Hi I’m not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question but I have need seen a Western Meadowlark, even though they are somewhat common. So I was wondering what are some good locations to try to go looking for them, general locations will do as well. Any other tips regarding finding and watching Meadowlarks as well as tips on time of day, months to go etc. would also be very helpful. I’ve heard that Ralph Klein Park in SE Calgary is a good place to start but I’m also unfamiliar with the park. Any help from fellow Albertans would be great!
I’m not from the area but have you tried using eBird for help?
If you click on “Explore”, the “Species Map” - you can search by bird species and either zoom in on the map or type in a location.
search results for Western Meadowlark + Calgary
once there, you can set date filters. Clicking on a pin will show you observations and you can look for ones near you or ones with lots of observations.
2 Likes
On the backroads of open farmland/grassland country to the east of Calgary you should find them sitting on fenceposts. Although they’re somewhat common, they’re unfortunately a lot less common than they used to be.
2 Likes
Welcome to the Forum! I’m in Winnipeg, and they used to be much more common, found in any grassy area in the city. Certainly in rural areas, in the ditches or non-crop fields. They can be a little hard to see, but the call is very distinctive (and fairly loud) so it will alert you to one being in an area. If you are driving around in a non urban area, keep your window down!
Try iNat’s Explore page:
As you mentioned, the area around Ralph Klein Park (12350 84 St SE, Calgary) appears to have the greatest concentration of Meadowlark observations. Those observations appear to run from late April through June and there are observations from both 2020 and 2021.
If you check out the entry for Western Meadowlarks in the Atlas of Breeding Birds of BC, you’ll see that it tends to enjoy grasslands near water, which is what the RK Park offers.
Nose Hill Park doesn’t feature any water nearby, hence why you don’t see Meadowlark observations within it.
I’m guessing you don’t have an eBird account.
You can see what people have found in March of this year using the Species Map. See image.
I added the yellow circle to show how you can narrow down the search to the current year and current month. But, you need an account to use this map.
This website, iNaturalist, is really good. But, if you are interested in birds specifically, you should join eBird. There is a wealth of information there for finding birds. There are bar charts for when finding out when specific birds come to your area during the year. The species map can show where people are currently seeing specific birds. And, you can use the map to go back any number of years to see where specific birds are frequently seen in a specific area.
If you belong to Facebook, there are probably birding groups for the Calgary area. Most birders are happy to share information.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.