On Saturday, June 11th, Amanda and I ventured down to Woodridge Manitoba, where members of the community and surrounding area joined us for an intro birding session and community bird walk.

We arrived in the community in the early morning and set up in the local community center. Our presentation and bird walk was the first of five workshops in the community as part of their “Birds of a Feather Flock together” workshops series focusing on birding and the outdoors as a way to improve mental health and bring the community together. We handed out some identification resources as everyone got settled. And of course, what would a presentation be without some technical difficulties! After that was sorted, I walked the group through various bird identification methods and the various bird groups found in Manitoba. I was pleased that the group had plenty of really great questions afterwards.

Once our presentation portion was complete, we handed out binoculars, zipped up into our mosquito suits and left the community center to begin our bird walk. As Amanda demonstrated how to successfully use binoculars, we spotted our first birds of the walk – a Tree Swallow and male House Sparrow. Our path took us through a part of the community down to a little wooded path. The group was able to test out their new knowledge when we heard a Red-eyed Vireo sing its “Where are you? Here I am.” call. Much to our frustration the Vireo was well hidden amongst the fresh leaves.

Other birds we encountered on the way were a Barn Swallow, Chipping Sparrow, an American Robin and an American Crow. We also heard the “squeaky wheel” sound of a Black and White Warbler. Our group members informed us along the way that they had several species of Orioles in the community this year, and in particularly large numbers. There is also usually a local group of Wild Turkeys that we didn’t end up seeing on our day out. Our day wrapped up around noon and we headed back to the community center.

A big thank you to Corey, who reached out to us to make the event happen and to everyone who came out and for your interest in local birds!

-Ariel Desrochers