A SURPRISE BIRD IN MY BIRD COUNT

   Most of you know that I am a birder. I do Christmas and spring bird counts. I've done the Christmas count over 40 times and all in the same area.

    Yesterday was a very good count day for me. I saw more than 18 species. Well, how do you know that? At this time of year there are many warblers here. They are hard to spot among all the fresh green foliage. I can recognize one warbler species by sound. There were several warbler calls that I could not recognize nor find them. There were also some sparrows that fly up quickly from a patch of brush and just as quickly settle in another patch of brush. So there were probably 5 or 6 more species that I couldn't identify. So I consider that I had a very good count.

    The count started off well before I ever left my yard, I heard a flock of Canada geese. They were quite high up and flying directly north. So that was easy. 

    On my way home in the afternoon I stopped on my favorite walking bridge to rest and also watch for birds.

     Here I am on the bridge watching for birds , but the photo is at least 20 years ago.

    A woman came along with a very attractive spaniel. We got talking about dogs birds and other things. We had been talking about 15 minutes when in one part of the conversation she said she was brought up in one of the nearby houses. Since I've lived in the same area for 50 years I would probably know her family so I asked who her family was. Yes, I knew them well. So she told me she was J. Now , I said you know me. Do you know who I am? Of course, she didn't have a clue since she hadn't seen me for about 40 years. So I introduced myself. 

    I had taught J and her brother and sisters.

   So now the conversation really got started. It was great to meet J and recall old times.

   Did I also tell you that I like meeting old students.?

BIRD WATCHING FINISHED FOR THIS YEAR

     Some of you know that I lead a bird watching group every Saturday morning.

     Yesterday was our final day for this year. There comes a time when it's too cold for binoculars, cameras and fingers. We start to see very few birds as we don't have many winter birds.

     Yesterday was dull and cold . I didn't think we'd see much. However , our list included:Canada geese, black-billed magpie, common raven, downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, boreal chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, white breasted nuthatch  and northern flicker.

     I sent the group around a 1.5 km loop and I went back to the nature center to get coffee and cake ready. Yes, we have coffee and cake on the last day. They were supposed to be back before three and they weren't back. So they had a story. They had almost got all the way around when they encountered a mother moose with two calves on the trail. When she lowered her head they cleared out as fast as possible and had to walk all the way back around the trail. They were excited about their experience.

   Birding has changed a bit. Camera optics are better than binocular optics. Many times someone gets a good photo and we use that to identify a bird. The camera has a photo and it doesn't matter if the bird flies away.

   So we had our cake and coffee and talked about what we'd seen over the summer and look forward to next year. This year we saw about 90 species. There are a little over 200 species in this area.



    One of Lynette's photos that brings in the detail.

LAST SPRING BIRD WATCH SESSION

      Many of you know that I lead a weekly bird watching session. I take people for two hours on Saturday mornings. We meet at various locations throughout the season and see how many bird species we can find.

    I have from 8-16 people attend and a total of 25 people who have participated. This spring we went out 9 times and 7 were at in town locations. We saw 70 species in that amount of time.

    We know our birds as several people are super knowledgeable on birds and they don't mind sharing information. They are good teachers. However , we are a fun group and lots of good visiting takes place. There are standard jokes like seeing the " penguin." 

    We don't bird in the summer so our last session was June 20. We went to a place known as Spring Brook Natural Area. It's 160 acres of natural habitat. There are wetlands, grass areas, riparian, brush and old growth forest so a wide variety of habitat.

    I didn't take photos on Saturday but I have photos from last year.

A busy Bird Morning

      This morning was an extremely busy morning in my backyard as far as birds go. I saw 12 species from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM.

       I live in a very regular urban subdivision. We have many trees in our yards. We have open spaces for parks that have lots of trees. As nice as this environment is , it's not great bird habitat. All these plants and trees are not natural and the birds know that. Once in a while you get lucky and see many birds in a short time. Usually we see a few chickadees, nuthatches, house sparrows and the odd other bird most days. It's not an active bird habitat. I see from 30 to 35 species per year in my yard.

      Now the fall migration of songbirds is at it peak. So this morning many of these birds found my backyard, and vegetable garden in particular, a good place to have breakfast.

