Yesterday (Jan. 25) we had a fine winter day with a high of 4 C and clear. What better thing to do than to do a little bird watching.
At 4 above C it's reasonable to use field glasses and cameras.
I had put this on my bird watching call list Fri. night so had 2 people show up to go with me. I also persuaded the Micro Manager that it would be very good for her to go with me. She enjoyed herself.
One of my favorite winter birding sites is Mackenzie Trails. It's an area of old growth forest. It has never been logged. It's a mixture of aspen and spruce. We are fortunate to have this right inside the city.
Here the birds we will see in the winter is quite predictable. So yesterday we saw: black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatch, white breasted nuthatch, pine siskin, common raven, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, woodpecker and a blue jay. Possible sightings could have been: boreal chickadee, black-backed wood pecker, great horned owl, brown creeper.
A look toward the forest.
I can't understand why birders would go the wrong way. But this shows the dense forest.
I look at a bit of a clearing caused by a viscous wind storm five years ago.
Bird nests are easy to find in winter when the leaves are gone.
I used my ipad for 6 or 7 posts. I did not find out how to post photos on posts I did with the ipad. When I tried photos the ipad seized up.
So now I can post some fall photos. However, tonight is not fall . It's winter. We've had snow for three days and have about 10 cm ( 4 in). I have shovelled the driveway and sidewalks three times.
So posting fall photos takes me back to better times.
Last Saturday Oct. 28 was a beautiful day. Jackets and coats came off as it was about 17 C (65 F). In my last post I shared one photo that I liked so I found out that there was very good light that day for the colors that were involved. So here are more photos from Heritage Ranch.
This is my Saturday afternoon birding group. They know how to have fun!
This morning I led a group of people on a bird walk south of the Red Deer College . This is an area of open grassland, Buck brush, riparian and willows ,aspen stands and spruce . It's a rich natural area with a variety of bird and animal life .
This morning was windy overcast and about +5 C...not a nice morning to see birds as they tend to stick close to cover .
However, eight people met and walked through the area for an hour and a half . Birders tend to be an optimistic type so they cheerfully set out .
Magpies, crows and mallards were flying in the area as we began , but things were fairly sparse . We expected to see some spring arrivals such as tree sparrows, white crowned sparrows etc. We spotted a large black bird about a kilometer away which turned out to be a bald eagle . At about the same time a flock of swans flew by . We could hear a woodpecker tapping but couldn't spot it . We heard juncos and saw black capped chickadees . Several robins were also spotted . On our way back we were able to find the female downy woodpecker.
So our morning turned out to be fairly successful.
I will be leading a Saturday morning bird walk for the next five weeks . You never know what to expect .Sightings vary each year . No matter what these mornings are always pleasant .
