The weather for our fall weed pull could not have been more different from our summer weed pull! The twelve of us “braved” the sun and 21oC weather on September 25th to improve the habitat on Sandy Bar, have fun and do a bit of birding. It was certainly not a hardship! Thank to Megan, Leila, Jessica, Andrea, Lauren, Joanne, Alain, Cindy, Jock, Julie and Mark for your work helping to restore this Important Bird Area!
Our weed pull group! Photo by A. Shave.
The goal of the weed pull is to clear invasive vegetation from this Special Conservation Area that was created to protect the historical nesting habitat for the Endangered Piping Plover. While Piping Plovers have not been seen in the area for several years, it is also important habitat for many other breeding shorebirds, gulls and terns, as well as migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. The presence of vegetation on this sand bar has reduced habitat quality over the past 10 years. Our goal with the weed pull is to return the habitat back to the sand bar and mudflats that are key habitat for a variety of bird species.
After picking up coffee and muffins in Gimli I drove out to meet our volunteers at the Sandy Bar Beach parking lot at 8:00 am. Our weed pull area is approximately 1 km from the parking lot, so after some coffee and snacks we divvied up our supplies and took a walk along the beach.
I had to take a quick detour to the shores of Lake Winnipeg in Gimli when I was picking up our refreshments for the morning to take a photo of the sunrise. Photo by A. Shave
From our summer weed pull back in August, the area that we historically have pulled the weeds from was still looking weed-free – which left us free to start on restoring habitat in a new area of the sand bar, directly adjacent to the original weed pull site. The majority of the vegetation we pulled is Sweet Clover, which you can see as the tall plant in the photos before the vegetation has been pulled.
Many of the birds who use the sand bar as habitat to nest make their nests directly on the ground. Having vegetation around the nests gives various predators the ability to sneak up on the nests, eggs and fledglings, so the birds prefer to nest in open areas where they have a good view of what is going on around them.
The weed pull area for the fall event before and after our volunteers got through with it! Photo by A. Shave.What a root! The evening primrose is not a weedy species, but has also started growing on the sand bar. Piping Plovers and other ground-nesting birds like gulls and terns do not like any type of vegetation on the ground. Photo by A. Shave.Leila, Megan and Julie hard at work near the beginning of the day. Photo by A. Shave.
After a couple of hours of weed pulling, we took a walk up the sand bar to the tip to do some birding and just enjoy the fantastic fall weather. Mark, Julie and Joanne were telling us about some of the history in the area, including that what we think of as a sand bar used to be completely underwater, with only two sand islands visible! That was certainly not the case this year with the beach sand bar being larger than ever due to the low water level in Lake Winnipeg.
An enthusiastic birding discussion happening, with the rest of the group waaayyy out on the tip of the sandbar. You can see that vegetation has really taken over near the point of the sand bar as well. Photo by A. Shave.Cindy, Jessica, Andrea, Lauren and Julie enjoying some post-weed pull snacks! You can see the area past the leaf bags that was cleared out by volunteers in our August weed pull. Photo by A. Shave.
Of course, we were also birding at the same time on the walk and highlights included Black-bellied Plovers, American Golden Plovers, Bald Eagles, a Peregrine Falcon and large flocks of Lapland Longspurs.
A Lapland Longspur spotted by Cindy. It was really camouflaged with the washed-up debris. Luckily it stayed in one spot for a while, which allowed a time for identification and photos. Photo by A. Shave.
Once again, thank you to all of our volunteers! We hope you had a great time, and are proud of the conservation work undertaken for the birds at Riverton Sandy Bar IBA! We hold weed pulls at this IBA each year, so if you are interested in this activity or would like more information about other IBA activities you can contact me (Amanda) and iba@naturemanitoba.ca.
If you have followed the Manitoba IBA program for a while, you may have noticed that we have held annual shorebird workshops in the spring for the past couple of years. With COVID-19 we have had to adapt, holding a shorebird identification webinar instead. This spring we were able to hold the practical portion of the eastern Manitoba shorebird workshop in person, but the situation worsened just before we were able to hold the western Manitoba practical portion of the workshop!
Luckily shorebirds migrate through the province twice a year – so we were able to catch them during fall migration to hold our in-person western Manitoba workshop. We usually use spring migration for these workshops as the shorebirds are in their fresh breeding plumages – about as easy as they get to identify. However, we had a great group of workshop attendees out to explore the identification of shorebirds in their fall plumages. Thank you to Gillian Richards, Glennis Lewis, Linda Boys, Carol Holmes, Brian Duff, Ken and Colleen Barclay and Tom and Renee Will for joining us!
The second challenge we faced this year was the low water levels due to the drought in Manitoba. My shorebird habitat motto this year has been “look for shorebirds where you would normally find ducks”. The usual shorebird habitat has dried up, but areas that usually hold deeper water are often at a good water depth for shorebirds now.
We saw shorebirds at all of our stops except the very first one (they flew away before we could get out of the cars to make an ID). Photo by A. Shave.
With that in mind, our group headed out to two different sites in southwestern Manitoba. First we went to Griswold Marsh. At our first stop on the eastern edge of the marsh there was a small group of shorebirds but unfortunately, they all took off as we pulled up – not helpful when trying to identify them! Luckily, we were able to head just a bit further west to get a different view of the same waterbody, as well as another couple of smaller ponds on the other side of the road.
