Birds of Alberta with Chris Fisher

Here in Canada, the Common Loon is a singular bird that has migrated from our distant remote northern areas into the very heart of Canadiana. It magically straddles a line that intersects with the romanticism of solitude and the comforts of companionship. It is both distant and intimate, remote and personal, lonely and reassuring. It has become a symbol for all this is good and pure and those feelings are reinforced whenever it is seen or heard in our province.

Western Painted Turtles are our our ultimate summer souls and wild sun bathers – soaking up the rays only in our sunniest and southernmost areas. But the ways in which our turtles populated the various areas of this northern place, are insightful lessons of modernity and ancient movement corridors. For a species that may only number a couple of hundred individual, their presence and story outstrips their mere numbers and makes Painted Turtles a surprisingly iconic member of our Alberta wildlife community.

The Calliope Hummingbird is a legendary species our Alberta list - not for the frequency it is seen, but how its story mesmerizes our concept of birdom. No other Alberta bird combines fierce fragility with boldness & a beauty seemingly painted on by a psychedelic artist from the '60s. The Calliope Hummingbird brings a ton to our home identity - even though it weighs only a few ounces.

How lucky are we that that our most common warbler is also one of our most incandescent? Yellow Warblers are special. They are our most visible wood warbler, catching the eye and ear of anyone who hangs out in Alberta's river bottoms, urban parks or upland aspen stands. Yellow warblers offer a song that is the most reliable and reassuring voice of any of the Birds of Alberta.

Great Blue Herons are well known birds that defy convention. Sometimes solitary, sometimes social; piscivores with a taste of mice, muskrats and salamanders; a bird of summer that arrives and leaves with the snow, and a modern elegant bird with hints of the dinosaurian! They are never so common here that they escape our attention or admiration and as a result we feel quite a bit of pride in knowing that the Great Blue Heron is one of our very own Birds of Alberta. 

Red-winged Blackbirds are certainly amongst the most common birds we have in Alberta. They know how to put on a show for everyone to enjoy whether they are watching birds or seeing them new for the first time.They do interesting things with an interesting look and with an interesting voice that just might get many more of us to develop an interest in the Birds of Alberta.

Decades ago, we had to search out Osprey in Alberta's northern lakes. Nowadays, they are a daily summer sight in Calgary and throughout the waterways of Alberta. Their presence and conservation have informed the way we see our hometowns - and how our lives are shaped by the Birds of Alberta.Link to Brian Keating speaking on the 30th anniversary of the Calgary Zoo Osprey nest platform from CBC Homestretch:https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-97-the-homestretch/clip/16057321-brian-keating-osprey-anniversary

The Song Sparrow is perfectly named, having a tune that tops the charts on Alberta summer soundtrack every May. And even though most Albertan know nothing of the singer, they know that the song means that spring is here again and so too is one of the most musical of our Birds of Alberta.

The Peregrine Falcon was a symbol of the conservation movement of the 1980s and since that time - and through its hard won recovery, it became a symbol of much else. No bird shows as much self-confidence in its all out mastery of air but the story of how Albertans rallied to its cause has made it one of the most legendary and inspiring Birds of Alberta.