Tag Archive | red-breasted merganser

68 Street Wetlands and Carburn Park with the FFCPP

Nov25

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society’s birding course groups went to the 68 Street wetlands (east of Elliston Lake, just off 17 Avenue SE) during the week of October 23-29. Max Ortiz Aguilar took a few photos on the outing with the Sunday morning group.

Trumpeter Swan, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Trumpeter Swans, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Canada Geese, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

The following week the groups went to Carburn Park, on the Bow River in the community of Riverbend.

Likely Cackling Goose (left rear) with Canada Geese, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Note its small size, short neck, dark breast where it joins the black of the neck, and very small bill. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Bufflehead group, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Common Goldeneye group, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Coyote, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Killdeer, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Mallard drake, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Red-breasted Mergansers, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Note the much thinner bill on this species compared to that of a Common Merganser. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Tundra Swan, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

White-breasted Nuthatch, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

White-tailed Deer, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

To see more of Max’s photos, see his Flickr page.

The friends of Fish Creek are now taking registrations for the winter birding course, which runs from January 8, 2018 to the end of March. Register here.

 

South Glenmore Park

Jun24

Here are some photos of birds taken in South Glenmore Park on a Friends of Fish Creek birding course walk on April 29, 2017. All Photos by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Red-necked Grebe.

Red-breasted Merganser (male).

Red-breasted Merganser (female).

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle subspecies).

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Intergrade of Audubon’s and Myrtle subspecies).

Cooper’s Hawk.

Downy Woodpecker (male).

Bufflehead (male).

Horned Grebe.

Osprey.

Song Sparrow.

Red-tailed Hawk.

Sandhill Crane.

Swainson’s Hawk.

Boreal Chorus Frog singing.

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

Never a Dull Moment: Mallard Point

Apr11

On Saturday, upon finally having good weather after a long winter, the Friends of Fish Creek Park group went to Mallard Point to see what could be found on the river.  There were seventeen people on the outing, which meant lots of pairs of eyes on the lookout for birds.  We saw many of the usual species, but even so, one never tires of the quirks of bird behavior.

Black-capped Chickadee excavating a nest hole…

… and emerging with a beak full of sawdust.

Male Common Goldeneye declaring his love…

…and then a pair of Goldeneyes demonstrating how diving ducks have to run on takeoff.

Male Ring-necked Pheasant chasing the female all over the island.

And for some reason it always seems odd to see Canada Geese up in the trees:

 

They can’t be thinking of nesting on the picnic table, can they?

We were also lucky enough to see some returning migrants:

Franklin’s Gulls.  The one on the right has a pinkish breast colour.

But the highlight was a rare bird sighting, a male Red-breasted Merganser.  These are only seen in southern Alberta on migration, and not very frequently within the city.  This was a life bird for about ten of us, and even Gus Yaki, the trip leader, said he had not seen one in Calgary for about five years.

 

 

Posted by Bob Lefebvre