This time of year the area East of Beaverhill Natural Area is buzzing with returning migrants and where there is food, there are predators. I imagine the birds of prey must be busy hunting to recover from (or prepare for) their migration and get ready for breading season. This area has a rich diversity of birds, probably because of its vicinity to the Beaverhill Natural Area and the Beaverhill Lake, which is an important habitat for migrants and shorebirds in particular. We spend most of the last weekend in this area and were treated to an abundance of species, including a Snowy Owl and more Rough-legged Hawks that I can count. It was as if every tree along the road had a hawk in it. Many of them were soaring or hovering in the strong breeze over the vast open stubble fields. Occasionally one would focus in on a specific spot far out in a field, hover above it and then do a kamikaze-like dive towards the ground. Clearly they were in a hunting mode. We never saw one actually catch anything, so I am not sure what success rate is. I imagine, however, that with the snow gone and nothing growing on the fields yet, it must be a good set up for spotting any little rodent scurrying around on the ground. This was also an opportunity to test our new camera set up for some BIF (Birds In Flight) shooting. With a beautiful blue sky, no clouds in sight and the sun beaming down the conditions were perfect for some awesome photography. We did manage to get a few keepers, including the photo below of an adult light morph Rough-legged Hawk looking for his or her next meal. Apparently the “hockey pucks” on the wrists are typical identifies. During the summer Rough-legged Hawks breed in the arctic and during the winters they migrate to southern Canada and the USA.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.
The sun was rising over the highway as I was heading east on my way to an early morning excursion at Elk Island National Park. As far as national parks go, Elk Island National Park is the smallest national park in Canada. It is unique, however, in that it is the home to the highest density of ungulates in Canada. Perhaps the most famous residents are the Plains Bison (in the northern part of the park) and the Wood Bison (in the southern half of the park). While this park never seems to get very busy, getting there early on a Sunday morning guarantees that one will have the whole place to oneself. Other than a very energetic Pileated Woodpecker going to town on a wooden power pole, the ravens, Black-capped Chickadees, Canada Geese and starlings were out. The pothole lakes in the park were still largely frozen over while most lakes outside the park seem to have open water by now. The Canada Geese were, however, patiently biding their time, hanging out on the frozen lakes waiting to get their feet wet. I found a dozen Plains Bison just chilling in the sunrise, including the female on the picture that unabashed relieved herself right in front of me. On this particular morning, the males were more into doing number twos.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.
Not all nature walks go as planed. While part of the excitement of heading out into the wild is that you never knows what you will see, sometimes unexpected events arise due to human errors (or human stupidity). During three recent nature walks things did not unfold as planed due to human (= my) mistakes. Here are these recent fails and the lessons I learned from them. A word of warning; there is some graphical content below. If you are squeamish at the sight of blood you might want to stop here and avoid scrolling past this point.
Fail #1
A few weeks ago I went birding in the Whitemud Ravine. It was a mild day and the trails were icy after several weeks of thaw-freeze cycles. Shortly after leaving the car I realized I had forgot my finger gloves in the car. As it was not cold I decided to forgo the gloves. I often veer of the beaten trail in favour of “off-roading” through the understory and along riparian vegetation. This time was no different. As I was descending a trail-less and particularly steep and icy section, I lost my footing, slammed into the ground and went sliding down the icy and muddy slope on my back. As my arms were flailing trying to grab hold of something to arrest my fall, I grabbed a thin tree trunk that ended up cut the palm of my hand. I always use gloves when I am out, both to keep fingers warm and for protection. As irony has it, the one time I did not bring gloves I ended up with a bad cut on my hand. I also did not bring a first aid kit so I had to seek medical attention from the ski patrol at a nearby ski hill. The least enjoyable part of the experience was when they had to dig out pieces of bark stuck in the gash. Take home message – always bring (wear) gloves and bring a small first aid kit! Oh, I and I should also get traction devices.
Fail #2
It was 6 am on a Sunday morning and I had decided to head out to Elk Island National Park to watch bison at the sunrise. It was a cold winter morning and, as expected, very quiet and tranquile at Elk Island. Once I arrived at the Bison Loop and started to assemble my gear I realized that I had forgotten my gloves (again) and my toque, and my sweater. While hiking around kept me somewhat warm, anytime I stopped and tried to use the camera or binoculars my fingers rapidly froze and became useless appendages. Take home message – always being warm clothes, gloves and a toque! It can be surprisingly chilly early in the morning (even in the summer) and when watching or photographing wildlife one often stands (or sits) still for long periods of time.
