On Wednesday, August 5^th, the Manitoba Important Bird Areas team gathered with a group of volunteers at the Delta Marsh IBA for a general bird blitz!

Our group of 17 participants split into 5 groups (unfortunately, some participants were unable to attend on the day of the blitz and area 4 on above map was dropped) and followed suggested routes along the southern shore of Lake Manitoba. The survey areas contained various habitat types including open water, shorelines, rivers, agricultural fields, deciduous forests, and, of course, marshes! Additionally, within the boundaries of the Delta Marsh IBA exist Wildlife Management Areas, Game Bird Refuges, and Special Conservation Areas that our groups surveyed in or near.

Bird blitz surveys are performed through a combination of travelling counts by car and on foot and stationary point surveys. During this event, participants recorded a total of 100 different species including six Species At Risk! We regrouped at Delta Beach in the early afternoon to share our sightings and enjoy a picnic lunch provided by the Manitoba IBA Program (along with some additional birding on the beach!).

Read on for a breakdown of what each group saw and enjoy some great pictures taken by the IBA team and volunteers!

Group 1

Manitoba IBA Program team Mackenzie, Brooke, and Gibson started their morning with a point count on the lakeshore before surveying 19.4 km within the westernmost area of the Delta Marsh IBA. Alongside recording the day’s highest count of Barn Swallows (a species that is listed as Threatened by COSEWIC), other species at risk spotted by the group included >250 Bank Swallows and one Eastern Wood-Peewee.

Beginning at the southern shore of Lake Manitoba near the Lynch’s Point Game Bird Refuge and moving southeast following Rat Creek, Group 1 also spotted non-listed species of interest including American Coots, an American Kestrel, four Bald Eagles, Northern Shovelers, eight Red-tailed Hawks, and 160 Red-winged Blackbirds! Species only observed in this group’s survey area included the Caspian Tern, Solitary Sandpiper, and Scarlet Tanager.

Group 2

Donna, Paul, and Carson travelled 31.9 km during their survey along Delta Beach and the Portage Diversion, searching for birds near the Delta Game Bird Refuge. Group 2 also stopped for two point counts, one at the Delta Channel Bridge and the other on the beach near where the Delta Channel meets Lake Manitoba. The group spotted three at-risk species throughout the morning: Barn Swallows, Lesser Yellowlegs (listed federally as Threatened), and Bank Swallows (the most of the day with >450!).

Group 2 obtained the day’s highest counts of a number of waterbird species including American White Pelicans (did you know pelicans are kleptoparasites?), Black Terns, Bonaparte’s Gulls, Forster’s Terns, Great Blue Herons, Greater Yellowlegs, and >300 Western Grebes. Other species only seen by Group 2 included the American Avocet, Belted Kingfisher, Hooded Merganser, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and Willet – this area was, apparently, shorebird central!

Group 3

Group 3 surveyed 31.2 km in their area which extended south of Lake Manitoba to the town of Oakland. Eda, Cathy, James, and Nancy recorded four at-risk species in their survey area: Bank Swallows, Barn Swallows, Eastern Wood-Pewees, and Lesser Yellowlegs.

The only Cooper’s Hawk, Sora, and Brewer’s Blackbirds (24) of the day were seen by Group 3, who also recorded the highest count of Purple Martins (50) in the IBA and one of two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers seen this morning! Other interesting sightings by the group included 31 American White Pelicans, 31 Cliff Swallows, and five Northern Harriers.

Group 5

Perhaps the highlight of Group 5’s survey was the 57 Bobolinks seen in their survey area which Garry captured wonderful pictures of (see above)! Garry, Rudolf, and Alvin spotted three other species at risk – Barn Swallows, Lesser Yellowlegs, and a single Eastern Wood-Pewee – along 36.7 km in their survey area.

Travelling near St. Ambroise, the St. Ambroise Game Bird Refuge, and the Clandeboye Bay Special Conservation Area, Group 5 had numerous unique sightings including an Alder Flycatcher, Blue Jays, five Double-crested Cormorants, Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Phoebes, one Great Egret, Northern Flickers, and an Orchard Oriole. The group also counted the only Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, and the second Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the day, and recorded the highest counts of American Goldfinches and Canvasbacks.

Group 6

Jo, Katharine, Parker, and Jan recorded >750 Franklin’s Gulls and >300 Ring-billed Gulls in the easternmost area of the Delta Marsh IBA! Surveying 25.2 km near Twin Lakes and the Dr. Frank Baldwin Wildlife Management Area, Group 6 recorded four at-risk species: Barn Swallows, Bobolinks, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, and 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers (the only sighting of the day).

The group spotted the only American Bittern, Great Crested Flycatcher, LeConte’s Sparrow, and Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk (pictured above by Katharine) of the day. Other interesting sightings included three Great Blue Herons and the most American Kestrels (12) and Yellow-headed Blackbirds (>250) of the day.

Conclusion

After regrouping for a picnic lunch at the Delta Beach Campground, a few of the blitz participants walked to the beach and were treated to up-close views of adult and juvenile gulls and Forster’s Terns congregated alongside shorebird species including American Avocets, Lesser Yellowlegs, and a Pectoral Sandpiper.

