The Manitoba IBA program held a Red-headed Woodpecker blitz in the Oak Lake/Plum Lakes IBA on Saturday, July 15th. This is the third consecutive year that we blitz this IBA for Red-headed Woodpeckers (RHWO). Although windy, our 5 groups all managed to spot some Red-headed Woodpeckers.
Our blitzing group was comprised of 11 people, split up into 5 groups for maximum coverage of the IBA. Each group was assigned an area, two of which included a pre-determined survey route. Below is a map of the areas covered:
The wind was strong, as it seems to often be in the Oak Lake area. Thankfully, that didn’t stop us from finding Red-headed Woodpeckers.
Group 1 was comprised of Gillian, Kathryn and Leah. Their area was in the southeast portion of the IBA and included a survey route. They found two pairs of Red-headed Woodpeckers (4 RHWO total).
Group 2 covered the central portion of the IBA and was made up of Glennis, Sandy and Carson. Their area also included a survey route. During the blitz, they managed to count 14 Red-headed Woodpeckers!!!
Group 3 consisted of Katharine and Lee Ann. Their area did not include a survey route, so they focused their birding in areas of suitable habitat. They counted 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers. They also saw a Loggerhead Shrike, which is quite exciting.
Group 4 was made up of Tom and Renee, who covered the area north of Highway 1. They counted 1 Red-headed Woodpecker.
Group 5, comprised of me (Marissa), covered the southwest portion of the IBA. At my first stop, I saw a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers in a stand of dying aspen trees. I didn’t see any more during the rest of my blitz, so the total for group 5 amounted to 2 RHWO. Unfortunately, on the way back to Oak Lake Beach to meet with the rest of the groups, I found a dead RHWO on the road that must have been hit by a car. It was a good reminder to be aware of wildlife, including birds, while driving. On a more positive note, one of my personal highlights of the morning was spotting a beautiful Eastern Bluebird, on the way home after the blitz.
After the blitz, we all met up at the Oak Lake Marina for some snacks and to share with each other about our mornings. At this point, the wind had really picked up, and we could barely hear each other talk! Thankfully, Leah is from the Oak Lake area and was able to show us a better spot that was more sheltered from the wind. We moved locations to the park, and set up at a picnic table that was much more sheltered. As a bonus, an Eastern Wood-Pewee was singing away right by our picnic table! This bird was very photogenic and certainly not camera-shy. It remained on a branch singing loudly, perched right in perfect view!
In total, we saw 25 Red-headed Woodpeckers during the blitz. A summary of all the species identified can be found below. We saw a total of 84 species (plus blackbird sp. and small falcon sp.) and a total of 1,907 individuals. Thank you to Gillian Richards, Kathryn Hyndman, Glennis Lewis, Sandy Hominick, Renee Will, Tom Will, Carson Kearns, Katharine Schulz, Lee Ann, and Leah Lees for joining me to count this species at risk!
-Marissa
| Species | Number of Individuals |
| American Avocet | 3 |
| American Bittern | 1 |
| American Coot | 4 |
| American Crow | 49 |
| American Goldfinch | 37 |
| American Kestrel | 15 |
| American Robin | 26 |
| Bald Eagle | 2 |
| Baltimore Oriole | 3 |
| Barn Swallow | 22 |
| Black Tern | 54 |
| Black-billed Cuckoo | 1 |
| Black-billed Magpie | 6 |
| Blackbird sp. | 20 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 3 |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | 1 |
| Blue-winged Teal | 1 |
| Bobolink | 5 |
| Brewer’s Blackbird | 106 |
| Brown Thrasher | 1 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 8 |
| Canada Goose | 1 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 18 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 8 |
| Clay-coloured Sparrow | 12 |
| Cliff Swallow | 6 |
| Common Grackle | 5 |
| Common Raven | 1 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 10 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 5 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 66 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 1 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | 2 |
| European Starling | 2 |
| Franklin’s Gull | 599 |
| Gray Catbird | 6 |
| Gray Partridge | 16 |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 3 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 |
| Horned Lark | 2 |
| House Sparrow | 17 |
| House Wren | 21 |
| Killdeer | 4 |
| Lark Sparrow | 10 |
| Least Flycatcher | 16 |
| LeConte’s Sparrow | 1 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | 1 |
| Loggerhead Shrike | 1 |
| Mallard | 4 |
| Marsh Wren | 1 |
| Merlin | 4 |
| Mourning Dove | 88 |
| Nelson’s Sparrow | 4 |
| Northern Flicker | 8 |
| Northern Harrier | 2 |
| Orchard Oriole | 1 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 3 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 28 |
| Red-necked Grebe | 6 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 2 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 255 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 9 |
| Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) | 6 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 14 |
| Sedge Wren | 1 |
| Small Falcon sp. | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 8 |
| Sora | 1 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 5 |
| Tree Swallow | 13 |
| Turkey Vulture | 7 |
| Upland Sandpiper | 1 |
| Veery | 2 |
| Vesper Sparrow | 9 |
| Warbling Vireo | 4 |
| Western Kingbird | 10 |
| Western Meadowlark | 70 |
| White-faced Ibis | 7 |
| Wilson’s Snipe | 1 |
| Yellow Warbler | 6 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 3 |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird | 116 |
| Total number of species | 84 |
| Total number of individuals | 1907 |
Manitoba Important Bird Areas Program 