Sleeping down at the pond

This beautiful Great Blue Heron was further away than it looks from my photo, but usually I see them flying way overhead or the distant side of a large pond. So, it was great to see one a little bit closer.

This bird was seen yesterday, 19 June 2016, at a local pond during an afternoon birding walk - in fact, the very last birding walk of the season until around the end of August. We started our walk at Bankside and ended up at Mallard point four hours later, following the path along the Bow River. Driving the park road to Bankside, we stopped to check out the Burnsmead Ponds, where this beautiful Heron was standing. Another photographer was already there - nice to meet you, Susan, and I enjoyed our little chat.

The Sunday afternoon walks are more laid back and tend to be at a more leisurely pace, which suits me much better, so I go when I can. Hard to believe that we ended up seeing 50 bird species! The absolute highlight was when Jeff H. heard, then spotted, a Grasshopper Sparrow. A very clever sighting! I have never seen one and, until recently, had never even heard of such a Sparrow. It couldn't have been much more difficult to see, as it only popped up from the grass and bushes two or three times for a split second, before disappearing again. Eventually, it flew to the plant seen in my next photo, and I was finally able to see it. I think this might just have been the fastest reaction with my camera that has ever happened and somehow the lens luckily focused on the bird rather than just on the leaves in front. Just enough detail to confirm the ID. Thanks so much, Jeff, for finding this great bird for us!

Yesterday evening, I got an e-mail from Terry Korolyk, who has spent so many years finding, recording and reporting not only all his own sightings, but those of so many other people. So much work and such valuable data. He wrote the following to me:

"You guys got a good one. Haven't seen a Grasshopper Sparrow report around Calgary for quite some time now. We used to occasionally get one reported east of the City. Some places in the south part of the Province used to be good for them with probably the nearest site being north of Taber. Not many reports from down there in recent years, but, I don't think anybody's gone down there looking for them."

I did a quick check on ebird last night and found the following most recent sightings from Calgary and surroundings. Of course, there could have been a few unreported sightings in addition to these:

1987 - 1 reported by Nature Calgary at the Irricana Sloughs
1988 - 1 reported by Nature Calgary in Weaselhead
1988 - 6 reported by Nature Calgary at the Irricana Sloughs
1994 - 1 reported by Nature Calgary at Frank Lake

FFCPPSoc. Birding Burnsmead Ponds, Bankside to Mallard Point, FCPP, Calgary. 1:15 - 5:15 PM. Sunday, June 19/16. Our Group of Seven enjoyed a sunny, warm (20 to 24C), afternoon with only light westerly winds.

1. Pied-billed Grebe - 1
2. Double-crested Cormorant - 4
3. Great Blue Heron - 2
4. Canada Goose 6 (2 adults,4 goslings)
5. Mallard - 28
6. Gadwall - 5
7. American Wigeon - 7
8. Northern Shoveler - 2
9. Blue-winged Teal - 6
10. Common Goldeneye - 3
11. Common Merganser - 6
12. Cooper's Hawk - 1
13. Red-tailed Hawk - 1
14. Swainson's Hawk - 1
15. Osprey - 1
16. Merlin - 1
17. Ring-necked Pheasant - 3
18. American Coot - 7 (2 adult, 5 young)
19. Spotted Sandpiper - 8
20. Franklin's Gull - 275
21. Ring-billed Gull - 2
22. California Gull - 1
23. Rock (Feral) Pigeon - 3
24. Northern Flicker - 5
25. Downy Woodpecker - 3
26. Western Wood Pewee - 1 heard
27. Least Flycatcher - 2
28. Eastern Kingbird - 2
29. Warbling Vireo - 1 heard
30. Black-billed Magpie - 3
31. American Crow - 4
32. Common Raven - 5
33. Tree Swallow - 30
34. Bank Swallow - 20
35. House Wren - 5
36. American Robin - 32
37. Cedar Waxwing - 6
38. European Starling - 3
39. Yellow Warbler - 6
40. Clay-coloured Sparrow - 5
41. Savannah Sparrow - 48
42. GRASSHOPPER SPARROW - 1 found by Jeff H. Photo'd by Anne E.
43. Song Sparrow - 3
44. Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
45. Baltimore Oriole - 1
46. Red-winged Blackbird - 53
47. Yellow-headed Blackbird - 5
48. Common Grackle - 5
49. Brown-headed Cowbird - 5
50. House Sparrow - 8

Muskrat - 1
White-tailed Deer - 1
Swallowtail Butterfly -1

Leaders: Bernie Diebolt, Janet Gill