     From 7:30 to 9:30 I saw: White throated sparrows, white breasted nuthatch, red breasted nuthatch, house wren, yellow warbler, black capped chickadee, blue jay, house finch, house sparrow, hummingbird, robin and white crowned sparrow. There were a couple of LBJ's that I couldn't identify and also a couple of warblers.

     The white throated sparrows put on a great show. They run at a tremendous speed and scoot around under the heavy garden vegetation. They chase each other.

     The humming bird spent a whole two minutes with me today.

      Various flocks of robins will pass through for the next 6 weeks. Some will stay all year. Robins from further north keep coming south. Robins have been found nesting on Banks Island in the Arctic. It will take them a long time to get this far south.

     And yes , you're going to have to trust me on this one. I did not get one photo. I was looking through my window into the light and into a dark garden. That's not the best light for photos. There also was a nasty reflection in my window glass. If I went outside , that would have ended the bird visit immediately. 

    There will be more song birds coming through for the next month. I'll be watching. I'm expecting three species of black birds and lots of yellow rumped warblers. The yellow rumps seem to stick around for most of September. 

Christmas Bird Count

      As most readers know, the Christmas bird count is an important event for me. It's fun to be outside for a whole day and have a good excuse for watching birds. 

      In the last 45 years I have done the count close to 40 times. I have always done the same area and the odd year have taken on a second area when no one was able to count in an important area. 

     As you can see I prefer to count in natural areas.

I spend time on this bridge as birds cross the open area of the creek

Habitat varies

There are some open areas.

Edges of treed areas are good places to look

     Sometimes it's been very cold and a couple of times I didn't go out as the birds would not be moving and so there wouldn't be much to count. Besides, I'm not that dedicated that I would freeze my nose.

     Yesterday was just about right. We had temperatures from minus 2 C(28 F) to plus 2 C(36 F). There was very little wind and it was partly cloudy. In my last 10 minutes the wind started to blow. You will see from photos that it's pretty dull for partly cloudy conditions.

    My count was about average. I saw 9 species. (Red breasted nuthatch, black capped chickadee, blue jay, magpie, raven, house finch, house sparrow, downy woodpecker and pileated woodpecker). I saw one species that I couldn't identify as I couldn't get close enough to them. Other possibilities were 3 species of owls, bohemian waxwings, hairy woodpecker, black backed woodpecker, kinglet, pine siskin, crossbills, pigeons, brown creeper, pine grosbeak, evening grosbeak. So there's lots out there to see. Some of these may have been in the area but I missed them.  My total of birds was about 45. I saw a magpie "hissy fit" and I didn't get a count but there were probably 50 birds that flew by.

    To top off the day we had a super pot luck supper. I forgot my camera but last years photo will give you the idea.

More good food

More great people

Trifanatic

       There, I coined a new word!

       Most readers know that I am a fanatic about ice skating. Many of my posts are on skating. Most readers know that I am a fanatic about cycling. I cycle a minimum of 1000 km (625 miles) a summer.

     One other thing I'm a fanatic about is bird watching. I don't get nearly enough time as I would like to watch birds. 

     Sunday I was to meet a group and spend a couple of hours bird watching. I managed to mangle the time and location so as a result I did not meet up with the group. However, that was not a problem. I spent time on my own. So there I was with binoculars and camera looking for birds.

     Sunday here was very windy. Birds stay close to cover when it's windy. As a result I saw only two birds... a couple of female common mergansers. I didn't even see a crow and we are in the middle of crow migration. They will probably leave this area in about ten days.

     However, all was not lost. Fall colors were in abundance. So I got some photos to show a great area for birding.

    The Red Deer River Naturalists have just finished a birding guide for Central  Alberta called Central Alberta Birding Trails. We hope to set up a website so that people can download the map we produced.

Usually you find many species and numbers of birds on this section of river

The fine trail I had to follow

The other side of the river always looks more inviting

Young poplar 

A clump of trees at the edge of the parking lot

Escarpment view

Spring Bird Count : Day Two

     Today was my second session of spring bird count. Today I counted at a location called Slack's Slough. This is about 150 acres of water and then about 150 acres of riparian area. The soil around the slough is fairly alkaline so the general area has grass which grows under these conditions . Of course, there are no trees or brush. Most of the water's edge has a heavy growth of reeds. There are very shallow areas suitable for waders. 

