Wild Turkeys

Saturday, 21 November 2015, turned out to be a fun day for a group of us, driving SW of the city into the rolling hills to look for birds. We started off ‘well’, when our driver reversed into another birder’s car right there in the parking lot where we met. The crunch sounded really bad, but thankfully damage was very minimal!

Our drive took us south to the Millarville area, where we were hoping that we might just see Wild Turkeys, a Gyrfalcon or a Northern Hawk Owl. No luck with the last two, but we were lucky enough to see a number of distant Wild Turkeys at two different locations. Just couldn't get a good shot of any of them, especially when they were moving about through the trees. I had had a look for these months ago, when people were reporting seeing them, but I wasn't able to find any.

I think we did just as well, if not better, with mammals than bird species, seeing several beautiful male deer and a couple of distant Coyotes. Then, later on, we were amazed to see a group of three Moose and just a short distance along the road, a group of five Moose. To see even one lone Moose is exciting, but to see eight in one day was amazing and most unusual. Unfortunately, they were all too far away to get even half-decent shots, but I may post one sometime, just for the record.

Towards the end of our trip, a friend asked what I was going to be doing afterwards and when I said I had no plans, invited me to go along with him and his friend to look for Great Gray Owls and Snowy Owls. I said I would just grab my backpack from the car I had been riding in, By the time I had got my things out, I happened to turn round to go to their car, when I discovered there were no cars left!! Thank goodness my original drive was still there, as the vehicle I was going to transfer into was way down the road! My friend had forgotten me, lol! When he suddenly realized it, he had stopped and was either going to turn around or back up and had instead gone into the snow-covered ditch. Impossible to get out, so he was going to have to get a ride with someone else till he could reach a place where cell phone service was available and then call for a tow truck. I'm so glad I wasn't in his vehicle - can't help but wonder if my added weight might have caused his car to roll over, lol! And so I returned to the city with my original friends - safe and thankful. Thanks so much for driving for the day, Andrew - much appreciated! To my other friend, who shall remain anonymous (lol), I do hope it didn't take too long for your car to be rescued!

This is the final report/list from the leaders of the trip - rather long, but I did want to add it, to jog my own memory:

"On Saturday November 21, seventeen birders headed out in mild sunny weather to look for uncommon birds in the Calgary area. We headed south of the city first to check a possible Gyrfalcon spot, then to the Millarville area for Wild Turkeys, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Northern Hawk-Owl.

Our first stop was just south of Lloyd Lake (Red Deer Lake), a little SW of Spruce Meadows. A Gyrfalcon had been seen hunting Rock Pigeons in the area about ten days ago. It took a while to find the correct location, but with a tip from a local resident (who saw the falcon three days prior) we found the grain silos on 226 Avenue just where it starts to turn to the SW. There were only about a dozen pigeons there, and no Gyrfalcon, but the location is worth checking again. We thought we may have seen the bird sitting on a fence post to the south, but when we got closer it proved to be a Rough-legged Hawk, our only one of the day.

Next we went just SW of Millarville, where last winter Wild Turkeys frequented a farmyard on RR35. They had been reported once this fall. Also in the area last year were Sharp-tailed Grouse, and a Northern Hawk-Owl on RR40.

We found the Wild Turkeys at a farm on Twp 203, which connects RR34 and RR35. We watched them from a distance for a while, then did a slow drive-by, and the birds moved back from the road and eventually out of sight. There appeared to be seven turkeys.

After driving a loop around RR 34 and 35, we again found turkeys at a farm on RR35 just south of Twp 203. There were nine birds at this location, but the spot was no more than 1 km from where we saw the other group, and it seems likely that it was the same flock. This might be the only Wild Turkey flock within the 80-km Calgary Count Circle.

Next we drove south about 1.5 km to Twp 202, the north on RR40. A Northern Hawk-Owl was seen on this road frequently last winter. At one point I thought we found one, but it was a Gray Jay sitting at the top of a spruce tree.

Back in Calgary, we stopped at the canoe club in North Glenmore Park to check the reservoir. A Pacific Loon had been seen there by Jim St. Laurent on Friday afternoon (November 20). We didn't see it, though there were still waterfowl on the remaining open water.

Below is the eBird trip summary.

eBird Checklist Summary for: Nov 21, 2015, 8:54 AM to Nov 21, 2015, 3:54 PM

Number of Checklists: 4
Number of Taxa: 21

Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Calgary--Weaselhead Natural Area
Date: Nov 21, 2015, 9:09 AM
(2): (Gyrfalcon Spot) CA-AB-227101-227199 1119 Dr W - 50.8410x-114.1780 - Nov 21, 2015, 10:33 AM
Date: Nov 21, 2015, 10:33 AM
(3): (SW of Millarville) CA-AB-370201-370225 272 St W - 50.7079x-114.3940 - Nov 21, 2015, 12:07 PM
Date: Nov 21, 2015, 12:07 PM
(4): Calgary--North Glenmore Park
Date: Nov 21, 2015, 2:19 PM

402 Canada Goose -- (2),(4)
8 Mallard -- (4)
11 Bufflehead -- (4)
150 Common Goldeneye -- (4)
1 Common Merganser -- (4)
1 Ring-necked Pheasant -- (2)
9 Wild Turkey -- (3)
1 Eared Grebe -- (4)
1 Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk -- (1)
2 Bald Eagle -- (1),(3)
1 Rough-legged Hawk -- (2)
11 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (2)
1 Northern Shrike -- (2)
2 Gray Jay -- (3)
1 Blue Jay -- (1)
9 Black-billed Magpie -- (1),(2),(3),(4)
9 Common Raven -- (1),(2),(3)
7 Black-capped Chickadee -- (1),(3),(4)
9 Pine Grosbeak -- (3)
1 House Finch -- (1)
40 White-winged Crossbill -- (1),(3)