A bird of many colours

Update on the massive wildfire in the Fort McMurray area:

"On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, destroying approximately 2,400 homes and buildings and forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in Albertan history. As of May 17, it continues to spread across northern Alberta, consuming forested areas and impacting Athabasca oil sands operations. It may become the costliest disaster in Canadian history.

.... While the fire had moved away from Fort McMurray, explosions and poor air quality continued to prevent residents and rebuilding crews from returning to the town. The wildfire is still burning and is expected to take months to contain and extinguish." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Fort_McMurray_wildfire

www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/the-fort-mcmurray-di...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adding another photo of the gorgeous Ring-necked Pheasant that I saw a few weeks ago. I rarely see a Pheasant and when I do, it's usually a long way away.

On 7 April 2016, the weather was beautiful and I finally got out for a walk in Fish Creek Park with birding friends. We started off at the Boat Launch, checking the Bow River for any waterfowl, then walked to the first storm water pond. From there, we walked down the path by the river, where, among other things, we spotted a little male Tree Swallow working at his nest cavity. Also a Black-capped Chickadee doing exactly the same thing. At one point, we heard a rustling in the dead leaves on the ground and then caught sight of a Meadow Vole. We even heard one little squeak : )

The last stop on our walk was to check on the pair of Great Horned Owls. Dad was sleeping in a tree not far from the nest tree and Mom was on the nest. We couldn't see any young ones yesterday morning.

The Balsam Poplar trees were full of bright red (male) catkins - they always look so beautiful, especially when seen against a blue sky. We saw one flower on our walk - yellow, and I think it was Silverweed, if I remember correctly. When I returned home later, I was welcomed by another yellow flower - my first Dandelion of the season : )

After the bird walk, I had intended going straight home, but on the spur of the moment, I turned on to the small road leading down to Bankside (still in Fish Creek Park). Sometimes, I get the feeling that I am meant to go somewhere, that there is a reason, and usually it ends up with my seeing something beautiful. Well, yesterday, the 'something' was this gorgeous male Ring-necked Pheasant! On the drive to the parking lot, I had already seen another male, but the one in this photo ended up crossing the path, giving a much closer view. As soon as I got out of my car, I recognized a lady in the distance - it was friend, Shirley, who had already spotted this bird. A helpful fisherman mentioned it to us, as well. After watching the very well-hidden bird, we were treated to a clear view when it walked across the path ahead of us. Such a spectacular bird! Its very long tail (that didn't fit into the photo) is roughly the same length as the rest of the body.

"The ring-necked pheasant is a native of Japan and southern China. It was first successfully introduced into southwestern Alberta in 1908. It soon became common throughout central and southeastern Alberta in agricultural areas of the prairie and parkland zones." From Alberta Fish and Wildlife.

aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/wild-species/birds/grouse-re...

I will add the list of species seen on the first walk, compiled by our leaders:

Spring Birding, Boat Launch, FCPP, Calgary, 0915-1215, Thu07Apr2016. Sunny, calm, 3 – 15°C. Combined results of three groups.

Canada Goose-20
American Wigeon-2
Mallard-20
Common Goldeneye-10
Common Merganser-5
RED-TAILED HAWK-1
WILSON’S SNIPE-1
FRANKLIN’S GULL-5
Ring-billed Gull-15+
Rock Pigeon-2
Great Horned Owl-2
Downy Woodpecker-6
Hairy Woodpecker-2
Northern Flicker-7+
Black-billed Magpie-3
Common Raven-3
TREE SWALLOW-3. One male was excavating nest-hole
Black-capped Chickadee-10, one pair were excavating nest-hole
White-breasted Nuthatch-2+
American Robin-4
European Starling-40+
SONG SPARROW-2+
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD-3 m.

Meadow Vole-1
Muskrat-2