Diario del proyecto Lesser Slave Lake Region (Alberta) Birds and Insects

08 de mayo de 2021

May 8, 2021, Spring Migration update

Every day we are seeing more and more birds and bugs. Ones that are back and seen:
White-Throated Sparrows
White-crowned Sparrows
Song Sparrows
Flocks of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Greater White-fronted Geese have been flying overhead
Pelicans have recently been seen
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-Winged Teals showed up
Butterflies seen: Northern Azure, Hoary Comma, Mourning Cloak

Publicado el mayo 8, 2021 08:22 TARDE por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

24 de abril de 2021

April 24, 2021 Update

April 17, 2021 - Eagle on the nest, in 2020 they didn't nest in this location and thought they had moved on to make another nest. Our walk to see a grouse took us past the eagle nest and the eagle was there.
We went to the ponds road, there was still ice on the ponds but the edges have open water. The Canada Goose was on her nest in the usual place.
Flocks of Brewer's Blackbirds at the Point on the trees. More and more blackbirds are coming back - Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds.
April 20, 2021 - American Coots, about 20 of them by the bridge to the weir on the Gramiak side.
April 23, 2021 - ponds have opened up in most places, there is still ice on some larger ones, but most have the ice gone and ducks are moving to these open waters.

Publicado el abril 24, 2021 11:55 MAÑANA por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

17 de abril de 2021

April 16, 2021, Spring Migration Update

April 10 - Tundra Swans have started coming over and landing at the mouth of the river - big flocks, Male/Female Canvasback at Point, Kildeer by the government/public boat launch on the ice and then saw 3 Kildeers at the weir
April 11 - Bald Eagle snatched a female Common Goldeneye from the side of the river, then went to the top of the beaver hut to devour the bird. Happened around 4:45 pm
April 12 - First American Coot seen, came out when at the beaver hut on the side of the river by where the Bald Eagles perch
Yellowleg landed on the other side, not sure if Lesser or Greater - guessing Greater
April 13 at the Point - 77 swans counted - mixed, Tundra and Trumpeter, lots of ducks - Mallards, Northern Pintails, Common Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teals, American Widgeons
April 14 at the Point - first Red-necked Grebe spotted
Blue Heron flew over the Old Smith Highway bridge to the weir - first one spotted
April 15 - Old Smith Highway bridge to weir - Canvasbacks and a Red-headed Duck

Publicado el abril 17, 2021 12:38 TARDE por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

11 de abril de 2021

April 11, 2021 Spring Migration Update

April 6:
7 Hooded Mergansers, 4 males, 3 females by the Highway 88 bridge over Lesser Slave River
15 Ring-billed Gulls at the Point, by Dog Island
5 males and 1 female Common Merganser at the Pumping Station
April 7:
10 Trumpeter Swans at Point and maybe a Greater Scaup by Roland on the River
April 8:
13 Trumpeter Swans and a Juvenile Bald Eagle at the Pumping Station
Lots of Mallards, American Widgeons and 4 male Green-winged Teals - in the water collecting in Old Town park
8 Hooded Mergansers - from Highway 88 bridge to Gramiak's
April 9:
15 Trumpeter Swans - 2 juveniles in the group at Pumping Station/Point and 1 Ring-necked Duck
American Robins and Dark-eyed Juncos at Lilypad, lots of Dark-eyed Juncos all over now
Swans flying in flocks over the Weir
April 10:
28 Trumpeter Swans by Pumping Station/Point, Tundra Swans landed at the Point

Publicado el abril 11, 2021 12:50 TARDE por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

06 de abril de 2021

Spring Migration 2021 update

March 30 - 5 Trumpeter Swans, 2 pairs, 1 lone
Canada Geese and Cackling Geese - hard to tell but quite a few of the Geese are a bit larger than Mallards and seem quite smaller, some pictures show the indicators that they are Cackling Geese
April 2 - 2 more Trumpeter Swans flew in but landed out on the ice close to Dog Island and our first sighting of a male and female Northern Shoveler, and a Milbert's Tortoiseshell Butterfly landed by us at the public boat launch by Gramiak's
April 3 - 4 Hooded Mergansers - 2 female and 2 males hanging out with a few Common Goldeneyes by the public boat launch

Publicado el abril 6, 2021 10:57 MAÑANA por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

29 de marzo de 2021

Spring migration update March 26-28, 2021

Friday, March 26, 2021 a Hooded Merganser (male) sighted on the Lesser Slave River down from the pumping station with a few Common Goldeneyes.
Sunday, March 28, 2021 flocks of Northern Pin-tailed Ducks, Mallards at the Point. More Common Goldeneyes at the river, lots more Canada Geese and 4 Eagles - 3 adults and 1 juvenile. 1 Ring-billed Gull. 2 Bufflehead Ducks.
The 3 Trumpeter Swans were not anywhere down the river from the Point to the weir.

Publicado el marzo 29, 2021 10:41 MAÑANA por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

25 de marzo de 2021

More coming every day - Trumpeter Swan on Monday, March 22, 2021

Every day more birds are coming back and on Monday, March 22, 2021 we saw the first Trumpeter Swan at the Point on the Lesser Slave River. By Tuesday, 2 more had joined. We have had snow for the last 3 days and temperatures to -13 in the mornings - we are having our 2nd winter!
Sunday, March 21 we saw a male Common Merganser at the Weir and 4 more further down river at the bridge on the Old Smith Highway.
I will be using this journal to post about when we see the birds back. Happy birding!

Publicado el marzo 25, 2021 10:44 MAÑANA por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

20 de marzo de 2021

2021, Spring Migration is on!

Saturday, March 6 the excitement began with the first sighting of a lone Canada Goose at the Lesser Slave River by the Highway 88 bridge. Spring Migration is on, one of the most exciting times to see all the birds that are coming back to either stay or have a rest before continuing on their journey.

While most people in the cities aren't as excited by the Canada Geese, the arrival of the Geese are usually the first to appear in large numbers and soon other ducks/waterfowl start to appear.

When you see one, you know the next day you will see more and by March 7 I spotted 7 Canada Geese along the river. The rest of the week was relatively quiet, we knew more had arrived but they weren't hanging around at the Point or down river to the weir.

With warmer weather, an explosion of Canada Geese occurred and now there are over 100 doing what the geese do, make a lot of noise, rumble with each other, display and feed.

Exciting observations were the Northern Pintail Ducks - 3, 2 males and a female. March 19 3 male Green-winged Teals. Mallards have also been observed, 2 males and a female sighting for me, more for others.

Until the ice is off the ponds and the lake is more open, we are bound to see a lot more waterfowl over the next few weeks in a relatively small area at the mouth of the Lesser Slave River down to the weir.

Spring has sprung!

Publicado el marzo 20, 2021 12:23 TARDE por edith-mackenzie edith-mackenzie

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