Flies & Birds

[cgyguy]

Was fishing the Bow on the weekend and came across a large size fly (#12, or even #10) that had rather large brown wings, a tan body and sat like a large sailboat on the water. There was a ton of smaller mayflys but the fishing were filling their bellies with the large flies. I did manage to catch a few but I had a hard time finding anything that large in my fly box. Anyone have any ideas on what type these flies were?

 

Also, I guess getting old gets me thinking a bit more. In my younger days, I wouldn't have bothered to look up but I find myself doing that these days. Having said that, while fishing on the weekend I was watching a large number of birds feeding on mayflys hatching on the water surface. I am the first one to say there is no such thing as a stupid question, so here goes: the birds have a brownish body, black head, white wings, with black tips. What are they?

 

BTW - Fishing was quite good but bloody cold when the wind came up!

 

Thanks

[cgyguy]

Was fishing the Bow on the weekend and came across a large size fly (#12, or even #10) that had rather large brown wings, a tan body and sat like a large sailboat on the water. There was a ton of smaller mayflys but the fishing were filling their bellies with the large flies. I did manage to catch a few but I had a hard time finding anything that large in my fly box. Anyone have any ideas on what type these flies were?

 

Also, I guess getting old gets me thinking a bit more. In my younger days, I wouldn't have bothered to look up but I find myself doing that these days. Having said that, while fishing on the weekend I was watching a large number of birds feeding on mayflys hatching on the water surface. I am the first one to say there is no such thing as a stupid question, so here goes: the birds have a brownish body, black head, white wings, with black tips. What are they?

 

BTW - Fishing was quite good but bloody cold when the wind came up!

 

Thanks

I got my own answer to the bird question. Here it is:

 

Calgary's bug-rich Bow River has become a temporary feasting point for thousands of gulls from Chile and Peru as they prepare to nest in Alberta's lakes for the summer.

 

The striking Franklin's gulls — with their black heads, white bodies and red beaks — are congregating in the city's southeast edge, taking advantage of the river's supply of insects.

 

Every year the birds fly along the same path from their winter homes in South America, said naturalist Gus Yaki, who leads birdwatching groups to see them.

 

The gulls don't tend to fly in flocks, but when they arrive in Calgary they gather along the Bow River, he added.

 

"Right now on the river we have a hatch of chironomids — so-called midges — and other small aquatic insects, so the gulls are taking advantage of that hatching period that is occurring right now. So that's why they are accumulating," Yaki said.

 

"You'll see them floating down and then after 300 metres or so they fly back up river and repeat the process continuously — a never-ending ribbon of gulls floating down and flying back up."

 

Soon the birds will leave Calgary for lakes as far away as northern Alberta to build floating nests for breeding, Yaki said.

 

"At Frank Lake just outside of High River a few years ago, they estimated 75,000 pairs were present there. And that makes it probably one of the highest-populated sites on the continent," he said.

 

By August the gulls will head back to South America for the winter.

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/201...s#ixzz0nexOGGvG

 

[Fishscape]

Was it a March Brown (the insect, I mean)? It seems early for Brown Drakes and I don't know if you get them on the Bow.

[fishinhogdaddy]

I woulda tried a large Adams, but I wasn't invited! Brunsies statement again huh? Sigh......NO LAKE FOR YOU! Come back....One YEAR!

FHD

[seby]

Doesnt sound like a caddis, but i just wanted to say i saw some on the river yesterday hatching and the fish seems to like the change, gulp!gulp!yum.

 

Ya the flies you saw were prob some March browns they hatch May 1-June 5 according to my sources.

 

Cheers.