For our second event southwestern Manitoba, we set out with a small group of volunteers on the morning of Sunday, June 19th for our first grassland bird blitz in 3 years. We birded the Southwestern Manitoba Mixed Grass Prairie IBA from dawn to high noon in search of grassland Species at Risk.

For the Grassland Survey, we were 4 groups covering 4 different areas of the IBA. All groups were on the road by 5:30 am, the earlier the better for grassland birds. Below is a map of the areas in which each group was assigned.

Group 2, which was comprised of Jackie and I, covered the region just southeast of Melita. The songbirds on our route were loud in the morning and easily identifiable by both sight and ear. The only target species we were able to identify was the Bobolink, but we saw a number of other interesting birds including a Say’s Phoebe, which Jackie was surprised to see. I was pleased to see my first Horned Lark. In addition to the bird species, we also came upon a group of six jackrabbits, which I initially misidentified as a small gathering of Canada Geese from afar.

Amanda was alone as Group 4 and covered the Poverty Plains area. She identified Grasshopper Sparrows and Baird’s Sparrows from our target species. While on route, she encountered a large stick nest up in a tree. Initially she could not identify the two young raptors in the nest due to the distance. After looking closely at the photo afterwards realized they were Ferruginous Hawks, which is very exciting as they are only found in the southwest and are uncommon.

It didn’t take long for the prairie to heat up and by 9:00 am, the land had become relatively quiet. My partner headed home early and I later joined with Amanda for the second half of the morning, and we were pleased to identify more of our target species, including Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolinks, and a Loggerhead Shrike! Seeing the Loggerhead Shrike was a first for both of us. We had heard one the day before on our community grassland bird walk near Melita, but had not seen it. Amanda had another interesting find for us was an unknown male and female songbird perched on a fence. After flipping through our bird guide, we identified the pair as Orchard Orioles. By the end of the morning, it had become very hot and the only birds we were seeing and hearing were Brown-headed Cowbirds, so we decided to wrap up and head back to Melita.

Group 3 was comprised of Melanie and Katharine. They birded the area southwest of Melita and along the Saskatchewan border. From our target species, they were able to identify Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolinks, a Loggerhead Shrike and Sprague’s Pipit. Origianlly they also had a photo of a mystery bird on a wire – but a photo came through once again – it was a female Chestnut-collared Longspur. Much trickier to identify than the flashy males! Besides those, some of the other interesting species to note were Horned Larks, a Red-tailed Hawk and Sandhill Cranes.

Group 1, Ken and Colleen, birded closer to Melita itself and including in the Broomhill and Blind Souris areas. For our target species, they observed Bobolinks, Grasshopper Sparrows and the Sprague’s Pipit. They also identified two Ferruginous Hawks. Other interesting species that they identified was a White-faced Ibis, Green-winged Teal and a Broad-winged Hawk.

After around 6 hours of birding, we met up at the Melita Chicken Chef for lunch and discussed what we had seen over much needed glasses of water and cups of coffee (and air conditioning). After lunch we were on our way home, just in time to avoid some wild weather and tornado warnings!

We want to thank our volunteers Katharine, Colleen, Ken, Melanie and Jackie for joining us in the southwest for our Grassland Bird Blitz! A complete table with all the species observed by each group and some additional images can be found below.

For our target grassland species at risk we had 1 Chestnut-collared Longspurs, 4 Ferruginous Hawks, 2 Baird’s Sparrows, 4 Loggerhead Shrikes, 14 Bobolinks, at 3 Sprague’s Pipits. We also had 11 Grasshopper Sparrows, which are not currently a Species at Risk, but whose numbers are declining. In total we counted 80 species and 1472 individuals.

Species	Count
American Bittern	2
American Coot	2
American Crow	6
American Goldfinch	3
American Robin	6
American Wigeon	X
Baird’s Sparrow	2
Baltimore Oriole	1
Barn Swallow	19
Black Tern	5
Black-billed Magpie	4
Blue-winged Teal	32
Bobolink	14
Brewer’s Blackbird	12
Brown Thrasher	4
Brown-headed Cowbird	133
Buteo sp.	1
Cedar Waxwing	6
Chestnut-colored Longspur	1
Clay-colored Sparrow	67
Cliff Swallow	26
Common Grackle	4
Common Yellowthroat	19
Double-crested Cormorant	X
Eastern Kingbird	71
Ferruginous Hawk	4
Franklin’s Gull	9
Gadwall	6
Grasshopper Sparrow	11
Gray Catbird	2
Green-winged Teal	1
Great Blue Heron	1
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Horned Lark	10
House Sparrow	18
House Wren	27
Killdeer	14
Least Flycatcher	16
Lesser Yellowlegs	1
Loggerhead Shrike	4
Mallard	31
Marbled Godwit	8
Marsh Wren	1
Mourning Dove	44
Northern Flicker	1
Northern Harrier	2
Northern Pintail	18
Northern Shoveler	20
Orchard Oriole	2
Redhead	6
Red-tailed Hawk	4
Red-wing Blackbird	369
Ring-billed Gull	1
Ring-necked Pheasant	1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	3
Ruddy Duck	1
Sandhill Crane	6
Say’s Phoebe	1
Sedge Wren	10
Sharp-tailed Grouse	2
Shorebird sp.	2
Snow Goose	X
Sprague’s Pipit	3
Song Sparrow	4
Sora	13
Swainson’s Hawk	2
Tree Swallow	1
Upland Sandpiper	24
Vesper Sparrow	27
Warbling Vireo	5
Western Kingbird	7
Western Meadowlark	104
White-faced Ibis	X
Willet	11
Wilson’s Phalarope	8
Wilson’s Snipe	24
Yellow Warbler	17
Yellow-headed Blackbird	76
Savannah Sparrow	46
Grand total	1472