This report was prepared on Thursday January 26.

January 22
– LESSER SCAUP, Carburn Park, Bow River (Calgary), Janet Gill, Bernie Diebolt, CFNS group

January 23
– GADWALL male, Fish Creek PP, Bow River (Calgary), David Lilly

January 24
– NORTHERN PINTAIL male, Carburn Park, Bow River, Gus Yaki, FFC group
– GYRFALCON, Hwy 8 west of Calgary, Richard Clarke

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday January 30.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday February 1. The program is titled ”Understanding the Bird-brained: The Psychology of Bird Watching”, presented by Chip Scialfa. Dr. Scialfa is a professor of psychology at the U of C, a birdwatcher and a volunteer for the Alberta Wilderness Association.

The new blog can be found at ”2010 Birding Competition“ and there is also a link to it under the “Blogroll” heading on our home page.  It won’t be an active blog with new posts but all the competition pages are there.  The 2010 pages on this blog will be removed in a few days.

Not only does this free up a lot of space here, but the competition pages display better and are easier to navigate in their new home.  Check out all the stats and the great photos, and if you were a participant, relive the competition!  Only eight more years and we can do it again.

This report was prepared on Monday January 23.

Sunday, JANUARY 22
–LESSER SCAUP (1) – Carburn Park by Janet Gill, Bernie Diebolt & CFNS field trip
–RED-TAILED HAWK (light phase) – Raven Rocks in Fish Creek PP by Steve Kassai
–SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (subadult) – Votier’s Flats in Fish Creek PP by SK
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1m) – Shepard by Terry Korolyk

Saturday, JANUARY 21
–COMMON x BARROW’S GOLDENEYE (1m) – Bankside in Fish Creek PP by TK
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – Symon’s Valley Rd area just N of Calgary by Bill Wilson
–SNOWY OWL (1) – Symon’s Valley Rd near Hwy 567 by BW

Friday, JANUARY 20
–TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE (1) – still surviving the deep freeze, observed in Andrew Slater’s yard

Thursday, JANUARY 19
–GOLDEN EAGLE (1 subadult) – just east of Winchell Lake, south of Water Valley, by Ray Woods
–NORTHERN GOSHAWK (2) – one on Grand Valley Rd a mile north of Hwy 1A by RW; one in the Weaselhead by Gus Yaki & Friends of Fish Creek Society field trip
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1+) – one, possibly two, seen near the Scotia Centre in downtown Calgary by Wlad Franco-Valias
–SNOWY OWL (1) – Symon’s Valley Rd near Hwy 567 by RW
–NORTHERN HAWK OWL (1) – 300 m south of entrance to Bates Bar J Ranch on Grand Valley Rd by RW

Wednesday, JANUARY 18
–PRAIRIE FALCON (1) – near the Scotia Centre by WF-V

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Thursday January 26.

BIRD STUDY GROUP – Meets the first Wednesday of the month, September – May at 7:30 pm, Room 211, BioSciences Building, University of Calgary. The next meeting will be Wednesday February 1. The program is titled ”Understanding the Bird-brained: The Psychology of Bird Watching”, presented by Chip Scialfa. Dr Scialfa is a professor of psychology at the UofC, a birdwatcher and a volunteer for the Alberta Wilderness Assoc.

Saturday morning stayed fairly cool, at around -15 degrees Celsius, but was considerably nicer than the week leading up to it. Sunday was much warmer, around -5C to -2C towards the end of the walk, but we walked a slightly different route in hopes of seeing a few different birds.

Saturday Route

Sunday Route

Saturday began with the sighting of a number of Pine Grosbeaks at the parking lot, and then many more we trekked down the hill into the Elbow River Valley.

Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeaks

Midway down the hill, as the path curves, a number of feeders have been set up and are regularly filled by a few local birdwatchers. This week though, these feeders have been empty each day, due to the cold. Whether that is due to the birds emptying them each day, or that they’re not being refilled currently, we’ve been filling them with some black oil sunflower seeds, much to the delight of the resident Black-capped Chickadees, Common Redpolls, and both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers.

Black-capped Chickadee

Down at the bottom of the hill are a number of other feeders, and one of the only Hairy Woodpeckers we saw this weekend was down there, tapping away at the birch and poplar trees, looking for a tasty snack, though I’m sure while we weren’t looking, he may have eaten a sunflower seed or two as well.

Hairy Woodpecker

Across the bridge and through the woods, we were led to a small clearing behind a line of spruce trees where the Boreal Chickadees have been seen all week. At least three came down Saturday morning, and paused to allow for a few photos, though I was determined to come back later in the day once the location was confirmed.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

I thought that nothing could top that, as we sat there for close to half an hour as the Boreal and Black-capped Chickadees ate out of our hands. Through the woods and towards the river we trekked, and I will admit a very bad identification moment, when I spotted this Red-breasted Nuthatch at the peak of a spruce tree, swearing it was something new and that we hadn’t seen all day. I don’t recall seeing these little guys sitting at the top of trees very often, if at all before. Needless to say, almost every birder I know has misidentified a bird from time to time, even the best of us. If we didn’t, there’d be no point in having Field Guides and databases of photos to refer to from time to time.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

At the fork in the path, we headed back towards the vehicles, preparing to end our trip for the day, though we were pleasantly surprised to see this Rough-legged Hawk being harassed by Black-billed Magpies on the north wall of the valley, across the river from our vantage point.