The whole slough is rimmed by a heavy reed  bed.

    As you look across the slough there are 100's of birds. There is a wide variety of species. Since the distance is great and the reeds are thick there is a challenge to see some of the birds you hear. A good scope is really needed as further out I can not see the colors. I know that there are three species of grebes out there but I cannot identify which is which. I was lucky to find a beautiful Amereican Avocet right by the parking lot when we arrived. 

There are a few trees in some areas.

     So I picked up 17 species and hundreds of individual birds. It was a very pleasant two hours sitting on a viewing stand.

My friend Mike who called out the names of the species for me to record.

    

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

     Dec. 18 was the appointed day for the Christmas Bird Count(CBC) in my area. Out of the last 42 years I have missed the CBC maybe five times. It's a high light of the year for me.


     I have done the same area for about 35 years. I know about what I'll find every year. So why do the same area? It's the surprises you get when you see something different.  The last two years have been dismal as far as the species I've found and the number of birds counted. Last year was bitterly cold. This year we had an overnight snow fall and the birds weren't moving. Five species I expected to count, I didn't see. Ordinarily we see blue jays, white breasted nuthatches, pigeons and  red breasted nuthatches every day. Usually I would see hairy woodpeckers and pileated woodpeckers but not Dec. 18. 


   The area I count is a fairly wide ravine with a variety of habitat. There can be old growth spruce,poplar willow and a variety of shrubs. It was used as pasture land until about 25 years ago. It has a wide variety of excellent habitat.

Large old growth spruce

      Our day was mild and calm. It was pleasant to be outside all day. In the evening we had a great potluck supper.

Mixed poplar and spruce

     What was unusual on Dec. 18 was the number of little difficulties I encountered. I slipped on the side of a ravine and fell a few feet down the side. I got out and found my pant pretty muddy. Ten minutes later when I wanted to record some birds I found that my recording card was gone. So guess what? I lost it when I fell. Later I wanted to use my field glasses and hurriedly went into my back pack. The field glasses were not here. I was sure I had put them in but thought I left them by my back door. A little while later I wanted to record an bird and found that I had lost my pencil. So the comedy of errors is piling up.


     I got home and no the field glasses were not in the doorway. I checked the computer room and bedroom...nothing! I rechecked everything again...nothing! So I was ready to drive back to where I fell. So one more look in the back pack. There they were. Had gone in the wrong pouch in my excitement to see the bird. Of course I caught it from the clothes washer person for getting my pants muddy. 


     So if the birds don't make your day, being a bumbling idiot will make for some excitement.

On Line Bird Books

        If you've followed my blog for a while you will have noticed that I have many posts about birds. I have been interested in birds since I was very young. One of my posts details how my  Mom showed me  a beautiful mallard drake when I was about four years old. I've liked birds ever since although I get to spend more time on this activity since I retired.

       So needless to say, I have some bird books and have borrowed good bird books from the library. My Aunt gave me a second hand Taverner's when I was about five years old. Pieces of this book still exist in the family home.

      What I have discovered lately are some excellent on line sites for bird identification and information. Expert birders probably use these sites continuously. For the average birder these are excellent places to consult.

      I will give you links to two sites. I can describe both of them together. Both sites have a number of excellent pictures of each bird. Their descriptions are concise. What these sites have that books don't have is video of the bird. So you can look at the bird as it walks swims, flies or feeds. There is also sound recordings of the birds various calls. These are features that really add to your ability to identify a bird.

      I hope you will take a look at All About birds and What Bird.

      For those who are electronically blessed you will be able to use these features in the field and not have to come home and look them up on my computer. I hope that you will find these sites useful.

Excellent Bird Pictures Posted on Birds Calgary

      Just a heads up that Birds Calgary has posted a series of excellent bird pictures that they received in a bird photography contest. Check it out if you're interested in birds.

