Hello! We’re back with another 2025 summer event recap, this time at the Delta Marsh IBA! Unlike our previous 2025 events, which focused on certain target species, this was a general blitz to help us determine what birds were using the IBA on the day of the blitz. The goal was to ID as many birds as we could to get a full picture of what was going on in the area! 

Delta Marsh is an interesting site, providing many different habitat types depending on where you are in the IBA. The beaches on Lake Manitoba provide habitat for shorebirds; the wetlands are hotspots for waterfowl, and the upland deciduous forests provide habitat for forest species such as warblers, sparrows and woodpeckers. The wetlands also provide areas for insects to breed, providing a food source for aerial insectivores such as Barn Swallows, Bank Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Tree Swallows and Purple Martins.  

The Delta Marsh Blitz took place on August 6, and as usual, we split our participants into groups to cover the whole IBA. For this blitz, we had five groups of volunteers. Each group’s assigned area is highlighted in the map below. Due to some last-minute group shuffling, you’ll notice that Group 2 is missing on the map. To keep things consistent, I’ll refer to each group by their area as listed on the map. Each group began birding between 7-8:30 am and wrapped up by 12:30 pm to meet up for a group lunch at the Delta Beach Campground.  

Our first group consisted of Marissa, Amy, and Connie, and they covered the westernmost portion of the IBA. They began by travelling north on Road 44W from Route 227, where they saw a large variety of birds, including several species of shorebirds (Killdeer, Wilson’s Phalarope, Greater Yellowlegs and peeps), 6 Red-tailed Hawks, 50 swallows (a mix of Bank Swallows and Barn Swallows, both listed as Threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act) and lots of blackbirds. This group saw 60 Yellow-headed Blackbirds, 17 Red-winged Blackbirds, 80 Brewer’s Blackbirds, and 20 Common Grackles. Next, the group travelled north along Route 242 until they reached Lynch’s Point Campground. On this leg they saw an Eastern Wood-Pewee, a SARA species of Special Concern.  While zigzagging south down Road 45 W to Road 43 W, Group 1 saw their largest numbers of birds of the morning, with 400 Franklin’s Gulls, and large groups of four swallow species. They saw 50 Bank Swallows, 100 Tree Swallows, 50 Barn Swallows, and 200 Cliff Swallows. Group 1 finished the morning travelling down Route 227, where they saw an additional 25 Barn Swallows, and 17 Mourning Doves, bringing their total MODO’s to 49 for the day.  

 Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Photo by Marissa.

A perfect spot to enjoy a meal. Merlin photo by Marissa. 

Moving eastward, our next group was Group 3, consisting of Jo, Bonnie, and Gwen. Group 3 covered the area east of the Portage Diversion to Route 240. This trio started the morning by heading north on Route 240 to Delta Beach, crossing through agricultural land and wetlands before arriving at the beach on the south shore of Lake Manitoba. The variety of habitat types presented a large variety of birds, including gulls, hawks, flycatchers, swallows, and blackbirds. Once they arrived at Delta Beach, this group put their shorebird identification skills to the test, observing 15 different species! The highlight was a group of 52 Hudsonian Godwits, likely stopping over on their long fall migration to South America. Group 3’s final route was along the Portage Diversion dike, again passing through a variety of habitats like agricultural land, wetlands, and shrubby riparian areas. Along this route, the group observed waterfowl like Wood Ducks and Mallards, a Great Blue Heron, 7 Red-tailed Hawks, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, Barn and Cliff Swallows, and 161 Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  

Moody skies over Lake Manitoba. Photo by Marissa. 

Carol, Eliza, Gary, and Katharine were in Group 4, covering the middle of the IBA from Route 240 to Road 32 W. The group started the day by traveling up and down Road 32 W, where they encountered 65 Barn Swallows, 11 Purple Martins, and 4 Northern Harriers. The birding continued down Roads 76 N and 33 W, where the group saw flycatchers (Eastern Wood-Pewee, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird), four species of swallows perched on the wires next the road with some sparrows joining in, the ever-present blackbirds, and a coyote stalking through the grass! For the rest of the morning, Group 4 travelled along Roads 33 W, 35 W and Route 227, continuing to see a similar species assemblage at each of their stops. 

Northern Harrier on the lookout for breakfast. Photo by Carol.

An unexpected visitor to the IBA Blitz! Photo by Carol.

Alain, Pranav and Eda made up Group 5, covering the southeastern portion of the IBA. They started their day heading west on Road 77 N, where they encountered a few shorebirds, an American Bittern, an Eastern Bluebird, and several species of Sparrow. The trio continued along Road 78 N, where they saw the majority of their reported species for the day, including 40 Barn Swallows, 3 buffy nondescript birds with big black eyes that they deduced to be Sprague’s Pipits, and 45 Bobolink. Wow! This group finished off their morning at the Portage la Prairie Regional Landfill, observing 500 Ring-billed Gulls enjoying the food that the dump had to offer.  

Swallows perched on roadside wires. Photo by Marissa. 