Here we were able to see a good variety of shorebird species. The highlight of this stop for most of us were the Black-bellied Plovers. They are as eye-catching in their non-breeding plumage, but their stocky bodies and bills still make them stand out. We also had a very obliging individual who did a short flight to show the black “wing pit” that sets the Black-bellied Plover apart from the similar-looking American Golden Plover in any plumage.
Other shorebirds spotted were American Avocet, Killdeer, Pectoral Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs and Short-billed/ Long-billed Dowitchers. Dowitchers are always a tricky ID but they get especially tricky in the fall! Unfortunately, they were too far away, and not calling, so we cannot say for sure which species we were looking at.
American Avocet in non-breeding plumage at Griswold Marsh. Photo by A. Shave.
In recent years Griswold Marsh is usually more of a duck habitat, and waterfowl were still there aplenty. We saw Green-wing Teals, Blue-wing Teals, Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Mallards and Gadwall. We were also treated to four Tundra Swans coming in for a landing right in front of us!
Next we moved further west in the marsh, closer to the town of Griswold. We saw a few new species here including a Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and some very well camouflaged Wilson’s Snipe. We were treated once again to views of American Avocet, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs and Short-billed/ Long-billed Dowitchers.
Our next stop was the boat launch and then Lakeshore Drive (the road out to the weir) at Oak Lake Beach. Once again, in recent years this would tend toward duck habitat, but with the lower water levels this year the water along Lakeshore Drive has been shallow enough for a variety of shorebirds. We had a few repeat species here (Killdeer, Dowitchers, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs) but also still more new shorebird species!
Our last stop along Lakeshore Drive at Oak Lake Beach. In recent years, you’d be more likely to find ducks along here than shorebirds, but this year the water level is low. Photo by A. Shave.
We saw 14 American Golden Plovers, whose more delicate features were a contrast to the stockier Black-bellied Plovers seen at Griswold Marsh. Another new for the day shorebird species was a single Marbled Godwit that was hanging out amongst the Dowitchers. The highlight at Oak Lake Beach was a White-faced Ibis – a lifer for one of our workshop participants and always a joy to see!
White-faced Ibis. The iridescence on the back was in full display in-person, but unfortunately it did not translate as well through the camera! Photo by A. Shave.
A few other highlights at Oak Lake were a good view of a young Cooper’s Hawk and some distant flocks of Sandhill Cranes, who provided an atmospheric fall soundtrack to our birding.
This young Cooper’s Hawk fits in perfectly with the autumn colour scheme. Photo by C. Holmes.
If you would like to brush up on your shorebird ID, Manitoba IBA has put the Shorebird Identification webinar that Christian Artuso gave for us this spring up on our Youtube channel. You can find it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7X0Lxnb33g&t=857s
On August 28th the Manitoba IBA program held our first IBA blitz at Whitewater Lake since the start of the pandemic. We thought it would be a challenging day to find shorebirds due to the dry weather but we ended up finding a few key pockets of a good number and variety of birds.
As we all know it has been a very dry year across Manitoba, and our western IBAs are no exception to this. I suspect it played a role in our low attendance numbers at our Whitewater blitz – it is a long drive when you expect shorebird numbers to be very low. However, we had our small, but mighty force our to bird on August 28th! Myself and the IBA program’s two summer students (Ariel Desrochers and Vicky Tang) made one blitz team. This was a fun last outing as August 28th was their very last day on the job! The second team was made up of Kathryn Hyndman, Doug Ford and Carla Keast.
The IBA staff took the eastern half of the IBA while Kathryn, Doug and Carla took the western half. Our plan was to meet up just after noon at Sexton’s Point. I had predicted a few sites in each part of the IBA which were most likely to still be holding shallow water based on recent eBird reports that our volunteers had been sending in. I had hoped this would both maximize our chances of seeing shorebirds and concentrate our searching to the most likely spots, rather than try to cover the massive amount of ground in this IBA.
Our plan of attack for the Whitewater Lake IBA blitz.
Starting off on the western portion of Whitewater Lake Kathryn, Doug and Carla were able to cover a great amount of the IBA along the lakeshore. Unfortunately, they didn’t see a great variety of shorebirds, however they certainly saw a diversity of other birds! It was also Carla’s first trip to Whitewater Lake, so we are glad she had a great time!
On the southwest side of the lake, they came across a mixed group of migrating swallows including Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows and Cliff Swallows. They also saw a good-sized flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds, counting 100 individuals. No shorebirds were seen on this part of the route, the closest they got to water-associated birds were six Pelicans.
Carla, Kathryn and Doug saw several mixed grouped of migrating swallows at several points along their survey route. Photo by K. Hyndman
On to the west size of the marsh, a highlight was a Grey Partridge who was certainly not hiding as it perched atop a pile of vegetation. The pattern of bird sightings continued from the south side as another flock of swallows was seen, this time comprised of 65 Barn Swallows, and representing the blackbirds was a flock of 500 Red-winged Blackbirds. They did manage to find two shorebird species along this route. 10 Greater Yellowlegs and one Lesser Yellowlegs were spotted.
