The Enthusiastic Birder: Calgary, Alberta - Day 8

Observation Hut at Frank Lake

I started my morning as normal at Burnsmead, and what a beautiful morning it was. I followed the trail next to the river in a northerly direction towards the park Bankside, recording 24 species but no lifers or new birds for the trip. The highlight of the morning was watching a Merlin (Falco columbarius), unsuccessfully, go after a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). The Flicker, though slower than the bird of prey, kept evading it by flying a circuit in and out and between branches of a tree. All the while, the deafening calls of a group of Black-billed Magpies (Pica hudsonia) tried their best to distract and confuse the raptor. In the end, the Merlin gave up the chase and the Flicker survived another day.

In the afternoon my uncle took me to one of the primary birding hotspots in the province, Frank Lake, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Calgary. I enjoyed the long drive along highway 23 as it allowed me to see more of the beauty of Alberta, but after an hour or so we turned off of the highway onto a dirt trail and drove for about 1.5 miles (2.4km) to the end of that trail and a very large lake came into view. I followed a wooden boardwalk to a lookout hut. While on the boardwalk I got my first lifer, a Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris). At the hut four photographers were busy photographing the spread of birds before them, one of them was trying to photograph the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) fishing. The lake was massive and many of the birds were really too far to identify but the photographers, one in particular, were helpful in pointing out a few birds to me and also directed me to the best spot along the lake to see my targeted birds.

Because of following their directions I saw birds such as the grebes - Horned (Podiceps auritus), Eared (Podiceps nigricollis) and Western (Aechmophorus occidentalis) also one of the main birds I wanted to see, White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi), sadly I cannot remember their names, I blame it on aging, but would like to thank them once again.

I really enjoyed my trip to this Important Bird Area, it is a fine example of conservation at work and I am looking forward to visiting it again on my next trip to Calgary. At the end of day 8 I saw 11 new birds for the trip, six of which were lifers.

Trip Tally

New Species for the Day: 11

New Lifers for the Day: 6

Total Species for the Trip: 92

Total Lifers for the Trip: 63

Horned Grebe; Eared Grebe; Western Grebe; Black-necked Stilt; American Avocet;

Killdeer; Long-billed Dowitcher; Black Tern; White-faced Ibis; Barn Swallow;

Marsh Wren

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