On Saturday morning, I headed out of town hoping to get some sunshine birding before the forecast storm. At first I beat the weather, then ran straight into it, but managed to find thirteen new species for the year, including a lifer! I'll let the pictures tell the tale....
My first stop was the blind at Frank Lake, east of High River. There were many American Coots, Fulica americana, calling to each other in the reeds. This is one of a few that came into clear view.
A Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus, was diving for food in front of the blind, along with many ducks including Common Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, Mallard, Canvasback, and more.
As I walked away from Frank Lake, this family of Trumpeter Swans, Cygnus buccinator, were also continuing their northward journey.
Heading north and east from Frank Lake the prairie is dotted with little marshes and sloughs. Some were still frozen but, with no discernible pattern, others were completely open and each one had its own little birding treasures such as these Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, surely the most dapper of ducks.
It was in these prairie potholes that I completed my set of swans for the day with this pair of Tundra Swans, Cygnus columbianus.
Just north of Blackie I drove into a wall of fog and snow as the forecast storm arrived - welcome to April, Calgarians! Pushing on to my next destination, Namaka Lake, this young Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, sat forlorn in the middle of a field opposite the lake. I'm used to seeing these owls on poles but this bird sat for the whole time I was there - I hope it is not "out of gas" on its return journey north.
The main body of Namaka Lake was completely frozen over but the south wetland was open and filled with ducks. Standing on the shore were these four Wigeon and the second from the right is a male Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope, the last of Alberta's 33 regularly occuring species of waterfowl for me to find! As you can see in this image, the bird was aggressively chasing the two male American Wigeon, away from the female at right. What's odd about this is that the female appears to be an American Wigeon as well.
When these same four birds flew off for a few laps of the lake, the female continued, to paraphrase Tammy Wynette, to "Stand By Your Interspecific Hybridizing Man". Of course it could just be that I'm wrong about the ID on the female but after some reading it really seems like an American to me - more on Wigeon ID in a pdf article from the ABA magazine if you're so inclined.
All in all a lovely day out on the prairie, in spite of the weather. I'm looking forward to my next wetland outing on the 21st, this time to Ralph Klein Park.
"Of course as soon as the first snow hits, everything just disappears"
That's a comment overheard at the last Nature Calgary Bird Study Group meeting. As we approach late September in Alberta there is a certain inevitability to the first snowfall and it will indeed chase away many lingering migrants. With an uncertain and dwindling number of good migratory birding days left, I've been trying to squeeze in a few trips.
On Friday morning I managed to swing by Confederation Park on my way to school. Large flocks of Wilson's and Yellow-rumped Warblers were a nice way to start the day. My NMT list (explanation here) grew as well, with Orange-crowned Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and (with the help of some experienced fellow birders) a Red-eyed Vireo.
Red-eyed Vireo looks like it means business! Image From Flickr Creative Commons taken by SeabrookeLeckie.com
Feeling suitably pumped up by that experience I dragged myself out of bed in the dark this morning and headed out to Namaka Lake, 70km SE of the city near Strathmore. This is a designated Important Bird Area and a spot that I had been wanting to check out for some time. Namaka certainly made a great first impression. A fiery sunrise lit up the sky ahead of me all the way there and I arrived at the east access point five minutes before the sun broke the horizon. As I walked towards the lake the grass was lit up golden brown. I couldn't resist the urge to stride through stands that were five feet high, with the loaded ears bouncing off my chest sending seeds for next year flying out in all directions.
Overblown pastoral prose aside, the lighting was pretty great for the birds too. One of the first that I saw was a Le Conte's Sparrow. A life bird for me and, based on my reading back at home, an amazingly cooperative example of its kind!
Le Conte's Sparrow, click to enlarge, image colour has not been manipulated - the sunrise was just this awesome!
On the lake itself there was no shortage of bird life either. A few late shorebirds were hanging around the shoreline: a flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers hanging out with a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs, and a few Killdeer scattered around. The waterfowl were much more numerous with American Coot, and three Grebe species (Eared, Horned, and Western) being particularly noticeable. The real treat on the water though was the American White Pelicans.
I know it's out of focus but this image cracks me up for some reason. American White Pelican and a family of Ruddy Ducks
The flocks of pelicans gorging themselves was quite a sight and I captured some digiscope video.
The video looks pretty decent in fullscreen. Sorry about the sniffling - it was a cool but great morning of birding!