A Grey Partridge playing king-of-the-castle seen by Carla, Kathryn and Doug. Photo by K. Hyndman.
As they rounded the northwest corner of the marsh a few more shorebirds crept into sight. Three American Avocets, one Killdeer, eight Greater Yellowlegs and six Lesser Yellowlegs were spotted. Some other highlights included 120 Franklin’s Gulls, three Red-tailed Hawks and a Bald Eagle.
This young Red-winged Blackbird was spotted near a marshy area beside a slough along a road on the south side of Whitewater marsh. What a lovely subtle mix of colour and pattern! Photo by K. Hyndman.
I had expected the Manitoba IBA staff group to be able to get through more of our side of the IBA than we did! Our first stop along the lakeshore netted us a few shorebirds, but our second stop along the remains of the old viewing mound took us almost all morning! With some careful driving and walking (watch out for those holes!) we saw more shorebirds than we had first expected. This was my first time out to the mound, but I could certainly tell that there were areas of sand/ mudflat exposed that are not normally exposed, and shallow areas of water that are not normally shallow. We had a great time birding at the old mound, with both Ariel and Vicky remarking it was their favourite site they had visited with the IBA program all summer.
Ariel on the old viewing mound. The muddy/ sandy areas to the left of the mound are normally underwater. Photo by V. Tang.
Most of the shorebirds were seen in clusters on the east side of the road and mound, difficult to see with the sun climbing in the east. However, we were still able to ID a good number and variety of shorebirds and other species. This includes 974 American Avocets, two Semipalmated Plovers, seven Killdeer, four Stilt Sandpipers, 81 Least Sandpipers, 28 Baird’s Sandpipers, two Semipalmated Sandpipers, nine Wilson’s Phalarope, two Spotted Sandpipers, two Greater Yellowlegs, 13 Lesser Yellowlegs, one Willet, 23 Short-billed/ Long-billed Dowitchers and 8 other peeps.
A non-shorebird highlight while driving along the road between our first stop and the viewing mound was two young Peregrine Falcons! It took us a bit to double check what we were looking at between our various books and bird apps to be sure of what we were seeing before reporting it. None of us had seen one outside of a city landscape before.
A group of shorebirds that didn’t require me to take a photo directly into the sun! Photo by A. Shave.A Least Sandpiper that we encountered while walking back to the car. It was too busy foraging to pay us any attention. Photo by A. Shave.
The mound took up a large portion of our morning, but while we were making our way up to Sexton’s Point, we took a quick drive up the ISS sites on the east side of the lake. Gillian Richards, one of the Whitewater Lake IBA Caretaker and International Shorebird Surveyor extraordinaire, had mentioned in her last visit to Whitewater Lake that these ISS routes were totally dry. Due to a few good rains since then, they actually had shallow standing water in a few places, but only a couple of Yellowlegs were seen here and there. There are a few portions of the ISS routes that require walking, which we didn’t do, so perhaps there was still more to see there.
An area of largely American Avocets that were out on a sandbar that seemed like it would normally be underwater. We were able to walk to a fair ways to be able to count them before the water briefly covered the bar. Photo by A. Shave.
At Sexton’s Point there was also more water than we expected! Kathryn had been out to Whitewater Lake around a week earlier and remarked how much the water had come up with the recent rains. An area where she had previously walked out to see shorebirds was now flooded. That is not to say all was back to “normal” as the water was still very noticeably low. However, it did mean there was a decent collection of shorebirds to count, and for Kathryn, Doug and Carla to see, as their route was sparse with shorebirds.
Walking out past Sexton’s point. This area is normally underwater, but was at least there was more water along the shore than in the previous couple of weeks. Photo by V. Tang. Kathryn and Carla viewing shorebirds at Sexton’s point. This area is normally underwater! A variety of plants had colonized previously open mudflats. Photo by A. Shave.
The most numerous birds at the point were Franklin’s Gulls with a total of 511 individuals. We also added three Semipalmated Plovers, 35 Least Sandpipers, three Pectoral Sandpipers, one Wilson’s Phalarope, 11 Greater Yellowlegs and 56 Lesser Yellowlegs to our shorebird total for the day.
A small portion of the gulls at Sexton’s Point. Photo by A. Shave.Semipalmated Plovers foraging in the mudflat at Sexton’s Point. Photo by A. Shave.
After doing some birding together, and sharing some muffins and fruit, we headed our separate ways. Overall, we saw 51 species and 3,531 individuals. I am not sure about everyone else who joined that day, but I was certainly thinking about what a difference a couple of days of change in weather can make in a bird’s habitat! It is marvelous how adaptable they can be!
With this latest instalment about grassland birds from Nate we will hear about the Short-Eared Owl!
It’s about time we talk about one of the most charismatic and iconic groups of birds found all across the world, owls! This particular species of interest today can be found throughout all Canadian provinces and territories during the breeding season – the Short- Eared Owl. The Short-Eared Owl makes use of a wide variety of open habitats, including grasslands, old pastures, and occasionally breeds in agricultural fields. Preferred nesting sites include dense grasslands. Perhaps this post should have been kept for Halloween as Short-Eared Owls are sometimes called “ghosts of the grassland” or “ghosts of the open country” due to their flight pattern and pale colour.
