Following the Oak Lake blitz was the Sunday Whitewater extravaganza. As expected for a fabulous birdwatching area such as Whitewater Lake, the overall bird list was long and included some real gems. In total 28 species of shorebird were recorded, an impressive total. 19 people came along for the day, an what a day it was as well! The lake water levels were very high but the birds still concentrate in huge numbers.

The western group, including Tim Poole, Patricia Rosa, Jen Wasko and the star of the team, 6 year old Anna Wasko, never managed to find the lake but did find an impressive 21 species of shorebird in the ephemeral wetlands and potholes. Included in this total was a single Whimbrel picked up in the scope at distance (‘I know my Curlews’ said he). Anna was the blackbird and shoveller counter (she seemed to have a special affinity for shovellers). In total there were 52 Shovellers, 287 Yellow-headed Blackbird and 900 Red-winged Blackbird in this area, so she obviously has very good arithmetic! Other highlights included a single Hudwit (Hudsonian Godwit for the non-Brits), great views of Red-necked Phalarope and a poser of an Upland Sandpiper.

Along the south of Whitewater Lake, Bonnie Chartier, Glennis Lewis and Liz Shewchuk managed to record 74 species including half a dozen Cattle Egret and 150 Western Grebe. On the raptor front, they also managed to get a late view of a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Birding along the western edge, Pat and Dave Wally were joined by Lynnea Parker. This area covers not just the western shoreline, with some interesting roads, but also a large number of potholes and ephemeral wetlands. These areas can be incredibly rich for birds. Among the highlights were a Stilt Sandpiper among the 12 species of shorebird and very good numbers of both Western and Eared Grebe, plus smaller numbers of Horned and Red-necked Grebe.

The north of Whitewater was split between our caretakers Colin and Gillian. Colin was joined by Louanne Reid and lucked out with both Clark’s Grebe and Glossy Ibis, two rare species for Manitoba. Colin’s eBird notes say that:

‘On arrival at 6.15 a.m. and before the count began we heard or saw four Black-Crowned Night Herons, a Peregrine Falcon, White-faced Ibis, American Bittern and a Willet–a clue that today was going to be another good one at Whitewater.  Other wildlife observed: deer, fox squirrel, mosquitoes, wood ticks and other insects.’

They managed to find 262 Western Grebe, another 6 Cattle Egret, 18 species of shorebird and a couple of Peregrine. Of the shorebirds, most impressive were the large concentrations of Black-belled Plover, 191 in total. They also noted 100 Dunlin, 85 Ruddy Turnstone and a single each of Red Knot and Sanderling.

West of Colin and Louanne, Gillian was joined by the Barclay’s, Ken, Colleen and Dan, for the morning. As well as a stunning show from a Black-crowned Night Heron (see below), these guys really lucked out on the Black-bellied Plover, a total of 340 spread across several flocks. This species, a High Arctic breeder, is often synonymous with shorter grassland habitats during migration.

This Black-crowned Night Heron was really showing off! Photos copyright Gillian Richards

The eastern edge of the IBA was surveyed by Christian Artuso, Randy Mooi, Curator of Zoology at the Manitoba Museum, Aaron Mooi and Emily MacKintosh. Another Clark’s Grebe was detected at this end of the IBA. Franklin’s Gulls, over 4,500, were extremely numerous. A Prairie Falcon and a Snowy Egret also put in an appearance.

This group also scored 377 Western Grebe, a not too shabby 122 White-faced Ibis, 5 Red Knot, 422 White-rumped Sandpiper and a California Gull bringing a total of 88 species.

So to our final scores, we recorded a total of 136 species and 23,423 species. The most numerous species was the Franklin’s Gull with 5,561 individuals counted – probably an underestimate of the total. There were impressive numbers of Western Grebe, White-rumped Sandpiper and Black-bellied Sandpiper as well. Even the Snow Geese stayed for the fun! Mallard were unsurprisingly the most numerous duck, followed by Northern Pintail. White-faced Ibis also numbered at least 225, less than the August count but still very impressive. Here is the final list:

Snow Goose                                    324

Ross’s Goose                                   1

Canada Goose                                742

Wood Duck                                      1

Gadwall                                             380

American Wigeon                         46

Mallard                                              849

Blue-winged Teal                          363

Northern Shoveler                       474

Northern Pintail                             510

Green-winged Teal                       59

Canvasback                                     98

Redhead                                           397

Ring-necked Duck                         1

Lesser Scaup                                   64

Bufflehead                                      11

Hooded Merganser                      1

Ruddy Duck                                     373

Pied-billed Grebe                          20

Horned Grebe                                3

Red-necked Grebe                       5

Eared Grebe                                   312

Western Grebe                              1,004

Clark’s Grebe                                  2

Double-crested Cormorant       19

 

