One of the areas that I surveyed for the May Species Count on Sunday May 29 was the Longview area, an hour SW of Calgary. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get to some of the best birding spots due to the wet weather, but the conditions were pretty good. There was water flowing across some of the side roads but I did get through.
This creek was very high…
There was still quite a bit of snow at high elevations…
The Bar U Ranch road, looking west to the mountains…
I managed to find 75 species, which is a good total for that territory. I was quite frustrated near the end of the day by my inability to find a House Sparrow anywhere in the town of Longview! No House Finches there either. I also saw about 35 Black Terns in a pond that was just out of my territory, and they refused to come over to a perfectly good pond on my side of the boundary.
But I did have some unexpected birds as well, including two Red-breasted Mergansers. Here are some other highlights (as usual, you can click on the photos to enlarge them).
Mountain Bluebirds are commonly seen near the bluebird boxes…
Female Mountain Bluebird…
Tree Swallows are nesting in many of the Bluebird boxes…
I got a good look at this Red-eyed Vireo…
Male Red-naped Sapsucker…
Because of the high water, there were few shorebirds other than Spotted Sandpipers and a few of these Wilson’s Snipe…
I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair of Harlequin Ducks on the Highwood River at the Green View campground…
I only saw one pair of Green-winged Teal, but this male swam very close to me…
The final surprise of the day was this beautiful Red Fox, which seemed to be completely unconcerned with my presence, and walked right by me…
Posted by Bob Lefebvre