CANADIAN BIG DAY RECORD - JUNE 1, 2011

On June 1st Paul Pratt and myself made our third attempt at a big day in Alberta. In 2009 we tallied 207 species and in 2010 we tallied 213. After the success of these days we firmly believed it was possible that a new Canadian big day record might be achievable in Alberta. Since 1987, the province of Manitoba has held the national big day record. For most of that time it was 205 species until Paul and I tallied 212 species in Manitoba five years ago. That record was best by a team from Manitoba that reached 214 species three years later.

We are happy to report that on June 1st we tallied 218 species wholly within the province of Alberta to establish a new Canadian big day record. Our route took us from the boreal forest in the Cold Lake area to Waterton National Park in the southwest. Full details of the big day will appear in the 2011 ABA list and big day report.

The day was so intense that I had virtually no chance to take any photos. Here are two that document some memorable moments (sunrise over English bay picnic site on the west side of Cold Lake and a White-rumped Sandpiper).

ALBERTA - govenlock hilites

Just a catch up post on the first groups day in Govenlock in southwest Saskatchewan. I was surprised we had not run into GREAT HORNED OWL on this trip, and on our final full day we lucked upon two adults and these two babies. They were sitting within fifty feet of the main highway near Consul.



One of the critters I really wanted to see down here was SWIFT FOX. We asked several locals in Consul at the hotel where we might find one. They suggested down near the Govenlock intersection. Incredibly as we arrived at that intersection there was a SWIFT FOX crossing the road with a RICHARDSONS GROUND SQUIRREL in its mouth!!!! We followed the fox for about five minutes as it attracted the attention of hundreds of ground squirrels screaming from their burrows!.

ALBERTA - COLD LAKE AREA

My group spent two days birding the Cold Lake area to begin out trip (June 7th and 8th). Among the many highlights were a male THREE-TOED WOODPECKER which responded well to an imitation of Barred Owl. It was on the north end of Primrose Lake Road along with two YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS, at least six NASHVILLE WARBLERS, an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, a family of GRAY JAYS, displaying SOLITARY SANDPIPER, and a BOREAL CHICKADEE that stayed still long enough for everyone to enjoy scope views!




We had a great selection of warblers (including great views of CONNECTICUT, MOURNING and CANADA), plus scope views of LECONTE'S and NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROWS, and SEDGE WRENS. One of the most fun sightings for the group was a family of RUFFED GROUSE which included at least six tiny chicks. The adults vigorously defended the brood making some amazing noises while doing a broken wing act. These two images were captured as the adults tried to lure us away from their brood.


Carol and Fred Hummerstone, and members of the Beaver River Naturalists (including president Ted Hindmarch) hosted our group for a barbecue on the evening of the 7th. This was a wonderful time and we look forward to coming back again for some fine birding and hospitality!

ALBERTA - BONNYVILLE

Well yesterday was a complete wash out... literally. Indeed we left southern Alberta where the temps were hovering around 4 C and heavy rain with strong winds, and headed north to warmer conditions. This seemed like a better move than heading into Banff which had been our original plan. Why the change? Well Banff got hit with five inches of snow!

We arrived in Bonnyville in central eastern Alberta late on the 27th. We got up at 4 am on the 28th, and this was the sight from our hotel parking lot. As it turned out, 'red sky at dawn, sailor be warned' was not accurate - for today at least.




While we didn't get any rain or snow today, it was chilly, windy and gray for much of the day. That didn't stop us from racking up a good list of songbirds. Most of those were not suitable for photography but we did have fun with a pond with loads of waterfowl including several pairs of RUDDY DUCKS. The males would their squeaky emphatic calls, bobbing their heads and then rushing any other male that presented a potential threat. This male was particularly aggressive!


Here is another male part way through the head dipping display. The snap their head down rapidly as they call. It is quite an amusing sight.

ALBERTA BIG DAY - A BELATED POST

Preface: If you have no sense of humour and think birding is not supposed to be fun... and you like to evaluate and judge all of us by our carbon credits... dont bother reading any further!