American White Pelican             100

American Bittern                           22

Great Blue Heron                          6

Great Egret                                      32

Snowy Egret                                    2

Cattle Egret                                     14

Black-crowned Night-Heron     77

Glossy Ibis                                        1

White-faced Ibis                            225

Turkey Vulture                               2

Northern Harrier                           11

Sharp-shinned Hawk                   1

Swainson’s Hawk                           11

Red-tailed Hawk                            10

Virginia Rail                                      5

Sora                                                    29

American Coot                               1,547

American Avocet                           169

Video taken by Tim Poole of an American Avocet at Whitewater

Black-bellied Plover                      544

American Golden-Plover           4

Semipalmated Plover                  26

Killdeer                                              144

Upland Sandpiper                         10

Whimbrel                                         1

Hudsonian Godwit                        1

Marbled Godwit                            13

Ruddy Turnstone                          89

Red Knot                                           6

Stilt Sandpiper                               10

Sanderling                                        1

Dunlin                                                157

Baird’s Sandpiper                          139

Least Sandpiper                             233

White-rumped Sandpiper         543

Pectoral Sandpiper                       57

Semipalmated Sandpiper          91

peep sp.                                            1

Short-billed Dowitcher                5

Wilson’s Snipe                                12

Wilson’s Phalarope                       422

Red-necked Phalarope               11

Spotted Sandpiper                       4

Solitary Sandpiper                        1

Greater Yellowlegs                       3

Willet                                                 38

Lesser Yellowlegs                          7

shorebird sp.                                   100

Bonaparte’s Gull                            10

Franklin’s Gull                                 5,561

Ring-billed Gull                               24

California Gull                                 1

Herring Gull                                     1

Caspian Tern                                   8

Black Tern                                        102

Common Tern                                20

Forster’s Tern                                 230

Rock Pigeon                                    35

Eurasian Collared-Dove              4

Mourning Dove                              88

Great Horned Owl                         2

Hairy Woodpecker                       3

Northern Flicker                            5

Merlin                                                2

Peregrine Falcon                           2

Prairie Falcon                                  1

Least Flycatcher                             10

Eastern Phoebe                             1

Say’s Phoebe                                  2

Western Kingbird                          16

Eastern Kingbird                            20

Warbling Vireo                               5

Blue Jay                                             2

Black-billed Magpie                      3

American Crow                              16

Common Raven                             6

Horned Lark                                     24

Tree Swallow                                  159

Bank Swallow                                 47

Barn Swallow                                  182

Cliff Swallow                                   395

Black-capped Chickadee            1

House Wren                                    12

Sedge Wren                                    10

Marsh Wren                                    37

Swainson’s Thrush                        3

American Robin                             59

Gray Catbird                                    3

Brown Thrasher                             2

European Starling                          56

Common Yellowthroat                1

Yellow Warbler                              26

Yellow-rumped Warbler             8

Le Conte’s Sparrow                      2

Nelson’s Sparrow                          1

Chipping Sparrow                         8

Clay-colored Sparrow                  60

Harris’s Sparrow                            1

Vesper Sparrow                             25

Savannah Sparrow                        89

Song Sparrow                                 88

Lincoln’s Sparrow                          1

Swamp Sparrow                            1

Bobolink                                           21

Red-winged Blackbird                 2,167

Western Meadowlark                 83

Yellow-headed Blackbird           2,062

Brewer’s Blackbird                        80

Common Grackle                          269

Brown-headed Cowbird             192

Orchard Oriole                               2

Baltimore Oriole                            6

American Goldfinch                     43

House Sparrow                              21

Moose                                              1

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Highlights for Whitewater Lake IBA Blitz:

On May 20th, 15 volunteers descended on Oak Lake for a blitz of the Oak Lake and Plum Lakes IBA. The following blog comes in three parts. In the first Patricia Rosa gives her account of the day monitoring with Lynnea Parker and Tim Poole. 

Our crew’s Oak Lake/Plum Lakes IBA Blitzing adventures started in the early hours of the morning with a nice pre-sunrise drive from Winnipeg. On our way, we got to see a surprisingly large Wild Turkey standing just a few feet from the highway (Lynnea’s first lifer of the day)!

