Alberta 2024 - Days 1-6 (August 15-20th)

Marble Godwit at Franks Lake on August 17th

August 15th

The flight departed Barbados' Granley Adams International Airport behind schedule. We experienced some turbulence but landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport after a five-hour flight to begin our ten-hour layover. Determined to make the most of our time in Toronto, I set out to spot a few local bird species.

August 16th

My quest for Toronto birds proved more challenging than anticipated. Just minutes before boarding my flight to Calgary at 6:40 AM, I spotted my first Toronto bird: a Rock Pigeon (Columba livia). Eager to start my Canadian birding adventure, I added it to my eBird list. As the plane taxied to the runway, I identified another species, a Merlin (Falco columbarius).

We arrived at Calgary International Airport around 9:30 AM and observed our first Calgary birds as we taxied to the parking area: three Black-billed Magpies (Pica hudsonia).

August 17th

Accompanied by renowned Calgarian birder Keith Miles, I had the opportunity to see my first lifer of the trip. Keith, whom I had met on a previous trip to Calgary in 2019, took me to see Alberta's most famous bird at the time: a Whooping Crane (Grus americana) foraging in a field near Highway 1. Unfortunately, we were unable to spot the Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) that had been seen in the same field for weeks.

After observing the Whooping Crane, Keith guided me to Franks Lake, a popular birding spot in High River, about 30 miles south of Calgary. This Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) and Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) wetland yielded four lifers: Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa), Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii), Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), and the rare Nelson's Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni). Although I was hoping to see a Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), which is common in the area, we didn't spot any at the lake. However, during our drive around the area, we unexpectedly encountered a Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) perched on a fence post.

Just when we were about to give up on finding the Meadowlark, I spotted a pair sitting on the power lines near the entrance to Franks Lake. This marked the last lifer I would see on my trip with Keith.  One bird that was quite visible during this birding outing was Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni), it was everywhere but mostly in the fields, on fence post, bales of hay the beautiful raptor was a sight to see.

However, my birding adventure wasn't over yet. In the afternoon, at Fish Creek's Mallard Point, I observed a Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis), my final lifer in the first six day of this 2024 trip to Alberta. The other days produce other species, but none were lifers.  My bird moved to the resort town of Banff, for the next three day. 

You can check the ebird trip report here and the full checklist here

Here are the stats for the first six days of birding.  

Species for the Days of Birding:  94 | Lifers for the Days: 8 | Total Trip Species: 32 | All Time Alberta: 127

Birds Seen

August 15: House Sparrow, Common Raven, Northern Pintail, Yellow Warbler, American Goldfinch, Eastern Kingbird, Broad-winged Hawk; Pine Siskin, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Osprey, American White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Ring-billed Gull, Franklin's Gull, Mallard, American Wigeon, Black-billed Magpie, Merlin, Rock Pigeon; August 16: Wilson's Warbler, House Finch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown-headed Cowbird, European Starling, House Wren, Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Great Blue Heron, California Gull, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Tennessee Warbler, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Gray Catbird, American Crow, American Coot, Sora, Red-necked Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe;
 August 17: Canada Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, Western Meadowlark, Canada Goose, Savannah Sparrow, Western Kingbird, Mourning Dove, Common Goldeneye, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Nelson's Sparrow, Marsh Wren, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Black-crowned Night Heron, Black Tern, Bonaparte's Gull, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson's Phalarope, Long-billed Dowitcher, Marbled Godwit, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, American Avocet,  Black-necked Stilt, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Hooded Merganser,  Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, Whooping Crane,  Swainson's Hawk; August 18: Barn Swallow, Redhead;  August 19: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Common Merganser; August 20: Western Wood-Pewee, Townsend's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Black-and-White Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Song Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher.

Home | Banff Day 1