Army Birding

Another walk over to the base sewage lagoons this afternoon. Excellent views of male Northern Harrier along the path and at the lagoons plenty of wildfowl with the addition of a female Bufflehead, my first in Suffield, and a stunning Slavonian Grebe. It was whilst I was watching the Slav that I noti...

Varied Thrush is probably my favourite bird in Canada. Grey Jays are nice, although I think your FB photo of the Stellar's Jay shows which is the more glamourous. Lake Louise car park soon for the Clark's Nutcracker! Form some reason Steller's Jay looks an odd bird for the Rockies - almost one you'...

Red-necked Grebe Horned Grebe Black-necked Grebe American White Pelican Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Trumpeter Swan Cackling Goose - provisional (might have to take advice) Canada Goose American Wigeon Gadwall Green-winged Teal Mallard Northern Pintail Blue-win...

You have really caught the bad weather! Glad you managed to see something at Waterton, I hope the weather improves before you return. Pleased that you got the R-N Sapsucker and Tanager. Did you see or hear the Varied Thrush? Heard several Varied Thrushes and caught one briefly. Bird of the weekend ...

I should have trusted my instincts and gone south to Police Point this afternoon. Instead I headed north to the three, usually excellent locations, to see what I could find. I was disappointed in all three locations although, all three were saved by one or two species at each as shown below: Tillebr...

I had been told that Waterton was a wonderful place and I wasn’t disappointed. Straddling the US/Canadian Border the Waterton Lakes/Glacier National Park is within a five hour drive of Suffield taking in a number of lakes on the way. The trip there was uneventful with little of note on the way altho...

Birders know all the best locations! Thanks to advice from Tim I went to the CFB Suffield Sewage Lagoons last night. Again the usual suspects were seen - plenty of nearctic wildfowl and the odd Killdeer. I suspect that the additional water on the prairie has cleared most birds off the lagoons. I did...

Tim,

They are lice and not mites. The Doc tells me this is an annual issue and previously they had been warned not to clear nests to avoid such an issue. I have googled bird lice and apparently Hirundines are top of the list of hosts.

The Canadian Military at Suffield have had to remove Cliff Swallow nests from the accommodation following complaints from soldiers living within the blocks - complaints were based on noise levels and the amount of droppings on the windows and window ledges which could cause a health issue. The remov...

You know you are going to have a great trip out on a daily basis when the most common Wader is a Wilson’s Phalarope! After taking Tim Cs advice I decided to go north from camp this evening and try for McCown’s Longspur. I booked the duty driver who duly let me down (apparently the Commanding Officer...

It's absolutely tipping it down. Only two species seen this morning as I have been to and from camp in a vehicle. Cliff Swallows continue to hawk over the camp and I have just seen a broad winged accipiter flying high west over the COEFOR HQ. Suspect Sharp-Shinned Hawk although its jizz did not appe...

Rich, Wilson's Warbler! Nice bird! I assuming this is a late migrant because I would have expected this species to have been in the Rockies by now, as a forest species. It may be worth catching the Canadian weather forecast and see what the state of the weather is like in the mountains and in the a...

As Tim predicted there was a fall of Swainson's Thrushes with birds all over the camp. The hot and sunny weather of yesterday has been replaced by winds, cold temperatures and overcast sky. This area of Canada has been unseasonably cold this year with the first Prairie Thunder exercise cancelled due...

Police Point is a natural point bar formed by the South Saskatchewan River. It is a cracking example of habitat found near a meandering Prairie River. Most of the trees found throughout the park are Plains Cottonwoods, which depend on river valley and flood moisture for reproduction and growth. Tree...

Geoff, there is water everywhere here now so wildfowl and waders 'alles uber die platz. I am now becoming blase about Wilson's Phalarope and I see a few each day. There are two ponds outside where I work which have been turning up some cracking birds. I have now started to post photos on Facebook. T...