Tag Archive | social events

Birds & Beers, Friday September 9, 2022

Sep4

The fall season of Birds & Beers begins on Friday September 9th. 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 September 9, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome. We begin at 6 pm and the presentation will start just after 7pm. This month, Caroline Lambert will speak about the Eagle Migration Monitoring project that has been ongoing in Kananaskis for 30 years:

Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle, Coyote Valley OSP, Santa Clara County, CA. Photo by Caroline Lambert

Learn about the eagle migration count in Kananaskis! This count is celebrating its 30th year as a citizen science project contributing to the knowledge of Golden Eagle migration and population dynamics. This talk will cover the history of the count, what it’s like to be out at the count, trends determined so far, and how the count fits with other raptor counts across the continent.

Learn how you can get involved in tracking the birds at this beautiful location in Kananaskis.

Mount Lorette
Mount Lorette. Photo by Caroline Lambert.

Birds & Beers, Friday June 10, 2022

Jun5

The next Calgary Birds & Beers meeting will take place this Friday, June 10th. There will be a presentation about eBird by Gavin McKinnon.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday June 10, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

Horned Grebe
Horned Grebe. Photo by Gavin McKinnon.

After 7 pm, Gavin McKinnon will give a presentation on “eBird: The Review Process and How to Make Better Checklists.” Gavin will discuss all of the features that eBird has to offer. He will give regular eBirders a better idea of how observations are reviewed, and will talk abut how to make your checklists more valuable.

This information should prove to be useful for all birders, whether they use eBird or not. Gavin will also allow lots of time for questions and answers.

eBird

Everyone is welcome; food and drinks are available. We meet in the back rooms at the Legion at 6 pm. If you can’t make it at 6, the presentation will be at about 7:15.

Birds & Beers, Friday May 13, 2022

May10

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.

Green-winged Macaws. Photo by Mark Garbutt

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.

Birds & Beers, Friday April 8, 2022

Apr6

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.

White-faced Ibis. These birds are relatively recent additions to the breeding birds of Frank Lake. Photo by Tony LePrieur

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.

Birds & Beers Goes Ahead Friday March 11th

Mar9

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.

Birds & Beers Delayed Until March 11

Feb2

We have had to postpone the return of Birds & Beers once again, to Friday March 11. The programme remains the same:

Covid Protocols will be in place, but anyone who has a vaccine passport is welcome. If anything changes between now and then, I will post an update.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday March 11, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

We will be meeting in the smaller back rooms since the ballroom is not available. There will ba a very small charge to attend since we now have to pay for the rooms. Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost.

Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew. Photo by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt.

The meeting begins at 6 pm. You may come early if you want to eat before most of the people arrive. At about 7 pm, a special presentation by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt will begin.

A Visit to Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park in South-western Saskatchewan is Canada’s only national park dedicated to the presentation and protection of the Prairie Grasslands Natural Region. It is one of North America’s best parcels of mixed grass prairie habitat. In late May of 2021 we visited the Park to explore and experience the beautiful scenery, birds and other wildlife of the region. We encountered about 100 species of birds, some of which we will show you in this presentation. Bob and Dianne Leonhardt

The Return of Birds & Beers

Jan18

Depending on how things go with Covid, we plan to finally resume the Birds & Beers social events in February! Covid Protocols will be in place, but anyone who has a vaccine passport is welcome. If anything changes between now and then, I will post an update.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Friday February 11, 2022, 6:00-9:00 pm

We will be meeting in the smaller back rooms since the ballroom is not available. There will ba a very small charge to attend since we now have to pay for the rooms. Food and drinks are available at a reasonable cost.

Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew. Photo by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt.

The meeting begins at 6 pm. You may come early if you want to eat before most of the people arrive. At about 7 pm, a special presentation by Bob and Dianne Leonhardt will begin.

A Visit to Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park in South-western Saskatchewan is Canada’s only national park dedicated to the presentation and protection of the Prairie Grasslands Natural Region. It is one of North America’s best parcels of mixed grass prairie habitat. In late May of 2021 we visited the Park to explore and experience the beautiful scenery, birds and other wildlife of the region. We encountered about 100 species of birds, some of which we will show you in this presentation. Bob and Dianne Leonhardt

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we can meet in February!

Birds & Beers Update

Aug28

The monthly Birds and Beers socials have not been held since the start of the pandemic. Many local birders are hoping we can resume these events and the presentations soon. I’m sure quite a few birders are vaccinated and keep small cohorts. Joan Walker (who does the majority of the organization of these events) and I have discussed it, and we decided that the situation with the spread of the Delta variant is too uncertain to have such gatherings right now. I certainly would not be comfortable attending since I am in contact with many people every day. I don’t want to pass the virus on to others. So we will have a “wait and see” attitude for now.

Redhead
Redhead, Bridlewood Pond, May 2021. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Joan has looked into planning events in the next few months. There are a few presentations ready to go. However, there are some complications. Our regular meeting-place is the Horton Road Legion. Of course the pandemic has been a difficult time for businesses like the Legion. They were closed for a while, and are currently only open a few days each week. When they re-opened, all the meeting rooms booked up completely until Christmas. So we are considering possibly re-starting in January.

Another issue is that the Legion will now have to charge for the use of the room. It is a minimal amount, but we would have to pass the cost on to the attendees.

There is the possibility of finding other venues but it would be very difficult to find another one that serves meals and drinks, can accommodate presentations of up to 100 people, and is cheap or free.

We would like to have some feedback on this. Should we plan to resume in the new year (assuming it is safe to do so) at the regular location? Would you be willing to pay a small amount (no more than two or three dollars per person; probably less) to attend? Would you like to try another venue and do you have any suggestions for an alternate location?

If you are a regular Birds & Beers attendee and you have thoughts on this, please email me at wbird7[at]gmail.com. -Bob Lefebvre

Birds & Beers, April 2020 – CANCELLED

Mar21

The Birds & Beers event that was scheduled in Calgary for Thursday, April 2, 2020 has been cancelled due to concerns about Covid-19.

Future scheduled Birds and Beers events of Thursday, May 7 and Thursday, June 25 are on hold until further notice.

In the meantime, you can drink beer and watch birds in your yard. That’s what I’ve been doing!

Eurasian Collared-Doves in my yard. This photo was taken in April 2019, but the pair is back nesting here again this year. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Birds & Beers, March 5, 2020

Feb24

We were unable to get our usual late-February date for Birds & Beers, so we will be meeting next on Thursday March 5th.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday March 5, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm.

Dan Edwards will be presenting “Birds of the Great Ocean Walk,” a birding-oriented travelogue of his trip hiking the Great Ocean Walk in southern Australia last October. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 pm.

Kookaburra
Kookaburra. Photo by Daniel Edwards.

Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen.