The Bow Valley has been lit up by a flood of migrating passerines throughout August, and while I’m hoping to find more during September, I thought I’d post a collection of some of my favourite birds.
Say’s Pheobe
This Canada Warbler was only the third eBird record ever in Banff County.
Canada Warbler
Magnolia Warblers are fairly unusual here too.
Magnolia Warbler
Something about Ravens has always attracted me, and when I found this one at Vermillion Lakes, I couldn’t resist photographing it. Not really a fall bird, but it can take the place of the two Stilt Sandpipers, which I failed to get good pictures of.
Common Raven
Warbling Vireos are all over the place. (click to enlarge)
Warbling Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Eastern Kingbird
Kingbirds are turning up too, amongst the flocks of robins.
American Robin
And there’s still a few youngsters scattered throughout, like this immature Yellowthroat.
Common Yellowthroat
And finally, the Yellow Warblers are all but departed, but I did manage to get this female a week or two back.
Yellow Warbler
Here’s hoping for more fall rarities as we progress into September, and with it, shorebird season!
Once the annual slog of final exams was past at last, I was looking forward to a few weeks of relaxation and quiet birding before really getting into any ‘summer activities.’ I could not have been more wrong. My first two sightings of summer should have warned me that I was in for a exiting time; a rare Cape May Warbler and a lifer Connecticut Warbler on Policeman’s Creek marked two of my best Banff sightings since the Dunlin in March, and it was shortly after these observations that I was to be whisked off to California on a three week birding adventure.
Naturally, the entire trip could not be about birds; my siblings have yet to fall under the spell of ornithology (there’s always hope!), and there are many wonderful things down the West Coast which do not involve avian highlights. For two weeks, we drove down the coast to San Fransisco, frantically trying to combine birding and vacation with watching the World Cup games.
Rest stop birding sufficed for a few days, as our primary goal was to cover as many miles as possible before slowing down. This, however, turned up such highlights as a Rock Wren and Bullock’s Oriole young.
Rock Wren
Our first life bird came in the shape of a California Scrub-Jay, a bird we would become gradually familiar with over the course of our expedition. These birds’ brilliant blue plumage spotted the Oregon and California sea line in much the same way as that of the Blue Jay fills our more eastern world.
California Scrub-Jay, the first lifer of the journey.
From that point on, a steady trickle of life and year birds streamed past our eager eyes. Commencing in Astoria, Oregon (I highly recommend the visitor centre there; their efforts to find a place showing the World Cup semi-final was commendable) with Brown Pelicans, we continued to Leadbitter Point in search of Snowy Plovers. While we bombed on the Snowies, we had a great time there, as the entire beach was covered with thousands of Western Sandpipers, with healthy numbers of Sanderling, Black-bellied Plover and Short-billed Dowitcher mixed in.
Small groups of 30 – 50 Western Sandpipers whistled along the beach, mere inches above the sand.Western Sandpiper
On the Oregon coast, there is a place called Haystack Rock which is known, in particular, for its breeding Tufted Puffins. When we reached this notable stone outcrop, we were greeted by dozens of Common Murres, Pelagic Cormorants, and Western Gulls circling the air. It did not take long to find the object of our desire. Half a dozen of the angular black forms hurtled through the sky with all the grace of a fish hurled from an airplane window. These chunky birds carried their massive bills with a Roman dignity, and seldom approached shore save from high above the beach as they circled the rock.
Tufted Puffin
The final campsite of the first part of the trip was the best by far – we stayed there for three days, and found over thirty species including 3 lifers. The first lifer observed was the daring Black Phoebe, a bird which perched, fearless, on campfire grates, picnic tables and unoccupied tents around the campsite.
Black Phoebe
The next day brought with it a family of Nuttal’s Woodpeckers, California Towhees, and a Green Heron!
A young Nuttal’s Woodpecker
The Green Heron was flighty, but allowed some photos if you crept up behind some bushes.
Green Heron
The next day, we moved into a hotel in Half-Moon Bay to rest up for the biggest day of the trip – a pelagic tour! The adventures of the long awaited pelagic deserve their own post, however, so you’ll just have to wait for the next post to find out what happened.
The third edition of Canmore Spring Bird Walks began quietly, oddly lacking the usual morning chorus. This would be the theme of the first half of the walk, in which we saw and heard little apart from American Robins, Lincoln’s Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds. Once we got to the backside of the creek, however, that changed.
