Red Deer River Naturalists Bird Focus Group Walk September 20, 2025

Bird Study People:

Thirteen birders joined together on September 20, 2025 for a warm walk of the perimeter trails at Heritage Ranch. Welcome to Mary S. and Patricia C. joining the group today!

Birding started slowly with the usual traffic noise near the start, but picked up nicely as we moved downslope into the mixed-wood cover. We had small flocks of chickadees throughout, but the mid-canopy was also busy with foraging migrants. Yellow-rumped Warblers at first, and then along the river we had White-throated Sparrows both singing and calling. Celia spied a nice specimen grooming in the shrubbery and he gave us a real display. The Merlin app ‘heard’ Hermit Thrushes, but we were not able to catch a sight or confirm. Equally, there were numerous unidentifiable sparrows moving in the shrubbery. A pair of sparrows feeding and bathing in the water under a beaver log pile really challenged us but we were unable to get a clear look!

A very large and noisy flock of Common Grackles complained from the tops of the conifers as they drifted by, and although the river itself was quiet, we had Ring-billed Gulls, Double-Crested Cormorants, and Canada Geese overhead. Ron saw and heard a Cooper’s Hawk, and we heard and saw both Pileated and Hairy Woodpeckers.

We finished the morning with small groups of Mallards and Greater Yellowlegs on the shores, and a Bald Eagle soared overhead.

A technical note in that you may be noticing that eBird has ‘shortened’ our walks relative to previous years. The eBird mapping function now eliminates duplicate distances, and so for example our walk in Dry Island was 5.098 km this year vs. 7.719 km last year on the same route. People were quick to reassure me that it is definitely still an ‘intermediate hike’, whatever the return distance!

Enjoy!

Chris

Here is the eBird report:

Red Deer--Heritage Ranch Park, Red Deer, Alberta, CA
Sep 20, 2025 9:47 AM - 1:14 PM
Protocol: Traveling, walking
4.022 kilometres
Checklist Comments: Red Deer River Naturalists, Bird Focus Group outing.
23 species
13 Participants
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 86
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 6
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 1
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 4
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 4
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 4
Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii) 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus) 1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 3
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 5
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) 9
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 15
Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 16
Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus) 2
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 7
Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) 9
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 8
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 115
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 4

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S274547974