Post by Chris on Aug 11, 2010 15:44:27 GMT -8
I left last Tuesday to visit my cousin in Calgary for a week. Although he is not a bird watcher, (he loves fishing) he does like the outdoors, so I did manage to see a few birds and other wildlife. I saw two lifers, Ferruginous Hawk and American White Pelicans. The Ferruginous Hawk was sitting just on a fence post. I couldn’t stop though to take a picture. The American White Pelicans were seen flying just outside of Calgary. Amazing birds in flight.
Calgary and the surrounding area looks like a cool place to bird watch. Magpies and Swainson’s Hawks are all over the place. The majority of the time outside was spent in the south western portion of Alberta in the Rockies. I would love to explore the grasslands and the small wetlands around Calgary. I did manage to walk along the Bow River (which runs through Calgary) for about thirty minutes. Mallards, Common Mergansers, Downy Woodpecker and Ruffed Grouse are the birds I saw.
When we were in the mountains I did try to listen for birds but it was fairly quiet. I saw two White-winged Crossbills fly from the road in one area. A few Spotted Sandpipers were seen on a few lakes. At one of the lakes we stayed at which was lower in elevation a few Willow Flycatchers were calling, a lot of Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, Red-tailed Hawk and a Merlin were also seen. I am forgetting some other species probably as well.
I finally saw a Moose! However, I did not get a picture of it. It was a large female Moose. I saw it in an open area surrounded by trees as we were driving. My cousin stopped and I grabbed my camera but it was too late it had gone. No bears were seen which was surprising. A lot of deer and Bighorn Sheep were seen.
Here’s a few pictures that I took.
Bighorn Sheep about forty minutes south west of Calgary.
A Hoary Marmot which was seen along one of the mountain roads we were on.
Here is a young Bighorn Sheep. We passed through this area four times throughout the week and we saw Bighorn Sheep every time in the same location. The high count was 23 and the low count was 5.
This is a small Cliff Swallow colony.
One of the many magnificent mountains in Kananaskis which is south west of Calgary in the Rocky Mountains.
Calgary and the surrounding area looks like a cool place to bird watch. Magpies and Swainson’s Hawks are all over the place. The majority of the time outside was spent in the south western portion of Alberta in the Rockies. I would love to explore the grasslands and the small wetlands around Calgary. I did manage to walk along the Bow River (which runs through Calgary) for about thirty minutes. Mallards, Common Mergansers, Downy Woodpecker and Ruffed Grouse are the birds I saw.
When we were in the mountains I did try to listen for birds but it was fairly quiet. I saw two White-winged Crossbills fly from the road in one area. A few Spotted Sandpipers were seen on a few lakes. At one of the lakes we stayed at which was lower in elevation a few Willow Flycatchers were calling, a lot of Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, Red-tailed Hawk and a Merlin were also seen. I am forgetting some other species probably as well.
I finally saw a Moose! However, I did not get a picture of it. It was a large female Moose. I saw it in an open area surrounded by trees as we were driving. My cousin stopped and I grabbed my camera but it was too late it had gone. No bears were seen which was surprising. A lot of deer and Bighorn Sheep were seen.
Here’s a few pictures that I took.
Bighorn Sheep about forty minutes south west of Calgary.
A Hoary Marmot which was seen along one of the mountain roads we were on.
Here is a young Bighorn Sheep. We passed through this area four times throughout the week and we saw Bighorn Sheep every time in the same location. The high count was 23 and the low count was 5.
This is a small Cliff Swallow colony.
One of the many magnificent mountains in Kananaskis which is south west of Calgary in the Rocky Mountains.