Fail #3
The following weekend I tried the Elk Island National Park at sunrise field trip again. By now I had been labelled a complete loonie by the rest of the family…, but the birds are calling…, so I got to go. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear and the sun was rising. What could possibly go wrong? I triple checked that I had packed my gloves, warm clothes and a small first aid kit. Finding myself at the Bison Loop again, getting myself ready to head out…, to my horror I realize that I forgot to bring the binoculars. I can suck up physical injury, blood, pain and suffering but to go wildlife watching and birding without your binoculars…, that is unheard of. It’s unforgivable. Fortunately I had my Nikon P1000 with me so it had to serve as a binocular substitute, a job it does not do very well. Take home message – do not forget the binoculars!
Good luck trying to use a scope, binoculars or a camera without gloves when the mercury drops.
These are too many fails in too short of a time. Getting out into nature is supposed to reduce stress, not increase or cause stress. Time to reboot my brain, pull up my socks and get seriously organized. It is not like I am trying to land one the moon. It’s just a nature walk for Pete’s sake.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.
Snowy Owls spend the winters in Alberta only to return to the arctic in March and April. Last weekend (April 6) we were out by Beaverhills Lake Natural Area, crisscrossing the country roads looking for returning migrants. We were hoping for a diverse assortment of water fowl and crossing our fingers for the ephemeral Snow Goose. We had just checked out a waterlogged field where a large group of Snow Geese had been seen the previous day. Alas, they had moved on by the time we made it there. A bit bummed we rumbled on along the dusty gravel roads when, all of a sudden, in the distance I noticed a large “poofy” mass on top of a fence post along the road. Although I am an owl noob, I have seen enough owls this winter that I know to scan for “large poofy masses”. I though to myself, “that looks like an owl”, never actually seriously thinking it would be an owl. As we approached, I could not help myself from slowing down, just in case. Well, would you believe it. It was a lonesome and gorgeous Snowy Owl. The car came to a screeching halt. I yelled to my companions in the back seat: “OWL UP AHEAD”. Everyone dropped what they were doing. I have never seen a pair of teens becoming unglued from their cell phones so fast. We had barely come to a stop, the windows were already down, binoculars up and I threw myself out of the car with the camera ready to shoot. The owl could not care less. It sat there looking at us indifferently and eerily cool. This was an unexpected treat. While we did see a Snowy Owl a few months ago I had simply assumed that they had all left for their arctic summer. Checking eBird later that day, revealed that, indeed the only Snowy Owl sightings for the month of April in Alberta were right in the area were we were. As a matter of fact, the same day another reporting of a Snowy Owl was recorded just a few km away along the same range road. Could it be the same owl? It’s possible, or maybe there are more holding on to our Alberta spring. I assume this will be the last Snowy Owl for this winter. So long Snowy Owls. Bon voyage and see you next winter.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.
It is difficult to have the Monday blues when you got to spend the gorgeous spring weekend in the great outdoors. I did an early morning foray to Elk Island National Park to catch the bison at sunrise (I did not manage to convince anyone else to join me) and we went on two trips out to the area east of Beaverhill Natural Area in search of the elusive Snow Goose. The Snow Goose chase is a story in itself but it suffice to say that we ended up crisscrossing the Range Roads and Township Roads in the area. Virtually all the snow is gone by now and the majority of ponds and lakes are ice free. Many of the fields are inundated with shallow ponds, something the water fowl are taking full advantage of. We did not focus our attention on these birds (the Snow Geese were calling) but during a brief pit stop on a dusty and desolated Range Road I took the following picture of some water fowl enjoying the gorgeous spring day. While the image quality and composition is nothing to write home about it serves as a good example of the genre of documentary wildlife photography I am aiming for. While beautiful composition and top notch image quality always is a bonus my aim is to document an interesting species, behaviour or natural history artefact. Image quality and composition comes secondary. This image was taken at 210 mm focal length with a Nikon P1000 (that is 1512 mm in terms of 35 mm) and with ISO 250. I took the picture to help me id the two Northern Pintails (male is far left and the female is far right) hanging out with the Mallard couple. While we have seen the Northern Pintail previously (in the Keephills Cooling ponds a few months ago) last time they were, well, pinpricks on the distant horizon and we just had to trust pro-birders with high-magnification scopes for the identification. To date this is the clearest and closest view I have ever had of Northern Pintails, which is oddly satisfying. This is precisely the reason why we recently got a super-zoom bridge camera. So far it is serving its intended purpose. In the one week that we have used it, pictures from this camera has helped us to identify three different species, Northern Pintail, Rough-Legged Hawk and American Tree Sparrow (the last two being lifers).
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.
The female Great Horned Owl in Whitemud Ravine is on her 29’th day sitting the eggs. We have been down checking in on her several times a week in the last little while and she is always in her nest. The male is always on guard in a nearby tree. In this picture you can see her feathery rear end and the back of her head with the two characteristic “horns”, which are actually tufts of feathers. The significance of the horns is not fully understood but it is believed they are used in social interactions. The owl couple is always very chilled when we are around (which is during the day) and one can always see Red Squirrels defiantly romping around in the understory right below the owls. I suspect the tables are turned once darkness falls. I have entertained the idea of heading down to the owls at night. The next full moon is on March 20. Let’s see if I can convince anyone else to joint me on a night time nature walk.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling). Copyright Mario Pineda.
