On Sunday, Myrna and the crew drove to book-signing events at Peavey Mart locations in Strathmore and High River. The High River event was particularly well attended, with the store running out of copies of the book. Luckily, Myrna had brought along extra boxes of books from the EBF supply.

Many birders and fans of Myrna stopped by to say hi, partly due to Myrna's being on the radio Sunday morning!

Thanks so much for coming out to these events. We love meeting Alberta birders!

Myrna will be on the air with Meryl Coombs and his talk show "Let's Talk Gardening" this Sunday, November 29th, at 9:20 AM .

She will be promoting her new book release Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide .
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CHQR 770  "News Talk"  Calgary

​"Let's Talk Gardening"  radio Show with Meryl 

​Ellis BIrd Farm is pleased to partner with Charlotte Wasylik on this book giveaway!

Prairie Birder by Charlotte

I'm thrilled to announce a giveaway for the new book Backyard Bird Feeding: An Alberta Guide by Myrna Pearman. Myrna is a nature photographer and writer, and has been the biologist and site services manager at the Ellis Bird Farm near Lacombe, Alberta, since 1986. All the proceeds from the sale of the guide go to support programs at the Ellis Bird Farm.
The book has been completely updated and revised since the first edition was published in 1991. The new guide covers feeding birds in all seasons, how to deal with unwanted visitors at your station, bird feeding myths, and much more.
I'm honoured to have a photograph in the guide -- my Northern Shrike picture on page 57; anyone with a photo in the guide received a complimentary copy. When I was emailing back and forth with Myrna earlier this fall, I asked about the possibility of a copy to give away on my blog, and Mynra very generously sent along a second one, also autographed.
To enter the giveaway, please comment on this post below with your favourite feeder bird or feeder species.
For a second entry, head over to my Facebook page Prairie Birder as well as the Ellis Bird Farm's Facebook page and “Like” them both. For a third entry, use the hashtag #BackyardBirdFeeding on Twitter. For a fourth entry, share my original post on Facebook (linked here) to your Facebook page/wall. Please mention below in your comment that you’ve done so (if you've already liked our pages, that still counts).
The deadline to enter is Saturday, December 5th. After a random draw, I’ll announce the winner on Sunday, December 6th.
Good luck to everyone!

The book signing tour has started off very successfully, with an enthusiastic response from Peavey Mart customers in Camrose and Wetaskiwin. With enthusiastic salesmanship from Claudia Lipski, we sold lots of books! We were especially delighted to meet Mary Macarthur of the Western Producer, whose story about our search for book images yielded over 800 photos being submitted from all across the Prairie Provinces! We were also delighted to reconnect with folks who are active with Purple Martins in Camrose and to meet new kindred spirits. 

All Peavey Mart stores in Alberta should be stocked with books this week. Books can also be ordered online (www.peaveymart.com) and picked up at any Peavey Mart store in Canada! ​

On Tuesday November 3, my partner Shelley and I arrived back from a trip to our friend Jim and Bonnie's place. We'd driven out to their beautiful property south of Delburne in hopes of getting photos of a snowshoe hare.  Jim and Bonnie have a few hares on their property, which are now in the process of acquiring their white winter pelage. 

Of course, the hares were out and about till about a half hour before we arrived. We wandered the property for an hour but didn't see any sign of the bunnies. We returned home feeling a little disappointed about the hares, but still happy to have been able to enjoy a morning wandering the woods. 

I was in the process of unloading the vehicle after we arrived home when I caught a glimpse of a small yellow bird on my deck. Although I recognized the bird as a fall warbler, I had no idea what species it was, so I grabbed the camera. Fortunately, the  80-400 lens bunny-hunting lens was still attached. 

The bird was quite skittish, so I approached quickly but cautiously. I was able to snap some pictures of it as it hopped atop then deck tub, then down onto the deck (where it pecked at the sunflower chips), then over to an apple tree before flying away into a nearby spruce grove. The entire encounter lasted less than two minutes. 

