This day was quiet as there was a threat of rain. This photo shows the character of the sanctuary, deer crossing a spit of land on an oxbow of the Bow River.
This was taken a later in my visit, I'll return to the beginning. After entering the sanctuary, the first bird I observed was a House Wren, a common bird here.
House Wren - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
Here's another photo of this raucous Wren.
House Wren - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
I usually see the Clay-colored Sparrow at the Glenmore Weaselhead Reserve in southwest Calgary. But due to construction, this location was not available to me this year. I believe this is a Clay-colored, the next photo definitely is.
Clay-colored Sparrow - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB - 2017 Bird # 178
Note the overall light colours and the strong brown markings on the crest.
Clay-colored Sparrow - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
There's usually a good collection of ducks at Inglewood. Here's a female Common Merganser.
Common Merganser (F) - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
At this time the heavens opened up and I retreated to the shelter of the veranda of the Colonel Walker house. The rain lasted about 10 minutes, on the coast it would have been hours.
Colonel Walker House, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
After the rain let up, I crossed the bridge onto the east side of the oxbow. This is a prime territory to see Mule Deer and I was not disappointed.
Mule Deer - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
Another common sight here is the Wood Duck, here's a couple of males posing in the oxbow pond.
Wood Duck - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
I thought my last photo of Deer would be it, but along came a Doe and Bambi.
Mule Deer - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
Here's a close up of the fawn.
Mule Deer (Imm) - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
The next area I visited was along the Bow River. There were a good number of Franklin's gulls gathered on a gravel spit in the river.
Franklin's Gull - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
Here's a single gull coming in to join its companions.
Franklin's Gull - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
I returned to the center of the Sanctuary where I saw a few more songbird species. There were many Tree Swallows buzzing around, it was still early in the breeding season.
Tree Swallow - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
I believe this same bird made its way into this tree cavity. This must be why they are called Tree Swallows.
Tree Swallow - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
The last bird I saw at Inglewood was a Savannah Sparrow.
Savannah Sparrow - Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary AB
My birding day was not quite over. Edith and I drove out to Cochrane to visit my Aunt Bobbie and have dinner with my cousin Cathy and family. We always return to Calgary along Springbank Road and look for Swainson's Hawk. This night we were successful again, as is usually the case along this road.
Swainson's Hawk - Springbank Road, Calgary AB
In this shot you can see the hawk making its distinctive piercing call as it takes off.
Swainson's Hawk - Springbank Road, Calgary AB
This ended the day of Calgary birding. Tomorrow I'd take Edith to the Spruce Meadows Equestrian Centre and continue on to Frank Lake near High River for my last Alberta bird outing.
No comments:
Post a Comment