Birding News ALBERTA September 2019

Saturday September 28, 2019 10:00am to 5:00pm

Please plan to join us to celebrate another exciting year at The Wild Bird Store. Guest speakers include Gus Yaki at

10:00am who will do a presentation on birds/mammals that visit backyard feeders in Calgary, and Gavin McKinnon at

2:00pm will guide you to the best birding areas around Calgary and Southern Alberta. All presentations will in the

Galleroom.

Back by popular demand, cupcakes, including Gluten Free from Brownsugar Bake Shop in Okotoks, and home-

made sticky toffee pudding. Coffee and water will also be available.

Will be here with an interactive booth with lots of touchable biofacts.

Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation will have Ophelia the Great

horned owl on display starting at 11am to 1:30pm

Door prizes, tours of the Mobile Seed Truck and of course the “Crack an Egg” contest where everyone is a winner

with discounts from 10% to 100% off your purchase, as a to thank our many loyal customers.

Have you ever noticed that as we approach September you see more and more Grackles and

Starlings appear in your yard and throughout your neighbourhood?

They start going from being in territories where they're building nests and raising their young, to congregating in really

large flocks, which they'll stay in throughout the winter. They become really conspicuous because huge, huge flocks of

thousands of blackbirds often composed of multiple species, red-wing blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds will visit people's

feeders and they'll do so all at once. And it can be quite overwhelming to have that many individuals coming to eat your

cracked corn and black oil sunflower seed. What causes them to disappear overnight on their migration south for the

winter remains a mystery, but after causing such a ruckus in our backyards, it is a welcome relief when they finally

disappear until Spring, leaving us to enjoy our winter dwellers.

Want to learn more? Scroll

down to see article on

flocking behaviours!

There are numerous benefits to flocking behaviours. The first is safety in numbers. Predators have a harder time

catching adult or juvenile birds in the middle of a flock compared with a solo bird. In a flock birds can fly in amongst

each other and move around to potentially confuse the predator. Flocks of birds have also been known to attack or chase

predators to scare them away. This is called mobbing.

Flocking may also help birds find food more efficiently. With more eyes on the lookout for food, there is a higher

chance of birds finding it. In this way, flocking helps birds find food faster, giving them more time for grooming, resting,

finding a mate and raising young.

Certain flocking formations, such as flying in a V shape, enhance aerodynamics. Increased aerodynamics means less

energy used to fly. Aerodynamics is especially essential when flying long distances for migration. For birds that live in

colder climates, flocking offers the added benefit of helping each other keep warm by sharing body heat.

You come to our store so that you can give your birds the best for there health…are you as careful with your

own health? We will be holding two seminars talking about the importance of health. The first one will be

about the importance of good nutrition, and how supplements can play a role in better health.

Thursday September 12, 2019 at 6:30 PM in the Gallery. $5.00 + GST. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

Our second Seminar will be on digestive health and how important it is to better overall health.

Monday September 16, 2019 at 6:30 PM in our Gallery. $5.00 +GST. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

Mark and Becky Schoepp, long time Neolife Directors and promoters will be presenting. Q&A after the presentation as well as samples

of the products talked about will be available. Please call, email or drop into the store to sign up. Seating is limited to 35 people.

Learn how to have success with your Mason bee

cocoons and how to harvest next years cocoons. We

will instruct you on how to store your cocoons, when

to place them outside and how to insure the hatching

bees will lay their cocoons in the proper place.

Cost: $5.00 per person

To reserve your seat and make

payment, please phone The Wild Bird Store at:

(403)640-2632

Copper colour polished accents. Sturdy metal construction. Four-sided feeding affords bird-watching from all angles. Mod-ern regal design. Roof lifts for easy filling.

Joan Walsh—Biologist, ornithologist —to be announced

Susanne Maidment (bird bander) —hummingbird presentation—November 20th

“Birds of a Feather” focusing on

winter adaptations with

Dr. Brian Keating

Thursday, October 24, 2019 @6:30pm

Tickets are $25.00 + GST per person and are

non-refundable and non-transferable

There will be a limited number of tickets available for this

presentation

He’s been leading groups on nature based travel for over 3

decades, exploring some of the best wildlife areas on the

planet. He’s a weekly guest on Calgary’s CBC Radio, and

frequently appears on other media outlets. He’s in high

demand as an international speaker, presenting at some 40

events a year.