A slow paced musical trill reverberated across the marsh, as participants got serenaded by a relative rarity, the charismatic Swamp Sparrow. The Harlequin Ducks have departed for faster mountain streams in which to breed, but a female Northern Pintail made a fly-by appearance.
The Harlequins had stayed over a week, but vanished just when we needed them!
Strolling back via the boardwalk, we were treated to excellent views of Yellow Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrows and this male Common Yellowthroat.
Common Yellowthroat
Towards the conclusion of the walk, we relocated the Swamp Sparrow, along with Song Sparrow and juvenile Mallards. The really special birds didn’t come until the final fleeting moments of the walk, though. As the group began to dissipate, a Calliope Hummingbird hovered mere feet from the Big Head statue, and a female Yellow-headed Blackbird perched on the Main Street bridge.
Female Yellow-headed Blackbird
This is the first time a Yellow-headed Blackbird has been reported to eBird here, but I know that I saw one many years back, on Policeman’s Creek. If anyone wants to see the full list for the day, click here for my checklist. I hope to see everybody out next time, on June 10th. By then, most of our birds should have arrived, and we’ll be looking for birds like last year’s vagrant Bullock’s Oriole. On Policeman’s Creek, there’s always a good chance for unusual individuals!
One of the most popular spring migrants families is the Warblers, with their bright plumage and stunning songs capturing the attention of even non-birders. In the last week, many species of Warbler have returned to Alberta, including even a few Black-throated Green Warblers spread across the province.
One of my personal favourite warblers is the Cape May. Bright yellow, with black streaking and an orange face patch, this small bird tends to stay high up in spruce or deciduous trees. Yesterday, however, we got lucky with one and it came down low for some photographs.
Male Cape May Warbler
Another warbler which just came in is one which breeds in Banff, but has not been seen in Canmore until I found this individual on Policeman’s Creek: Blackpoll Warbler!
Male Blackpoll Warbler
Finally, the American Redstart. Three this morning in Flowing Waters was a good count for this time, but these charismatic little fellows will be commonplace in Canmore before long.
I have yet to photograph a Redstart with my new camera, so here’s a photo from spring last year.
Here’s to the Tennessee, MacGillivary’s and more still to come!
Eight people made their way to the walk on this fine spring morning in Canmore. We started early, heading down the boardwalk and then back via the Mallard Pond overlook, catching a total of 27 species. Yellow Warblers are still yet to arrive, but the first Sora of the year whinnied from the reeds, and a plethora of sparrows buzzed and whistled across the marsh.
Mallards shone in their breeding plumage.
The real highlights, however, were the many blackbirds. Brown-headed Cowbirds fluted their notes above, while the “Ko-kaaachunk!” of the Red-winged Blackbird reverberated around the creek. Also present were Brewer’s Blackbirds setting up their territories, and a lone Common Grackle flew over towards the end of the walk.
A male Brewer’s Blackbird lays claim to its home patch.
For those who want to see the full list, click here. I hope to see you all out for our next walk, on May 27th at 7:15! By then, we can expect a good many more species, including the likes of Yellow Warbler and American Redstarts.
It was a cold, wet kickoff for the Canmore Spring Bird Walks this year, but well worth being out! In the early morning chill, a Great Blue Heron flapped across the boardwalk, where Song Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers and some newly arrived Lincoln’s Sparrows burbled out their cheerful melodies.
Great Blue Heron
Four American Pipits feeding amongst the rocks in the big pond were nice, and almost made it as the highlights of the day. Sadly, we missed the Sora which came in on Friday, but towards the end of the walk we ran into a large mixed flock of White-crowned Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Song Sparrows. Scanning the flock for Orange-crowned Warblers, a loud, harsh “Veeeeer” rent the air behind us. Warbling Vireo! This bird is the first reported in Alberta this year. I unfortunatly failed to procure any photos, but there is no doubt about the identification.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
The usual mix of starlings, chickadees and robins rounded off the trip, but the Vireo took the cake. May this be a lesson to you who chickened out because of the rain – twice the first walk has been in poor weather, and twice it has turned up great birds (See May 7th 2017). I hope to see you out for the next walk on May 13, rain or shine!
As more and more birds turn up, some are bound to end up in odd places, like these Hooded Mergansers on Policeman’s Creek. This is only the second or third time I have seen them there.