Less than 1 km into our survey of the eastern boundary of this IBA, Tim heard a Yellow-throated Vireo. Although they are usually rather difficult to see, we had a great view of this one individual signing atop a tree, showing off his brilliant yellow markings. Our cameras were of course either out of reach, dead, or broken! Later on, we heard Black-and-white Warblers and Cape May Warblers, and saw the bright Eastern Bluebird in flight.

Throughout the morning, the Wilson’s Snipes were very prominent! We spotted a group of 5 nearby the road, and their howls seemed to follow us along our survey transect. We also caught a glimpse of a Sora, and some distant White-faced Ibises (that were not Glossy Ibises to Lynnea’s dismay!).

 

In the prairie sites,  Eastern and Western Kingbirds were seen hanging together on fences. The LBS (i.e. Little Brown Sparrows) were out and about, including many Clay-coloured, Savannah, Song, and Vesper Sparrows. Lynnea and I were lucky enough to hear a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow. We also encountered a photogenic Bobolink and got a good look at a Lark Sparrow perched near an agricultural field.

 

Four other groups were also busy across the IBA. Each group had been designated its own area:

Group number 1 took on the area between Highway 2 and the south of Plum Lakes. Glennis, Linda and Louanne found 62 species including 5 Ruddy Turnstone just south of Jiggin’s Bluff (see below). They also observed some late moving Tundra Swans. Other shorebirds were thinner on the ground but Willet could be located in and around the area.

The western grassland areas were covered by the Wally’s, Pat and Dave, and Katharine. Grassland birds still seemed on the low side but they did find a group of 18 Black-bellied Plovers and good numbers of Franklin’s Gulls. The White-faced Ibis, previously only seemingly a specialty of Whitewater Lake also put in an appearance.

Bonnie, Liz and Clay were responsible for a sizable area north of the TransCanada and covering the Assiniboine River Valley. Their highlights were Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Mountain Bluebird.

Finally Ward and Marlene birded a large area around Oak Lake Resort, including the beach and the dam. Wilson’s Phalarope, at least 200 were abundant just to the north of the resort. There were 5 species of grebe in the area (Red-necked, Horned, Eared, Western and Pied-billed). Another notable feature were the large numbers of Franklin’s Gull, at least 1,665. The total species count was 86.

After discussing with the other crews about their notable findings of the day, we all decided to head towards the south of Plum Lake to find Ruddy Turnstones and Black-bellied Plovers. They were not there when we arrived, but we were greeted by a great deal of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Eared Grebes, Common Terns, and American Coots (just to name a few!).

Eventually, a lone Black-bellied Plover showed up and stood still among a group of bird preening and bathing. Soon after, two Ruddy Turnstones and one Black-bellied Plover flew over the site at which point our lone plover opted to join them, and they were off!

Thank you to all of the BioBlitz volunteers!

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Tim Poole now gives an account of a bird walk at the Jiggin’s Bluff NCC property during the course of the morning

First the good news, 17 people turned out for a bird walk with Rebekah Neufeld of NCC and myself on a beautiful sunny day. The bad news is that high lake water levels around Plum Lakes meant that we didn’t quite get the expected bonanza of shorebirds. However we did get some great views of some great birds. There was also a piece in the Virden Empire and the Brandon Sun (see below).

Among the highlights were some very showy Bobolink, Baltimore Oriole and numerous ducks including those handsome blue-beaked Ruddy Ducks showing up well in the scope for the children to be able to see. We also had a cacophony of sound to contend with in the ‘bluff’ part of Jiggin’s Bluff, Least Flycatcher, Ovenbird and Rose-breasted Grosbeak among them. Here is the main photo from the Virden Empire:

Thanks to everyone for coming along and for Carleigh and Wayne for providing some local advertising. And of course thanks to NCC and Rebekah for being such great hosts. The final bird totals were added to our daily total which you can see below.

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Here’s a summary of what we found:

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Species Name                                         Species Count