Unfortunately this Short-Eared Owl’s ear tufts are not visible in this photo. Photo by Christian Artuso.
Identification
These owls can be identified by their almost perfectly rounded head with light brown borders around its cream white face. Their bright yellow eyes are contrasted by black eye patches that fan to the side making this bird look like it put on some mascara and fake eyelashes that slipped to the side. Its breast is cream-coloured with light brown streaking which becomes a dark brown ‘collar’ closer to the head region. This dark brown colouration with caramel streaking continues to the rear portion of the animal and covers the wings. But where does its name come from? Well, if you look rather closely you may see two tiny protrusions from the top of its head similar, albeit much smaller, to those found on the Great Horned and Long- Eared Owls.
What about those ears?
I’ve got some shocking news for you all but the real ears on owls aren’t even visible! What you’re actually seeing is extensions of feathers we like to call ‘ear tufts’ and are scientifically named ‘flumicorns’, potentially the greatest name in anatomy history. There isn’t a definitive answer as to why they have these tufts but some theories include improved camouflage, looking extra spooky to scare off potential predators, or to impress a mate during courtship. The ears of an owl are essentially holes covered in feathers in a rather strategic fashion. Owls hunt primarily with their hearing so their head is modified to capture sound at an impressive rate. Owls have a facial disk profile which means their facial features seem caved in and surrounded by a ‘bowl’ of raised feathers, giving their face an appearance similar to that of a satellite dish. These feathers can then be adjusted to better direct sound to the ear holes depending in the direction of the sound. Their ears also have another adaptation that makes them superb listeners. They are offset, meaning one is higher up on the head than the other, which allows the owl to determine if sounds are coming from above or below. With these combinations of features, owls can precisely triangulate the location of prey, even under a layer of grass or snow.
Ear of a Northern Saw-Whet Owl hidden on the side of its head. Photo from Buffalo Bill Center of the West. A Short-Eared Owl’s ear is located in a similar spot.
Life History
Adults feed primarily on voles but will hunt for a mix of smaller mammals including pocket gophers, muskrats and bats; a true variety of prey from the ground, water and sky! They also feed on a range of smaller birds including gulls, songbirds and shorebirds. Short- Eared Owls are one of the few owl species that build their own nest, with the female excavating a bowl-shaped indent and lining the cavity with grass and feathers. The female will lay an average of four to seven eggs and will produce a second brood if eggs are eaten or destroyed. During the breeding season they are easily disturbed by humans and will abandon nests due to nearby human activity. If food availability is plentiful they may stick around in their wintering range to breed.
Conservation
Short-Eared Owls are facing a decline in population size due mostly to a loss of suitable habitat. These birds require large open and continuous areas that haven’t been broken up by activities that cause habitat fragmentation (the division of one large area into smaller patches of land). These fragmentations are often attributed to grassland conversion to cropland, livestock grazing, recreation and urbanization. The presence of invasive plant species and grasslands being taken over by shrubs, further disturbs the habitat for these birds. Although mostly nesting in grassland thickets, tundra with vegetation and occasionally overgrown pastures, these owls can also be found in wetlands and sagebrush thickets during the non-breeding season provided the habitat is large and continuous with no fragmentation. Their wintering habitat is a bit more flexible with owls being found in woodlots and coastal marshes. If habitat fragmentation wasn’t enough, the drainage of wetlands in coastal regions have impacted wintering ranges of Short-Eared Owls. Although the availability of open areas is instrumental in this owl’s distribution, food availability also dictates whether they will remain in an area. Their population size tends to fluctuate with the population cycles of their prey which is common with most predatory species. The COSEWIC listing of Short-Eared Owls was changed from special concern to threatened as of May 2021 but still remains a species of special concern under SARA. They are classified as threatened under the Manitoba Endangered Species at Ecosystems Act. Habitat restoration projects have helped Short-Eared Owl populations by restoring and preserving suitable habitat free from fragmentation and invasive plant species.
With fall migration still ongoing through the month of September, Manitoba IBA programming is still ongoing as well! We have two events this month, see below for more details.
Our first event is the long postponed practical component of the western Manitoba shorebird identification workshop held over from this spring when it was cancelled due to COVID-19. While we will no longer be looking at the spring plumage of shorebirds, they are heading back through on fall migration and we will be able to learn to ID the fall plumage.
The workshop will take place on Saturday, September 18th, 2021 at 8:30 am. The location is still to be decided but will include a combination of the Deleau Wetlands, Chain Lakes, Griswold Marsh and/ or Whitewater Lake. We will scout the sites out ahead of time and plan a good route closer to the workshop date to get optimum shorebird viewing opportunities in this dry year. For more information or to sign up please email: iba@naturemanitoba.ca
Our second event is our weekend Weed Pulling for Plovers event at Riverton Sandy Bar. Our summer weed pull in August left us with some rainy weather, but we are hoping for a sunny September! The weed pull is always a good time and will include some birding up the sand bar in the IBA as well.
