On August 8th we had our first IBA Blitz of the year (much later than normal of course, but better late than never!). Volunteers went out in the North, East and West Shoal Lakes IBA in search of Red-headed Woodpeckers.

The day started off with perfect weather for our 15-member blitz crew to survey for birds! We surveyed a large area of the IBA, as well as outside the IBA northeast of Inwood.

The IBA appeared much drier than in previous years and many marsh areas looked a lot more like dried ground with no water in sight! However, the low water level was a boon for groups that surveyed the edges of the Shoal Lakes, as a variety of shorebirds were using the shallow water and mud flats left over. No individual shorebird had a huge number of individuals (although there were 107 Greater Yellowlegs and 191 Lesser Yellowlegs) but we had a good number of different shorebird species at 13.


A large number of Great Egrets were also spotted (55 individuals). Some folks were lucky enough to even see a Black-crowned Night-heron, which has overwise proven illusive this summer. Amanda and Alyssa surveyed an area outside the IBA (prior years with good Red-headed Woodpecker habitat) and ended up with a fairly large gathering of Franklin’s Gulls (744 individuals).

Now to our focal species – Red-headed Woodpeckers. The species was abundant in this IBA, although surveying success seemed different than surveys in past years that occurred earlier in the year. Some groups found that without playback detection of Red-headed Woodpeckers was unlikely. Birds did, however, seem to respond to playback and call back or appear out from behind trees. Other groups did not experience the same thing and either saw birds without playback or found that the birds did not react to playback at all! The variation in experiences between groups was interesting.
We found Red-headed Woodpeckers at points all across the IBA, as well as an area to the northeast of the IBA surveyed due to high numbers seen there last year. Each group was lucky enough to detect at least one Red-headed Woodpecker, and we had a day total count of 20 individuals.

Despite the delayed time of year, we had a successful day in the Shoal Lakes IBA. Thank you again to all the volunteers that came out: Jo, Bonnie, Peter, Doreen, Katherine and John, Matt, Garry, Rudolf, John, Randy and Odette who joined Amanda, Alyssa and Nate on this blitz. Your dedication to birding and conservation is always appreciated and helps our feathered friends within Manitoba!

Our full bird count is below.
Species Name | Inside IBA | Outside IBA | TOTAL |
Canada Goose | 90 | 0 | 90 |
Trumpeter Swan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Wood Duck | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Blue-winged Teal | 235 | 0 | 235 |
Northern Shoveler | 12 | 2 | 14 |
Mallard | 347 | 0 | 347 |
Green-winged Teal | 16 | 1 | 17 |
Ring-necked Duck | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Common Goldeneye | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Gadwell | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Northern Pintail | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Redhead | 23 | 0 | 23 |
Duck spp | 30 | 0 | 30 |
Hooded Merganser | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Sharp-tailed Grouse | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Pied-billed Grebe | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Western Grebe | 30 | 0 | 30 |
American Coot | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Rock Pigeon | 4 | 2 | 6 |
Mourning Dove | 35 | 1 | 36 |
Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 5 | 0 | 5 |
American Coot | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Sandhill Crane | 67 | 21 | 88 |
American Avocet | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Baird’s Sandpiper | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Killdeer | 46 | 0 | 46 |
Marbled Godwit | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Pectoral Sandpiper | 9 | 0 | 9 |
Wilson’s Snipe | 14 | 0 | 14 |
Spotted Sandpiper | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Solitary Sandpiper | 17 | 5 | 22 |
Least Sandpiper | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Stilt Sandpiper | 9 | 0 | 9 |
Greater Yellowlegs | 107 | 3 | 110 |
Lesser Yellowlegs | 191 | 0 | 191 |
Tringa spp | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Peep spp | 20 | 0 | 20 |
Wilson’s Phalarope | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Bonaparte’s Gull | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Franklin’s Gull | 173 | 744 | 917 |
Herring Gull | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Ring-billed Gull | 122 | 46 | 168 |
Gull spp | 15 | 0 | 15 |
Black Tern | 17 | 0 | 17 |
Common Tern | 14 | 0 | 14 |
Forester’s Tern | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Double-crested Cormorant | 8 | 0 | 8 |
American White Pelican | 95 | 7 | 102 |
American Bittern | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Black-crowned Night Heron | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Great Blue Heron | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Great Egret | 55 | 0 | 55 |
Turkey Vulture | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Northern Harrier | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Bald Eagle | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Red-tailed Hawk | 14 | 3 | 17 |
Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Red-headed Woodpecker | 13 | 7 | 20 |
Downy Woodpecker | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Pileated Woodpecker | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Northern Flicker | 7 | 2 | 9 |
American Kestrel | 27 | 2 | 29 |
Merlin | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Eastern Wood-Pewee | 11 | 2 | 13 |
Eastern Phoebe | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Alder Flycatcher | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Least Flycatcher | 19 | 6 | 25 |
Great Crested Flycatcher | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Eastern Kingbird | 98 | 19 | 117 |
Blue-headed Vireo | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Warbling Vireo | 15 | 0 | 15 |
Red-eyed Vireo | 27 | 3 | 30 |
Blue Jay | 14 | 1 | 15 |
Black-billed Magpie | 24 | 1 | 25 |
American Crow | 40 | 10 | 50 |
Common Raven | 13 | 3 | 16 |
Black-capped Chickadee | 10 | 1 | 11 |
Horned Lark | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Purple Martin | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Cliff Swallow | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Tree Swallow | 52 | 0 | 52 |
Bank Swallow | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Barn Swallow | 79 | 6 | 85 |
Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 1 | 0 | 1 |
House Wren | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Sedge Wren | 20 | 2 | 22 |
Marsh Wren | 5 | 0 | 5 |
European Starling | 73 | 0 | 73 |
Gray Catbird | 16 | 1 | 17 |
Brown Thrasher | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Eastern Bluebird | 20 | 0 | 20 |
Veery | 1 | 0 | 1 |
American Robin | 50 | 8 | 58 |
Cedar Waxwing | 83 | 8 | 91 |
American Goldfinch | 99 | 14 | 113 |
Chipping Sparrow | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Clay-colored Sparrow | 68 | 1 | 69 |
Vesper Sparrow | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Savannah Sparrow | 31 | 0 | 31 |
Song Sparrow | 39 | 5 | 44 |
Swamp Sparrow | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Yellow-headed Blackbird | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Western Meadowlark | 60 | 0 | 60 |
Baltimore Oriole | 15 | 1 | 16 |
Red-winged Blackbird | 312 | 9 | 321 |
Brown-headed Cowbird | 16 | 0 | 16 |
Brewer’s Blackbird | 38 | 0 | 38 |
Common Grackle | 132 | 0 | 132 |
Black-and-white Warbler | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Chestnut-sided Warbler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Tennessee Warbler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Nashville Warbler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Common Yellowthroat | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Yellow Warbler | 21 | 2 | 23 |
Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 6 | 0 | 6 |
White-breasted Nuthatch | 4 | 0 | 4 |
House Sparrow | 18 | 0 | 18 |
TOTAL NUMBER BIRDS | 4547 | ||
TOTAL NUMBER SPECIES | 122 |