The annual Spring bird migration in the Foothills is well underway.

Local bird expert Greg Wagner says in addition to the usual numbers of ducks and geese moving into the area, we're seeing much larger numbers of Snow Geese this year.

"We're starting to see them move a little further west. So they're quite common now. I know there's lots of them going through at Frank Lake right now. They're a little smaller than the Swans with black wing tips. It was sort of rare that you'd see many Snow Geese in the area but now you can see up to several hundred of them, if not up to a thousand. They're certainly around."

Wagner, says one of the favourites to look for are the large number of owls who call the Foothills home.

He says they're right in the middle of their breeding season.

"They should have young in the nests almost any day now and then the young will be hatching here in another month. So, yeah, they're quite active here right now."

He says those with feeders have probably noticed an influx of smaller songbirds too.

"You're going to have different ones showing up here quite regularly. I'm thinking that the Meadowlark's will be here pretty soon. And you're going to have different waves of boreal and northern breeding birds like the White Crown Sparrows moving through here fairly quickly, along with the Junko's right now."

Wagner says he's already seen a couple of Robin's and expects to see the song birds that travel from Central and South America showing up in the next few weeks.

 

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