This past weekend, we ran our second ‘Purple Loosestrife Pull’ at Oak Hammock Marsh IBA. Our group of 15 met outside of the Harry J. Enns Wetland Discovery Centre at 10 am. Once we got organized, did some introductions, and handed out some outreach materials, we headed out to the stand which is about a 15-minute drive away, on the eastern edge of the WMA. The sun was hot, but thankfully there was a nice breeze once we got to our destination. Our group spent the next few hours building connections, beating the heat with some cool refreshments, and successfully removing a full truckload of Purple Loosestrife. A huge thank you to Judy, Lorraine, Jon, Amanda, Cindy, Alain, Josh, Salem, Hayden, Lifa, Kenzy, Mariam and Gus for coming out and helping Aynsley and I with this important work!

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), recognizable by its bright pink-purple flowers and square, woody stem, is an invasive plant that is rapidly spreading throughout North America. First having arrived in the early 1800s, this plant is thought to have been transported here in the soil of ballast water on European ships, as well as by being deliberately planted by European settlers. Its dense root systems crowd out native plant species, resulting in lower biodiversity and degraded habitat for birds and other animals. Even though this plant has many negative effects on our natural ecosystems, it can still be found planted in gardens and sold in garden centres. More in-depth information on Purple Loosestrife can be found on the Invasive Species Centre website: https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/invasive-species/meet-the-species/invasive-plants/purple-loosestrife/

When a stand of purple loosestrife was first confirmed on the eastern edge of Oak Hammock Marsh in July 2022, the Manitoba IBA program decided to work to prevent the spread of this invasive species by organizing our first ‘Purple Loosestrife Pull’ in September 2022. Oak Hammock Marsh provides valuable habitat for a variety of wetland and grassland birds, so protecting it from the threat of purple loosestrife is important.

While completely removing this stand would be difficult and would require a lot of resources, our approach is one of “damage control” – to limit its spread as much as we can. In general, the best time to remove invasive plants is when they are flowering but before they have gone to seed, to avoid spreading more seed in the process of removing them. Because some of the Purple Loosestrife had started to go to seed, we did not fully pull the plants. Instead, working in small groups, we would place the top of the plants (with the flowers and seeds) in a garbage bag to trap all the seeds, and cut the plant at the base. By cutting the plants and putting them in garbage bags, we are preventing a massive number of seeds from being dispersed into the area and growing into full plants in the future. One plant can spread up to 2 million seeds per year, so removing them before they are able to spread them is key!

Below is a photo of our group along with the results of our day’s work – As I mentioned at the start of this blog post, we removed enough Purple Loosestrife to completely fill up the back of my pickup truck! Once again, a massive thank you goes to our incredible volunteers.

Interested in helping with our stewardship work? We will be at the Riverton Sandy Bar this coming Saturday, August 12^th to protect Piping Plover habitat by pulling weeds. We will get started at 8 am. If you are interested in participating, send me an email at iba@naturemanitoba.ca!

-Marissa 

The Manitoba IBA program is looking for volunteers for our upcoming events, including a purple loosestrife pull at Oak Hammock Marsh, a weed pull at Riverton Sandy Bar, and a bird blitz at Whitewater Lake. Keep reading for more details. The more the merrier!

Purple Loosestrife Pull – Saturday, August 5^th

We organized our first Purple Loosestrife pull last September, after a stand of Purple Loosestrife (an invasive wetland plant) was discovered on the east side of Oak Hammock Marsh. Join us again this year to protect the wetland habitat at Oak Hammock Marsh on Saturday, August 5^th from 10 am – 2 pm. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Sandy Bar Weed Pull – Saturday, August 12^th

We will be meeting at the Riverton Sandy Bar on Saturday, August 12^th from 8 am – 12 pm, to remove weeds and restore habitat for Piping Plovers and other shorebirds. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. We were unable to run our annual weed pulls last year because of the very high water levels on Lake Winnipeg, so it will be great to get out to this spot again!

Whitewater Lake Blitz – Sunday, August 27^th

Join us for a bird blitz at Whitewater Lake on Sunday, August 27^th, starting at 8:30 am. We will be focusing on counting shorebirds, but there will be many other birds to see as well! Snacks and refreshments will be provided at the end of the morning. Carpooling from Winnipeg or Brandon may be available.

To sign up for these events or for more information, you can email me at iba@naturemanitoba.ca

Thanks!