Early Morning Bird walk at Hazlet Lake May 15

       Click on the link to go to Natural Wise to see a full post of today's walk. http://wearenaturalwise.blogspot.com/

Red Deer River Naturalists Develop Alberta Bird Trail

         This winter Red Deer River Naturalists(RDRN) have been hard at work developing an Alberta bird trail. We decided to develop the bird trail in stages. This year we have materials ready for a bird trail which is within the city limts of Red Deer Alberta. We have had maps prepared for eight good birding sites within the city. Each map shows the features of an area with trails, facilities and brief description of birds which may be seen. So birders can get the material and decide which area they would like to spend some time exploring.

        Next year we will produce materials which will describe birding sites around Red Deer . We are hopeful that groups in Calgary and Edmonton will produce materials featuring birding sites within the cities and in the surrounding areas. Thus the name Alberta Bird Trail.
  
       Our pamphlets will be on tourist sites shortly. We will also have these maps on our website www.fanweb.rdrn.ca It may be a few weeks before the first maps appear on the website. There is also an email address on the website so if you have questions you can email us for more details.

This is the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary which is a fine example of one of the sites we feature. There are two oxbow lakes with three viewing decks and 3-4 km of walking trails.

         We hope that people will use the Alberta Bird Trail and enjoy finding and watching some fine Alberta birds.

It's Chickadee Fee Bee Time

         Anywhere there are chickadees, people will be familiar with the clear drawn out Fee Bee sound that chickadees make when they are indicting an interest in mating. Alberta has 4 species of chickadees, but the most common one in our area is the black capped chickadee. We have some boreal chickadees and the odd time we will see a mountain chickadee. The other chickadee we have is the chestnut backed chickadee.

       This morning as I was delivering papers at 6:30 AM, a couple of chickadees were doing the fee bee thing and it was a bit of a competition. They also called at the same time so there was a slight harmony. I stood and listened and enjoyed the pleasant morning music. I did not see either bird.

     I have watched chickadees in the same situation. They seem to be saying to any female chickadee who will listen, "Come over here and see my house." I observed this one time as two were calling and a female came by and looked at the first situation. There was fussing by both birds. She then left and went directly to the second bird and looked at his potentials. She also left him. The males seem to pick a nest loction, start excavating a nest cavity and then say, "Oh I need a mate to help me with this."

     All the activity and pleasant sound make for  pleasant part of spring. People who have lived all their lives in chickadee habitat are very familiar with the sound, but maybe not so familiar with all the activity. Next time you hear the pleasant sound take time to see if you can watch what the birds are doing.

Buzzed by a Merlin

        The merlin is a small falcon 20 to 30cm long and with a wingspan of  58 to 66 cm. The males have a blue gray back and the females are light brown . Both have streaked underparts. They are superb beautiful fliers. Their prey is usually small birds taken on the wing. They take the prey to a favorite tree or pole and pluck the feathers. So if you have a tree where you find feathers it's probably used by a merlin as a plucking tree.

       Now my story. I was delivering papers about 10:30 AM one morning when a saw the resident merlin buzzing a large spruce tree that had several house sparrows in it. None of the sparrows flushed so the merlin did not make a catch and swiftly flew up and over the house on the opposite side of the street. I continued on my route and had only gone about 20 steps when the merlin returned and flew at eye level almost within arm's length from me. I must say that I was shocked at the suddeness of the flight and his loud ki ki ki which is used to alarm birds so that they flush from cover and the merlin can make a kill. When I stopped to think about it I was standing beside another large spruce tree that had house sparrows in it . The sparrows gave an alarm call but they did not flush from the tree. If the sparrows had flushed I would have observed a kill at very close range.

      I was surprised that the merlin flew so close to me,but I guess he was attempting to use me as a distraction for the sparrows and in so doing would have a better chance to make a kill.

    I have often watched merlins in the area as they are awesome fliers. When they hunt bohemian waxwings they get under the flock and this causes the flock to rise. Sooner or later one bird in the flock will tire and drop down. The merlin flies like a bullet to the falling bird and makes a kill. Beautiful.!

    So watch for these birds in your urban neighborhood. They are noticeable by their rapid flight and noisey ki ki ki .

Bird Trail for Red Deer

       Bird trail some joker may say? Yeah birds run through the bush. Well, I'm telling bout a differnt bird trail.


