Local photographer Judi Willis found this Yellow Warbler and its nest this week in the Calgary area.
Here is one of the pair in the nest:
This is a pretty typical spot for a Yellow Warbler nest – usually in a fork of branches in a bush like this willow, and commonly only ten feet off the ground or so. The nest seems large for a Yellow Warbler, with a lot of material hanging down (animal hair?).
Below is the nesting bird again.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
We’re back! After a really long summer hiatus, it’s time to get posting again. I have a lot of great photos that readers have sent in, and we’ll start with some of Tony LePrieur’s excellent photos of summer birds. Be sure to check back on Friday for his photos of a wide variety of mammals.
First I wanted to mention that although it may seem like a quiet time of year, especially with the steady hot weather we have had, the past couple of weeks have been pretty good for fall warblers and other migrants. Confederation Park in the NW and several locations in the river valleys (notably Mallard Point in Fish Creek Park and Carburn Park in the SE) have had some good birds. Black-and-white, Townsend’s, Magnolia, Canada, Blackburnian, Mourning and Cape May Warblers have all been reported, among others. A Lark Sparrow has been seen at Mallard Point.
I also wanted to mention that a Peregrine Falcon has been seen perched on the Peter Lougheed Hospital in NE Calgary on two occasions by reader R. Michael Fisher, on August 12 and 20. It may be worth checking for it if you’re in the area.
And now for Tony’s photos.
Cedar Waxwing, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Eastern Kingbird, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Spotted Sandpiper, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Great Gray Owl, Priddis area, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Great Gray Owl, Priddis area, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Calliope Hummingbird, Weaselhead. June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Sora, Bridlewood Wetlands, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Creek Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Wood Duck female with chicks, Carburn Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow Warbler, Carburn Park, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow-headed Blackbird, Frank Lake, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Wilson’s Phalarope, Frank Lake, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow Warbler, Fish Creek Park, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Fish Creek Park, July 3, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
To see more of Tony’s photos, go to his Flickr page.
Tony LePrieur took these great photos of a huge Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling being fed by its foster parent, a male Yellow Warbler.
Brown-headed Cowbird being fed by a Yellow Warbler, Calgary, July 8, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
The warbler is off to find more food for its demanding foster child.
Brown-headed Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and often the other species does not recognize the difference and raises the young cowbird. For more photos of cowbirds with some other host species see these posts:
In May we posted some photos taken by Lorraine Glass in Bowmont Park in NW Calgary (see this post). Gord Smith was inspired by these photos to go and see what he could find. Here are his photos from May 22 and May 27, 2017.
Western Tanager (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
White-breasted Nuthatch, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Flicker (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Yellow Warbler (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Yellow Warbler (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Gray Catbird, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Song Sparrow, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Flicker (male), Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bowmont Park, May 2017. Photo by Gord Smith.
If you have some photos of local birds you’d like to post here, send them to us at birdscalgary@gmail.com.
Birds & Beers is an informal social get-together for any interested birders. The Calgary Chapter, organized by Dan Arndt and a few other local birders, usually meets once a month. The next meeting will be this Friday, May 26th.
Yellow Warbler. Photo by Dan Arndt.
There is no cost or registration for Birds & Beers; just show up and have a drink or a meal if you want, and chat about birds. Of course, there are lots of new birds to talk about at this time of year. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. So drop by any time after 6 pm and join us.
Birds & Beers
Royal Canadian Legion
9202 Horton Road SW, Calgary
Friday May 26, 2017
6-9 PM.
The Calgary May Species Count takes place over the weekend of May 27-28, so come and find out where people are going and what they hope to see.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Tony LePrieur has been generously sharing photos with us every week, and I sometimes get a little behind in posting them. Today I want to catch up a bit by posting several sets of his summer pictures of birds from the Calgary region.
The first set is of young birds and their parents from Fish Creek Provincial Park, taken on July 16.
Juvenile Western Wood-Pewees waiting to be fed.
Western Wood-Pewees, three young with an adult.
I think this is another Western Wood-Pewee.
Eastern Kingbird parent with three juveniles.
Eastern Kingbirds.
I think this is a VERY young Yellow Warbler.
And this Warbling Vireo may be even younger – just fledged!
Some birds and Mammals photographed in Fish Creek Provincial Park and Carburn Park on the weekend of July 2, by Tony LePrieur.
Yellow Warbler (male).