-Marissa

This past spring our wonderful volunteers and Manitoba IBA staff conducted International Shorebird Surveys (ISS) within the province. Started by Manomet, the goal of these surveys is to track long-term global shorebird trends. Spring International Shorebird Surveys are conducted annually between April 1^st and June 15^th, with the peak of the season occurring between April 24^th and May 16^th.

In Manitoba, four of our IBAs are surveyed using the ISS protocol: Whitewater Lake; North, East, and West Shoal Lakes; Oak Lake/Plum Lakes; and Oak Hammock Marsh. Within each site, there are pre-set routes. Whitewater Lake has four routes on the east side of the lake, three on the west side and one stationary route. Oak Lake/Plum Lakes has five routes, two of which are stationary. Oak Hammock Marsh has three routes, although one was not accessible this year due to high water levels. Finally, North, East and West Shoal Lakes IBA has four routes around the lakes. We try to survey each route three times in the spring and three times in the fall. While all species observed can be recorded, only shorebird observations are included in this roundup.  

Last year, many areas were flooded and water levels were higher than the norm. This year however, much of the usual preferred habitat was drier than usual, while some areas were inaccessible due to flooding. These conditions in addition to a late spring created an interesting survey period. Below is a summary of the results from the spring survey period.

Whitewater Lake

2023 Spring Whitewater Lake Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
American Avocet	45	4
American Golden Plover	16	1
Baird’s Sandpiper	24	2
Black-bellied Plover	65	6
Dunlin	17	1
Killdeer	17	1
Least Sandpiper	316	27
Lesser Yellowlegs	180	16
Marbled Godwit	9	1
Pectoral Sandpiper	3	0
Red-necked Phalarope	17	1
Ruddy Turnstone	7	1
Sanderling	10	1
Semipalmated Plover	1	0
Semipalmated Sandpiper	304	26
Short-billed Dowitcher	3	0
Spotted Sandpiper	1	0
Stilt Sandpiper	26	2
Upland Sandpiper	3	0
White-rumped Sandpiper	4	0
Willet	11	1
Wilson’s Phalarope	78	7
Total	1157	100
Total Number of species	22

Whitewater Lake was visited four times during the spring ISS period. Route E1 was surveyed once. Routes E2, E3, W1 were each surveyed twice. Lastly, routes W2, W3, and Sexton (the stationary spot) were each surveyed three times. Large numbers of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers were observed during the spring migration, as well as numerous Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Black-bellied Plovers.

A big thank you to Carson Kearns, Colin Blyth, Duane Diehl, Gillian Richards, Jackie Dixon, Kathryn Hyndman, Tim Poole, Veronica White, Cam Tramley, Baylana Hiebert, and the Westman Naturalists for monitoring Whitewater Lake!

Oak Lake/Plum Lakes

2023 Spring OPL Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
American Avocet	2	4
Killdeer	10	19
Least Sandpiper	2	4
Marbled Godwit	1	2
Shorebird sp.	6	11
Spotted Sandpiper	4	7
Willet	2	4
Wilson’s Phalarope	27	50
Total	54	100
Total Species	8

Oak Lake/Plum Lakes was visited once this season. Routes 1, 2, 3 and 4 were all surveyed. Route 5 was not surveyed due to the roads being flooded. The most numerous species seen at Oak Lake/Plum Lakes was Wilson’s Phalarope and Killdeer, with one Marbled Godwit sighting.

A big thank you to Amanda Shave and Shannon Landels for making it out to this site!

North, East, and West Shoal Lakes

2023 Spring North, East and West Shoal Lakes Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
Greater Yellowlegs	2	3
Hudsonian Godwit	5	8
Killdeer	18	29
Lesser Yellowlegs	11	17
Marbled Godwit	6	10
Solitary Sandpiper	1	2
Spotted Sandpiper	15	24
Willet	2	3
Wilson’s Phalarope	1	2
Wilson’s Snipe	11	17
Total	72	114
Total Species	10

North, East and West Shoal Lakes was surveyed on four occasions this spring season. Routes 1, 2 and the campground stationary route were each surveyed once. Routes 3 and 2 were surveyed 4 times each. The most numerous shorebirds seen were Lesser Yellowlegs and Spotted Sandpipers, with some sightings of Hudsonian and Marbled Godwits.  

A big thank you to Bonnie Chartier, Mike Karakas, Tami Reynolds, Jo Swartz, Betsy Thorsteinson, Tim Poole, Veronica White and Cam Tramley for monitoring the North, East and West Shoal Lakes!

