Manitoba IBA Program Coordinator, Tim Poole provide a report on the opening blitz of 2019. The blitz occurred at the North, West and East Shoal Lakes IBA.

Shoal Lakes is an IBA which always delivers impressive numbers of birds. On a personal level it provides memories of seeing numerous lifers after moving to Canada in 2014, including American Avocet, Wilson’s Phalarope, Marbled Godwit and Sandhill Crane. The attraction of this IBA lies in the combination of mixed habitat and land-use. One would expect to find birds on the open lake, but the mix of wetlands, aspen parkland and grassland provides ample opportunity to find a good total number of species.

We decided to go with May 4th for our blitz this time. This was all part of a cunning plan to join up with Nature Manitoba, who were organising a birding trip to West Shoal Lake and Delta Marsh. They would therefore cover a good portion of West Shoal Lake during teh blitz. We decided this approach would be advantageous, introducing more people to the IBA Program, and helping to fit an event in during the hectic month of May. Garry Budyk, the Nature Manitoba trip leader was as ever, only too happy to contribute.

So we had four groups, Nature Manitoba at West Shoal Lake, Group 1 in the north, Group 2 in the east, and Group 3 (not 4 as in the map below) in the west.

Nature Manitoba, led ably by Garry, was a sprawling mass of 18 people. Participants, in no specific order, were Garry, Rudolf, John, Gene, Frank, Jacquie, Annie, Mike, Tami, Ward, Marlene, James, Rob, Lori-Anne, Betsy, Jo, Cathy and Al. Anyone familiar with Manitoba birding will know that there is some serious birding experience in that trip! In total they observed 59 species, including 95 Tundra Swans and 2 Trumpeter’s. They also had the sole Short-billed Dowitcher of the day. Two Northern Waterthrush were probably the passerine highlight.

Group 1, our northern team consisted of Bonnie, Joanne, Matt and Lynnea. I am sure Bonnie drove them to find every bird possible, as is her way! In total they found 67 species. Shorebird numbers were on the low side here, as with all groups. I suspect we are still a wee bit early for seeing large concentrations of these birds. A pair of Willet were the shorebird highlight for this group.

Willets, copyright Joanne Smith

They did come across this rather impressive tree of Tree Swallows.

A lone Snow Bunting was possibly the more unusual bird of their morning.

Group 2 covering the east of the IBA were pretty blown out when we saw them at lunchtime, a strong wind gusted from west to east across the lake, making viewing difficult. The team of Lewis, Donna, Ian and Chris located that largest groups of swans for the day, 175 Tundra in total. They also picked out a sole, lonesome Greater White-fronted Goose within a flock of swans.

Their section also covered large areas of aspen parkland, which uncovered hidden gems, including Yellow Warbler and a Black and White Warbler. Another highlight were four Marbled Godwits – this gorgeous shorebird is always a highlight when you come across it! In toal, this group found 59 species. Special mention to Ian for being the hardy soul trying to locate birds bobbing up and down int he waves on East Shoal Lake as the wind blasted him in the face.

I was fortunate to be joined by two first time blitzers in group 3. It was great to finally bird with Gary, who also took on the important role of team scribe. Jon was also new for our events and demonstrated his enthusiasm and skill throughout the morning. We took on the newly repaired PR415, and what a lovely road it was, far better than any other gravel road in the area in fact! For those unfamilar with this area, PR415 cuts through the centre of the IBA, splitting North Shoal Lake from West and East Shoal Lake. In around 2012, the road was completely underwater as the three component parts of the IBA effectively became Shoal Lake. In 2015, we did our first blitz here, and Christian walked it (see the report and some photos of the road here). Much of this road was effectively wetland. By August 2018, it was clear that with a few repairs, the road could be driven, and over the winter, the province did just that, grading the new road. One road allowance was especially fun…

As for birds, we detected 68 species. We had excellent views of Western Grebe along PR415, 63 in total. I was lucky enough to see the ‘walk on water’ courtship dance. We had Horned, Pied-billed and Red-necked Grebe as well, all along the 415.

