Barb Castell is a birder who lives on an acreage SW of Calgary, Alberta, near the community of Priddis. The location is in the foothills, a transition zone between the prairies to the east and the mountains to the west. It is a great place to see birds, including some …
As I’m sure it’s been made clear by now, I absolutely love Frank Lake. I do a trip down there at least once a month, and in the spring it’s a very productive major staging area for gulls, waterfowl, and even prairie songbirds because the water around the lake opens …
Many North American birders and photographers fawn over the majesty and beauty of birds of prey. From the soaring raptors and eagles, to the swooping and diving falcons, to the deft and agile accipiters, and of course the ever popular owls, there remains one family of carnivorous songbirds whose ingenuity …
Back in early August, I was invited by Gus Yaki to go on a little excursion around south-eastern Alberta. Our ultimate goal was to join a Nature Calgary trip to the area around Manyberries in search of Alberta’s only lizard species, the Greater Short-horned Lizard. Along the way we planned …
Posted by Bob Lefebvre, Calgary For the past six years, I have participated in the Calgary May Species Count. The area I cover is about an hour’s drive SW of the city, in the Longview area. The territory is prairie on the east side, and it gets more and more …
Northern Flickers, which are common all across North America, occur in two subspecies, Yellow-shafted in the north and east, and Red-shafted in the west. In flight Red-shafted flickers show a salmon-red colour under the wings and tail, whereas the Yellow-shafted show a golden-yellow colour. That seems straightforward enough: red=Red-shafted, yellow=Yellow-shafted. …
Posted by Bob Lefebvre – Calgary, Alberta Last summer I posted here about Lesser Slave Lake in northern Alberta as a birding destination. There are always lots of good birds there, and during our trip in July 2012 I got a few pictures around the campsite. Canada Warblers are fairly …
The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) has released its latest report on the state of biodiversity in Alberta. The Status of Landbirds in Alberta’s Boreal Plains Ecozone – Preliminary Assessment 2012, reports on the status of common bird species that are monitored by the ABMI in Alberta’s Boreal Plains Ecozone (BPE). …
Posted by Janet Plante The variety within the different species of birds we see in our neck of the woods never ceases to amaze me. Take woodpeckers for instance. We regularly see Downys which is wonderful; however their larger cousins the Hairy Woodpeckers are not quite as welcome as they use …
Guest post by Bob Lefebvre The Northern Pygmy-Owl is an elusive creature that can be very difficult for a birder to find. For starters, it is very small, about the size of a pop can. But there is no deposit on them, so it seems that people leave them scattered …