Exploring the Natural World
The Great Canadian Birdathon is coming to an end but there is still time to donate. Up to date, I have raised 894 Canadian dollars. It will not say this on my Birdathon page yet because
$141 is in offline donations. Thank you to all my supporters for contributing to help make this an amazing Birdathon!
If you haven’t yet, please help me break a record of one thousand dollars by clicking here.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, it has come to happen that I did my Great Canadian Birdathon in Long Point. Great, right? Not so much. Birding an important day in unfamiliar territory, with unfamiliar birds and bird songs and not knowing where to go first was not as easy as I would have liked. This was the most unusual Birdathon I have ever done. In terms of species numbers, it was not as good as last year, but in terms of lifers and rarities, it was the best Birdathon ever!
We started at 6:00 am, with a Baltimore Oriole, and finished at 8:10 pm, with a Sandhill Crane. At the Front Porch B&B (which I highly recommend, should you ever be in the Long Point area), we got the starting 6 species, then continued to a variety of short stops, the highlights of which include: Common and Forster’s Terns, Mute Swan and Pied-billed Grebe.
After these roadside ponds, we made our way to the first big stop of the day, at what is called the New Provincial Park, one of the places we had not previously been. In one hour and five minutes, we picked up a grand total of 25 species. I’m sure that the extra five minutes made all the difference.
Our next stop was at the Long Point Bird Observatory, where we found Warblers, Vultures, Orioles, Blackbirds and more. The five species that stand out the most are (a lifer) Cape May Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Hooded Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Least Flycatcher.
It seemed to be a very casual Birdathon, as we took a longish break for lunch, and to take my siblings and mother to the beach, which was, fortunately, right beside the Old Provincial Park, a magnificent place for birding. On the way, we picked up a Caspian Tern, and a Indigo Bunting. At the Old PP, we observed 29 species, 8 of which were warblers. Many were darting around in the thick foliage, and photographing them was hard. Black-throated Blue Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Brown Thrashers, Carolina Wrens and Belted Kingfishers mixed among the Warbling Vireos, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Towhees and Chipping Sparrows.
Port Rowan Wetlands yielded 2 Bobolinks, 6 Redhead, 6 Bufflehead and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, among others.
Backus Woods is a very special place. There nests one of only 20 breeding pairs of Prothonotary Warblers in Canada. For the first kilometre, we scouted out little but a White-breasted Nuthatch. And then we struck gold. A small swampy area proved it’s worth, showing Yellow-throated Vireos, a Pine Warbler, Canada Geese, a Brewer’s Blackbird, and, yes, a Prothonotary Warbler! Typically, it was 50 meters away and through vegetation which, though sparse, prevented photos (what was it with warblers and not getting photos that day?), but it was a Prothonotary Warbler!
In 20 minutes at Port Royal, we found American Redstarts, 2 Blue-grey Gnatcatchers, a Turkey Vulture, and a Spotted Sandpiper. It was there that we got our first Rock Pigeons of the day!
On the way to a second check of the Old PP, we halted for a small pond filled with Canada Geese. As we were about to pull away, I called out “Ibis!”
“Yeah, right,” replied my Dad “You’re pulling my leg.”
“No, really,” I exclaimed. He still didn’t believe me. “Ethan,” said he, “This is no time for jokes!”
“Just look,” I replied, exasperated. There indeed, poking around in the long grass, were a pair of White-faced Ibis.
The second visit to the Old PP proved nothing more then what we’d already seen, a Scarlet Tanager, and the unusual treat of a Baltimore Oriole building its nest!
Hoping to catch a Woodcock, we made what was supposed to be our last stop – at LPBO. Although our search for the Woodcock drew a blank, the trip itself proved fruitful. We found 20 species there, including my favourite Warbler, the Blue-winged Warbler. And so ended my 2015 Great Canadian Birdathon!
OK, hang on. I said at the start that it was Baltimore Oriole to Sandhill Crane, right?
On the drive back to the B&B, we drove down the causeway again. Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt. “What is it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure…” My dad answered, unsure.
We backed up anyway. Scanning the water, my eyes settled finally on a long, slim neck of a bird squatted in the reeds. The slightest turn of a head confirmed my hopes – a Sandhill Crane!
That was the rather brief summery of my 2015 birdathon. I tried to keep it short, as I know that long paragraphs and few photos can be tedious. Please keep in mind that you can still donate to this important cause, either by typing www.birdboy.ca/birdathon in your browser, or clicking here. Also, for anybody who would like the complete species list, I have it here.
Thank You to all who have donated, your donation is greatly appreciated both by me, and by Canada’s birds!
I have changed the layout of my new page (Calgary 2015 Competition) to make it a little easier to read. There is now information on what birds to look for, what places have the highest species count, the bird of the month, and more for each month.
The “Where to Bird” is a new addition, as is the “All Species.” The latter has each species, sub-species and intergrade ever reported to eBird in the circle, with the link to the map with all reports of that species. The former is a list of the best places to bird, with the highest species count for the area, and a map that shows you where the location is. As the page is about the competition, all of the locations are inside the circle.
One more piece will be coming soon: Recent Observations! This will have all of the species recently reported to eBird in the circle, and where they are to be found.
Please take a look and tell me what you think in the comments.
I am competing in the “Calgary 2015 Birding Challenge.”
