I've been visiting Frank Lake since 2002. It's a protected wildlife area about an hour south of Calgary, just east of High River. You drive in off the highway on a gravel road. At the end of the road is a trail to a very nice blind right on the lake.
You have to walk over a boardwalk to reach the blind and it's not unusual to see birds at close proximity as you walk.
Once inside the blind, you are right on the lake with ducks, grebes and coots very close for viewing and photography. The first birds we saw were a pair of Ruddy Ducks. The male looked like he was trying to attract attention.
Ruddy Duck - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
Suddenly, he made his lunge.
Ruddy Duck - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
She was not all that interested, it's quite possible she had gone through a breeding cycle already by this time.
Ruddy Duck (F) - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
The next bird that caught my eye was a Western Grebe, my first of the year. We normally visit Alberta in early July, and the grebes often have their babies riding on their backs at that time.We were more than 3 weeks later this year and did not see any grebe chicks.
Western Grebe - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
The other Grebe that is common here is the Eared Grebe. Normally they are close to the blind with their chicks, but they were quite far out this year, again with no chicks.
Eared Grebe - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
There were young American Coots around, they tend to stay close to the blind. Unlike the reddish hatchlings I'd seen in the Okanagan, these were a gray colour by this stage. Eventually, they take on the dark blackish colour of the adults.
American Coot (Imm) - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
We were very lucky to get a good look at a Muskrat swimming by. As mentioned, this blind really puts you in the action.
Muskrat - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
I left the blind and visited an area where you can walk up to the lake's edge. This is a good spot to see White-faced Ibis overhead, and Forster's Tern diving. There were less Ibis than usual, but I managed to catch a good shot of one.
White-faced Ibis - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
However, it was the Forster's Tern that put on a show. This species is similar to the Common Tern, but has an orange-ish bill vs the red of the Common. There are other subtle differences.
This one was actively fishing, it would hover until it spotted something in the water.
Forster's Tern - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
Here's the start of a dive:
Forster's Tern - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
And the end result:
Forster's Tern - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
On my way back to the car I saw this Savannah Sparrow. On reviewing the photo, I thought it might be a Vesper Sparrow, but I believe Savannah is correct. It may be a member of an Eastern sub-species that is considerably darker than the Western sub-species. See further down in the blog examples of that group.
Savannah Sparrow - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
The other birders had mentioned that there were shorebirds by a sewage outfall on the road out of the area. They specifically mentioned American Avocet with juveniles, so I had to go look.
Here's an adult with one of the juveniles.
American Avocet - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
This one looks a bit younger:
American Avocet - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
I also saw a couple of Wilson's Phalaropes. I suspect they are both juveniles based on the fresh looking plumage. Non-breeding adults are quite grayish.
Wilson's Phalarope (Imm) - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
There were more Savannah Sparrows about, these are the Western group for sure. The first shot was taken with the Nikon Coolpix.
Savannah Sparrow - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
This was taken with my Canon DSLR.
Savannah Sparrow - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
Finally, just before the Highway, we stopped to examine a bird on a post. It turned out to be a female Brown-headed Cowbird.
Brown-headed Cowbird - Frank Lake Conservation Area, High River AB
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