We flew in on the Monday morning, rented a jeep, and started birding at Glenmore park in southwest Calgary.
The source of drinking water in Calgary is the Glenmore Reservoir, the result of a Dam on the Elbow River. I visit this location every time I visit Calgary, but I only see the north end of the park. I always check out the Cliff Swallow nests under a foot bridge over the river. There are some paths nearby that usually have some local sparrows.
However, due to construction, we had to drive around to the south entrance of the park. It's about 5 Km away my usual spot, but it was a nice day for a walk (at first). We discovered that the south was great for birding with more variety than the north side.
This stock photo shows the beauty of the natural area.
The very first bird we saw was one of our favourites, a singing Yellow Warbler.
Yellow Warbler - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
Our second bird was a lifer for Mary-Jean, something that she celebrated quite a few times throughout the week.
Clay-colored Sparrow - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB - 2018 Bird #155
Another common local bird is the House Wren, another lifer for MJ.
House Wren - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB - 2018 Bird #156
I believe this is an American Crow, slightly larger than our Northwestern Crow. I had first recorded it as a Raven, but the beak seems to be crow sized and shaped.
American Crow - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
Nearby off the path was a small common Woodpecker.
Downy Woodpecker - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
We walked north heading for the bridge at the far end of the park. Suddenly, a prairie rainstorm rolled in with little warning. We took shelter under trees for about 20 minutes until the rain let up. I've often heard that after such storms, the birds come out into the open. This seemed to be the case today, especially with this Chipping Sparrow.
Chipping Sparrow - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB - 2018 Bird #157
Nearby, another House Wren was loudly calling, affording me a great photo opportunity.
House Wren - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
At this point we decided to document our presence in the area. First a photo of me:
And then a photo of Mary-Jean...
We were nearing a corner where the trail turned east and dropped into the river valley. Just before the bend, there was a small flycatcher perched on a branch calling out every few seconds. It was either calling for a mate, or announcing his territory, or both.
Least Flycatcher - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB - 2018 Bird # 158
I caught the call on a short video with the Nikon.
After descending the hill, we were now on the south side of the Elbow River. There were Red-winged Blackbirds along the shore, including this female.
Red-winged Blackbird (F) - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
Nearby in the river was a Blue-winged Teal.
Blue-winged Teal - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
Mary-Jean took this nice shot of a pair of American Wigeon in the River.
American Wigeon - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
Photo by Mary-Jean Payeur
We reached the foot bridge and it was my first disappointment of the day. Many of the Cliff Swallow nests were broken and there were few birds to be seen. Mary-Jean pointed out a nest that had a head sticking out and I got one acceptable shot.
Cliff Swallow - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB - 2018 Bird #159
As we made our way back, we spotted a Goldfinch on the top of a tree.
American Goldfinch - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
Once we'd climbed the hill, we found the Flycatcher still on his perch, chirping away like mad.
Least Flycatcher - Weaselhead Flats, Glenmore Park, Calgary AB
We made our way back to the car, the map below shows the ground we'd covered over a four hour period. We started at the Star in the lower right hand corner and followed dark red line to the bridge that crosses the river. The star past the bridge was my normal starting point.
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