Red Deer River Naturalists

The Red Deer river Naturalists are a group dedicated to learning about and preserving natural history. They have regular programs with speakers and many field trips.

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Monday, June 27, 2016

Birding at Ft.Normandeau

     June 25 saw  the Red deer River Naturalists (RDRN) at Ft. Normandeau. It was a cool windy drizzly morning. So you guessed it not much was moving.

     Ft Normandeau is part of the Waskasoo Park system in Red Deer. Jim Robertson is the Executive director Of the park system and he led us through the property.

    We got to hike through the parts of the park which   are off limit.

    Six of us showed up and enjoyed the 2 hours. The highlight was to find a Philadelphia Vireo.

     This is our last bird outing until September.

    These photos were proudly stolen from Susan Vanderhoek


Sunday, June 19, 2016

Birding at Springbrook.

      Our Saturday morning bird group travelled to springbrook Alberta. On the south side of Springbrook is a 160 acre natural area. About 25 % is wetland and the rest is grass and bush. 

      There were many birds in the area. The trees were full of birds but you know that with all the leaves at this time the little beggars are hard to see. We did see yellow warblers, house wrens, song sparrow, clay colored sparrow, robins and chickadees.

     The wetlands had coots with young ones, There was a pied billed grebe and two duck species.
  
      There  are about 5 km of gravel trails. this place is a jewel.




Sunday, June 12, 2016

A Good Birding Morning

     Yesterday we spent 2 hours on the Wishart trail on the west side of the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary in Red Deer Alberta. 

     It was very windy and we thought that we wouldn't see much but we were surprised. We saw and heard a total of 22 species. There were many yellow warblers and alder sided flycatchers. We spent quite a bit of time on a viewing deck watching for water birds. A red necked grebe had a nest about 50 meters away . An osprey put in a couple of appearances and one time was carrying a small fish.

    I'm surprised this year at how few ducks are around. 

    Surprise! Surprise! a couple of yellow warblers sat in the open and gave a good opportunity for photos.

    The yellow lady slippers were in full bloom along with striped coral .

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Curious Canada Geese

     On Sat. May 4 I spent two hours with the Red Deer River Naturalists (RDRN) at the Michael Obrien Wetlands.

      The Michael Obrien Wetlands are man made and they have become and excellent site as it's made to filter storm sewer water through  series of ponds before being discharged into the Red Deer River. It's also become an excellent habitat for waterfowl and other birds which thrive in a riparian habitat.

      There are many paved and gravel trails though the area and many cyclists, walkers and runners use the trail.

      In my opinion this wetland habitat is a jewel in the city of Red Deer.







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