As we are trying to figure how to use our new camera for wildlife photography one of the main challenges always seems to be to try to get close enough to your subject. Well, that is not a problem with the local American Red Squirrel population. This picture was taken with our Nikon P900 at a focal length of 116 mm (650 mm at 35 mm equivalent) from only a few meters away. The little guy (or gal) was preoccupied gobbling down as many sunflower seed as possible and could not care less about us inching our way closer and closer while our camera was shooting away. In the Edmonton area we are still fortunate to have a thriving population of Red Squirrels, they are just as easily spotted in the local park or forest as in our neighbourhood backyards. They can be bold and brazen and very opportunistic. I have lost count of the number of squirrels I have had to evict from our house over the years,… that’s evicting from inside the house. While they might be cute one day and a brazen pest the next we are fortunate in Edmonton that the Eastern Gray Squirrel has not been introduced here. It is an introduced species in various locations in eastern North America, including in Vancouver and Calgary. In these cities it has become the predominant squirrel, essentially essentially replacing the native squirrels.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling). Copyright Mario Pineda.
A few weeks ago, as the ice on the creek still was breaking up, we came across this fuzzy Muskrat sitting on a muddy back grooming himself. I imagine it must have just woken up from the long winter hibernation and was doing his “spring cleaning” of the fur. Muskrats are often found in association with beavers, and indeed, further down on the same muddy bank there were two adult beavers Also busy grooming themselves. While both Muskrats and beavers are rodents, they are not particularly closely related. Contrary to what the name suggests, Muskrats are not a species of rat. It’s closest relative are mice, voles and lemmings. It is basically a large field mouse adapted to an aquatic life. I was on the opposite side of the creek when I spotted it. Over the next few minutes I managed to slowly sneak through the vegetation until I was at the water’s edge right across from it, no more than 10 m away. While the both the Muskrat and the beavers must have known I was there, they completely ignored me and just minded their own business. While I have seen Muskrats before, this was the first time I have been able to study one this closely for an extended period.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling). Copyright Mario Pineda.
Yesterday my son and I went for a nature walk at the Whitemud Ravine. We quickly encountered the usual suspects. The Black-Capped Chickadees where out in full force as usual, Mr. and Ms. Mallard were swimming around in the swollen creek but got tired of the strong current and waddled up on a sand bank, a few Canada Geese flew noisily overhead, a lonely Downy Woodpecker made a brief appearance and a few dozen Bohemian Waxwings were gobbling down Mountain Ash berries, drinking water from puddles and eating snow. After a few hours, thinking we had seen it all for the day, we started heading back to the trail head. On our way back a subtle movement in the dense understory caught my eye. It was definitely a small bird. About the size of a chickadee, but the way it moved was different. We quickly focused in on the bird with our binoculars and camera. With a rufous coloured crest and a bi-coloured beak, it’s was definitely a new species. I managed to coax the camera into action and snapped a few pictures before a fitness buff came steaming down the trail and the bird took off. As we inspected the images and consulted Merlin Bird the verdict was unanimous. It was an American Tree Sparrow. A lifer for both of us and bird number 97 on our life list and number 44 on our AB Big Year list. It’s amazing how such small and and unassuming creature can make you so excited and happy. On our way back to the car my son and I talked about the significance of lifers and while it may be just another bird, it is also a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we can cherish for the rest of our life. Welcome to our life little American Tree Sparrow.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling). Copyright Mario Pineda.
This picture was taken by my son when he first put his hands on our new Canon PowerShot SX70 HS. He took this image in the low light conditions of the understory with full zoom at 1365 mm (35 mm equivalent) at ISO 800. I like how the picture shows the “fluffiness” of the Black-capped Chickadee, which helps to keep them warm in the winter. It also shows a rarely seen phenomenon…, a Black-capped Chickadee sitting still for more than a blink of an eye. These small nonmigratory songbirds seem to be in perpetual motion even during the coldest of winter days. We saw an abundance of Black-capped Chickadees flittering around in the understory during the recent February cold-spell even when temperatures dropped to below -40 °C. It is remarkable how well-adapted these birds are to our harsh climate. To conserve energy on cold nights, they have the ability to go into a state of torpor by lower their body temperature by as much as 10 to 12 °C (their normal body temperature is 42 °C). They may be small, but what they lack in size they make up for in sheer feistiness and awesome attitude. They are constant companions on our nature walk along the creek and are always checking if we bring any treats.
May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling). Copyright Mario Pineda.
