Spring, snow and Song Birds – My birding outings in Calgary in May 2019

By late April and early May, spring migration was clearly on in earnest here in Calgary as each new week heralded newly arrived species in the urban parks around the city, notably song birds such as the aptly-named Song Sparrow:

As well as the tiny and energetic Ruby-crowned Kinglet:

And the Ruby-crown’s cousin, the Golden-crowned Kinglet:

Warblers began to appear as well and their song was music to my ears as I head their calls for the first time in a year, most notably from flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers of both the Myrtle, Audubon and hybrid varieties:

Also foraging with the Yellow-rumped were a number of Orange-Crowned Warblers:

As well as a handful of Wilson’s Warblers:

Down by the Bow River, gull numbers had also increased significantly and I was happy to get the opportunity to photograph Franklin’s Gulls as they patrolled up and down the river for emerging insects:

This time of year, the Franklins have a lovely pinkish hue to their feathers which is gone by the fall:

While it may be spring in Calgary, this definitely does not mean the end of the snow and we had two quite wintry weekends that must have caused some misery for all the migrating birds. Indeed, the warblers seemed quite puzzled by the all the ‘white stuff’:

The nemesis of songbirds, hawks, also began to reappear, such as this Cooper’s Hawk:

And it was apparent it was wasting no time in setting up a nest to rear a new crop of raptors:

Perhaps the most interesting and exciting moment during this snowy spring weather came one morning when I was walking the shoreline of Glenmore Reservoir. I had been to photograph American Pipits and I was able to find a few flitting about the partially snow-covered pebbles at the water’s edge. However, getting anywhere near them for a close shot was nigh impossible as they were more than particularly flighty and long-range shots were all I could manage:

Then, as I rounded a bend in the pathway, I came across what I describe as a ‘swallow tree’ – a tree where hundreds of Tree Swallows had perched to try and stay warm:

Amazingly, I was able to walk very slowly up to the tree and all the swallows stayed put and let me just enjoy this unusual spectacle of nature from close distance.

As I scanned the many swallows, I began to notice a number of other swallow species mixed in with flock, such as Cliff Swallows:

Northern Rough-winged Swallows:

And the breath-taking Violet-green Swallow:

A little further on, I found a smaller tree on the bank that dozens of swallows were resting in, and sat down on the beach and took shots of these birds as well:

After about 20 minutes of looking pretty much only through my lens, I raised my eye from the view finder, peered around and – lo and behold – to my great delight, found I was surrounded by at least a dozen pipits foraging away, many only a few feet away!

I find good doses of patience and luck go a long way when it comes to bird photography!

Another spring arrival that seemed to have been way-laid by the poor weather was a gorgeous Say’s Phoebe that hawked for insects up and down the shoreline:

Finally, on my way back to the car, I spied a Common Loon relatively close to the shore. While the light was poor for photographing waterfowl, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity and decided to shoot in high-key. I just love the patterns on loons: