Frank Lake, High River, Alberta, August 16, 2023

On Wednesday I went birding with a fellow Nature Calgary member; someone young at heart but a more experienced birder.  Calgary is in a heat wave and Wednesday was not going to be quite as hot.  A better day to be out on the prairie in the sun.

It was large beak day. These birds are amazingly adapted to digging up small invertebrates deep in the mud. They would stick their beaks deep in the mud, right up to their nostrils and hunt for food - amazing. The first picture is of a Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus). These are a fairly large bird; about 29cm long (11-12in) and have a wing-span of 48cm (19in). The wing-span is almost twice the length!

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/1250, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 8:55 am.

The second large beak that caught my eye was of a White Faced Ibis (Pladis chihi). The Ibis would stick its beak deep in the mud, almost up to its eyeballs. This bird is even larger, about 60cm long (23.5in) and with a wing span of 94cm (37in). 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/800, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 9:30 am.

The final bird that  is part of Large Beak Day is this Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus).  This bird is larger than the Dowitcher. It is about 58cm long (23in) and has a wing-span of 89cm (35in). We saw 18 of these foraging in the red coloured low grass. These are an uncommon bird to see and a new life bird for me (131 species and counting). 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 800, 1/500, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 10:25 am.

The Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) has a more moderate beak. Here it is seen with a White-faced Ibis, so a size comparison can be visually made. The Stilt is about 36cm long (14in) and has a wing-span of 74cm (29in). 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/800, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 9:25 am.

The next picture is of the Black-necked Stilt by itself. These are such a pretty bird and very delicate. They remind me of ballet dancers.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/1600, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 8:50 am.

We saw lots of other birds (36 species), but this young Pied-billed Grebe caught my eye. I love these little diving birds. They can hold water in their wings and change their height in the water; you can see the whole bird, or sometimes just their heads. They are the smallest of the Grebes; about 33cm long (13in) and with a wing-span of 41cm (16in). 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/1000, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 10:05 am.

This Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) is a tiny little shorebird. It is about 15cm long (6in) with a wing-span of 33cm (13in). This was another life bird for me as well.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 800, 1/320, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 10:40 am.

It was a very good day birding, and even this little sparrow was skipping along a wire. Sparrows are tough to identify, but this area is a breeding ground for Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) and this one looks like the pictures. We were at the North parking lot for Frank Lake at this point. This species is about 14cm long (5.5in) with a wing-span of 22cm (8.75in).  

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 800mm, ISO 1250, 1/800, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 11:00 am.

I forgot to take a scenic shot for this area and didn't really get a flower shot, so I will end with a couple of insects. This is a Checkered White butterfly (Pontia protodice); also called the southern cabbage butterfly. It wasn't in my garden, so it was okay.

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 508mm, ISO 800, 1/400, f/14. Aug 16, 2023, 10:55 am.

The amount of pollen on this Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) caught my attention. The big birding system I have does pretty well with macro photography. 

Olympus OM-1, 100-400mm + MC20, 629mm, ISO 800, 1/1250, f/13. Aug 16, 2023, 10:40 am.

All photographic files post-edited with On1 Photo Raw 2023.