During the official survey, participants counted over 6,000 birds (listed in the table below) – thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers for making this feat possible! The IBA Program has one bird blitz event left this summer at Oak Hammock Marsh on Wednesday, August 26^th. We hope to see you there! For more information and to sign up for this or other events (such as our upcoming shoreline cleanup in Lockport), visit our Upcoming Events page.

-Gibson, IBA Program Assistant

Species (* denotes species at risk)	Group No.					Total
	1	2	3	5	6
Alder Flycatcher				1		1
American Avocet		3				3
American Bittern					1	1
American Coot	12					12
American Coot (Red-shielded)				3		3
American Crow				14	1	15
American Goldfinch	7	5	10	18	8	48
American Herring Gull	2	3		23	4	32
American Kestrel	1			6	12	19
American Robin	9	8	4	28	26	75
American White Pelican	1	40	31	8	2	82
Bald Eagle	4	2	2	2		10
Baltimore Oriole		2		2	1	5
* Bank Swallow	258	476	8			742
* Barn Swallow	131	12	41		29	213
* Barn Swallow (American)				80		80
Belted Kingfisher		1				1
Black Tern		7		1	1	9
Black-billed Cuckoo				4	1	5
blackbird sp.					20	20
Blue Jay				2		2
Blue-winged Teal	12	11		1	10	34
* Bobolink				57	9	66
Bonaparte’s Gull	1	45			4	50
Brewer’s Blackbird			24			24
Canada Goose	27	68	7	25	45	172
Canvasback		8		45		53
Caspian Tern	1					1
Cedar Waxwing	9		5	14	14	42
Chipping Sparrow	1		5	1	4	11
Clay-colored Sparrow		2	1	19	3	25
Cliff Swallow	37	20	31	13		101
Common Grackle	1	6		37	51	95
Common Raven	2	6	4	7	4	23
Common Yellowthroat		1		2	3	6
Cooper’s Hawk			1			1
crow/raven sp.					3	3
Double-crested Cormorant				5		5
Downy Woodpecker				1		1
duck sp.					1	1
Eastern Bluebird				2		2
Eastern Kingbird	45	38	27	68	33	211
Eastern Phoebe	6			2		8
Eastern Warbling Vireo		2		2	3	7
* Eastern Wood-Pewee	1		1	1	1	4
European Starling	3			12	4	19
Forster’s Tern		40		2	1	43
Franklin’s Gull	27	122		53	767	969
Gadwall				5	5	10
Gray Catbird	2	5		4	4	15
Great Blue Heron		16			3	19
Great Crested Flycatcher					1	1
Great Egret				1		1
Greater Yellowlegs		28		2		30
gull sp.					7	7
Hairy Woodpecker				3		3
hawk sp.					3	3
Hooded Merganser		1				1
House Sparrow				1	2	3
Killdeer		12	8	3	17	40
Least Flycatcher	1	1	5	2	1	10
Least Sandpiper		1				1
LeConte’s Sparrow					1	1
Lesser Scaup		2		1		3
* Lesser Yellowlegs		6	4	17		27
Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs					12	12
Mallard	1	12		3	4	20
Marsh Wren				1	3	4
Merlin		2		2		4
Merlin (Prairie)				1		1
Mourning Dove	7	12	19	19	12	69
new world sparrow sp.					2	2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)				14		14
Northern Harrier	1	1	5	8	2	17
Northern House Wren		1		1	2	4
Northern Shoveler	21				2	23
Northern Yellow Warbler	16	10		32	10	68
Orchard Oriole				1		1
Pectoral Sandpiper		4				4
peep sp.				4		4
Pileated Woodpecker				1		1
Purple Martin		7	50	9	42	108
Red-eyed Vireo	1		1	1	2	5
Redhead		8			6	14
* Red-headed Woodpecker					5	5
Red-tailed Hawk	8	2	5	6	2	23
Red-tailed Hawk (Krider’s)					1	1
Red-winged Blackbird	160	130	26	74	93	483
Ring-billed Gull	3	82	3	83	313	484
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)		8	24	3		35
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	1	1		2	1	5
Sanderling		2				2
Savannah Sparrow	6			5	2	13
Scarlet Tanager	1					1
Sedge Wren			2	10	4	16
Semipalmated Plover		1				1
Sharp-tailed Grouse	2			2		4
shorebird sp.					6	6
small falcon sp.					1	1
Solitary Sandpiper	1					1
Song Sparrow	5	7	4	8	10	34
Sora			1			1
Spotted Sandpiper	6	2		3	1	12
Swamp Sparrow				2	1	3
Tree Swallow	9	175		61	23	268
Turkey Vulture	1	2	2		2	7
Vesper Sparrow		2				2
Western Grebe		304		18	5	327
Western Kingbird	4		8		4	16
Western Meadowlark		2	2	5	5	14
Willet		5				5
Wood Duck	5	2				7
woodpecker sp.					1	1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker			1	1		2
Yellow-headed Blackbird	32	212	21	2	293	560
Grand Total	892	1996	393	982	1982	6245