Rough-legged Hawk

After that, it was back to the main path, and up to the vehicles, though I was not quite done for the day. After stopping to have some lunch, I headed back to the Weaselhead as the clouds had burned off and the light was much better. In retracing my steps, I happened to get some photos of some more Boreal Chickadees, a very large flock of Bohemian Waxwings, and a Bald Eagle flying about 100 feet overhead.

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee

Bohemian Waxwing

Bohemian Waxwing

Bald Eagle

Sunday morning was similar early on, with the Pine Grosbeaks meeting us at the parking lot.

Pine Grosbeak

The feeding station midway down the hill was occupied as we approached by a number of Common Redpolls, which flushed after a few minutes of observation, but not before everyone had seen them. They really are quite pleasant birds that way!

Common Redpoll

Over the river we spotted a Rough-legged Hawk being chased down by a number of Common Redpolls before it stopped to rest at the top of this spruce tree.

Rough-legged Hawk

After stopping at the Boreal Chickadee location again and only coming up with a very small number of Black-capped Chickadees, we opted to head down the main pathway a little further and loop back again, in hopes that they would arrive later in the day. Though there weren’t too many other species around, we did have a few Black-capped Chickadees on the path, and a Rough-legged Hawk at the far west end on the southern valley slope. As we headed back north, I spotted another Red-breasted Nuthatch once again sitting atop a spruce tree. Two in less than 24 hours doing this same behaviour? Maybe it’s not as uncommon as I previously thought!

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Before we reached the Boreal Chickadee clearing, a flock of 50+ Bohemian Waxwings flew into this spruce tree nearly about a hundred meters away.

Bohemian Waxwings

After a brief few minutes of searching the clearing, we were preparing to leave, but as I turned to head home in defeat, a lone Boreal Chickadee flew towards the group. I was very pleased to get to see this beautiful little bird again today.

Boreal Chickadee

Calling it a day, we headed back towards the vehicles, and while I chatted with Gus a bit before heading home, I wanted to give Bernie a call to let him know what we saw, and where we saw it. As we talked, I noticed a shape in one of the trees near the parking lot, and just had to put him on hold while I grabbed some photos of it. The last Dark-eyed Juncos I had seen were in Waterton Lakes National Park, back in the summer of 2010, so these were a very pleasant surprise!

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Dan Arndt

Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the way nuthatches feed perfectly, ” an intense ball of energy “, is exactly what they are!

When they start hacking away, usually their legs are the only part of their bodies not moving!

Posted by Matthew Sim

]]> http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/active-feeding/feed/ 1 birdscalgary intense bundle of energy rb nuthatch http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/rare-bird-alert-calgary-jan-19/ http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/rare-bird-alert-calgary-jan-19/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:24:33 +0000 birdscalgary http://birdscalgary.wordpress.com/?p=6103 Continue reading →]]> Have you seen an unusual bird in Calgary? If it is on this Reportable_Birds (PDF), please report it to the Nature Calgary Rare Bird Alert line at 403 221-4519 and leave a message after the beep at the end of the recording. If you would like some help with species identification, us email us at zoxox@shaw.ca  To report injured wildlife call the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403 239-2488, or the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation at 403 946-2361.

This report was prepared on Thursday January 19.

Since December 25
– VARIED THRUSH, SW Calgary yard, Bob Lefebvre

since January 10
– MOURNING DOVE, SW Calgary yard, Aileen Pelzer, Gus Yaki

recently
– COMMON GRACKLE, 2 MOURNING DOVES, SE Calgary yard, Pat Bumstead

January 14
– CLARK’S NUTCRACKER, Harvie Heights, Richard Clarke
– GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH 100+, Exshaw feeder, RC
– PINE GROSBEAK 10, Harvie Heights, RC
– PINE SISKIN 100+, same, RC

The next scheduled update of the Bird Alert is on Monday January 23.

It took me a while to figure out whether it was a Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s Hawk, but it actually is almost identical to the one Pat posted about here and here, and which was identified as a juvenile Sharp-shinned.  The bird that Dan saw was an adult, and you can read about it here.

The hawk was followed by about forty Black-billed Magpies, but they didn’t mob it.  While it sat on our fence, they just kept their distance in a nearby poplar.  But when the hawk left, they followed.

About twenty of the magpies that were following the hawk.

Unlike Dan’s hawk, my bird didn’t take any of the hundred or so small birds that were around my feeders at the time.  It just rested on the fence for three or four minutes, then flew off, and I haven’t seen it again.

Gus Yaki saw these pictures and said that he believes he has seen this same individual several times this autumn and winter in Fish Creek Park and along the Bow River.  It is distinctive because of the prominent white tips to the back feathers, which is unusual in this species.

A view of the bird’s back, showing large white areas on the feather tips.