Oak Hammock Marsh

2023 Spring OHM Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
Hudsonian Godwit	6	14
Killdeer	20	45
Marbled Godwit	5	11
Peep sp.	2	5
Semipalmated Sandpiper	2	5
Short-billed Dowitcher	1	2
Spotted Sandpiper	3	7
Willet	3	7
Wilson’s Snipe	2	5
Total	44	100
Total Species	9

Oak Hammock Marsh was visited a total of four times, with all routes being surveyed each visit. The most numerous shorebird seen was Killdeer. There was one sighting of a Semipalmated Sandpiper, as well as other peeps.

A big thank you to Amanda Shave, Tami Reynolds, Mike Karakas, Tim Poole, Veronica White, and Aynsley Woods for monitoring Oak Hammock Marsh.

Based on the above summaries, it is clear the drier weather and late spring in Manitoba affected the spring ISS monitoring season. All four of the IBAs monitored showed low numbers similar to the last few years, as the past few years have also had weather influences. Like last year, Whitewater Lake had the greatest number of individuals and species, compared to the other IBAs.

Summaries like this one are possible due to the time and effort put in by our volunteers, so a very big thank you goes out again to all who went out and monitored this spring! If you are interested in volunteering for our fall International Shorebird Surveys, we are looking for volunteers. Our fall ISS period runs from July 11^th – October 25^th, 2023. Email iba@naturemanitoba.ca for more information.

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On Saturday June 17^th, the Manitoba IBA program led a bird walk at the Oak Hammock Marsh IBA. Our group of 8 met in the parking lot of the Harry J. Enns Interpretive Centre at 10am. Marissa, our coordinator, led our voyage! I (Aynsley) was also there to assist. Before embarking on our journey, we spoke with Paula, Oak Hammock Marsh’s Resident Naturalist and IBA Steering Committee Member. She informed us that the trails were in good condition, and that there is a variety of birds around due to the late migratory season. Our group consisted of a mix of intermediate and beginner birders! With the sun shining and the birds chirping, we set off on our adventure.

The walk began along the Killdeer Trail, where we stopped near the dock to look out at the nesting island. Here we saw a few duck species including Blue-winged Teal and Mallard. We also saw a few shorebirds including Spotted Sandpipers and a Killdeer. We continued our walk turning down the Duck Pond Trail. Along this trail we made a few stops pointing out some Clay-coloured Sparrows, a Yellow-headed Blackbird, a Western Meadowlark, some Red-winged Blackbirds, and more!

We continued our walk stopping at the scrape. Here we saw some Canada Geese with dozens of fluffy yellow goslings, some nesting Barn Swallows, a pair of Trumpeter Swans, some Lesser Yellowlegs, a Green-winged Teal, and more! The Shorebird Scrape at Oak Hammock Marsh is an important area for shorebirds as well as other birds. It is a shallow depression where water collects and slowly dries over the summer creating prime muddy and shallow water habitat for foraging shorebirds. By having the scrape in the marsh, it allows the area to stay wetter and muddier longer throughout the summer. These areas do require some yearly maintenance to keep down tall vegetation, which is less attractive to shorebirds.

We turned around and headed down the Harrier Trail. We didn’t see too much down this trail, but we spotted a Clay-coloured Sparrow. Our group continued and decided to take a short break at the benches near the cabin. While sitting and enjoying the beautiful morning, we spent some time observing a very photogenic Tree Swallow.

At this point in the morning, it was beginning to get quite warm out. A few members of our group headed inside to cool off, while the remainder of our group decided to take a walk down the Boardwalk. Along the Boardwalk we heard a Sedge Wren, a Common Yellowthroat, and saw some more Red-winged Blackbirds. We turned around and finished our walk back at the parking lot near the Harry J. Enns Interpretive Centre.

Overall, the weather and trails were awesome and there was a great variety of birds to be seen! A big thank you to everyone who came out! The full checklist of species can be found below:

Species	Count
Alder Flycatcher	1
American White Pelican	8
Bank Swallow	5
Barn Swallow	15
Blue-winged Teal	4
Canada Goose	150
Clay-colored Sparrow	2
Common Grackle	2
Common Yellowthroat	4
Eastern Kingbird	3
Gadwall	2
Green-winged Teal	1
Killdeer	3
Lesser Yellowlegs	3
Mallard	1
Marsh Wren
Northern Shoveler	4
Purple Martin	3
Redhead	1
Red-winged Blackbird	15
Sedge Wren	1
Spotted Sandpiper	2
Tree Swallow	2
Trumpeter Swan	2
Western Meadowlark	1
Yellow-headed Blackbird	3
Yellow Warbler	2

-Aynsley

The Manitoba IBA program has been coordinating annual spring and fall International Shorebird Surveys (ISS) in 4 of our IBAs: Whitewater Lake IBA, Oak/Plum Lakes IBA, Oak Hammock Marsh IBA, and Shoal Lakes IBA. The goal of these surveys is to track trends of global shorebirds long-term. Thanks our incredibly dedicated volunteers and staff, 2022 was another great season surveying for shorebirds across Manitoba! Each year presents its own challenges and unique weather patterns, and 2022 was no different. The high spring water levels carried into the fall, which resulted in flooded fields, ditches, and other areas similar to the spring season. Results of the 2022 ISS Spring roundup can be found here.

