Tundra Swans

This photo was taken on 17 October 2015, when I spent the day birding with six friends. We travelled west of the city, the direction that I don't often get to see, mostly along Highway 1, turning off in a few places to see what species we could find. Overall, it was a very quiet day as far as birding goes.

At this particular pond, we watched several distant Swans, which are always nice to see. The two in this photo are Tundra Swans, but there were also Trumpeter Swans on the pond. This particular pond is part of the Trumpeter Swan's migratory path.

"True to its name, the Tundra Swan breeds on the high tundra across the top of North America. It winters in large flocks along both coasts, and is frequently encountered during its migration across the continent." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tundra_Swan/lifehistory

While my friends were checking out the few other waterfowl, I just had to turn around and take a few photos of an old orange/red barn in the distance (seen in the next photo). I wasn't sure just where we were, but last night I went on Google Earth and eventually found the exact place. I also discovered that there is a whole lot more about this barn and the ranch it belongs to. It also has a whole movie set in Western theme (i.e. old saloon, etc.), which has been used in a long list of movies.

We also did an enjoyable walk along the Flowing Waters Trail in Bow Valley Provincial Park - a highlight there was seeing a Brown Creeper.

Here is our leader, Andrew Hart's report, that he sent in to e-Bird. Thanks, Andrew, for the list and of course for a most enjoyable day, as always.

"Seven of us met to head west on what was initially a chilly morning which promised to warm up later.

Our first stop was at the Jumping Pound Pond where we saw a family of five Trumpeter Swans along with a few assorted ducks. We then worked our way along the back roads parallel to Hwy 1 checking out the sloughs. Only one (about half way to the Sibbalt turnoff) was really productive, yielding 18 Tundra Swans and several waterfowl including some Hooded Mergansers.

We then headed to Bow Valley Provincial Park, where we were met by very strong winds. Possibly because of the winds we did not see very much on our walk around the Flowing Waters Trail, several flocks of White-Winged Crossbills were the easiest to see. We did have one Brown Creeper which seemed to be blown up the slope towards us and almost slammed into a lone tree on the ridge path.

We passed the Seebe Dam en route to Exshaw, but again slim (to say the least) findings at both locations.

We saw about four Rough-legged Hawks between stops.

Here is what we saw at the stops.

Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Jumping Pound Pond
Date: Oct 17, 2015, 8:50 AM
(2): CA-AB-Rocky View No. 44-45240 Township Road 252 - 51.1252x-114.5434
Date: Oct 17, 2015, 9:10 AM
(3): Bow Valley PP - Flowing Waters Trails
Date: Oct 17, 2015, 10:10 AM
(4): Seebe Dam
Date: Oct 17, 2015, 12:25 PM
(5): Exshaw
Date: Oct 17, 2015, 12:55 PM

38 Canada Goose -- (1),(4)
5 Trumpeter Swan -- (1)
18 Tundra Swan -- (2)
4 Gadwall -- (2)
41 American Wigeon -- (1),(2),(4)
204 Mallard -- (1),(2),(4)
12 Northern Shoveler -- (1)
26 Green-winged Teal -- (2)
2 Ring-necked Duck -- (2)
6 Hooded Merganser -- (2)
4 American Coot -- (2)
4 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (1)
2 Black-billed Magpie -- (2),(5)
1 Common Raven -- (3)
2 Black-capped Chickadee -- (3)
2 Red-breasted Nuthatch -- (3)
1 Brown Creeper -- (3)
6 Golden-crowned Kinglet -- (3)
2 American Robin -- (5)
1 European Starling -- (1)
46 White-winged Crossbill -- (3),(4)
10 Pine Siskin -- (3)
20 House Sparrow -- (5)

Andrew Hart"