Brian’s a pilot, a naturalist, scuba diver, mountaineer, the

author of 5 children’s books celebrating nature and an

honorary chief of a West African village which supports a

hippo sanctuary.

His hour-long documentary, “Going Wild in Madagascar”,

aired world-wide on Discovery HD-TV, and a 4-part series

entitled “Going Wild” is presently airing on National

Geographic Canada. Finally, the "Brian Keating

Conservation Endowment Fund", named in his honour

(2017), presently has one million dollars, and will be

matched up to an additional one million dollars by the

Calgary Zoo.

Diane will take us on a photographic journey where she

will try to re-create visually the incredible experience of

visiting the Antarctic. She will lead you through the 20-

day voyage from Ushuaia, to the Falkland Islands, South

Georgia, the Antarctic and back to Ushuaia across the

Drake Passage. Highlights include seven species of

penguins, the southern-most songbird in the world, five

species of albatross, a Southern Right Whale, and the

majesty of glaciers and icebergs.

Antarctic Adventure with

Diane Stinson

Saturday, September 21, 2019

@ 2:00pm tickets $15.00 + GST

per person and are non-

refundable

Nest Parasitism with Jay Ingram

co-founder of Beakerhead

Thursday, October 17, 2019

6:30pm

Tickets $25.00 + GST per person and are

non-refundable and non-transferable

This should be a really fun evening with Jay!

Tickets must be purchased in advance. No tickets will be available at the door.

TALK: nest parasitism, the practice of laying eggs in

another bird’s nest, is much more common than you might

think and for good reason. It eliminates the work and stress

of raising nestlings, but when done well doesn’t

compromise a bird’s ability to produce offspring. We’re

familiar with the Brown-headed cowbird, but it’s just one

of countless nest parasites around the world. But it doesn’t

always work: vulnerable species have come up with some

tricks to counteract the parasites. The real question is: were

there dinosaurs who did it too?

We offer a discount if you return your seed

bags (sorry—not the Mother Nature bags which

we cannot re-use), suet ball containers, if you

bring your own container to fill or use a bag from

our re-cycle bin. This discount is in addition to

any other discount offered.

Write a Google review on your exper ience

at The Wild Bird Store, and as a thank you, we

will give you 100 customer loyalty points

($5.00 value). To get a promo code, kindly email

info@wildbirdstore.ca

(one Google review per customer)

Earn 200 customer loyalty points ($10.00 value) by referring a friend, acquaintance or fellow birder.

Please visit the store to get a promo code.

No need for a card, just give your phone number. You earn $1.00 for every $20.00 spent (excludes “sales” items, books & optics) and can be used in-store and on Mobile Seed Truck. As a loyalty member our monthly promotions and in-store “specials” are automatically given at the cash register.

Combining our Seniors 10% discount with the Loyalty Program. (Excludes “sales” items, books & optics).

Discount for membership 10% discount for members of Fish Creek Park, AIWC, Priddis Golf Club, Nature Calgary, Sandy Cross Conservation and Springbank Garden Club. Must present valid membership card at time of purchase.

Located at The Wild

Bird Store (near the

seed bins). We collect

your donations and arrange to deliver them

to Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society.

For their wish list please visit:

http://calgarywildlife.org/wishlist/

Have you been into The Galleroom? Come see

the display of art and home décor for sale, from

local artists and photographers.

This is where we run our seminars from

September to May as well as presentations from

birding experts. For information on these

seminars and presentations see the Seminars and

Presentations section of the newsletter or go to

our website and check out the Calendar of

Events.

The Galleroom is also for rent for small groups

of 35 people of less that need a meeting or event

space. Table and chairs are available as well as

refreshments for $50/hour. For more information

or to book the room, please email

info@wildbirdstore.ca.

Saturdays in The Gallery we serve

cookies and coffee.

Bird Seed Truck

Montgomery Community Association

5300 - 16 Avenue N.W.

(corner of Home Road and 16th Avenue N.W.)

Every Monday

3:00pm - 6:00pm

Crowfoot YMCA/Arena

(corner of John Laurie Blvd. and Nose Hill Drive)

Every Wednesday

2:00pm to 6:00pm

Be sure your order is on the truck when we come to either of our

locations by

Texting us @ (403) 701-4571 or emailing

orders@wildbirdstore.ca

With desired location pick-up

Earn and redeem customer loyalty points on the Bird Seed Truck.