We try to visit each route 3 times in the spring season and 3 times in the fall season to count shorebirds in migration. The fall ISS period encompasses July 11^th to October 25^th, with August 10^th – September 10^th considered the peak of the survey period. Below you will find the results for the Fall 2022 season. Please note, multiple species are observed during the ISS, but only shorebirds are included in this data.

Whitewater Lake

2022 Fall Whitewater Lake Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
American Avocet	62	6
Baird’s Sandpiper	43	4
Greater Yellowlegs	82	8
Killdeer	40	4
Least Sandpiper	28	3
Lesser Yellowlegs	132	12
Long-billed Dowitcher	287	27
Marbled Godwit	39	4
Pectoral Sandpiper	26	2
Peep sp./ Shorebird sp.	32	3
Ruddy Turnstone	1	0
Semipalmated Plover	2	0
Semipalmated Sandpiper	4	0
Short-Billed Dowitcher	35	3
Short/Long-billed Dowitcher	99	9
Upland Sandpiper	9	1
Willet	104	10
Wilson’s Phalarope	33	3
Wilson’s Snipe	10	1
Total	1068	100
Total # of Species	19

Whitewater Lake was surveyed a total of 21 times over the season. On the east side of the lake, routes E1, E2, and E3 were each visited once. Sexton’s point is the only stationary route, and was surveyed 5 times. Switching to the west side of the lake, W1 was surveyed 3 times, W2 surveyed 7 times, and W3 surveyed 4 times. W2 had the highest number of shorebirds observed compared to all other Manitoba ISS routes. A large number (over 100 individuals) of Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Willets were each observed at Whitewater Lake during the fall migration.

A big thank you to Gillian Richards, Glennis Lewis, Kathryn Hyndman, Tim Poole and Aynsley Woods for surveying Whitewater Lake!

Oak Lake/Plum Lakes

2022 Fall Oak Lake Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
American Avocet	3	2
Greater Yellowlegs	25	16
Killdeer	24	15
Least Sandpiper	7	5
Lesser Yellowlegs	21	14
Long-billed Dowitcher	35	23
Pectoral Sandpiper	8	5
Semipalmated Plover	1	1
Solitary Sandpiper	1	1
Spotted Sandpiper	5	3
Upland Sandpiper	2	1
Willet	2	1
Wilson’s Phalarope	16	10
Wilson’s Snipe	5	3
Total	155	100
Total # of Species	14

Over the fall season, Oak/Plum Lakes IBA was surveyed a total of 9 times. Routes 3 and 5, both of which are stationary routes, were not surveyed due to flooding and roads being inaccessible. Route 1 was surveyed the most out of all Oak/Plum Lakes routes for a total of 4 times. Route 2 was surveyed twice. Finally, route 4 was surveyed 3 times. One interesting observation was the one Semipalmated Plover individual.

A huge thank you to Glennis Lewis, Ward Christianson, Marlene Christianson, and Gillian Richards for surveying these routes!

Shoal Lakes

2022 Fall Shoal Lakes Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
Baird’s Sandpiper	3	3
Greater Yellowlegs	9	10
Killdeer	9	10
Lesser Yellowlegs	17	19
Marbled Godwit	1	1
Peep sp./ Shorebird sp.	7	8
Semipalmated Sandpiper	14	16
Spotted Sandpiper	6	7
Willet	2	2
Wilson’s Snipe	22	24
Total	90	100
Total # of Species	10

The North, East, West Shoal Lakes IBA was surveyed a total of 15 times over the fall season. Route 1 and the campground (stationary route) were each surveyed 3 times. Routes 2 and 3 were surveyed twice. Route 4 was surveyed 5 times. Shoal Lakes had the lowest number of observed shorebirds compared to the other Manitoba ISS sites.

An enormous thank you to Bonnie Chartier, Tami Reynolds, Cam Nikkel and Tim Poole for surveying these routes!

