Red Deer River Naturalists Bird Focus Group Walk October 25, 2025

Chris Olsen Report

Bird Focus People:

Seven birders were out to the Riverbend Upper Trails October 25, 2025. The day started cool and a little blustery, but quickly warmed into another breathtaking fall day!  

There was a running race in the park and maybe that explains why there were few birds on the river and ponds. We saw lots of Canada Geese overhead, but little else was flying. We did see a young Double-crested Cormorant on the pond near the ‘Road-to-Nowhere’, but only Mallards otherwise in that area.

Best of the morning was a mixed feeding flock in and under the spruces near the parking area. Among them were late American Goldfinch, numerous American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and of course a selection of the resident chickadees and nuthatches.

We added a selection of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers on the upper trails. Merlin ‘heard’ a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Townsend’s Solitaire, but in the absence of a visual sighting we did not record either.

Our group split up near the picnic area and Bella (the dog), Susan and I finished the perimeter trail to add a late Belted Kingfisher, and of course more of the habituated chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches.

Enjoy!

Chris

Here is the eBird report:

River Bend Golf, Red Deer, Alberta, CA
Oct 25, 2025 9:52 AM - 2:52 PM
Protocol: Traveling, walking
7.09 kilometres
Checklist Comments: Red Deer River Naturalists, Bird Focus Group outing.
20 species
Seven participants
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  159
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  92
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  20
Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)  1
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  6
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  3
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)  4
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  1
Common Raven (Corvus corax)  4
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  45
Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)  7
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)  4
Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  5
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  14
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  4
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S281334477