A Super Birding Day

      I live in Red Deer, Alberta. Today I had one of those odd days where birds seem to think that my place is the one to visit. Today was a day when everybody came at once. 

      I have just recently set up a new feeder in my front yard. Of course, the resident squirrel found the feeder and proceeded to operate it as his own. I was watching the squirrel when a few birds showed up. There were lots of house sparrows and a few others that had to wait for identification until I got my field glasses. They were having a feast under the feeder. More birds arrived and all a sudden there was a feeding frenzy.

     There must have been a half dozen house sparrow families. Then all the house finches from the neighborhood showed up. House finches really dominate the feeder. In all of those birds you look for something different. I found song sparrow, chipping sparrow and Lincoln sparrow. Along with those there was the usual black capped chickadees and red breasted nuthatches. All of a sudden there were robins wheeling around chasing each other. Then blue jays chased each other. As if this wasn't enough, the magpies and crows had to check things out.

    I kept checking my back yard but there wasn't any action there.

    After lunch the back yard was where the action was. I have a jungle of a vegetable garden. That was the place to hang out in the afternoon. There were two  more species to add in the afternoon .a yellow warbler and a family of house wrens.

   That made thirteen species in one day. That's a record for this yard. 

  I was running from the back of the house to the front and forgot about my camera. Some day I will think Camera! It's funny this guy didn't show up.

    Do any of you have days when birds are very active at your place?.

Birding Impressions

       I have the impression that for 2016 there are more birds around the Red Deer Area.

      This spring , each  Saturday morning I led a bird trip in Red Deer. We saw many species and some birds were in large numbers. Yellow Warblers seem to be very abundant. We visited 12 different areas and each site rewarded us with many birds.

      I have more summer birds around my yard. I haven't had young birds around my yard for about 5 years . This year I've had robins, chipping sparrows, red breasted nuthatches, black capped chickadees, downy woodpecker and of course , lots of magpies. There was a crow nest in my block but crows seemed to be flying high all summer which I take it to mean that they are not nesting .

    What about you? Do you think you are seeing more species and numbers of birds.

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

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.

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 .

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.

Dr. Corey Scobie Presents at the RDRN Meeting.

       The Red Deer River Naturalists (RDRN) have a monthly speaker. On Feb. 25 we listened to Dr. Corey Scobie give a presentation on Burrowing owls.

      The population of burrowing owls has declined and Dr. Scobie has done research on the influence of human development on their nesting success.

     He found that the owls can use some human development to their advantage but that there is more to learn about their population decline. He's hooked on these owls and will do more research.