Oak Hammock Marsh

2022 Fall OHM Shorebird Counts
Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion of Individuals (%)
Black-Bellied Plover	1	0
Greater Yellowlegs	87	38
Killdeer	80	35
Least Sandpiper	1	0
Lesser Yellowlegs	4	2
Pectoral Sandpiper	1	0
Peep sp./Shorebird sp.	6	3
Semipalmated Sandpiper	1	0
Solitary Sandpiper	4	2
Spotted Sandpiper	1	0
Wilson’s Snipe	41	18
Total	227	100
Total # of Species	11

Over the fall season, Oak Hammock Marsh was surveyed a total of 14 times. Route 3 was surveyed once due to the high-water levels and road conditions from the spring. Route 1 was surveyed 6 times. Route 2 was surveyed 7 times. The most numerous species found here were Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer.

A huge thank you to Bonnie Chartier, Tami Reynolds, Mike Karakas, Peter Douglas, and Tim Poole for surveying Oak Hammock Marsh!

Round Up

As mentioned in the summaries above, the Manitoba 2022 International Shorebird Surveys were affected by weather conditions. High water levels and road blockages affected accessibility as well as the quality of habitat for the shorebirds. Compared to 2021, the fall 2022 monitoring data shows a decrease in observed individuals at Whitewater Lake.

Once again, a big thank you to all our volunteers this year! This important data could not be gathered without your help.  

If you are interested in volunteering for our 2023 International Shorebird Surveys, we are always looking for volunteers! Email iba@naturemanitoba.ca for more information.

-Aynsley Woods

March 8^th marks International Women’s Day, and what a perfect time to introduce and celebrate Aynsley Woods! Aynsley has been working as the Manitoba IBA program assistant over the winter months. Aynsley put together a little introduction post – keep reading to learn more about her.

Hi! My name is Aynsley Woods (she/her). I am the new program assistant for MB IBA. I am currently in my final year of my bachelor’s degree in Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Manitoba. My focus is on the behaviour of migratory species. I would like to focus on shorebirds, as they tug at my heart strings, but I am also open to all other species and organisms including insects and fungi! My family owns a cottage in Nopiming Park, where I try to spend my free time when I’m not studying or working. I was very fortunate this past summer to work with the Fish and Wildlife Branch of the province, and survey many species including Western Grebes, Spotted Sandpipers, Trumpeter Swans, and Red-headed Woodpeckers. I worked closely with Tim Poole on Chimney Swift monitoring and was also involved in goose banding.  

I have been working very closely with the Program Coordinator, Marissa. I am very excited to be part of the MB IBA program, and to learn more about birds and conservation outreach programs regarding birds! This is a wonderful opportunity as I have a great love of birds and wildlife in general. I’ve always loved the idea of getting more people involved in conservation and being aware of the fascinating world around us!

Hello! My name is Marissa Berard (she/her), and I am the new coordinator for the Manitoba Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program. These are certainly big shoes to fill – Amanda contributed so much to this program and will certainly be missed! I love birds a lot, and feel very lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of this program and work alongside so many incredible volunteers. I am excited to not only keep learning about birds (truly a lifelong learning journey), but also to contribute to conserving important bird habitat through stewardship activities and outreach. 

I have been involved in the bird world for a while, both in terms of monitoring and public outreach. While working on my honours thesis (which focused on Atlantic cod) with Dr. Gail Davoren at the University of Manitoba, I was fortunate to spend two summers in Newfoundland and help out with a variety of seabird research, including with puffins, razorbills and common murres.

After graduating, I worked at an environmental consulting company doing a variety of species at risk and avian monitoring including golden-winged warbler and grassland bird surveys. I then moved to Riding Mountain National Park to work with Parks Canada, first as an interpreter and then in the Resource Conservation department where I worked primarily with species at risk including Chimney Swifts and Red-headed Woodpeckers. Living near Riding Mountain has allowed me to spend a lot of time around the Proven Lake IBA, exploring the area both on foot and from a canoe.

While I absolutely love field work, I am also passionate about the outreach side of things. I love to give bird identification workshops and have done some volunteering with the FortWhyte Alive Birding & Breakfast program. One of the things I love about birding is that in many ways, it is a very accessible activity. Whether you are in downtown Winnipeg or out in the forest, there are birds around. I would love to create more opportunities for a variety of folks to get involved with the IBA program, and birding in general.  

As I recently shared on the MCSI website, my favourite bird of all-time (though my family and friends would argue that I have several of these), remains the black-capped chickadee. Though a common occurrence, I love the chickadee’s lively heartiness and deeply appreciate their perpetual presence on my cross-country ski outings during our long Manitoba winters, even on the coldest of days. 