Well a lot has happened since my last post... but for now lets stick to one really cool event. Paul and I decided to do an Alberta big day in early June while on a two week adventure in Sask and Alberta. It turned out to be a huge success. Here is the story.

We scouted the southern half of the province briefly and then slapped together a route based mostly in Cold Lake. We had set the provincial record with Tom Plath in 2001 (I think?) with 178 species, but the weather was horrible that year and we really felt that we only scratched the potential.

Paul and I spent three full days in late May scouting around Cold Lake and we even got a chance to help out a bit with the Cold Lake spring bird count. I think during those three days we recorded around 175 species which gives you an idea of how diverse this area is in late May. The scouting highlight was undoubtedly three small groups of Sabine's Gulls totaling 12 birds on the waterfront of Cold Lake proper.

We decided to make our attempt on June 2nd, and the day began around 11 pm the night before with what else but Tim Hortons coffee (reheated as the Tims was closed!) and a high protein fix of sausages and eggs.


On our last attempt in 2001 the night birding... well, it sucked! On this night however, we came up trumps at almost every site. We recorded Long-eared, Barred and Northern Saw-whet Owls, Yellow, Virginia and Sora Rails, Sedge and Marsh Wrens, Connecticut Warbler, Pied-billed Grebe, Sandhill Crane, American Bittern and a dizzying array of nocturnal ticks by 4 am. Most surprising was a widespread passage of Lapland Longspurs at almost every stop for the first five hours of the day. I didnt even realize this bird was a nocturnal migrant! By the time this photo of Paul was taken around 4 am at Cold Lake waterfront, we had just recorded our 52nd species which was Common Nighthawk.


As it began to get lighter, we worked a series of stops around Cold Lake Provincial Park, Ethel Lake road and English Bay. Everything fell in to place though our schedule was being stretched a little by the cold morning and reluctance of birds to chime off with their usual vigour. Next we headed south to Jessie Lake happily ticking a fly by Northern Goshawk en route. There was a decent selection of shorebirds and we left knowing the chances of setting a new record were very good. Next stop at Kehewin lake filled in some necessitities like Great Crested Flycatcher, Philly vireo and Veery and by 9:55 am we were on our way south towards Wainright with a massive morning haul of 159 species.

Now rather than let the full story out of the bag, I'm going to skip all the rest of the route details. That keeps everyone guessing a bit which is probably a good thing! Suffice it to say that we had a great afternoon and ended up in the south of the province around Pakowki Lake. This Burrowing Owl along the roadside there was a complete fluke, as we had not seen this bird anywhere during scouting and had no sites for it. It was our 205th species for the day. Yes you read that right!


The day ended at Pakowki lake where White-faced Ibis and Black-crowned Night Heron pushed our total to an incredible 207 species for the day! We were stunned by our success and we cant wait to go back to see if this total can go even higher... watch out Manitoba!!!

Calgary to Cypress Hills Saskatchewan

After a great evening with Cathy and Roger Watson (thanks guys!), Paul and I began our two week adventure in Alberta and Saskatchewan by heading east from Calgary towards the Cypress Hills. We pulled into the Tims at around 2:40 am (seriously) and were soon heading out of the city rolling towards the hills. Shortly after 3 am the first light started to appear in the sky, though the sun wouldnt rise for over two more hours.

We spent most of the day in the Cypress Hills in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, ending up south of Maple Creek where will spend two nights. There were tons of highlights today but the biggest flurry was early on in the day when we had an adult Goshawk stoop low across the road in pursuit of a songbird (sorry, it didnt garner much attention), soon followed by a provincially rare Red-headed Woodpecker looking very lost on a fence line in the middle of the prairies! I took a record photo of the latter just for documentation. The actual location of the bird was at the corner of Hwy 41 and the Cypress park turnoff a few km south of Elkwater.




Soon after this, a pair of uppies (Upland Sandpipers) landed at the roadside and provided stunning views. This provided my best photo opp of the day.



In early afternoon we had lunch at Cypress Lake resort in Sask. The feeders there are great fun with Red Crossbills regular attendees (pics to follow in the next post). A showy pair of Western Tanagers provided some nice colour while we enjoyed a well deserved lunch break. Here is the male.