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Victoria Day Big Day 2012

Posted by Dan Arndt

Long weekends are always a great time to get some extra birding in, and this one was no exception. I had initially intended on just making a morning of it with Gus Yaki’s Monday morning group with the Friends of Fish Creek Birding course at Mallard Point, but those plans went by the wayside when I was invited to join the annual Victoria Day Big Day.

What is a “Big Day”, you ask? The idea behind a Big Day is to get as many species as possible in 24 hours of birding. Some really hardcore birders begin at 12:01 AM and go all the way through until 12:00 AM the following morning, covering a huge area and generally getting a very high number of species. For instance, the current record for an Alberta-wide Big Day is somewhere around 235, and the participants started up around Cold Lake, Alberta and trekked all the way south to the SE corner of Alberta. When I heard that number, I was absolutely stunned. Not only by the magnitude of species seen, but also by the huge distance covered.

Traditionally, the Victoria Day Big Day is restricted to the Calgary city limits, and is organized by locally well known birder Tony Timmons. Instead of a competition style event, like some can be, this one is attended by all participants, with some coming and going throughout the day. This year, we started at 5:30 AM at Votier’s Flats and spent most of our time in the south end of the city, finally finishing up at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary around 6:30 PM. A long day, that’s for certain.

Both Bob Lefebvre and myself participated, and due to a bit of luck and determination, we were able to count the full 116 species reported by the group as a whole, along with 2 bonus species. One seen on the way down to Votier’s Flats, and the second in Confederation Park before Bob dropped me off at home.

I’ve posted the map and rough timeline of our locations below, along with the new species that we added to our total at each location. Oh, and of course I’ve added some photos as well!

Enjoy!

Victoria Day Big Day Locations

Victoria Day Big Day Locations

Crowchild Trail & Memorial Drive – Incidental – 5:15 AM

– Osprey

Votier’s Flats – 5:30 AM

  1. – Canada Goose
  2. – American Wigeon
  3. – Mallard
  4. – Blue-winged Teal
  5. – Bufflehead
  6. – Common Merganser
  7. – Ring-necked Pheasant
  8. – Sharp-shinned Hawk
  9. – Spotted Sandpiper
  10. – Belted Kingfisher
  11. – Downy Woodpecker
  12. – Northern Flicker
  13. – Least Flycatcher
  14. – Black-billed Magpie
  15. – American Crow
  16. – Northern Rough-winged Swallow
  17. – Tree Swallow
  18. – Bank Swallow
  19. – Barn Swallow
  20. – Black-capped Chickadee
  21. – Boreal Chickadee
  22. – Red-breasted Nuthatch
  23. – House Wren
  24. – American Robin
  25. – Gray Catbird
  26. – European Starling
  27. – Cedar Waxwing
  28. – Tennessee Warbler
  29. – Yellow Warbler
  30. – Spotted Towhee
  31. – Chipping Sparrow
  32. – Clay-colored Sparrow
  33. – Song Sparrow
  34. – Lincoln’s Sparrow
  35. – White-throated Sparrow
  36. – Red-winged Blackbird
  37. – Brown-headed Cowbird
  38. – Baltimore Oriole
  39. – House Finch
  40. – White-winged Crossbill
  41. – Pine Siskin
  42. – American Goldfinch
  43. – House Sparrow

Weaselhead – 7:30 AM

  1. Common Goldeneye
  2. Great Blue Heron
  3. Bald Eagle
  4. Swainson’s Hawk
  5. Red-tailed Hawk
  6. American Kestrel
  7. Merlin
  8. California Gull
  9. Rock-pigeon
  10. Rufous Hummingbird
  11. Calliope Hummingbird
  12. Hairy Woodpecker
  13. Pileated Woodpecker
  14. Eastern Phoebe
  15. Blue Jay
  16. Common Raven
  17. Cliff Swallow
  18. White-breasted Nuthatch
  19. Swainson’s Thrush
  20. Savannah Sparrow
  21. White-crowned Sparrow
Cliff Swallows collecting mud for nests

Cliff Swallows collecting mud for nests

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

North Glenmore Park & Glenmore Reservoir – 9:30 AM

  1. Gadwall
  2. Lesser Scaup
  3. American Coot
  4. Killdeer
  5. Baird’s Sandpiper
  6. Pectoral Sandpiper
  7. Bonaparte’s Gull
  8. Franklin’s Gull
  9. Ring-billed Gull
  10. Red-necked Grebe

53rd St and 22X – 10:45 AM

  1. Snow Goose
  2. Green-winged Teal
  3. Ruddy Duck
  4. Eared Grebe
  5. Sora
  6. Wilson’s Snipe
  7. Vesper Sparrow
Snow Goose

Snow Goose

Sora

Sora

Spruce Meadows Slough – 11:20 AM

  1. Cinnamon Teal
  2. Redhead
  3. Northern Shoveler
  4. Pied-billed Grebe
  5. Black Tern
  6. Marsh Wren
  7. Common Yellowthroat
Marsh Wren

Marsh Wren

South Calgary Bluebird Boxes – 11:45 AM

  1. Mountain Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

South Calgary Ravine – 12:00 Noon

  1. Cooper’s Hawk
  2. Mourning Dove

Sikome Lake – 12:45 PM

  1. Horned Grebe
  2. Great Horned Owl
  3. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  4. Eastern Kingbird
  5. Warbling Vireo

