Bank Swallow Bend - Ground Zero
On June 10th, 2013 I took this photo of a Bank Swallow colony on the Elbow River. This was home to about 50 swallow families. The distance from the water to the green brush on the bank is about 5 meters. I took the photo downstream to the East.
Ten days later, on June 20th, Southern Alberta suffered a terrible flood. Both the Elbow and Bow Rivers overflowed. Communities along the rivers were evacuated. But for essential services, work in the city stopped.
I took this black and white photo on the evening of June 20th. The Elbow River peaked about 10 hours later. The photo shows the same area as in the first image, but this photo was taken upstream from the colony because the entire area downstream was underwater.
The Bank Swallows continued to fly up to the side of the river, hoping I guess, that the nest holes would suddenly reappear. I saw similar activity for the next two days and then by the third day, there were few Bank Swallows around.
The river rushes louder now, but the river is also silent. Many nests were lost. I have not heard a Spotted Sandpiper for three days. All the smaller ducks were nesting and for those that nest in the shore grass, there will be no ducklings this year. Yellow Warblers nest several meters up in willow branches and these nests were lost, but these birds usually have a second brood so they will likely have young this year. Single brooded birds will not raise young this year.
Northern Flicker Sibs at Nest Hole
I've been patiently hoping to see young flickers at the nest hole waiting to be fed by the parents. This is expected at about 3 weeks of age.
Finally, on June 20th, I saw the first young flicker. The next day I saw two different flickers at the nest hole, and on June 23rd, the photos suggest that I saw up to four different young flickers. I cannot fathom how they all fit in that one nest. Presumably the adults no longer reside in the nest.
This is the first young flicker. I must have expected to see something less like a small "adult," because my first thought was that this was the mother. Then the fresh feathers and the short bill made me realize this was a young flicker.
The flicker in the above two photos is clearly different. The clutch is usually 6 to 8 eggs and I wondered how many there might be in the nest.
On June 23rd, this female was watching at an adjacent tree as I watched the nestlings.
While I watched, one young flicker, then another, then a third, and then possibly a fourth emerged from the nest hole. Each stayed for about a minute and then backed up into the nest. I sensed that the young birds were taking turns, and I imagined the siblings below pestering the one at the entrance, "Hurry up, it's my turn."
Often, but not always the young flicker vocalized.
This is clearly a third new young flicker with a definite malar mustache.
The young birds have clearly grown since the photos two days earlier on June 21st.
They looked around, to each side, up and down, perhaps looking for a parent to arrive and feed them.
If this clutch did hold 6 to 8 eggs, I cannot imagine the nest with this many birds. On both June 22nd and June 23rd I saw a young flicker perched at the top of a spruce tree in the adjacent forest. I heard the flicker call and then saw the bird on the tree top. The bird was clearly smaller and slimmer than the adults. Likely this bird hatched first and fledged first.
Northern Flicker Tongue Motion
While watching a young flicker at the nest hole, I was fortunate to obtain some photos of the tongue.
The sequence below shows the tongue go out and then back in. Not sure if there was a target for the tongue. Perhaps there was a tiny insect on the branch?
Northern Flicker Youth at Nest Hole
Young flickers are brooded by the male for the first three weeks. By 17 or 18 days the young will feed from the nest hole. Two days ago, June 20th, the day of the flood, was the first time I saw a young flicker at the nest hole, and today was the first time I heard the young bird.
Today, I heard this young flicker from quite a distance, well before I was close enough to see the nest tree. The bird repeated a nestling feeding call (eBird Macaulay Library) about once every few minutes. The parents were not in sight.
This photo shows the young flicker mid-call.
About a week after starting to feed at the nest hole, or by 25 to 28 days of age, a young flicker is ready to leave the nest. This flicker seems ready to go.
References
The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta. Federation of Alberta Naturalists. 2007.
Baicich PJ, Harrison CJO. Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds. Princeton UP. 2005.
Beadle D, Rising J. Sparrows of the United States and Canada. Princeton UP. 2003.
Fisher C, Acorn J. Birds of Alberta. Lone Pine Publishing. Edmonton. 1998.
Sibley David A. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A Knopf, Inc. New York. 2001.
Wood Frog - Rana sylvatica
While trying to bushwhack around a flooded area, I saw a movement on the ground. The creature "disappeared" and I presumed was gone. However, to be sure, I paused, bent over, and looked carefully. The Wood Frog was the identical color of the mud and the wood.
The humidity was very high. The sun was above the forest canopy, the air was thick and warm, and the surface of every branch and leaf was wet to touch. Very tropical for Calgary. My glasses kept steaming up as I tried to take photographs. After each photograph, I wiped my glasses and each time the frog "disappeared." The camouflage coloration of this frog was so good that if I had not known where to look, then the frog would have been truly invisible. Amazing.
The Wood Frog hibernates by "freezing solid." There is no heartbeat, no respiration, and no neural activity. Once the temperature reaches minus 2 degrees C, the Wood Frog liver pumps out glucose and this carbohydrate is transported into cells in very high concentrations, and water follows such that the cells swell. This apparently prevents cell death. In the spring, the Wood Frog thaws out and hops away.
Gadd, Ben. Handbook of the Canadian Rockies. Corax Press. Jasper, Alberta. 1986.
Ten days later, on June 20th, Southern Alberta suffered a terrible flood. Both the Elbow and Bow Rivers overflowed. Communities along the rivers were evacuated. But for essential services, work in the city stopped. 
I took this black and white photo on the evening of June 20th. The Elbow River peaked about 10 hours later. The photo shows the same area as in the first image, but this photo was taken upstream from the colony because the entire area downstream was underwater. 
