Mike and Phil set out early this morning to the rolling pasture land in the area of Nanton, an hour south of Calgary, against the backdrop of the Rockies. It was a beautiful sunny day, with the temperature climbing from minus 13 as we passed through Nanton at 8 AM to plus 12 when we returned to Calgary at 2:30 PM.
Yet again, the spectacular winter day did not translate into a long list of birds and mammals. We had excellent looks at a male Northern Harrier, a Northern Shrike, small flocks of Snow Buntings and American Tree Sparrows and two small herds of Mule Deer as we drove over 300 km during the day. But it was late morning before we finally found a new bird, as two Horned Larks flushed up as we drove on a gravel road NW of Staveley. No luck with Golden Eagle or Sharp-tailed Grouse, which can be encountered on the route we took.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Friday, 3 February 2012
Some nice sightings, but nothing new....
Our current strategy is to target bird species which can be found in Alberta in winter and which will be hard to find elsewhere in Canada. In doing so, we will of course add other bird and mammal species which we will undoubtedly find again during the year.
On Thursday afternoon, Mike and Phil went to south-east Calgary, and then eastwards as far as Langdon, hoping to find a Gyrfalcon. (There is a school of thought which says that if you look for Gyrfalcons you are doomed to failure; you have to wait for the Gyrfalcon to find you when you are least expecting it. This may have an element of truth, but unduly defeatist for the Fur and Feathers team to accept.)
Sad to say, we did not find a Gyrfalcon but we spent a very enjoyable three hours in balmy, sunny 3 deg weather. It is very strange to be driving the prairies in February and to see very little snow cover. The highlight was the half-hour we spent on 51st Ave SE, where we had a secondary target, Harris's Sparrow. This bird was found there on the Christmas Bird Count on December 18, and has recently been reported again. While looking for the sparrow (also unsuccessful) we were treated to excellent views of a Prairie Falcon and a juvenile Northern Harrier. Circling above the Northern Harrier at one point was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. All very nice, but these are all already on our list. Likewise a Snowy Owl perched beside Hwy 22X west of Langdon.
We currently have 109 species of birds and 10 species of mammals. For the next few weeks, we can realistically expect that our list will grow at a pretty slow rate. Still, the continuing mild weather is a good incentive to keep plugging away. Mike and Phil will head south-west tomorrow, and Ray and Brian return from their travels this weekend, so we will have a full team back in action next week.
On Thursday afternoon, Mike and Phil went to south-east Calgary, and then eastwards as far as Langdon, hoping to find a Gyrfalcon. (There is a school of thought which says that if you look for Gyrfalcons you are doomed to failure; you have to wait for the Gyrfalcon to find you when you are least expecting it. This may have an element of truth, but unduly defeatist for the Fur and Feathers team to accept.)
Sad to say, we did not find a Gyrfalcon but we spent a very enjoyable three hours in balmy, sunny 3 deg weather. It is very strange to be driving the prairies in February and to see very little snow cover. The highlight was the half-hour we spent on 51st Ave SE, where we had a secondary target, Harris's Sparrow. This bird was found there on the Christmas Bird Count on December 18, and has recently been reported again. While looking for the sparrow (also unsuccessful) we were treated to excellent views of a Prairie Falcon and a juvenile Northern Harrier. Circling above the Northern Harrier at one point was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. All very nice, but these are all already on our list. Likewise a Snowy Owl perched beside Hwy 22X west of Langdon.
We currently have 109 species of birds and 10 species of mammals. For the next few weeks, we can realistically expect that our list will grow at a pretty slow rate. Still, the continuing mild weather is a good incentive to keep plugging away. Mike and Phil will head south-west tomorrow, and Ray and Brian return from their travels this weekend, so we will have a full team back in action next week.
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Northern Saw-whet Owl
On Friday Mike and Phil had struck out on the Northern Saw-whet Owl found the previous day in Carburn Park in Calgary by a group led by Gus Yaki. Gus and another group re-found the bird yesterday, so a phone call to Gus seemed in order, and Gus kindly provided details on the bird's day roost. We had likely walked right past the bird.