      Bird trails have recently been designed  and become very popular. A bird trail is nothing more than a series of excellent bird siting areas that have been publicized and organized. Birders can then travel to these areas and see a larger number of birds without wasting time. Some of these trails have become very popular .


     The Red Deer River Naturalists (RDRN) are producing a map which will detail sites to visit within the city of Red Deer. Locals know where these spots are ,but the poor tourist comes to town and misses excellent birding opportunities.  Our brochures should be ready in April 2010 and be distributed to tourist bureaus. We also hope to have this information on our website http://www.rdrn.fanweb.ca/


 .


      We host a series of early morning bird walks in the spring. Check our Face Book Site and Http://wearenaturalwise.blogspot.com/ and get dates and times. We'd love to have you join us.


     In the coming year we will produce a birding trail guide which will feature the Central Alberta area. Again the locals know all of the good sites . This new material will make it easier for visitors to see the birds we have in this rich area.


     So join us or just come to the area on your own and enjoy the birds in this area.

Red's Christmas Bird Count a Bummer

       The Christmas bird count for me this year was rather disappointing. I had written a previous post "Christmas Bird Count is a Comin" where I described  my enjoyment of the count. So what happened?
 
      Well, this year my agenda was stolen so I didn't have much time. I did manage to get out for an hour from 9:15 to 10:15AM. Our weather conditions were heavy overcast so it was very dull. Birds weren't moving at all . One has to be patient to count birds and I admit I wasn't patient. So I only saw 4 species and 15 birds.

     Usually I spend about 5 hours and walk about 5 kms. I usually see 8 species and 60 to 80 individual birds.
  
    Next year I will see that nothing interferes with count day and hope that I find my usual birds.

Christmas Bird Count is a Comin!

       I have participated in the Red Deer Christmas bird counts since 1969 and in Christmas for a lot longer than that. I enjoy both of them .


       The public is interested in the bird count and asks many questions. Christmas bird counts have been around for a very long time . They were at one time known as Boxing Day bird counts and were held rigidly on Boxing Day. The first bird counts originated from hunting. On Boxing Day people would go out and shoot as many birds as possible. The birds were identified and counted and the guy who shot the most was the winner. Gradually the idea of just counting live birds took over and the counts were used to provide a general trend in bird populations. The bird tally was coordinated across North America.


      People sometimes ask how accurate our count is . It isn't accurate. It's a rough estimate but when done over a long period of time is a valuable statistic about the health of bird populations. So you ask how do I know I don't count the same bird twice? I don't know. Chickadees are usually in a flock of roughly 20 birds. If chickadees are flying across a forest opening you count them flying in one direction. If they come from the other direction they are probably birds you have already counted. Many times we do not actually see the bird but identify it by it's song. A 20 m spruce tree is difficult to observe all nooks and crannies. Some birds will keep moving through that tree and do not show themselves.  Weather makes a difference in the count. One count day was very stormy and I did not count.Very few birds would have been active as they stay close to cover to keep warm.


     I have counted the same area near my house for  long time. I know about how many species I will find in that area. The odd time that there is a different species is a bonus. From time to time I will count a brown creeper. Creepers are not very common and very hard to spot. I can also tell if black backed three toed woodpeckers are about by observing spruce trees that have been used as a food source. These woodpeckers are very quiet and hard to spot even if you know they are in the area.


     The Christmas Bird count is taking place Dec. 20 in the Red Deer area. We'd really like people to join us. Birding experience is not necessary. We will put you with an experienced birder. Phone the Nature Center to get information. 346-2010

Arctic Front Hits Birds

On Oct. 6 an Arctic front pushed down over western Canada. There were gusty winds to 90kph with snow which accumulated to about 2cm where I live. To say the least, this was nasty, nasty weather.

I have done several posts lately on bird migration and began thinking about how such unseasonally inclement weather affects birds. Fortunately, at this time of year most of the song bird migration is over. A few laggards may be found. A few of the hardier sparrow species are still here. I recently wrote about the dark eyed juncos cavorting through my shrubbery. Juncos tend to show up to feeders in dirty weather. In the worst of the weather I would still hear crows in the early morning. In fact, on Oct. 6 I saw crows putting on awesome flying displays as they flew into the raw wind and caught air currents which form over escarpments.