It was certainly exciting to see this bird, even if it was only for a few minutes, and it’s one more species for the yard list.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

This Bird Albert was recorded on Jan 16, 2012.

JAN 12

NORTHERN HAWK OWL – 2 in Water Valley area; one seen 3 kms south of Water Valley on Twp Rd 292, the second at the north end of the Grand Valley Rd 9.6 kms southeast of Water Valley and 2.5 kms north of the Larson Pasture Road (Twp Rd 284) junction, seen by Ross Lein and Val Haynes
NORTHERN PYGMY OWL – in a logged area at the southwest corner of Grand Valley Road – Larson Pasture Road junction, seen by RL and VH
HERMIT THRUSH – in west Fish Creek PP about 300 metres west of Bebo Grove on the gravel path, Hank Vanderpol

JAN 13

GOLDEN EAGLE – Linda Vaxvick saw one on Hwy 27 just west of Hwy 837

JAN 14

LESSER SCAUP – immature reported by Bill Wilson at the 22X Bridge in Fish Creek PP
TURKEY VULTURE – seen by Steve Ayrheart on Hwy 1A just east of 84 Street between Calgary and Chestermere Lake
GREAT GRAY OWL – near Water Valley, seen by Richard Clarke, phone Richard at 253-8063 for location
BELTED KINGFISHER – in Griffith Woods Park , Steve Kassai
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER – as above
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH – 100+ reported by RC at Barrier Mtn Dr in Exshaw

JAN 15

LESSER SCAUP – reported by Gus Yaki and the FFCCPP at the same location as reported the previous day
MOURNING DOVE – 2 in Pat Bumstead’s yard in Calgary Lynnwood, call at 403-279-5892
AMERICAN ROBIN – 8 in PB’s yard on Jan 15
DARK-EYED JUNCO – appearing in Margaret Brunner’s yard in Calgary for the past week
COMMON GRACKLE – in Pat Bumstead’s yard for the past week

The next scheduled update of the bird alert is on Thu Jan 19.

On both days, we began at Bow Valley Ranch, and then proceeded southward to Sikome Lake and Hull’s Wood. There we stopped briefly near the parking lot before heading first the site of a Great Horned Owl nest that’s been used regularly for a dozen or so years, then to the Bow River, before turning back and returning to the vehicles, then home. Once again, I logged the route taken and have mapped it in Google Earth, in case anyone would like to re-create the walk again in the future.

Bow Valley Ranch

Sikome Lake

At Bow Valley Ranch on Saturday, we spent about 45 minutes walking along the pathways, first stopping to find a pair of Great Horned Owls that were regular residents of the area.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl 2

We then stopped for a few minutes to watch for the Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches that are all too familiar with what humans may have to offer them, and as such, came in nice and close for some very good views.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Just as we were about to head down to Sikome Lake, I heard the distinctive trill of White-winged Crossbills in flight, and so we spent some time trying to track them down. Unfortunately, they were on a mission, and continued on in short order, allowing only the briefest of views.

White-winged Crossbill

Sunday, on the other hand, was a much colder experience. We spent a little time trying to coax out the chickadees and nuthatches again, but they would have none of it. Instead, we searched around until once again, that old faithful pair of Great Horned Owls was found, and then headed southward shortly after.

Great Horned Owl

Saturday was a great day on the Bow River. At the Sikome Lake parking lot, we were greeted by Downy Woodpeckers and Black-capped Chickadees, once again looking for a handout. Sunday was similar, but once again, in smaller numbers.

Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

Another pair of Great Horned Owls are commonly found down here, and both Saturday and Sunday they did not disappoint. Saturday found them just east of their usual roost, atop a spruce tree near the main building at Sikome Lake, and Sunday found only one at that same building.

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl

East to the Bow River we trekked. On Saturday, our travels were interspersed with a view of some Northern Flicker, as well as a single Killdeer, before reaching the Bow River, flush with Canada Geese, Mallards, Common Mergansers, Buffleheads and Common Goldeneye. After viewing them for a while in vain search of a Cinnamon Teal that had been sighted earlier in the week, we packed up and headed home.

Canada Geese

Common Goldeneye

Buffleheads

Sunday though, we were trudging our way through the fresh snow only to be stopped by the gurgling trill of a nearby Bald Eagle. In fact, two of them were perched above a bend in the Bow River, though as our travels brought us closer, they flushed and headed northward.

Bald Eagle and Black-billed Magpies

Bufflehead in Flight

Common Mergansers

Common Goldeneye

Sunday also treated us to a view of an anomalous bird that had been spotted the previous day. A lone Lesser Scaup among the Canada Geese and Mallards near the Boat Launch at Hull’s Woods. After pausing to take a few photos and get a positive ID, we headed back to the vehicles.

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup in flight

I am definitely looking forward to assisting in this course, as many of our Sunday birders are eager to learn as much as we can teach them about the birds of Calgary and area, and I also look forward to watching the seasons change back to spring and experiencing the full extent of spring migration here in the frozen north of Calgary!

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them, and look forward to a new year of learning about these incredible animals with you all!

Posted by Dan Arndt