Grove, January 17, 2016
Our morning got off to a relatively slow start, as our search for Bob, the leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch turned up empty, as did our search through the picnic area for either American Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers.
male Pileated Woodpecker
[exif id=”15264″]
Even a trip to the edge of Fish Creek itself was quiet and uneventful, until a last minute glimpse of a Pileated Woodpecker got our attention. We worked our way around the grove until everyone was able to get a good, unobstructed view of the bird, and as we left it there it was still working away on the same tree.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
[exif id=”15267″]
Mountain Chickadee
[exif id=”15265″]
Across the creek we headed to a feeding station where a pair of Mountain Chickadees had been seen throughout the week. One little surprise, and always welcome, were a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets singing away in the trees. They displayed for a few minutes, and while we were watching and listening, we also heard our first Boreal Chickadee songs from the dense trees.
Around the corner was the Mountain Chickadee location, and this individual looked a little bit rough around the edges. While it was feeding quite vigorously on the provided sunflower seeds, it gave us quite a few good looks out in the open. We may have seen a second individual there, but never two at the same time, so none of us had any certainty about there being two birds.
White-tailed Deer
[exif id=”15268″]
As we followed the creek east and north into the park, we nearly missed a trio of White-tailed Deer resting in the snow less than twenty meters off the path, but wide out in the open. It wasn’t until this young deer stood up and poked its head around the edge of the tree that we noticed it and the two older females nearby. These deer are in good numbers in the park this winter, and all appear to be relatively healthy!
immature Bald Eagle
[exif id=”15266″]
As we crossed Bridge 5 in search of Townsend’s Solitaires, owls, and other birds more common in the more open aspen stands north of the creek, we turned around to spot this young Bald Eagle soaring and circling above us on a thermal. With each circle it gained in elevation quite significantly, until it eventually reached its predetermined cruising altitude and it took off to the south.
Boreal Chickadee
[exif id=”15269″]
As we rounded out our morning in a particularly dense stand of spruce, we stopped at a particular feeding station which had been home to a rare overwintering Lincoln’s Sparrow, but try as we might, and wait as long as we did, it didn’t turn up for us to this location. We did have a good number of Black-capped Chickadees, and even had a few Boreal Chickadees turn up for a few minutes as the sun came out to greet them.
Bohemian Waxwings
[exif id=”15270″]
A little later on we stopped to listen as a flock of birds suddenly appeared above the tree-line and perched across the creek from us. A large group of Bohemian Waxwings, our first of the day, perched in the sun high on the side opposite us.
Red Squirrel
[exif id=”15263″]
Our last few minutes before we headed back to the parking lot to end the day was a search for some more American Three-toed or Black-backed Woodpeckers, and while we had some evidence of fairly recent activity, the best we came up with was this little Red Squirrel chowing down on some spruce cones.
Posted by Dan Arndt
Shannon Terrace always brings back memories of some of my first days being involved with the Friends of Fish Creek, monitoring the Wandering and Red-sided Garter Snakes at the protected hibernaculum beside the Environmental Learning Center. In the winter, there are often some really great birds in this area, but in most cases not in great numbers, or with significant diversity. This can be a great place to find American Dippers, near Bridge 1, Northern Pygmy and Northern Saw-whet Owls near Bridge 2, as well as Gray Jays and Mountain Chickadees between these two bridges.
Shannon Terrace – February 8, 2015
We headed west from the parking lot, and looped around through a few pathways, but just before reaching Bridge 1 we heard a very surprising call, especially given the sub-zero temperatures that day! Belted Kingfishers do often over-winter in Calgary, but always in small numbers, and at this spot we heard a lone male of this species! At the time, we only heard it’s distinctive rattle call a few times before it moved away, but there was no mistaking it! I did head back over to this area at the end of the walk to try to find it, and thankfully was able to get a few photos of it.
male Belted Kingfisher
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 640
Also in the area was a group of five “wild” dogs that trotted across the pathway in front of us while we looked up and down stream for the kingfisher, but they paid us no mind. Initially we thought it was a group of off-leash dogs, and we waited for the owner to come down the hill… but the dogs continued on and continued west, likely heading underneath 37th St. and onto the Siksika Reserve on the other side.
There was a tree nearby with a few holes from Pileated Woodpeckers, but didn’t appear to be active, so we headed back east along Fish Creek, and spotted a Northern Goshawk on the south side of the creek. It seems that both raptors and falcons really, really hate having their picture taken when I’m around, because I think this is the third species this winter that’s made sure to put itself directly between my angle of observation, and the morning sun. Raptors can be jerks sometimes.
Northern Goshawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/200sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 160
Heading from here over to Bridge 2, we did find our first active Pileated Woodpecker of the day, spotting this one on the side of a tree working away, while a second called from just north of where we were standing. One of our attendees was particularly hoping to see a Pileated Woodpecker, as she’d never seen one before, and so this male was a welcome sight.
Pileated Woodpecker
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 3200
We did a loop south of Bridge 2, but saw next to nothing and heard even less, but we did get a stretch of beautiful warm sunlight which we basked in for a few minutes before heading on our last loop of the day, which was in search of a recent Pacific Wren sighting on the east end of Shannon Terrace/west end of Bebo Grove. Along the way we found a small flock of three Pine Grosbeaks, who led us on a very tough chase trying to get a good look at them in a densely packed spruce stand. Thankfully, we got a good look at a male and female pair high up against a bright blue sky.
Pine Grosbeaks
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1000
As I mentioned before, I did head back to Bridge 1 to look for the Belted Kingfisher, and I found a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers working over the holes we’d seen earlier! Whether these are the same pair we saw and heard further east, or a second pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in this area, it’s hard to say, but it was really nice to see them again in better light and seemingly undisturbed by my presence there as the male was hard at work excavating a nest hole.
Pileated Woodpecker
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1250
pair of Pileated Woodpeckers
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@340mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
Have a great week, and good birding!