Can’t make it to one of our locations, we

also deliver. Send us your order by email

to orders@wildbirdstore.ca. We deliver

on Mondays (except if it’s a holiday) and

require your order no later than 4:00pm

on the preceding Friday. Delivery charge

is applicable unless brought to one of our

locations on The Bird Seed Truck.

Ever tried a pair of binoculars in a store and having purchased them, discovered they were not what you had been hoping

for? Well, The Wild Bird Store is offering a solution—rent a pair of binoculars….and if they don’t work for you, rent

another pair. We want you to enjoy your new binoculars and more importantly, we want them to perform for your viewing

pleasure. Binoculars will be available for rent on a daily basis and once you decide on the pair you want, 50% of your paid

rental will be applied to your binocular purchase.

The Wild Bird Store only carries Leupold® binoculars and scopes for two reasons:

1. An excellent affordable binocular/scope

2. Their service depot is in Okotoks so you would only be without your binoculars/scope for no more than a week

For more information on our binocular rental program, please contact

The Wild Bird Store at (403)640-2632 or come in and see us.

The Wild Bird Store also has tripods, window mounts,

backpacks, adapters for digiscoping, binocular harnesses

and much more…..

Bird of Prey: Watch the Award-Winning Documentary Now Fourteen stories high in a rainforest tree, a pair of Great Phil-

ippine Eagles struggles to raise their chick. Watch with us as

this new life grows from gawky chick to powerful eaglet—one

of fewer than 800 remaining. Our stunning film tells the mov-

ing tale of a small but devoted group of people who refuse to

believe in anything less than this magnificent bird's recovery.

See the breathtaking trailer.

Watch the Full Movie Now: Bird of Prey is now streaming

on iTunes, Amazon, and Vimeo.

Proceeds from the film will further the Lab's commitment to

Though bats have a reputation for being a bit scary, all of Alberta’s 9 bat species are only after insects for their dinner! Join us for this special presentation all about Alberta’s bat species, including which you are most likely to see, how they live in this wintery environment, and what you can do to ensure these wonderful pest controllers stick around for many years to come.

A tour of sections of the AIWC facility will follow this presentation.

When: Saturday, October 19th, 2019 1pm to 3pm. Where: At our facility.

September 19th to 22nd: Waterton hosts a wildlife festival i celebrating the park as one of the best places in the Rocky Mountains to view wildlife, es-pecially mammals. Bighorn sheep, elk, deer, bears, and foxes, more than 200 species of birds, six species of amphibians, four species of reptiles, and 24 species of fish have been found in the Park. Workshops, presenters, and guided walks are some of the activities at the festival.

AUTUMN BIRDING

COURSE

12 week course runs

September 2 – November 24

Start times Monday - Thursday: 9:15 am. Saturdays: 9:00 am, Sun-days: 9:00 am and 1:15 pm Fee: Once a week outing, Friends of Fish Creek Members: $60.00, Non-members: $100.00 Twice a week outings, Friends Members: $100.00, Non-members: $150.00 Youth 16 years of age or younger with registered adult: $5.00 Registration Required. For more information or to register visit:

http://friendsoffishcreek.org/programs/birding-course/

THE OWL FAMILY

AT THE BOW

VALLEY RANCH

Every couple of years Great

horned owls nest in the

mature trees at the Bow

Valley Ranch, where their

owlets will hatch, fascinating

To read more of this article, visit:

friendsoffishcreek.org and then

click on newsletter

Will present a Warbler identification workshop (in the Galleroom at The

Wild Bird Store) Friday, September 6th at 3:30pm.

Saturday, September 7th @7:30am a field trip to

Confederation Park

Gavin McKinnon

“Learn how to identify these small and captivating migrants on

their way back to their winter home in the neo-tropics. In the

spring they are easy to identify with their bright vibrant colours,

but in the fall it is a different story; their non-breeding plumage

can be dull and drab. We will also have a field trip the following

morning to Confederation Park where we will be able to see many

examples in the field.”

Yellow warbler breeding Yellow warbler fall Cost: $10.00 + GST per person for each

workshop or field trip

Please register in person at The Wild Bird Store

or phone: (403)640-2632.

Jim St. Laurent is taking a well deserved break and will resume his

Saturday morning bird walks in mid– October.

Gavin McKinnon

Registration is mandatory for all

September 11 to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary Cost: $5.00 per person

To reserve your spot and make payment please phone The Wild Bird Store at: (403) 640-2632

Meet in the parking lot at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary at 7:45am.

Go to YouTube, type in the search bar “The Wild Bird Store”

to watch our videos and to help us become more visible

Be sure to click on “Subscribe” before you leave the page.