Shepard Slough #1 – 2:20 PM

  1. Northern Pintail

Shepard Slough #2 – 2:32 PM

  1. American Avocet
  2. Willet
  3. Wilson’s Phalarope

Shepard Slough #3 – 2:37 PM

  1. Western Meadowlark

Shepard Slough #4 – 2:41 PM

  1. Canvasback

Shepard Farmhouse – 2:51 PM

  1. Brewer’s Blackbird
  2. Common Grackle
Brewer's Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Ring-necked Pheasant

Ring-necked Pheasant

Shepard Slough #5 – 3:07 pM

  1. Lesser Yellowlegs

Shepard Slough #6 – 3:30 PM

  1. Black-necked Stilt
  2. Least Sandpiper
  3. Semipalmated Sandpiper

White-faced Ibis Flyover – 4:07 PM

  1. White-faced Ibis

Main Shepard Slough – 4:11 PM

  1. Double-crested Cormorant
  2. Stilt Sandpiper

Shepard – 4:31 PM

  1. Eurasian Collared Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary – 5:33 PM

  1. Wood Duck
  2. Harlequin Duck
  3. Hooded Merganser

Confederation Park – 7:45 PM

  1. Alder Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher

Wednesday Wings: Northern Saw-whet Owl

Blog readers Elizabeth Sargent and Greg Earle sent us some absolutely stunning Northern Saw-whet Owl pictures that Greg took in Carburn Park. They visited on March 31, and were lucky enough to find this little guy at breast height in a thicket of bushes near the river. We’ve had a lot of great saw-whet owl photos on the blog in recent months, but these are just spectacular! Click to enlarge.

Sunday Showcase: Great-grey Owl

Rob English was driving west of Water Valley on March 31, and came across a bird he had never seen before  – a Great-grey Owl. These magnificent birds are one of the most sought-after sightings for many birders. Click to enlarge.

Wednesday Wings: Leucistic Mallard

Rob English has sent us some photos of the leucistic (white) mallard duck that’s been hanging around Beaverdam Flats this winter. Click photos to enlarge.

This bird is getting a lot of attention from photographers. Duane Starr has more views of this beautiful bird you can view in his photo gallery.

Sunday Showcase: Golden Eagle

Have you ever wondered how the Golden Eagle got its name? These outstanding photos  from Paul Turbitt answer that question. Paul took these  juvenile eagle pictures at The Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area (ASCCA) just south of Calgary. If you haven’t visited this magical place, put in on your to-do list!

The ASCCA is open to the public, but visitors must make a booking online prior to their visit. Upon arrival, you must also register at the kiosk and pay the $2/person user fee.

Sunday Showcase: Juvenile Eagles On The Bow River

What a year we’re having for juvenile Bald Eagles! Rob English took these shots in the Beaverdam Flats area, and counted 10 juveniles in one trip.

 

There is an excellent post over at the Birding Is Fun blog on how to tell the age of  juvenile bald eagles, complete with some stunning photographs. Check it out!

Wednesday Wings: Juvenile Eagle

Marg Matheson and Alan Plumb are new to the hobby of photographing birds, and sent us some juvenile Bald Eagle pictures. They are quite proud of these shots, and have every right to be! Click to enlarge.

Falcon Identification

We received some absolutely stunning, stupendous photos of a falcon from Jim Walling. These were taken on Dec 30, mid afternoon along the Bow River at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. He only managed to capture these three shots before the bird was gone.

Two of us here at the blog identified it as a Prairie Falcon, based on the moustachial line and the dark bar on the wing lining. However, neither of us have even seen a Prairie Falcon that is this light in colour. Some web research turned up a number of similar pictures of a Saker Falcon, a European bird used in the art of falconry.

Do we have any falconers reading this blog?! Or is this an unusually white Prairie Falcon? Your comments, please!

Posted by Pat Bumstead

Update January 9

What a dearth of comments on this bird. None of us are confident enough in our raptor ID to take a stand, but fortunately we have birding experts to give us a hand. Gus Yaki said this is a second year Prairie Falcon, and Gord Court also said this is a juvenile Prairie Falcon. Firm identification, for sure!

Sunday Showcase: Pine Grosbeaks

Rob English took these shots in December right outside his house, resulting in some great pics and a life bird for himself!  Rob says, “the pictures on the ground are of one who had crashed into the neighbor’s window. The first one is right after she hit and the last one was just before she was flying again. I watched her for about 45 minutes before she flew just to make sure the cats didn’t get her. The robin was hanging out in the tree with these guys. There must have been about 15 female grosbeaks and only one male.” Click to enlarge.

Red-bellied Woodpecker Photos

Red-bellied woodpecker from Wikipedia

As many of you know, there has been a Red-bellied woodpecker living in George Lane Park in High River for the last few weeks. Blog reader and photographer Duane Starr visited the park on December 17, and took a series of excellent photos of this rare bird.

You can see his collection of Red-bellied woodpecker photos on his  website. Just click any of the thumbnail pictures on the left to see a larger view of the photo.

Once you’ve enjoyed the woodpecker pictures, you must travel on over to his photos of the Great Gray Owl – they are fantastic.

Thank you Duane, for sharing your work!

Posted by Pat Bumstead