Great Blue Heron.
Gray Catbird.
Franklin’s Gull.
Ruddy duck (male).
Another male Yellow Warbler.
Mule Deer fawns.
Tony LePrieur got a nice variety of June birds last weekend in the Calgary area. Photos taken June 4-5, 2016 in Bridlewood, the Weaselhead, and at Frank Lake.
Wilson’s Phalaropes (foreground-female; background-male).
Pied-billed Grebe.
Yellow-headed Blackbird (male).
Cliff Swallows, collecting mud to build their nests.
American Robin (bebee).
Black-necked Stilts.
Yellow Warbler (male).
Swainson’s Hawk.
Wilson’s Snipe.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (female).
Posted by Dan Arndt
Two weeks ago our group visited Bowmont Park, one of the few parks we often visit in the northwest quadrant of Calgary with the Friends of Fish Creek birding courses. It’s a bit of a special park, as it borders on the Bow River, but also a gravel quarry which is home to a pair of Osprey in the summer, a few small ponds, and a south facing slope allowing for a wide variety of songbirds.
Bowmont Park – May 24, 2015
This was the first week of outings where Yellow Warblers were the most visible. All spring and summer long, these little yellow fireballs will be singing all over the place until they manage to find a mate and raise their young. They’re really quite fun little guys to watch, and it’s always nice when they’re so easy to photograph, like they were that morning!
Yellow Warbler
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
I mentioned the Osprey nest earlier, and this is one area where Enmax has set up an Osprey platform to prevent the Osprey from nesting inside the gravel quarry on the power lines. When we rounded the corner to check out the nest, we were greeted to this sight:
Canada Goose
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 400
The platform had been taken over by a family of Canada Geese, but thankfully the Osprey had found another location to nest nearby. We walked over to the river a little before coming out underneath the Osprey nest, and found this Tree Swallow picking up nesting material right off the pathway.
Tree Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1250
On our way out to the main pathway, we spotted this Clay-colored Sparrow finishing up his shift at the gravel quarry and heading out for the day. They’re such industrious little workers! This was just after 8:00 in the morning and already he’d put in a full day of work.
Clay-colored Sparrow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
Speaking of hard workers, this Osprey was taking trips to and from the new nest all morning, each time taking more and more branches in to build up the nest to an appropriate size, wedging them into the nest each time.
Osprey
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
The pond at the back of the quarry which is usually unbelievably productive turned up next to nothing for us. It seemed rather unusual, so we headed further up the north slope, and found this perched Swainson’s Hawk waiting for us up there.
Swainson’s Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/10.0, ISO 800
While we had some good looks at a few birds on the northwest hill, we had much better looks at them a bit later on, but thankfully we did manage to get a nice close look at a Northern Rough-winged Swallow on the river near the pathway on our way back. These birds can be somewhat hard to find around the city, but often along the Bow River.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/10.0, ISO 1600
We gave the pond a second chance to redeem itself, but sadly it was just as empty as it had been on our first visit, so we walked along the back end of the quarry and were treated to another great view of a male Yellow Warbler singing his heart out.
Yellow Warbler
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
Our last good bird of the day was a lone Gray Catbird, of which we had seen a few earlier in the day but at a bit further distance. This beautifully drab bird was singing his heart out over and over again from the aspens and willows nearby. The cinnamon undertail and jet black cap are the only real splashes of color on these birds, but their song is unmistakable.
Gray Catbird
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/8.0, ISO 1600
And that was another great week of birding. Have yourself a wonderful week, and good birding!
Have you seen a flash of yellow in your yard lately?
The Wood Warbler family is famous for their diversity in plumage, song, feeding and breeding biology. All of them are small birds with long, thin bills used for snapping up insects and larvae. Perhaps one of the easiest to identify is the Yellow Warbler, which has more yellow in its plumage than any other member of the family.
In spring breeding season, males have rusty streaks on the breast and flanks, a bright yellow face with conspicuous black eyes, and yellow upperparts. They are known to build another nest on top of an old one when Brown Cowbird eggs appear in it, which can result in up to six different layers.
Yellow Warblers can be seen around the city from mid May to mid September. These birds are widespread in most shrubby and second-growth habitats in North America, where they can be seen quickly hopping from branch to branch. This bird was busily flitting from the saskatoons and lilac shrubs to the poplar trees in my yard.
Posted by Pat Bumstead