H

Birding Notes March 2007
 
Learning:
The Journey of a Lifetime
or
A Cloud Chamber of the Mind
Journal Index

Birding 18

April 24

Birding Notes


6:50 PM We left for Henderson Lake on the south side of Lethbridge about 8:30 am to look for waterfowl. We were surprised and disappointed to see very few birds on the lake. I assume they all flew north yesterday afternoon.

The wind was up making photos difficult. We chanced a brief conversation with another birder who mentioned a water reservoir at Stirling that often had birds. Since that was on our planned way to Pakowki Lake we thought we would stop off and have a look. We did see a Western Meadowlark and a Merlin but that was all. The wind was very strong, so we decided against going to Pakowski Lake and opted to simply stop off at a bird viewing area north of Stirling on the west side of highway 5. We were fortunate to see a small flock of Snow Geese (about 70) but they were too far off for a good photo. I did manage to get a couple of good images as a small group flew overhead. I also took a photo of a gull and when looking at the image later, realized it was a California Gull.

Snow Geese

 

California Gull

 

Snow Geese

Here is a table summarizing the day's observations.

Name
Photo
Time
Location
ID#
2007 #
Lifer
Greater Scaup
Yes
8:45 am
Henderson lake
117
52
.
             
Western Meadowlark
.
9:45 am
Stirling
5
56
.
Merlin
.
9:46 am
"
44
4
.
             
Double-crested Cormorant
.
10:08 am
Hwy 5
122
60
.
Snow Goose
.
10:09 am
"
63
61
.
California Gull
.
10:39 am
"
123
62
Yes

SUMMARY of the session: Not a good day for birding. The strong wind made everything unpleasant and we saw few waterfowl. However we did see 3 birds for the first time in 2007 and 1 of these was a lifer.