A few other non-bird related things about me… In my spare time I love to hike and cross-country ski, do beadwork, play instruments and watch live music. My first language is French, and I am a proud Red River Métis with family ties to Saint-Boniface, Saint-Vital, and several other communities surrounding what is now Winnipeg.

I am very excited to be in this role and cannot wait to meet all of you!

Marissa

On July 23rd, Manitoba IBA held a second Red-headed Woodpecker blitz for the month of July. Using predetermined birding areas and routes with past sightings marked, four groups headed down to the Oak Lake/ Plum Lakes IBA on what turned out to be a sunny and not too hot Saturday.

This was our first blitz down in Oak Lake for Red-headed Woodpeckers this year. Luckily we were able to do a blitz last summer in August, which provided us with a guide to areas in the IBA that may have the Woodpecker. We had eight people split into pairs to make up 4 groups, which meant we could cover a larger area of the IBA. Below is the overview of the routes explored during the blitz. The protocol for exploratory Red-headed Woodpecker surveys allows for responsible use of playback of their call, as long as the birder has a permit.

Not shown on the map is Group 4, made up of Amanda and Duane, who birded North of the No. 1 HWY which is an area that we have only briefly previously explored.

Group 1 was made up of Glennis and Sandy. During the blitz, they did not observe any Red-headed Woodpeckers. Once the event was over, they continued to bird and eventually came across one individual, so every group that day saw at least one at some point in the day. Exciting sightings for Group 1 included three Turkey Vultures, one Bobolink (a threatened species), and five Lark Sparrows.

Group 2 was made up of Gillian and Kathryn. Throughout the course of the event, they observed five Red-headed Woodpeckers. In addition to the woodpeckers, they identified a number of other species including some that were not identified by any other group. This includes a Wild Turkey and a White-faced Ibis. They also identified species such as an Eastern Wood Pee-wee, two Vesper Sparrows and Americans Goldfinches.

Group 3 was Wally and I (Ariel). We birded north of the Lake, starting on PR. 254. During our surveys, we saw a lot of suitable habitat for Red-headed Woodpeckers (fields with sparse standing dead trees) that turned up no sightings, including an area that had sightings the previous year. In the first hour or so, we were pleased to see a variety of waterfowl and some birds of prey. Eventually we managed to identify a Red-headed Woodpecker by its call after using our speaker to playback their sound. After that we managed to identify a few more for a total of seven for the day. Other Interesting birds we spotted that morning were a group of about 100 Franklins Gulls, Pied-billed Grebes, two Baltimore Orioles, and various birds of prey including, Red-tailed Hawks, Swainson’s Hawk and a Northern Harrier. We were also we fortunate enough to actually see a Sora, strutting across the road (most often Sora are identified by their distinctive “whinny” call, rather than seen).

Group 4 was made up of Duane and Amanda. While birding a less visited area of the IBA, they observed a wide variety of birds. Last year Glennis explored this area during out 2021 Red-headed Woodpecker Blitz. She noted some good habitat, but had no luck seeing individuals. Duane and Amanda came across several of the good habitat areas pointed out by Glennis this year. It was only going down a two-track dirt and grass road (thanks to Duane’s truck!) that we were able to get a Red-headed Woodpecker sighting! This is a first for our IBA blitzes in this area, and we will have to keep searching in this area for upcoming blitzes as well. Some of their other interesting sightings include Cedar Waxwings, one Common Merganser, many Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers including recently fledged young (which they thought would be their only woodpecker species of the day for most of the survey time), an Orchard Oriole, and a Brown Thrasher.

Around noon, the groups met up at the Oak Lake marina for a snack and to share our sightings for the day. We had a total of 13 Redheaded Woodpeckers seen during the blitz. Around 1:00 pm, we set off back to Winnipeg while Groups 1 and 2 continued to bird for fun (and to try and find more Red-headed Woodpeckers). A summary of all the species identified can be found below. We saw a total of 82 species (plus woodpecker sp. and sparrow sp.) and a total of 1,023 individuals. Thank you to our Duane Diehl, Gillian Richards, Kathryn Hyndman, Glennis Lewis, Sandy Hominick and Wally Jansen for making the drive down and blitzing with Amanda and I!