Today was a very mild day for late January: 12 deg this afternoon. On arriving at the parking lot just after noon, we ran into Bob Lefebvre and Dan Arndt and learned that the owl was back on its regular roost. A few minutes later we were observing the bird, whose celebrity status had attracted the attention of several wildlife photographers.
A very nice addition to our list. Unfortunately our camera-toting Fur and Feathers companions are away at present, so we hope the owl will stay around until they return, and a picture can be posted.
Today was a very mild day for late January: 12 deg this afternoon. On arriving at the parking lot just after noon, we ran into Bob Lefebvre and Dan Arndt and learned that the owl was back on its regular roost. A few minutes later we were observing the bird, whose celebrity status had attracted the attention of several wildlife photographers.
A very nice addition to our list. Unfortunately our camera-toting Fur and Feathers companions are away at present, so we hope the owl will stay around until they return, and a picture can be posted.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Clark's Nutcracker and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Mike and I headed west of Calgary today, and added two bird species and one mammal species to the team list. Some of our resident species are often best seen in winter. We had no difficulty in finding two Clark's Nutcrackers in the community of Harvie Heights, which sits close to the Trans Canada Highway just before the entrance to Banff National Park. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches come down from the mountains in winter, and the hamlet of Exshaw is usually a reliable place for them. A flock of 100 birds obligingly festooned trees beside Barrier Mountain Drive. Between Harvie Heights and Exshaw we encountered a flock of about 30 Bighorn Sheep, a new mammal for the team list.
We had started our day in Carburn Park in Calgary, in hopes of re-finding a Norrthern Saw-whet Owl seen there yesterday. We spent almost half an hour searching the area where the bird had been reported, but saw no sign of it. Good numbers of Black-capped Chickadees and Common Redpolls in the area might have led us to it, but they displayed no agitation.
As our drive home from Exshaw to Calgary took us close to the Water Valley area, we were unable to resist a detour in hopes of finding an owl there, but again we came up empty. These guys are proving problematic.
Temperature today in the minus 7 to minus 1 range, generally not too windy.
We had started our day in Carburn Park in Calgary, in hopes of re-finding a Norrthern Saw-whet Owl seen there yesterday. We spent almost half an hour searching the area where the bird had been reported, but saw no sign of it. Good numbers of Black-capped Chickadees and Common Redpolls in the area might have led us to it, but they displayed no agitation.
As our drive home from Exshaw to Calgary took us close to the Water Valley area, we were unable to resist a detour in hopes of finding an owl there, but again we came up empty. These guys are proving problematic.
Temperature today in the minus 7 to minus 1 range, generally not too windy.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
South-west of Calgary
Our two recent team outings in the foothills NW of Calgary had not been very productive, so today Ray and Phil decided on a change of scenery and we went to the Millarville, Turner Valley and High River area south-west of the city for a full day outing. It was very mild for the middle of winter, the mercury soaring to +5 deg in the afternoon, and only a very light wind during the morning. Good weather conditions do not always translate into good birding, but today was very enjoyable in all respects.
The signature bird was undoubtedly Rough-legged Hawk, which we saw throughout the route, perhaps 20 birds in all. In contrast to last winter there are plenty around this year.
While we were unsuccessful with our principal target, Northern Pygmy-Owl (which by contrast are in very short supply this season), we did pick up four new bird species. A pleasant half-hour walk in Brown Lowery Provincial Park, yielded two male American Three-toed Woodpeckers (bird species no. 104), the first of five woodpecker species we saw today. The town of High River turned up three new species: Eurasian Collared-Dove (no. 105), Bohemian Waxwing (no. 106) and House Finch (no. 107). There was no sign of the Red-bellied Woodpecker which had been seen in High River until recently.