We will meet Saturday, September 25th at 8:00 am at the Sandy Bar Beach parking lot for some coffee and refreshments before heading to the sand bar to restore habitat for shorebirds. For more information or to sign up please email: iba@naturemanitoba.ca
History has proven that rain nor cold weather ever stopped the IBA from hosting the Riverton Sandy Bar Weed Pull! Luckily (as it were) this August we were in for a rainy, but not cold forecast. With some back and forth between Amanda and Joanne (the Riverton Sandy Bar IBA Caretaker) we decided to go ahead with the event.
And so, on Friday August 20th, we had a group of dauntless volunteers head to the Riverton Sandy Bar to pull weeds. Thank you to Joanne, Lynnea, Jon and Bonnie for joining Amanda, Ariel, and I for an active day on the beach!
By removing the weeds from the sand bar, we create the ideal nesting habitat for shorebirds, specifically Piping Plovers. The last time Plovers were confirmed at the Sandy bar was in the year 2000. This is likely due to the encroachment of white-sweet clover and other vegetation taking over the sand bar, as they like open beach. Our mission was to pull as many of them as we could to help make the habitat attractive to them again, should they chose to come back.
Starting location of the Weed pull with Joanne, Lynnea, Amanda, Bonnie, Ariel and Jon getting set up. Photo by Vicky Tang.
We started early in the morning at 8:30 AM with a fresh cup of coffee and some muffins upon arrival. It was lightly raining as expected, but we continued to walk towards the sand bar, eager to get started. We all grabbed a bag and went on our way through the weeds.
The rain stopped by the time we got to the bar and it did not pick up again until noon. We were fortunate to get the heft of the work done by then.
Lynnea (left), Vicky (center), Ariel (right) and Joanne (bottom) pulling weeds and showing off their rain gear. Photos by Amanda Shave and Vicky Tang.
We first concentrated on pulling the sweet clover, as it does the most damage to the open, sandy beaches needed for shorebird habitat. Once we cleared the clover from our main weed pull area we yellow primrose out too to get a vegetation free area for the birds. By 1:00 PM, we had made a big difference in the scenery.
Before and after photos of the sand bar. Photos by Vicky Tang.
Everyone worked together, having good conversations, and making new connections throughout. We all agreed that this was a much-needed get-together after a lonely year from the pandemic. Sunshine or not, it was a fun time!
Bags filled to the brim with weeds. Photos by Vicky Tang and Amanda Shave
After we had no more bags to fill (and we were all tired out), Joanne, Amanda and I took a walk down the bar to get some birding done. By this time, it was raining harder with the wind blowing into our faces. The shower was worth it though, as we reached the end of the bar, we saw a threatened Buff-breasted Sandpiper! Other birds we saw included, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Sanderlings, Least Sandpipers, Baird’s Sandpiper, Franklin’s Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Common Terns, Bonaparte’s Gulls, and Pelicans, among others.
A Buff-breasted Sandpiper at the end of the sand bar was our reward for braving the wind and rain at the end of the weed pull. Photo by Joanne Smith.
We also had a few other interesting flora and fauna sightings. If you are a birder you may have heard of a “leaf bird” – those tricky leaves that hang on to branches or fall just right to look like a bird or a “rock bird” – those tricky things! We came across what we thought was a sad sight, a swan that had passed away and washed up on the shore… happily after taking a look through binoculars it was just an interesting configuration of debris and garbage that had washed up on the sandbar – a “garbage bird” perhaps!
A lone sunflower on the bar and a pretty moth from the Noctuidae family by the weeds. Photos by Vicky Tang and Amanda Shave.
All in all, it was a great weed pull with seven people. Thank you to all the volunteers that came out! We made a great difference in the habitat where we concentrated our weed pulling efforts, but there is still more to do. We hope to have better weather next time and continue this guessing game with mother nature at our next weed pull in September! Stayed tuned for more information about the next weed pull this fall from Amanda, coming up soon.
Here is the completed list of birds we observed that day:
Today we are going to take a break from IBA event posts and join Nate again to talk about another North American grassland bird – this time the Baird’s Sparrow.
The Baird’s Sparrow is a rare sight during the summer but their song is an iconic staple of the sounds of a prairie summer. Baird’s Sparrows are a true grassland species, hunting prey and avoiding predators by moving swiftly through the grass. Picture that iconic scene of a person running away from a tiger in the tall grass, except the person is a grasshopper, the tiger is a sparrow, and the grass is 2 feet tall. These birds will often build their nests in small depressions such as hoof prints and are more tolerant of agricultural livestock habitats compared to some of the other grassland bird species.
Baird’s Sparrow in Manitoba’s Southwestern Mixed-Grass Prairie IBA. Photo by Christian Artuso.
Identification
I’m not going to lie to you, Baird’s Sparrows can be pretty tricky to tell apart just by looking at them. They have many similarities to other grassland sparrows and be easily confused with Nelson’s and LeConte’s Sparrows. Look for the very light brown eyebrow streak and a ‘Nike swoosh’-like chinstrap of the same colour that creates a bland collar area. Along the cheek area are a number of white and dark brown splotches which resemble moustache stripes. The collar and breast are separated by a dark brown streaky necklace that continues down to border the pale-yellow breast area. Their head is quite flattened on the top that gradually narrows into the beak. The pleasant song of the Baird’s Sparrow has a series of 3-5 descending ‘tinkly’ notes, finishing with a trill that sounds similar to a spring-loaded doorstopper being flicked. Identification by sound, rather than sight, might be your go-to for Baird’s Sparrows!
