Birding Notes

May 14: As we were leaving Pyramind Lake we happened to notice a pair of Common Mergansers near the shore (photos by Allan).

female	male

We drove to Maligne Lake and on the way back stopped at Maligne canyon. I had read in "Birds of Alberta" that the Black Swift often nested in the canyon.

Here is an image of one such nest with 4 young.

This gives a better sense of the context:

(photo by Allan)

Later that day I tried looking for birds at the Cottonwood ponds, where is saw a Barrow's Goldeneye.

I also saw a Common Redpoll on the grassy hillside nearby, but was not able to take a picture of it.

I stopped at a house in Jasper on Patricia street that has a few bird feeders in the backyard. I was able to get a photo of a Pine Siskin in one of the trees:

I had some difficulty identifying the following two images but finally decided they might be female Purple Finches.

Purple Finch (female)

?

I think this may be another female Purple Finch.

May 15: The next morning I took a photo of the following bird at the same location, but I am not sure what it is.

My best guess, which may not be very good, is that it is a young brown-headed cowbird. I did see some adult Brown-headed Cowbirds in the tree as well as a few Red-winged Blackbirds.

Here is a table summarizing the two day's observations.

Name	Photo	Time	Location	ID#	2007 #	Lifer
Common Merganser	Yes	8:45 am	Pyramid Lake	10	84	.
Clark's Nutcracker	.	1:30 PM	Maligne Lake	39	88	.
Black Swift	Yes	2:33 PM	Maligne canyon	137	89	Yes
Barrow's Goldeneye	Yes	4:34 PM	Cottonwood Creek ponds	108	29	.
Common Redpoll	.	5:00 PM	"	138	90	Yes
Pine Siskin	Yes	6:22 PM	Jasper townsite	139	91	Yes
Purple Finch	Yes	6:25 PM	"	140	92	Yes
Red-winged Blackbird	.	7:43 am	Jasper townsite	2	46	.
Brown-headed Cowbird	Yes	7:45am	"	49	93	.

SUMMARY of the session: This was not a bird watching trip (except for the deliberate attempt to see a Black Swift), but I did try to catch a few moments to see if I could see some birds that are more common in the mountains. Adding 4 new lifers to our list was a real bonus.