Other good birds we saw today, while not new for the list, were Northern Shrike, Northern Hawk Owl, Mourning Dove and Evening Grosbeak. We also heard, but did not track down, a drumming Pileated Woodpecker in Brown-Lowery PP. Our grand total for the day was 30 species of birds and 4 mammals, very respectable for January.
Thousands of Mallards in Ralph Klein park in SE Calgary heralded our return to the city. There has been some speculation that these may be very early returning migrants rather than part of the city's resident winter population. Whatever their status, it was an impressive sight.
The signature bird was undoubtedly Rough-legged Hawk, which we saw throughout the route, perhaps 20 birds in all. In contrast to last winter there are plenty around this year.
While we were unsuccessful with our principal target, Northern Pygmy-Owl (which by contrast are in very short supply this season), we did pick up four new bird species. A pleasant half-hour walk in Brown Lowery Provincial Park, yielded two male American Three-toed Woodpeckers (bird species no. 104), the first of five woodpecker species we saw today. The town of High River turned up three new species: Eurasian Collared-Dove (no. 105), Bohemian Waxwing (no. 106) and House Finch (no. 107). There was no sign of the Red-bellied Woodpecker which had been seen in High River until recently.Other good birds we saw today, while not new for the list, were Northern Shrike, Northern Hawk Owl, Mourning Dove and Evening Grosbeak. We also heard, but did not track down, a drumming Pileated Woodpecker in Brown-Lowery PP. Our grand total for the day was 30 species of birds and 4 mammals, very respectable for January.
Thousands of Mallards in Ralph Klein park in SE Calgary heralded our return to the city. There has been some speculation that these may be very early returning migrants rather than part of the city's resident winter population. Whatever their status, it was an impressive sight.
Monday, 23 January 2012
An Owl and a Falcon!
Taking advantage of our improved weather and some recent good sightings to the north of Calgary, Phil, Mike and I spent a pleasant afternoon cruising the rural area between Symonds Valley Rd and Balzac looking for a Snowy Owl and a Prairie Falcon.
The owl showed up almost immediately on exactly the same power pole where I encountered it on a solo outing last week! There must be a decent food supply in the area. About an hour later, a Prairie Falcon swooped down right in front of us, providing us with a wonderful view as it raced away to the south, eventually coming to rest on a distant fence post. Both of them new team birds bringing our Fur & Feathers tally to 111.
Also of note in the area was a Rough-legged Hawk and three Pine Grosbeaks.......and several hundred Canada Geese feeding in the surrounding fields. Just eight species in total for this little outing but great to see the owl and the falcon!
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| Immature Snowy Owl, |
The owl showed up almost immediately on exactly the same power pole where I encountered it on a solo outing last week! There must be a decent food supply in the area. About an hour later, a Prairie Falcon swooped down right in front of us, providing us with a wonderful view as it raced away to the south, eventually coming to rest on a distant fence post. Both of them new team birds bringing our Fur & Feathers tally to 111.
Also of note in the area was a Rough-legged Hawk and three Pine Grosbeaks.......and several hundred Canada Geese feeding in the surrounding fields. Just eight species in total for this little outing but great to see the owl and the falcon!
Sunday, 22 January 2012
A Search for Owls (2)
Having found a Northern Hawk Owl on our last team outing, we decided this week to look for the two other owl species—Northern Pygmy-Owl and Great Gray Owl — often found in the Water Valley area NW of Calgary.
Mike, Ray and Phil set out before dawn in foggy conditions reminiscent of our journey from Halifax to Lunenburg two weeks earlier. The fog dissipated as we left the Bow Valley behind and our hopes were high, especially as Ray had seen some good birds on a solo outing two days earlier. Unfortunately birds were very few and far between. We saw no owls at all, and only 12 bird species in total, nothing new for the year. A lone Coyote seen by Grand Valley road as we returned to Calgary, a new mammal for our year list, prevented us from being completely shut out.
The very cold spell of last week is over, and we’ll look forward to birding in warmer conditions over the next few days.
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