Life history
These birds breed in the prairie regions of North America and can be found, or more likely heard, in the southwest corner of Manitoba. Little is known about their wintering range but a number of repeat mist net captures in Arizona over 3 years and further studies support overwintering in the Chihuahuan desert. There are often several pairs per an area of good habitat so interspecies competition is expected. Despite habitat crossover with other grassland bird species, there is little evidence of conflicts between different species (intraspecific competition). These fellas like to stay low to the ground, but the males will get up on the tallest piece of vegetation he can find and sing his little heart out to find his one love for the summer. Once paired, they will be partnered with their mate for the duration of that breeding season. The female will lay 4-5 pale gray eggs with brown splotches and can produce up to 2 broods per breeding season.
Side profile of a Baird’s Sparrow. Photo by Andy Bankert, Cornell All About Birds
Conservation
Between 1968 and 2015, Baird’s Sparrows saw a yearly population decline of 2.2%, accumulating to a 65% population decline in 47 years. These birds are currently listed as a species of special concern by COSEWIC and under the federal Species At Risk At (SARA) and listed as Endangered under Manitoba’s Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act. Several factors have influenced the decline of this bird including, urbanization, conversion to cropland and the suppression of prairie fires. As a destructive force it may seem confusing for the suppression of fire to be related to loss of habitat. Regularly burned areas reduce shrub growth and other un-desirable vegetation that is not suitable for grassland species such as the Baird’s Sparrow. Like the ‘phoenix rising from the ashes’, the regenerative growth from the burned vegetation brings Baird’s sparrows to the yard as well as other native grassland animals.
Author: Nathan “Nature Nate” Entz
Stay tuned next week for the last installment in Nate’s grassland bird series!
On August 14th, Manitoba IBA held the third bird blitz of the season at the Delta Marsh IBA. Our objective for this event was to record all birds we saw, however, special attention was to be given to any Species at Risk that might have been sighted. Waterbirds and shorebirds were also a special area of focus for the day due to their ideal habitat found in the IBA.
It was an early morning for the IBA staff and volunteers, starting our survey at 7:00 am or earlier in an effort to beat the heat that was coming. Luckily the day prior had been cool, so the morning was actually a great temperature. We were lucky to have a larger group of volunteers for this event and were able to cover more areas of the IBA. There were 15 of us in total including the IBA staff. We were separated into 6 different groups to cover 6 areas of the IBA.
Map of our survey areas for the day. Clandeboye Group walked along the beach in area D.
The groups were broken down as follows:
Group A: Katharine and John Schulz, Barbara Emberley
Group B: Rudolf Koes and Garry Budyk
Group C: Jo Swartz and Rob Parsons
Group D: Pat Wally, Nathan Entz and Doreen Draffin
Group E: Vicky Tang, Amanda Shave and Ariel Desrochers
Clandeboye Group: Alyssa Stulberg and Theresa Mackey
We had no set routes for the day. The goal for each group was to simply explore the area assigned and record all birds and observe the habitat. Various species were recorded and some in very large numbers.
Group A (Katharine, John and Barbara) observed 59 species during their survey. Many shorebirds were observed during their survey including the Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Wilsons Phalarope and Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs. Gulls and swallows were observed in large numbers. Otherwise, highlights of Group A consisted of three Virginia Rails, a large flock of approximately 24 Gray Partridge, a flock of Bank Swallows observed on the 44W just south of 80N, two Caspian Terns along the diversion and plentiful Red-tailed Hawks throughout!
A Solitary Sandpiper, Photo by Katharine Schulz
Rudolf and Garry were the members of Group B. They covered the area surrounding Delta Beach, observing various species along their survey. They walked along the beach itself as well as birding from their car as needed. Large numbers of shorebirds were spotted, including 126 Least Sandpiper, 100 peeps (unknown small shorebirds), 17 Semipalmated Plover and 52 Killdeer. They also observed large numbers of swallows, including 325 Bank Swallows, 161 Tree Swallows and 85 Purple Martins. They also took a swing over to the landfill on PR 227 after our lunch-time meet up to see what birds were around in addition to what Group C observed there.
As Group C Jo and Rob covered most of the area between PR 430 on east, to just west of Portage Creek and the PR 227 landfill. They also saw large numbers of birds including 1200 Franklin’s Gulls and 1088 Ring-billed Gulls, most of which were at the landfill. They also spotted 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers, a coveted bird of the year! (At least for us IBA staff who have been doing Red-head Woodpecker monitoring this year). In total, Group C observed 59 species.
Chatty Lesser Black-backed Gull, Photo by Garry Budyk
Alyssa and Theresa were our intrepid Clandeboye Group, who walked from St Ambroise Provincial Park west to Clandeboye Bay. They observed 28 species in total, with a mix of shorebirds, waterbirds and other species such as a Belted Kingfisher, a Great Blue Heron and a Black and White Warbler. The shorebirds they observed included Baird’s Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs.
A Merlin near Lynch’s Point. Photo by Katharine Schulz
Group D consisting of Pat, Doreen and Nate identified 45 species in total in the west portion of the marsh. They observed a variety of species including some shorebirds, various species of sparrow, hawks and waterbirds. An interesting sighting for them was the Eastern Wood-Peewee, a federal Species at Risk (special concern).