Species	Number of Individuals
American Coot	4
American Crow	16
American Goldfinch	25
American Kestrel	10
American Robin	17
American White Pelican	24
Baltimore Oriole	4
Barn Swallow	29
Black Tern	55
Black-billed Magpie	15
Black-capped Chickadee	4
Blue Jay	6
Blue-winged Teal	7
Bobolink	13
Brewer’s Blackbird	10
Brown Thrasher	2
Brown-headed Cowbird	2
Canada Goose	1
Canvasback	2
Cedar Waxwing	18
Chipping Sparrow	1
Clay-colored Sparrow	11
Cliff Swallow	1
Common Grackle	20
Common Merganser	1
Common Raven	10
Common Yellowthroat	6
Eastern Bluebird	1
Eastern Kingbird	32
Eastern Wood-Pewee	1
European Starling	1
Forster’s Tern	2
Franklin’s Gull	115
Gadwall	9
Gray Catbird	4
Great Blue Heron	1
Horned Lark	1
House Sparrow	10
House Wren	31
Killdeer	4
Lark Sparrow	13
Least Flycatcher	14
Lesser Scaup	7
Mallard	63
Marbled Godwit	2
Marsh Wren	1
Merlin	1
Mourning Dove	37
Nelson’s Sparrow	1
Northern Flicker	11
Northern Harrier	2
Northern Shoveler	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
Orchard Oriole	1
Pied-billed Grebe	6
Purple Martin	1
Red-eyed Vireo	2
Redhead	1
Red-headed Woodpecker	13
Red-necked Grebe	2
Red-tailed Hawk	6
Red-winged Blackbird	94
Ring-billed Gull	2
Ring-necked Duck	1
Rock Pigeon	4
Ruddy Duck	3
Savannah Sparrow	12
Sedge Wren	3
Song Sparrow	21
Sora	10
Sparrow sp.	34
Swainson’s Hawk	2
Tree Swallow	27
Turkey Vulture	26
Vesper Sparrow	3
Western Kingbird	5
Western Meadowlark	29
White-faced Ibis	1
Wild Turkey	2
Wilson’s Snipe	9
Woodpecker sp.	1
Yellow Warbler	9
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	10
Yellow-headed Blackbird	5
Total Number of Individuals	1,023

This spring, volunteers and the staff of Manitoba IBA headed out to once again conduct International Shorebird Surveys at four IBAs: Oak Hammock Marsh; the North, East and West Shoal Lakes; Oak/Plum Lakes; and Whitewater Lake. Last year, dry weather altered the preferred habitat of shorebirds and this year was the same, although instead of dried up wetlands and ditches, flooded fields and higher water levels were the norm, creating an interesting survey period.

The Spring International Shorebird Surveys (ISS) are conducted between April 1st and June 15th with the peak of the season occurring between April 24th and May 16th. Using our protocol (adapted from the ISS Protocol from Manomet), four IBAs are surveyed, with a number of routes to cover. Whitewater Lake has 4 routes on the east side of the lake, 3 on the west side and one stationary route. Oak Lake has 5 routes, 2 of which are stationary. Oak Hammock Marsh has 3 routes, although one was not assessable this year due to high water levels. Finally, the North, East and West Shoal Lakes has 4 routes. Each route at each location is normally monitored three times in the spring. While all species observed should be recorded under ISS protocol lists, only shorebirds are included in the data. Some surveys that were completed for ISS did not contain any shorebird sightings, so while a site may have been monitored a number of times, the surveys with actual shorebird sightings may be less. All four locations are summarized below:

Oak Hammock Marsh

Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion (%) of Individuals
Killdeer	2	3
Marbled Godwit	6	10
Willet	8	12.90
Wilson’s Phalarope	46	74.19
Total	62	100
Total # of Species	4

The results from Oak hammock Marsh show us the contrast between this spring and last spring. This year, only four species were identified during the ISS period. The number of individuals amongst those species is also much lower than spring 2021.

Route 1 and Route 2 were surveyed once during this period and the shorebird scrape was monitored twice. Route 3, the Teal Dike, became flooded and collapsed so it was not assessable to monitor. Overall the high water levels would most likely have affected the habitat for shorebirds, thus the lower numbers.

West, East and North Shoal Lakes

Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion (%) of Individuals
American Avocet	12	22
Greater Yellowlegs	2	4
Killdeer	13	24
Shorebird sp.	4	7
Lesser Yellowlegs	1	2
Marbled Godwit	5	9
Spotted Sandpiper	1	1.82
Whimbrel	6	10.91
Willet	7	12.73
Wilson’s Phalarope	4	7.27
Total	55	100
Total # of Species	10

Shoal Lakes was surveyed 14 times over the spring ISS period. It is important to note that multiple routes can be surveyed on one day. Route 1 was surveyed five times, route 2 was surveyed twice, route 3 was surveyed once, route 4 was surveyed five times and the stationary “Campground” point was surveyed three times.

