Must-see birds: October

(I got the idea for a northern Alberta version of “Must-see birds” from Pat Bumstead’s and Bob Lefebvre’s Birds Calgary blog. Matthew Sim, who is another young birder, had the idea for the “Must-see birds” posts and writes them all.)

In October, most of the summer migrants have left, but you might be lucky and see some late migrating shorebirds and warblers. Here are my five must-see birds for October (all photos by me):

1. Dark-eyed Junco

The Dark-eyed Junco is a medium sized sparrow, with a pale pink bill, gray body, and white belly and under tail. I was able to get a lot of photos of the junco,

2. Greater White-fronted Goose

The Greater White-fronted Goose is my new favorite goose species. The GWFG has a mostly brown body, white at the front of the face, pink bill and orange feet. They can be found in flocks of Canada Geese and Snow Geese,

3. Black-bellied Plover

I saw this Black-bellied Plover on Friday, it was my favorite bird of September. The Black-bellied Plover is a medium sized plover: grayish body with white spots, brown cheek patch, white eyebrow and white rump,

4. Horned Lark

The Horned Lark is a medium sized songbird with a brown body, pale yellow throat, black mask, brown cap and ear tufts. The Horned Larks were in the same field as the Black-bellied Plover,

5. Snow Goose

Snow Geese are very beautiful birds. Snow Geese have a white body, black wing tips and pink feet. Here are some on a nearby big slough,