Common wasps live socially like bees but, unlike honey bees, they haven’t evolved a way of storing food to allow the colony to survive the winter. In fact the only survivors are the young fertilised queens who hibernate over winter. They emerge in the spring to build little walnut sized nests where they lay around 20 eggs.

The queen feeds the resulting larvae until around May, when they mature and become workers. Then she focuses on more egg-laying and the workers get on with feeding them, enlarging the nest as they go along. By this time of year the nest has grown to around 40cm in diameter (often larger) and that nest can contain up to 10,000 wasps!

Then, in late August and September, a dramatic change takes place. The queen quits her egg laying (save a few that will go on to be future queens and males to fertilise them) and no longer releases the pheromone that causes the workers to work.

Basically, these workers are made redundant, and are left jobless and disorientated. And the problem for us is that, although adult wasps are insect predators, that meat is to feed the larvae not themselves. In their adult state wasps are not able to digest solid food and need sugary liquid to survive. Now, with fewer larvae to feed, they become uncontrollably and insatiably hungry.

Wasps love easy food such as over ripe fruit and your frizzy drinks. Towards the end of their brief lives, their hunger drives

them to search for easy sugar at exactly the time when we are more likely to be using our gardens and outdoor spaces for

eating sweet things. The time couldn’t be better for them or worse for us.

So why are those who panic and try to swat them away more likely to be stung than those who remain calm?

Well the problem is that these redundant workers have their own pheromone, which helps protect the nest from attack

earlier in the year, and that’s essentially a chemical rallying cry to other workers that the nest is under attack.

So when you swat that annoying wasp and it feels under attack, that rallying cry will go out. Suddenly, it all kicks off, and

loads more wasps will start arriving in aggressive “red-mist” mode, fired up and ready to defend their nest. This is why the

best advice is to stay calm.

Think of it this way, from May, that wasp has been working its socks off helping to keep things nice on planet earth. Now

it’s going to die, so why not give it a break, save your swats, put out a bowl of sugary drink somewhere out of your way,

and let it go out on a nice sugar rush. At the very least don’t kill it.

What’s the point of wasps? Without them it’s likely that human life would not survive because, in the absence of their role

as predators, our planet would be overrun by even more damaging insects such as aphids, ants and caterpillars.

Dave and Kris have been so busy in August, there was no time for a “birding break”. Instead they spent

the weekend of August 16, 17 & 18 at the Priddis & Millarville Fair. There were food trucks of all vari-

eties , so as you parked and walked towards the fair the smells were so tempting it was hard to choose.

There was a wonderful array of home baked goods, vegetables, flowers and domestic fowl that had been judged on Friday and were

on display for all to enjoy as well as local artwork and even a display for the children.

The variety of merchants covered a wide range of locally made products from jewellery, to wood carvings and turned bowls, to

swords, beer, wine and a whole lot more to enjoy.

Alberta Wildlife Institute of Conservation was on hand with some wild bird ambassadors and there were also tractor pulls.

Dave and Kris parked the Mobile Seed Truck and were happy to see so many familiar faces attending the fair.

If you didn’t manage to go, you missed a wonderful weekend of a truly unique country fair right in Calgary’s backyard.

Check it out next year!

The Wild Bird Store

Is the warranty & repair depot for:

Squirrel Buster® Bird Feeders

Aspects® Feeders

Droll Yankee® Bird Feeders

And the warranty depot for:

Leupold Binoculars & Spotting

Scopes

Stay in Touch

5901 3rd Street S.E., Monday through Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm

Calgary, AB T2H 1K3

Phone: (403)640-2632 CLOSED Sundays and ALL Statutory holidays for Faith,

Family & Friends

Web: wildbirdstore.ca

Email: info@wildbirdstre.ca

FOLLOW US ON:

Facebook@thewildbirdstoreyyc

Twitter@wildbirdstoreyyc

LABOUR DAY

Monday, September 2, 2019

If you wait until hard weather arrives, the birds may not ever

realize what you have to offer. Under the stress of freezing

weather, they can’t afford the luxury of exploring. They must go

where they know there will be a payoff. They might not discover

your feeder all winter, even though it is abundantly supplied. So

start offering provisions now.

September is the time to clean nest boxes. Use one

part bleach to 9 parts water (even wood feeders) rinse

with warm water and let dry completely. Leave nest

boxes up for the winter—birds will use them to keep

warm during the cold winter months.