Oak/Plum Lakes

Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion (%) of Individuals
American Avocet	2	3
Killdeer	17	23
Least Sandpiper	1	1
Marbled Godwit	4	5
Pectoral Sandpiper	1	1
Spotted Sandpiper	10	13.33
Willet	9	12
Wilson’s Phalarope	30	40
Wilson’s Snipe	1	1.33
Total	75	100
Total # of Species	9

Oak Lake has rive shorebird routes, including two that are stationary (route 3 and 5). Of these routes, route 1 was surveyed twice, route 2 was surveyed twice, route 3 and route 4 were surveyed once. Flooding over a low spot in the access road meant that Route 5 (a small wetland), was not able to be surveyed. In total, volunteers visited the IBA to surveyed six times.

Whitewater Lake

Species	Total # of Individuals	Proportion (%) of Individuals
American Avocet	33	3
Baird’s Sandpiper	37	4
Dunlin	6	1
Greater Yellowlegs	1	0
Hudsonian Godwit	15	2
Killdeer	14	1.47
Least Sandpiper	3	0.31
Lesser Yellowlegs	23	2.41
Marbled Godwit	5	0.52
Pectoral Sandpiper	15	1.57
Peep sp.	66	6.92
Red Necked Phalarope	315	33.02
Ruddy Turnstone	3	0.31
Sanderling	4	0.42
Semipalmated Sandpiper	166	17.40
Shorebird sp.	10	1.05
Short-billed Dowitcher	1	0.10
Spotted Sandpiper	3	0.31
White-rumped Sandpiper	176	18.45
Stilt Sandpiper	7	0.73
Willet	15	1.57
Wilson’s Phalarope	35	3.67
Wilson’s Snipe	1	0.10
Total	954	100
Total # of Species	23

Whitewater Lake was visited by volunteers to survey 14 times in total. Sexton’s point, the only stationary route, was surveyed three times. On the west side of the Lake, route W1 was surveyed three times, route W2 was surveyed six times and route W3 was surveyed twice. On the east side of the lake, each route was monitored once due to wet conditions and dirt roads.

Based on these summaries, it is clear that the wet weather Manitoba has experienced this spring affected the ISS monitoring season. All four IBAs showed numbers inconsistent with previous years and there was much less variety in the shorebird species observed. Like last year, Whitewater Lake had the highest counts for shorebirds of the four IBAs but the number was greatly reduced. We have several hypothesis as to why this might be, but of course we do not know for certain. Perhaps it is possible that migratory shorebirds were simply staying in areas where it was less wet, possibly areas across the border in Saskatchewan, as the IBAs all had much higher water levels that the previous year. Or if the shorebirds were in Manitoba, perhaps they were spread over the higher-than-normal number of ephemeral (temporary) wetlands spread across the landscape this year, instead of clustering at our usual shorebird “hotspots”. If weather is indeed influencing numbers of shorebirds, It will be interesting to see what the Fall ISS period brings, and then next spring.

Another thing to consider is volunteer “effort”. Of course our volunteers put in a lot of effort to go out and count shorebirds, but effort also has a meaning scientifically as well. Ideally when comparing between years we want to amount of effort to be standardized as much as possible. For example, going out to survey for 5 hours on three different mornings (15 hours of “effort”) will likely net you more birds than surveying for five hours on one morning (5 hours of “effort”). Our big disruptor of effort this year was the residual snow late into the spring, wet road conditions (on dirt roads), and/or collapsed dikes. While trying to survey each route three times in the spring is important, volunteer safety and safe route access is more important.

Once again, summaries like this are possible because of the time and effort of volunteers, so thank you to everyone who went out and monitored this spring! A big thank you to Glennis Lewis, Tim Poole and Ansley Woods for surveying at Oak Lake; Gillian Richards for surveying at Oak Lake and Whitewater Lake, Duane Diehl and Tom and Renee Will for surveying at Whitewater Lake; Bonnie Chartier, Mike Karakas, Tami Reynolds for surveying at Oak Hammock Marsh and the Shoal Lakes; and Jo Swartz and Jan Bradley for surveying at the Shoal Lakes.

If you are interested in volunteering for our fall International Shorebird Surveys, we are looking for volunteers! Believe it or not, we are already in the fall ISS survey period, which runs until October 25th, 2022. Email iba@naturemanitoba.ca for more information.

-Ariel