Plants and Birds of Lethbridge
Plants and birds of Lethbridge
Lyndon Penner has been in an intense andall-consuming relationship with the natural world since he first arrived in theworld 40 years ago. A writer, gardener, designer and speaker he has lectured ata great many colleges and universities and has also done botanical guide workin Waterton Lakes National Park and at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden.His new book, 'The Way of the Gardener', has just been released.
The best thing about living in Lethbridgeis the great biodiversity found in our coulees and river valley. I've beenexploring here for a number of years now and I've been continually delighted bythe birds, insects, flowers, and reptiles that call this sunny, windswept partof the country home. Cottonwood Park was an early favourite full of grasslandsparrows, porcupines, and even rattlesnakes! Six Mile Coulee with itspreponderance of prairie crocus and moss phlox in early spring was another.Just a few blocks over from me a wake of turkey vultures roosts every night andthey have sort of become "local celebrities"; well to thebirdwatchers, anyway. Walking beside the river in fall when the trees turn togold or hearing the first horned lark at the end of winter, these are theexperiences that have made Lethbridge memorable for me.
Lethbridge boasts a wide assortment ofinteresting, beautiful, and colourful birds. Some of them are happy to live inour parks, gardens, and backyards and others prefer to live in the nativeprairie grasses down in the coulees. Here are our top ten favourites!
Blue jay
Jays are always mad about something! Noisyand very intelligent, blue jays are happy to come to birdfeeders to grabpeanuts and sometimes tree nuts as well. They have to be among our mostbeautiful birds; unmistakable and always a delight to see! They are commonthroughout the Lethbridge area.
Pine siskin
Delightful little finches, pine siskinsfrequently show up at bird feeders and in Lethbridge backyards. They have avery amusing and distinctive call that sounds like a child’s toy winding up!
Goldfinches
As they are primarily seedeaters,goldfinches are among the last of the songbirds to nest and are very common inLethbridge gardens in mid to late summer. They are usually found in smallgroups, eagerly extracting seeds from purple coneflower (Echinacea), grasses,and thistles. The black and gold males are very distinctive; the female ispretty but not quite so flashy.
Rufous hummingbird
Feisty and fearless, rufous hummingbirdsoften appear in Lethbridge on both their spring and fall migrations. They arestrongly attracted to gardens and streets where flowers are abundant, sometimessetting up shop and staying for a while in a yard with particularly goodfeeding areas.
Downy woodpecker
Little black and white sweethearts, downywoodpeckers are very busy patrolling trees and shrubs all over town and becausethey are not songbirds, they often don’t get the appreciation and love theydeserve. They do incredibly important work controlling the grubs and larvae ofnumerous pest insects and will greatly appreciate if you put up a suet feederfor them; especially in winter.
Ring-necked pheasant
Not native to North America, ring-neckedpheasants were brought here from Asia more than 100 years ago. They wereintended to be hunted as game birds, but they didn’t do well everywhere.Lethbridge (and Medicine Hat) are two places where they succeeded! They canoften be seen in Cottonwood Park and down around the Helen Schuler NatureCentre. The females are elegantly patterned in shades of white, brown, andblack and the males have long bronzy tales with gleaming green heads andred-eye patches. They have a startling shriek, most often heard in thespringtime.
Meadowlark
These beautiful birds are not larks at allbut actually related to the orioles. They return in early April and their songis loved by all who walk in the open and grassy places.
Mountain bluebird
These stunning songbirds are as blue asflax petals! They favour open pastures and prairies and are not foundexclusively in the mountains. They return early in the year and many of thefarms and acreages around Lethbridge will have nesting boxes for them alongtheir fence lines.
Clay-Coloured Sparrow
Many people don’t realize the incredibleabundance we have of native sparrows! Most are brown in colour and not dazzlingto look at, but quite a few are good singers. The clay-coloured sparrow iscommon along roadsides, ditches, farmlands, and the coulees of Lethbridge. Ithas a distinctive, buzzy trill that sounds much like an insect. They arecharming and lovely!
Great Horned Owl
Alberta’s official bird, the great hornedowl has the most diverse diet of any bird of prey in North America. Here inLethbridge, they are even known to take rattlesnakes sometimes! Mice, gophers,squirrels, smaller birds, and sometimes even housecats are all on the menu! Wetend to be sleeping when owls are awake, but they are certainly here! Look forthem in old, established cottonwoods down in the river valley…
Want to learn more about Alberta birds?Visit the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale AB to get up close andpersonal with Alberta's birds!
House Cats
Please keep in mind that domestic housecats are the number one cause of death for songbirds in North America. (We callthem “house” cats for a reason!) Please do not allow your cat outdoors withoutproper supervision!
Native Plants of Lethbridge
There are a great many beautiful nativeplants to be found in the Lethbridge area and some of our favourites includethe following:
Cactus
Lots of people are surprised to find thatthere are native cacti in Canada! Lethbridge boasts two species; theplains prickly pear (Opuntia polyacantha) and the pincushioncactus (Escobaria vivipara). Both are very beautiful! Pricklypears grow low to the ground and flower in early summer. They areusually bright lemon yellow but can also be gold, apricot, or rosy pink. Theyare a tremendously good source of pollen and nectar and some of the nativebirds also use them as “predator-proof” nesting habitat! Pincushioncactus form little ball-shaped mounds and flower just briefly. Theblooms can be magenta, rose, mauve, or fuchsia in colour and are quitegorgeous!
Showy Milkweed
Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) is acommon plant of roadsides, ditches, and other open spaces. It has large,grey-green felted leaves and ball-shaped clusters of soft pink flowers in earlysummer. These are loved by bees and butterflies! Milkweeds are also famous forbeing the host plant for our largest species of butterfly, the monarch.
Milkvetch
Milkvetch (Astragalus) should not beconfused with milkweed; they are unrelated! These beautiful members of the beanfamily are common in Lethbridge and we have quite a number of species. Theirfoliage is often quite beautiful as well! The two-grooved milkvetch hasgorgeous purple to lavender coloured flowers in early summer. Drummond’smilkvetch has ivory to cream-coloured blooms. You may even find theadorable little cushion milkvetch; aptly named and flowering very early in theyear!
Penstemon
There are nearly 300 species ofPenstemon in North America and quite a number of them grow in the Lethbridgearea. The beautiful white penstemon (Penstemon albidus) iscommon but only flowers briefly. The yellow penstemon (P.confertus) has tiny pale yellow flowers loved by bees and butterflies.Smooth blue penstemon (Penstemon nitidus) and small bluepenstemon (P. procerus) can all be found in our beautiful river valley system.