The IBA staff comprised Group E. We primarily birded while walking from where HWY 430 ends by the lake towards Twin Lakes beach. We noticed on our walk that the water level had been pushed back considerably due to drought conditions, leaving long stretches of empty shoreline. We observed 41 species including large numbers of Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Franklin’s Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants and 900 Brewer’s Blackbirds. We also saw what we thought may have been two separate families of Bald Eagles in their juvenile stage. The majority of shorebirds were seen closer to the end of HWY 430, with fewer seen near to Twin Lakes Beach.
Trying our best to count the birds while they move around! Photo by Amanda Shave
We all met up at the end of the blitz at the former boardwalk trail in the Delta Beach community for a well deserved snack in the shade. We got pretty lucky with the weather, as the morning was a lovely temperature. It was considerably hotter after our group get-together! In total we were able to identify 115 different species during the blitz. Again, a big thank you to everyone who came out! The full list of species identified and their counts can be found below.
We were fortunate enough to run our second event of the summer at Manitoba IBA on July 24th, a bird blitz out at Oak Lake/ Plum Lakes IBA. Our objective was to record all birds we saw but focus on finding Red-Headed Woodpeckers.
Oak Lake is a decent hike away from Winnipeg so the day began quite early for the IBA staff. After a three hour drive, we arrived at the Oak Lake/Plum Lake IBA. We were pleased to see that the area was relatively clear of smoke, after having so many days of limited visibility. We were a small group this day, with Group 1 consisting of Gillian, Kathryn and Katharine and Group 2 consisting of the IBA staff (Amanda, Vicky and I). A fourth volunteer, Glennis, formed an unofficial Group 3 at the last minute, and birded on her own to the north of Highway 1. We set out on two routes, with Group 1 taking an Eastern route and Group 2 taking a Southern route.
Photo by Vicky Tang of a curious cow. While no Red-headed Woodpeckers were seen in this pasture (no trees) the woodpeckers are often seen in areas with tree snags and cattle.
We also had two objectives on this blitz. The first was new for this year. We wanted to try setting up some Red-headed Woodpecker survey routes in and around the IBA. The objective of these specific routes is to follow very detailed protocol, hopefully picking up all possible Red-headed Woodpeckers in the area. It involved stopping every 300m in appropriate habitat, watching/listening for two minutes, using playback for 30 seconds and then watching for another two minutes. As this detailed protocol is not conducive to being able to move widely through the IBA (it can be quite slow if you are lucky enough to have a lot of good Red-headed Woodpecker habitat), outside of the survey routes, we completed our bird blitz in the familiar fashion.
Despite some suitable habitat, Group 2 (IBA staff) saw 5 Red-Headed Woodpeckers, including 3 in a previously known site and 2 in a new spot next to a farm. We could barely hear the two birds at the new site over the barks of a very curious dog. During our survey, It became clear that some of the habitat had changed over the years (compared to where Red-headed Woodpeckers have historically been sighted), with certain areas having lots of bushes grown in and new younger trees rather than taller dead ones, which isn’t ideal for the Woodpeckers. Other interesting sightings for our group included a Vesper Sparrow, 2 Swainson’s Hawks, 7 Red-tailed Hawks, and 4 American Kestrels. We also saw a large number of Red-winged Blackbirds, 175 at our best count! In total, our group spotted 24 different species.
Glennis investigated a possible Red Headed Woodpecker site where she thought she may have heard one, but could not get a positive IDs. Glennis and a few other group members searched this area (north of Highway 1 within the IBA) last year for Red-headed Woodpeckers but had no luck then either, despite seeing some possible decent habitat.
Group 1 had the most success with the Red Headed Woodpeckers. They saw at least 10 in total at 5 separate stops. Three Red-headed Woodpeckers were seen along the survey route just outside the IBA. There was a possible fourth individual but it was determined to likely be a repeat count as it flew into from the east (where a stop already occurred) in response to the playback. Seven Red-headed Woodpeckers were spotted inside the IBA. At this site two adults appeared to be feeding young in a nest (the young were not counted) so there were more individuals we could not count. A second site in the IBA had two individuals. Group 1 was able to identify a total of 45 species on their route. Some of their other interesting sightings include a Sprague’s pipit, an Eastern Wood-peewee and 2 Eastern Bluebirds. Sadly, bluebird numbers this year seem to be lower than previous years based on anecdotes from local birders. Another interesting sighting is the numerous European Starlings, which can be usually found in similar habitat to Red-Headed Woodpeckers. With recommendations from Group 2, we will likely be amending the Red-headed Woodpecker survey route next year to include some of mile road 137 W.
You might be wondering if we reached our IBA trigger threshold for Red-headed Woodpeckers. The threshold is 14 individuals inside an IBA. Unfortunately we only saw 12 individuals inside the IBA, so we didn’t quite make it, but we were close!
A lovely photo of an adult Red-headed Woodpecker captured by Katharine Schulz
Complicating the search for Red-headed Woodpeckers was the the dry, hot weather (and eventually windy). As we were doing our blitz round up and snacking at noon, all of a sudden a huge gust of wind started up – perhaps telling us that we should be on our way back to Winnipeg!