The Calgary 2015 Birding Challenge, is a friendly competition organised by Nature Calgary.
The rules are, to put it simply, that any bird reported by a contestant within the 80 km radius circle is added to that persons list of species. The highest species count at the end of 2015 wins. There are a few categories that you can be part of. According to my age, I am in the youth category.
I have put up a page (you can choose Calgary 2015 Competition in the menu, or just click here) that helps my fellow birders to find the most likely birds each month, the birds that you might only see this month and a list of all the birds ever reported in that month. The page will change information for the different months.
For more information, you can go to Nature Calgary and Birds Calgary.
Come back soon, because I will be giving updates shortly.
I want to thank all of you who read and have subscribed to my blog, and also a special thank you to Bob Lefebvre for promoting my blog on the afore mentioned Nature Calgary.
I have been doing birdcounts for 6 years, at first with the BowKan Birders, and recently with the Banff-Canmore Birdcount as well.
Birdcounts originated from a Christmas traditon of shooting birds to see how many you could bag in a day, not mattering whether or not they were rare, or if their carcasses were to be used for anything or not. In 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed counting birds instead of killing them. That year, 27 volunteers went out and participated in the first birdcount ever.
The Christmas Birdcount, or the CBC as it is known, is a way to keep track of around how many, and what, birds are around in winter. Ornithologists working for Bird Studies Canada take the collected data from all the different count circles and compile it into one huge list of bird species with the numbers seen that year, from all across Canada. With this information, BSC can figure out what species need the time and money donated the most.
Every count circle (15 miles, or 24 Kilometers) has at least one area organiser. The Banff-Canmore circle needs two, because two towns are included. After two years of counting with a friend in Banff, I was promoted to the Canmore Co-ordinator. The previous organiser had done the job for six years, despite being a non-birder, and was ready to pass on the responsobility. Another birder recommended me. Thanks to him, I got together with Colleen Campbell and she showed me all the files and previous records that I needed to know for when the time came.
I want – on behalf of the whole Canmore birding community – to thank Colleen for having done a magnificent job of coordinating the CBC. And personally, thanks for the way in which she has helped and mentored me, so that I can continue her good work.
As Canmore Co-ordinator, I need to remind former participants that the count is coming up, put them into already divided parts of the town, sometimes with, sometimes without other volunteers and later to open my house to all of the counters so that they can have a snack, warm drink and report what they have seen on the day. I then put all of the results into a spreadsheet and take it to the Potluck dinner to give the tally to the area compiler who then gives it Bird Studies Canada who then puts it in with all of the other counts from across Canada.
Count circles are spread across Canada. They are open to all birders, novice or experienced. If you want to participate in a CBC, feel free to look up count circles near you here: BSC CBC.
Should anyone want to view the collective results of Banff and Canmore, click here: Summary (Banff-Canmore). If you want to see only the Canmore results, they are here: Summary (Canmore).This weekend – September 6/7 – is World Shorebirds Day. As the website set up to organise and publicise this event says, “The World Shorebirds Day is a celebration. Shorebirds, those extreme migrants, as well as people, who do the most for them, are celebrated each year, on the 6th of September.”
People around the world will be spending time at a nearby wetland to count migrating shorebirds – as we did last weekend at Weed Lake near Calgary. you can find out where people are counting, and who, at this interactive map. Last time I checked, there were 632 locations chosen.
Find out more here, and get out this weekend to see those wonderful (sometimes hard to identify) shorebirds!
The next day, we hit the road to the last stop before Denver. For the first few hours, we saw very little that we hadn’t already seen. And then, just before lunch, my Dad pulled over to photograph a smallish, black bird. At the time, I didn’t think to much of it – it was probably just a Brewer’s or a Grackle. Nine days and many photo examinations later had me thinking differently. It was a Lark Bunting!
Nothing more happened for awhile, but when things did happen, they brought numbers! Birds filled the landscape, darting in and out from shrubs, perching on wires and generally making it clear that they were there. There was no apparent flock, but the birds were obviously all the same species. Speckled breasts, yellow eyes with black pupils and down-curving bills all amounted up to Sage Thrasher.
The thrasher domination lasted almost until the little lake that we had scheduled a stop at. Saratoga Wetlands was a huge bird attraction in the parched scrubland that surrounded it. There were Barn Swallows, Redheads, Marsh Wrens and many others among them. In the little shelter over looking the area, a Barn Swallow’s nest had fallen, killing two out of the four fledgelings in it. The living two were huddled by the wall, obviously older than their dead siblings.
High above us, American Pelicans circled in perfect formation.
Our campsite that night was supposed to be a flat one, and my mother didn’t want to be cold again, so we stayed in a motel. Wednesday was the day that we departed. Stopping at Laramie for lunch, I noticed that a small creek ran by, just through the large, leafy trees. Determined to find an entrance, I scanned the row of trees and soon found an opening. The creek was bigger than I had first thought, with a whole load of Common Grackles and Cliff Swallows around. Two Western Wood-Pewees called out and some American Robins flew through the afore-mentioned trees.
We had tickets for a show at Red-rocks Ampitheatre that night, so I wasn’t expecting to see anything other than, maybe, House Sparrows – wrong again! As everybody was taking their seats, I noticed some large, swallow-like birds flying around the cliffs. Further examination proved that they were White-throated Swifts.
I will tell you more later, so stay with me!