There was also a colony of Franklin’s Gull in this area, with over 200 birds counted at one stage. American White Pelicans were present and seem to be gathering to breed somewhere around West Shoal Lake. There were numerous diving ducks, including both species of scaup sheltering in bays. We also had good views of Orange-crowned Warbler and managed a pretty impressive 4 thrush species, all in aspen parkland in the Harperville area.

Given the blustery conditions, we had a pretty successful day out, and the three non-nature Manitoba groups met to recuperate at our regular lunch spot, Rosie’s in Inwood. One of the interesting contrasts was the notable lack of lake ice. Compared to 2018, the ice has really shifted. This changed the dynamic of the count. Often the ice melting outwards from the shore can leave pockets of open water, and very . Without this, it meant that the birds were likely scattered over a much wider area, leading to lower counts than 2018.

In total we counted over 4000 birds and 100 species were noted. Although there were no IBA triggers, we did find good numbers of Tundra Swan (286), Lesser Scapu (207), Lesser Yellowlegs (104), Double-crested Cormorant (228), American White Pelican (192) and Yellow-rumped Warbler (101).

Here are the final day totals:

Number of Species	100
Number of Individuals	4,911
Species Name	Species Count
Greater White-fronted Goose	1
Canada Goose	225
Trumpeter Swan	4
Tundra Swan	286
Wood Duck	4
Blue-winged Teal	260
Northern Shoveler	123
Gadwall	81
American Wigeon	44
Mallard	249
Northern Pintail	18
Green-winged Teal	79
Canvasback	77
Redhead	98
Ring-necked Duck	137
Greater Scaup	116
Lesser Scaup	207
Greater/Lesser Scaup	6
Bufflehead	20
Common Goldeneye	44
Hooded Merganser	13
Common Merganser	15
Red-breasted Merganser	5
Ruddy Duck	10
duck sp.	49
Pied-billed Grebe	5
Horned Grebe	9
Red-necked Grebe	14
Western Grebe	63
Mourning Dove	3
American Coot	25
Sandhill Crane	14
American Avocet	8
Killdeer	13
Marbled Godwit	6
Short-billed Dowitcher	1
Wilson’s Snipe	5
Solitary Sandpiper	3
Greater Yellowlegs	6
Willet	11
Lesser Yellowlegs	104
Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs	14
Bonaparte’s Gull	12
Franklin’s Gull	259
Ring-billed Gull	182
Herring Gull	1
gull sp.	30
Caspian Tern	6
Common Tern	5
Forster’s Tern	84
tern sp.	29
Common Loon	3
Double-crested Cormorant	228
American White Pelican	192
Great Blue Heron	7
Great Egret	4
Northern Harrier	15
Bald Eagle	11
Red-tailed Hawk	10
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	3
Northern Flicker	6
American Kestrel	4
Merlin	3
Peregrine Falcon	1
Eastern Phoebe	7
Blue Jay	2
Black-billed Magpie	15
American Crow	19
Common Raven	20
Tree Swallow	50
Barn Swallow	2
Black-capped Chickadee	1
Marsh Wren	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2
Veery	1
Gray-cheeked Thrush	1
Swainson’s Thrush	2
Hermit Thrush	2
American Robin	21
European Starling	9
Snow Bunting	1
Chipping Sparrow	4
American Tree Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	4
White-crowned Sparrow	2
White-throated Sparrow	8
Savannah Sparrow	18
Song Sparrow	62
Swamp Sparrow	3
Yellow-headed Blackbird	22
Western Meadowlark	22
Red-winged Blackbird	405
Brewer’s Blackbird	55
Common Grackle	60
blackbird sp.	402
Northern Waterthrush	2
Black-and-white Warbler	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	12
Yellow Warbler	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	101

Thank you to everyone who attended this blitz. We will be looking to do a second blitz of the year in late May or early June, so please keep an eye out for information.

And for those still reading, here is the Lesser Yellowlegs from the first photo.

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For those interested, here are the group eBird checklists.

Nature Manitoba

Group 1

Group 2 – A

Group 2 – B

Group 2 – C

Group 2 – D

Group 3 – A

Group 3 – B