On Oct. 10 I traveled out of town. Some ponds were frozen, but larger bodies of water still had open water. Larger lakes and rivers were ice free. So the water fowl still had open water for their activities. Fields still provided excellent food for ducks and geese . I saw numerous flocks of geese feeding in the stubble.

I find that my feeder birds tend to disappear when storms like this occur. When the weather calms down birds return to the feeder. I'm never sure if my birds have been blown out of the neighborhood and I have somebody else's birds? Today I had many birds back at the feeder paticularly, red breasted nuthatches. Undoubtedly, some birds perish when the weather changes so rapidly. However, most birds survive and carry on for another day for their own enjoyment.

Joyful Juncos

This week there have been about 20 dark eyed juncos around my yard. They are exuberant and joyful as the feed and fly through the shrubbery.

Juncos are migrating through this area but are in no great hurry. Juncos can be observed quite late into fall and early winter. They are sometimes counted in the Christmas bird count here. For now they find an abundance of food. They eat seeds and insects found on the ground. They scratch with both feet at the same time so this is a very energetic action. These days they seem to fly at each other and chase through the bushes. The chase is usually brief. Juncos have two or three outer tail feathers which are white so when they fly there is brilliant flash of white. At most times of the year the junco is a very quiet, hard to notice bird. You often hear them rather than see them. If you stand still, they may come right up to you as one did to me when it fed less than a meter from my foot.

Juncos belong to the same family as our native sparrows. At one time they were identified as two separate species...the slate colored and the Oregon. Now they are considered as one species with some variation in color. Juncos are dark gray on top and have a white or off white belly. There is a very definite line across the breast which separates the gray breast and white belly. Some have a definite brown tinge in the gray. The females are a lighter gray and the young are streaked so you will find a certain amount of variation in the same flock of birds. See Sibley's for detailed descriptions of juncos.

Juncos have a habit of appearing at or feeders in very inclement weather. Our weather has been much cooler and windy this week. Therefore , I have been entertained by some energetic, joyful migrating juncos

Fall Bird Migration

In my last post I covered the antics of robins in Central Alberta as they migrate south. I should have first written about bird migration in general.


Migrating birds can be divided into large groups . There are water birds, boreal birds and grassland birds. In each group there are a large number of species and a wide variety of migration habits. To complicate matters many birds, particularly the males, look different than their spring plumage. In the fall I keep the Sibley's bird book nearby as the spring and fall plumage are covered as well as juveniles. Identifying birds in the fall is challenging as you see a bird hat looks familiar, but you can't quite place them. This is because the fall plumage is different.

Some of these birds leave us by the end of August. Others spend more time here as there is abundant food. Much has to be learned about migration, but birds seem to move in a narrow time line each year no matter what the conditions are . I keep a yard bird list . Each year the birds return at about the same time .

Boreal birds, such as warblers , busily work their way south by feeding in trees, brush and plants. They feed in the daytime and fly at night . Many times they crash into tall buildings and are found the next day at the bottom of the building. While they are in our yards they are interesting to watch. In my yard the most common warbler is the yellow rump. They feed on aphids on the back of leaves.

Water bird migrations are spectacular as we see the flocks of geese in their familiar vee formation. Ducks are in loose flocks and tend to fly rapidly. These birds feed for weeks in central Alberta grain fields.

Once again these birds are consuming huge amounts of high energy foods . They are also conditioning themselves for major flight. As a result the birds are energetic and we see all kinds of antics which attract our attention.

My childhood was spent in central Saskatchewan where there are main flyways for ducks and geese. When the wetlands were full of water it was perfect habitat for these birds. Sad to say many of these wetlands have been cleared and plowed for farmland.

A migration that most people try to ignore is the flight of crows. All through September we have massive numbers of crows which fly out to fields each day to feed on seeds and insects. In the evening they fly back to a common roosting area.

Several places on the edge of the Rocky Mountains provide perfect places to watch the migration of eagles . If you sit in the one spot you can count many eagles in one day.

So folks get out and enjoy the fall migration. These birds will soon leave us and we will be left with the few hardy species of winter birds.