I sent the images to bird-expert friends, who came up with the suggestions of Black-throated Green, Blackpoll and Pine Warbler. I then sent the images to Dr. Jocelyn Hudon, Curator of Ornithology at the Royal Alberta Museum. He confirmed that it was Pine Warbler, likely an AHY male.  Dr. Hudon also provided information about past Alberta records for this bird. A rarity indeed! 

So, I still have to get bunny pics, but I am glad that last Tuesday transpired as it did. Luckily, I was at the right place at the right time, with a camera ready to go, when this little cherub graced us, albeit briefly, with his presence. 

Myrna Pearman

 AB rare bird records for Pine Warbler:  Dr Jocelyn Hudon, Curator of Ornithology, Royal Alberta Museum
June 5, 1924 (Castor – Specimen – William Rowan)  ref: Salt, W.R.. 1973. Alberta Vireos and Wood Warblers. Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta. Publication No. 3. Edmonton, AB. 141 pp.
June- July, 1928 (near Boyle – several pairs – T.E. Randall, D.C. Oberholser)  ref: Salt, W.R.. 1973. Alberta Vireos and Wood Warblers. Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta. Publication No. 3. Edmonton, AB. 141 pp.
Sept. 29, 1987 (Calgary – written report – Bob Storms, F. Braxier)  ref: Harris, W.C. 1988. Prairie Province Region. American Birds. 42: 92-93 and Hudon, J., Klauke, R., Lein, M.R., Riddell, J. Ritchie, B. and Wershler, R. 2006. Sixth report of the Alberta Bird Record Committee. Nature Alberta. 36 (2): 16-18. [1 imm in University Heights, Calgary on Sept 29/87 (RMW, RWS)]
Dec. 19, 1993 - Feb. 10, 1994 (Calgary – Photo? – Nicolas Totino, Andrew Slater, Mairi Babey, Harold Pinel, Jack Steeves, o. obs)  ref: Sherrington, P. 1994. Alberta Seasonal Bird Report Dec. 1, 1993- Feb. 28, 1994. PICA. 14 (2): 40 and Hudon, J., Klauke, R., Lein, M.R., Riddell, J. Ritchie, B. and Wershler, R. 2006. Sixth report of the Alberta Bird Record Committee. Nature Alberta. 36 (2): 16-18. [1f/imm at Riley Park on Dec 23/93 & Jan 3/94 (RMW) many observers]
Sept. 9, 2003 (Taber – written report – Lloyd Bennett)  ref: Hudon, J., Klauke, R., Lein, M.R., Riddell, J. Ritchie, B. and Wershler, R. 2006. Sixth report of the Alberta Bird Record Committee. Nature Alberta. 36 (2): 16-18.
           Others:

no date (Cypress Hills – Sight record – old record; no information)  ref: Salt, W.R.. 1973. Alberta Vireos and Wood Warblers. Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta. Publication No. 3. Edmonton, AB. 141 pp.
Aug 28-29 & Sept 8, 1956 (Glenevis – Sight records – George Pegg)  ref: Salt, W.R.. 1973. Alberta Vireos and Wood Warblers. Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta. Publication No. 3. Edmonton, AB. 141 pp. [Note: from the observer: “Perhaps you should not consider this species from here until more observations are made, as sight records are not thought much of anyway, are they?”].
June 8, 1965 (Leduc – Sight record – H. Burns - fide Ed Jones)  ref: Pinel H.W., W.W. Smith, and C.R. Wershler. 1993. Alberta Birds, 1971-1980, Vol. 2, Passerines, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Natural History Occasional Paper No. 20, Edmonton, AB. 238 pp. [Note: this record was not known to Sadler and Myres (1976) or Salt and Salt (1976) and appears to be second hand to Ed Jones].
1 imm at IBS on Sept 12/86 (RMW)
1 at IBS on July 24/89 (JRR)
Aug. 27, 1995 (Edmonton – Ed Mah-Lim)  ref: Sherrington, P. 1995. Alberta Seasonal Bird Report Aug – Sept., 1995. PICA. 15 (4): 43.
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