Red Deer River Naturalists Bird Focus Group Walk December 13, 2025

Chris Olsen Report

Bird Focus People:

Five birders joined us December 13, 2025 for a cool, year-end walk on the Wishart Trail in the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary. The breeze was brisk and birding was slow, with only Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers and Black-billed Magpies for company much of the way. House Finches were moving in the canopy, and otherwise only the irrepressible Black-capped Chickadees and a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches were about. One large raptor circled low near Gaetz Creek and this provided a bit of excitement. Thanks to Deb McCluskey for her quick work and two excellent photos. The presumptive ‘hawk’ turned out to be a juvenile Bald Eagle.

After our walk we joined about 20 of our Bird Focus Group people in the Kerry Wood Nature Centre and enjoyed coffee, donuts and sweet treats while we looked at the year past and discussed ideas for our winter/spring schedule ahead. I’ll provide a complete summary for the RDRN AGM and the January RDRN newsletter, but in my verbal report Saturday I noted our species count was 155, up 7 from this last year. We had 274 participants on 31 outings (not including Ferry point, the Snow Goose Festival, or the May Species count). Our group walked 164 km, with groups averaging 9-10 people per outing. Ferry Point netted us 86 species this year, accounting for 16 of our total. For our regular walks, Kuhnen Park led for species richness this year (51), followed by Riverbend Golf & Recreation Area Upper trail (46 - great work Ron!) and Alix Lake (45). Thanks so much to Rick, SuSan and the RDRN Board for their support through the year, and for this most excellent treat! Thanks to everyone in the group (130+) for their enthusiasm and participation, rain or shine!

I’ll be missing some dates for eye surgery in the New Year, but after some discussion we decided to go with a full schedule. Ahead of those dates, we’ll look for someone to step forward to be ‘host’ so we can keep up our eBird reports and summary records for our outings. Watch for the new Schedule in March 2026. 

Don’t forget the upcoming Christmas Bird Count December 21, 2025 (visit www.rdrn.ca for info and contact Shelley-Anne or John Goulet 403-392-1894 to sign up). Be safe in your travels and best for the holiday season!

Enjoy!

Chris

Here is the eBird report:

Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary, Red Deer CA-AB 52.28494, -113.79417, Red Deer, Alberta, CA
Dec 13, 2025 10:05 AM - 12:32 PM
Protocol: Traveling, walking
3.41 kilometres
Checklist Comments: Red Deer River Naturalists, Bird Focus Group outing.
8 species
5 Participants
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  5
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  2
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)  7
Common Raven (Corvus corax)  4
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  16
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  2
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  5
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S288502718