Thank you to our volunteers who braved the heat and strong wind to be with us! The full list of species counted is below! The map of our sightings and routes for the day is also below.
Species
Total
Mourning Dove
17
Killdeer
2
Black Tern
4
Turkey Vulture
2
Northern Harrier
1
Swainson’s Hawk
2
Red-Tailed Hawk
13
Red-Headed Woodpecker
13 (+3 outside the IBA)
Downy Woodpecker
4
Northern Flicker
5
American Kestrel
10
Eastern Wood Peewee
2
Least Flycatcher
9
Great Crested Flycatcher
1
Western Kingbird
1
Eastern Kingbird
24
Warbling Vireo
15
Black-billed Magpie
11
American Crow
20
Common Raven
24
Black Capped Chickadee
4
Tree swallow
5
Barn Swallow
23
Cliff swallow
25
House Wren
13
Marsh Wren
1
European Starling
30
Grey Catbird
3
Eastern Bluebird
2
American Robin
8
Cedar Waxwing
1
Sprague’s pipit
1
American Goldfinch
14
Chipping sparrow
1
Clay-coloured sparrow
2
Lark sparrow
1
Vesper Sparrow
2
Savannah Sparrow
9
Song Sparrow
8
Western Meadowlark
37
Baltimore Oriole
7
Red winged Blackbird
189
Brewers Blackbird
20
Common Grackle
2
Yellow Warbler
4
Pileated Woodpecker
1
blackbird sp.
20
Hawk sp.
1
Total Number of Birds
617
Total Number of Species
48
Green pins represent Group 2 sightings while Red pins represent Group 1 sightings.
Get your binoculars and rev up your engines! A as the morning arrived on July 17th, it was good weather (albeit hot) for a grassland bird search in Oak Hammock Marsh. We had our volunteers enjoy a nice walk and drive to the west side of the grasslands, exploring the tall-grass prairie to the north mound.
With the IBA Steering Committee a-okay, we conjured up our first public event of the year! COVID-19 protocols were maintained safely by us and our volunteers. Thank you to Pat, Carla, Al, and Cindy for joining us in the morning for a tour in the grasslands.
Amanda and I arrived at the meeting location at 6:50 AM, to scope out the area and in case any one came early. There were significantly more mosquitoes here than in the city, ouch! Good thing Amanda was fully prepared with bug spray, sunscreen, juice, and snacks. First thing in the morning were the distinct and gentle calls of the Mourning Dove and a busy Eastern Kingbird, flying back and forth across the road.
When three vehicles stopped at the shorebird scrape, we knew they were kindred birders for sure. Lo and behold, they were indeed our volunteers for today! They made their way to the gathering spot by just after 8:00 AM. Pat said she saw a Willet over at the scrape, which got everyone excited. We were ready to go, and so began our route. We managed to avoid (most) of the midday heat and in our respective vehicles. The map below traces our path through the grasslands and past the canola fields.
Map of our route including both driving and walking portions
We first started our route with a quick walk by the west side of the interpretive centre. Our first find, and a species we would encounter a few more times on the route were the Marsh (1) and Sedge (4) Wrens. They played a little game of peek-a-boo in the tall grass, making it difficult to get a good look, but their calls were distinct.
We then drove up to the path through the tall-grass prairie habitat north of the Interpretive Centre. The species that dominated the grasslands and wetland habitat mix were Savannah Sparrows (26), Clay-coloured Sparrows (25), and Red-winged Blackbirds (25). We heard four Common Yellowthroats and saw five Mallards fly by. There were a few mourning doves (4) calling in the distance from time to time, and we had one spotting of a Cedar Waxwing. At the end of our route, we stopped by a bridge, swarmed by swallows! It was a mix of Bank (3), Cliff (3), and Barn (30) Swallows to our best guess. It was difficult to tell exact numbers as they swirled around over and under the bridge. A Northern Harrier zoomed in on the Swallows out of nowhere and almost flew directly at us! However, the little birds started to bully the Harrier into a different direction. We had also seen another Harrier further back on the route. It was flying low in an empty field. It must have found something delectable there.
We saw only two Western Meadowlarks on the way there. We were expecting more Meadowlarks on the route, but they were mysteriously hard to find, we suspected a predator may have been in the area. And indeed, just down the road a raptor was scouting the from a hay bale (too far away to determine more than a silhouette), likely keeping the Meadowlarks at bay. On our way back, there was no sign of the raptor and we saw five more Meadowlarks – more what we had expected!
We had a catch of a Sharp-tailed Grouse flying by! It was quite fast, and I could not tell what it was, but Amanda recognized it instantly. We had an even rarer find further up the path. Right where the road curves right, we saw two Dickcissels! Unfortunately, they were against the sun and only briefly in sight before they flew off into the bushes. They were flying over the road a few times. Amanda had seen them earlier before the 17th when she was preparing the route, and sure enough, they were still there!
Overall, it was a nice warm-up event to meet the volunteers! Thank you again to Cindy, Al, Pat, and Carla for joining us. A list that summarizes the total birds we encountered can be found below.
Manitoba Important Bird Areas Program 