Baby Birds!

SQUEEEEE!

 

 

 

Good news everyone!
Today I spotted some brand new baby magpies, the first that I've seen so far this year!  Aren't they completely adorable? 

Fluffy too!

Really cute!

Yes, they are cute, magpie haters!  I'm not sure why we don't seem to appreciate these beautiful birds very much around here.  Visitors to Edmonton are often very impressed by them because of their lovely blue plumage, which is so bright in comparison to many of our other birds, who are so typically brown.  Also, magpies are one of the smartest animals in the world, they are even able to identify themselves in a reflection (which sadly, my girl cat has yet to understand).  
You can identify a baby magpie because they are not fledged, meaning they don't have fully grown tail feathers which permits them the full capacities of flight (which is where we get they term "full-fledged"!).  Unfortunately this leaves baby birdies on the ground vulnerable to predators, so keep your dog on a leash, and don't get too close yourself either (I used a zoom lens).

Here is a short video of the pair in the above right photo, just being cute:

 Other hatch-lings will be out and about soon, but for some other species the babies will be almost adult-sized before you see them.  Keep an eye on the skies!

Urban Birdwatching

With spring in the air, Edmonton is quickly becoming the northern home for many different varieties of migratory birds.  Because of the great variety found in these transient residents as well as our year-long avian friends, Edmonton is a great place to be a birdwatcher.
Now I am by no means an expert when it comes to birdwatching, but I don't think that anyone really has to be an expert to appreciate the colours, personalities and whimsical actions of Edmonton's birds.  What sort of birds you may see is somewhat determined by the part of the city in which you live.  If like me you are a downtown resident without a yard, you can hang up a bird feeder on your balcony and be visited by sparrows, chickadees, warblers, nuthatches and maybe even the occasional grosbeak.  If on the other hand you live in one of Edmonton's more residential areas, you will probably get a variety of larger birds visiting your yard.  If you provide decent foliage, you could see robins, blue jays and maybe even grey jays.  Of course you will see magpies, crows and seagulls absolutely everywhere, but they have a great whimsy and can be really fun to watch if you have an open heart to them.

A sparrow at our bird feeder

And I know if  you're new to birdwatching you're probably wondering how to tell one type of bird from another.  While some you know because of their very common nature, others might be a complete mystery to you.  I am always completely delighted when I see a new bird in my neighbourhood and am able to find out what it is.  Just the other day I saw a dark-eyed junco for the very first time!  To help you I.D. your birds, I recommend the fantastic little handbook Birds of Alberta by Chris Fisher and John Acorn.  The full-colour illustrations are excellent in this book, and I have used it very often to quickly identify unknown species.  The book is available to borrow through the Edmonton Public Library too.  You can also identify species by using a website such as What Bird, which allows you to enter a description of the bird and then provides you with possible I.D.'s.
It isn't necessary to know every species of bird to enjoy watching them.  Birdwatching with even the most mundane species can be relaxing, humourous and even exciting.  And Edmonton is a great place to do it.

The Bohemian Waxwings Arrive

There are a few ways to tell that it is spring in Edmonton.  We boldly trade our parkas for shorts and blind passersby with legs so pale they practically shine.  The door to the shed has defrosted enough for us to put away the shovel.  We daringly put the block heater extension cord away and take the snow tires off our cars.  We drink slurpees, we cry about not making the playoffs (again), and we take back the great outdoors.

And when we go outdoors, we notice the birds.

Several species of birds overwinter in Edmonton.  Sparrows and chickadees, as well as the occasional hearty (or possibly insane) nuthatch stick around and will eat from your birdfeeder with voracious appetites when food is harder to come by and covered in snow.  Magpies and ravens are also a common sight year-round.  Spring truly arrives in Edmonton when the large compliment of summer residents return to the city. Within the last two weeks we have seen the arrival of bright-red breasted robins, geese, ducks, and seagulls.

But truly a spectacular sight was the arrival of the bohemian waxwings.  You have probably seen these birds around Edmonton.  They travel in massive clouds, descending upon mountain ash and other berry-filled trees and pick them clean before continuing.  Bohemian waxwings look very similar to cedar waxwings, and the birds usually move so quick that it is hard to get a good look at them in order to tell who’s who.  The bohemian waxwings are darker in the front, whereas the cedar waxwings are more red/orange.  Both birds are commonly seen in the Edmonton area, if you want an excellent up-close look at them, I recommend taking a trip out to the Devonian Botanic Gardens.  I have seen flocks of cedar waxwings in the Japanese garden there on several occasions.  

A bohemian waxwing

A cedar waxwing

 While the vocalizations of a single bohemian waxwing are quite soft, when you pack them into a flock of hundreds it can drown out the sound of afternoon traffic with birdsong.

I took this video of the bohemian waxwings during their brief stop at Kitchener Park, and it captures the volume of both the birds and their song.  They are quite a sight to behold; I hope that they pass through your neighborhood too!  Enjoy.

Look Up

EDMONTON.  What’s the first thing that pops into your mind? 

A big mall?  The Legislature building? Frigid winters? A lackluster hockey team?  Whyte Avenue?  Fat Franks?  

What about astonishing natural beauty teeming with greenery and wildlife?

A resident rabbit

Edmonton has been called an unattractive city.  As a passionate nearly life-long resident of the Edmonton area, I am going to respectfully disagree.  And I’m going to blog about it.

Appreciate the little things, like sparrows.

It has been noted that people don’t spend enough time looking up.  I’d like to treat this one both literally and metaphorically.  Edmontonians spend too much time looking at the sidewalk when they walk (and their cellphones when they drive, but that’s another issue…).  We crouch against spring winds and winter snows, lost in our own minds wrestling with our own lives.  And we rarely look up and outside of ourselves to admire our surroundings.  Edmonton is not an ugly city; it is actually a natural beauty.  And this goes beyond the picturesque scenes of the River Valley.  We have neighborhoods replete with towering umbrella canopies of Dutch Elms, casting shade and cleaning our air.  We have community gardens lovingly tended to grow the fruits (and vegetables) of the earth.  We have abundant wildlife, even in the downtown a birdfeeder brings a delightful assortment of species to our windowsills.  We have the unending Alberta horizon, which gives breathtaking sunrises and sunsets.  We have potted blooms, grown both by the City and by residents, to brighten up our landscape.  And even in the winter, we have a frosty, perfectly white landscape which beckons us outdoors (despite plunging temperatures).

We have all of these things and more, and we don’t see them.  Maybe it’s modesty, or maybe we’ve been taking it for granted, but our city is a natural beauty.  Edmontonians, be proud, and look up.

A downtown sunset