Last but not least were Rudolf and Garry in Group 6, covering the northeast section of the IBA. Rudolf and Garry started the day on Route 240, winding through the marshes north of St. Ambroise. They observed several species of shorebirds, including 48 Least Sandpiper, as well as 52 Pelicans, and a family of 5 Northern Harriers. Over 250 swallows were spotted in this area, including Bank Swallows, Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, and Purple Martins. Heading slightly south through St. Ambroise, the group began seeing woodpeckers galore, with 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a Downy, a Hairy, 7 Northern Flickers and 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers!! In the same region they spotted flycatchers, vireos, swallows, sparrows and blackbirds, among others. From there, the group traveled along Road 83 North towards Clandeboye Bay, where they saw 4 Bobolink and promptly got stuck in the mud! They were able to get out, but it was a close call. Thankfully, Rudolf and Garry were able to carry on towards Waterhen Bay, where they recorded many species of waterfowl including 40 Mallards, 28 Western Grebes, and 123 Pelicans. The final route of the Blitz for these two took them down Road 82 N and route 430, where they encountered 23 Cedar Waxwings, and 38 Barn Swallows.  

Large groups of swooping swallows were a common sight for most groups on this blitz. Photo by Marissa. 

Overall, it was a great morning of birding, with a total of 122 species identified and 6155 individuals. A full species list is included below. A huge thank you to all our volunteers who made it out for this event; it wouldn’t have been possible without you! This event was also made possible by funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Fund. As always, if you’re interested in participating in similar events in the future, send me an email at iba@naturemanitoba.ca! 

-Mackenzie 

Our incredible Delta Marsh volunteers! Photo by Marissa.

Species	Sum of Count
Alder Flycatcher	1
American Bittern	2
American Crow	35
American Goldfinch	53
American Herring Gull	18
American Kestrel	25
American Robin	39
American White Pelican	207
Baird’s Sandpiper	7
Bald Eagle	13
Baltimore Oriole	3
Bank Swallow	77
Barn Swallow	239
Barn Swallow (American)	83
Black Tern	21
Black-and-white Warbler	1
Black-billed Magpie	20
Black-capped Chickadee	4
Blue Jay	7
Blue-winged Teal	1
Bobolink	49
Bonaparte’s Gull	4
Brewer’s Blackbird	205
Broad-winged Hawk	1
Brown Thrasher	1
Brown-headed Cowbird	29
Canada Goose	120
Canvasback	1
Cedar Waxwing	77
Chipping Sparrow	7
Clay-colored Sparrow	40
Cliff Swallow	220
Common Grackle	157
Common Raven	9
Common Tern	1
Common Yellowthroat	3
Double-crested Cormorant	4
Downy Woodpecker	1
Eastern Bluebird	6
Eastern Kingbird	290
Eastern Phoebe	5
Eastern Wood-Pewee	4
European Starling	72
Forster’s Tern	58
Franklin’s Gull	489
Gadwall	5
Gray Catbird	15
Great Blue Heron	3
Great Crested Flycatcher	3
Greater Yellowlegs	14
Hairy Woodpecker	3
Hooded Merganser	5
Horned Lark	1
House Sparrow	4
Hudsonian Godwit	53
Killdeer	25
Lark Sparrow	2
Least Flycatcher	11
Least Sandpiper	164
LeConte’s Sparrow	1
Lesser Yellowlegs	30
Long-billed Dowitcher	1
Mallard	71
Marbled Godwit	27
Marsh Wren	1
Merlin	6
Merlin (Prairie)	1
Mourning Dove	217
Nelson’s Sparrow	1
new world sparrow sp.	60
Northern Flicker	1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)	8
Northern Harrier	21
Northern House Wren	5
Orchard Oriole	2
Pectoral Sandpiper	7
peep sp.	40
Pied-billed Grebe	4
Pine Siskin	1
Purple Finch	2
Purple Martin	87
Red-eyed Vireo	6
Redhead	1
Red-headed Woodpecker	2
Red-necked Phalarope	9
Red-tailed Hawk	52
Red-winged Blackbird	365
Ring-billed Gull	693
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	15
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	1
Ruddy Turnstone	1
Sanderling	4
Savannah Sparrow	42
Sedge Wren	3
Semipalmated Plover	51
Semipalmated Sandpiper	22
Short-billed Dowitcher	6
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher	1
Song Sparrow	26
Spotted Sandpiper	6
Sprague’s Pipit	3
Stilt Sandpiper	5
swallow sp.	240
Tree Swallow	172
Turkey Vulture	3
Veery	1
Vesper Sparrow	13
Warbling Vireo	10
Western Grebe	29
Western Kingbird	20
Western Meadowlark	23
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-throated Sparrow	3
Willet	1
Wilson’s Phalarope	4
Wilson’s Snipe	2
Wood Duck	3
Yellow Warbler	21
Yellow Warbler (Northern)	32
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	3
Yellow-headed Blackbird	645
Grand Total	6155
Species Total	122