Snow Goose                                               7

Canada Goose                                           238

Tundra Swan                                              18

Wood Duck                                                 3

Gadwall                                                        66

American Wigeon                                     6

Mallard                                                         292

Blue-winged Teal                                      280

Northern Shoveler                                   102

Northern Pintail                                         5

Green-winged Teal                                  15

Canvasback                                                 212

Redhead                                                      232

Ring-necked Duck                                     38

Lesser Scaup                                               87

Bufflehead                                                  18

Hooded Merganser                                 2

Ruddy Duck                                                 185

Ruffed Grouse                                           1

Wild Turkey                                                1

Pied-billed Grebe                                     8

Horned Grebe                                            4

Red-necked Grebe                                   1

Eared Grebe                                               154

Western Grebe                                         35

Double-crested Cormorant                  1

American White Pelican                         24

American Bittern                                       4

Great Blue Heron                                      8

Black-crowned Night-Heron                 3

White-faced Ibis                                        55

Turkey Vulture                                           7

Northern Harrier                                       8

Sharp-shinned Hawk                               1

Bald Eagle                                                    1

Swainson’s Hawk                                      4

Red-tailed Hawk                                        14

Virginia Rail                                                 2

Sora                                                                71

American Coot                                           231

American Avocet                                      10

Black-bellied Plover                                 19

Killdeer                                                         53

Upland Sandpiper                                     1

Marbled Godwit                                        9

Ruddy Turnstone                                      5

Wilson’s Snipe                                            49

Wilson’s Phalarope                                  253

Spotted Sandpiper                                   5

Willet                                                             7

Franklin’s Gull                                             2,070

Ring-billed Gull                                          1

Black Tern                                                    221

Common Tern                                            13

Forster’s Tern                                             9

Rock Pigeon                                                18

Mourning Dove                                         84

Black-billed Cuckoo                                  2

Great Horned Owl                                    1

Belted Kingfisher                                      1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker                       11

Downy Woodpecker                               1

Hairy Woodpecker                                   2

Northern Flicker                                        15

American Kestrel                                      2

Least Flycatcher                                        166

Eastern Phoebe                                         9

Great Crested Flycatcher                       5

Western Kingbird                                      22

Eastern Kingbird                                        37

Yellow-throated Vireo                            2

Philadelphia Vireo                                    1

Warbling Vireo                                          41

Blue Jay                                                        8

Black-billed Magpie                                 24

American Crow                                          27

Common Raven                                         16

Horned Lark                                                5

Northern Rough-winged Swallow      2

Purple Martin                                             4

Tree Swallow                                              72

Bank Swallow                                             71

Barn Swallow                                              144

Cliff Swallow                                               380

Black-capped Chickadee                        4

White-breasted Nuthatch                     3

House Wren                                                33

Sedge Wren                                                21

Marsh Wren                                                105

Eastern Bluebird                                        1

Mountain Bluebird                                   8

Swainson’s Thrush                                    2

American Robin                                         140

Gray Catbird                                                25

Brown Thrasher                                         2

European Starling                                     19

Cedar Waxwing                                         3

Ovenbird                                                      4

Black-and-white Warbler                       3

Tennessee Warbler                                 9

Common Yellowthroat                           8

American Redstart                                   2

Cape May Warbler                                   3

Yellow Warbler                                          340

Yellow-rumped Warbler                        8

Wilson’s Warbler                                       1

Le Conte’s Sparrow                                  13

Nelson’s Sparrow                                      1

Chipping Sparrow                                     19

Clay-colored Sparrow                              118

Lark Sparrow                                              7

Harris’s Sparrow                                        1

Vesper Sparrow                                        26

Savannah Sparrow                                   88

Song Sparrow                                             76

Swamp Sparrow                                        15

Rose-breasted Grosbeak                       10

Bobolink                                                       49

Red-winged Blackbird                             2,110

Western Meadowlark                             85

Yellow-headed Blackbird                       847

Rusty Blackbird                                          6

Brewer’s Blackbird                                    83

Common Grackle                                      70

Brown-headed Cowbird                         133

Orchard Oriole                                           1

Baltimore Oriole                                        63

Purple Finch                                                3

Pine Siskin                                                    2

American Goldfinch                                 50

House Sparrow                                          9

 

 

My name is Patricia Rosa and I will be working as IBA program assistant thanks to Urban/Hometown Green Team funding.

I am currently working on my PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Manitoba’s Natural Resources Institute. Prior to coming to Winnipeg, I completed a Master’s in Avian Behavioural Ecology and a Bachelor’s in Animal Physiology at Université de Montréal (yes, I speak French!).

I was first initiated to bird research in aviaries during my Master’s where I looked at how social factors affected mate choice and food preferences in Zebra Finches.

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Fun Finding: Copycats are lazy!

Female Zebra Finch that were lazier foragers were more likely to copy the choice of others when it came time to choose a mate or a new food source¹.

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The scale of my research has definitely expanded since my days in the aviaries! My current research consists of a large-scale, multi-year study assessing effects of oil infrastructure and anthropogenic noise on grassland songbirds (e.g. Baird’s Sparrow, Sprague’s Pipit, Vesper Sparrow)^2,. Over the course of four field seasons, my colleagues and I conducted avian transect surveys, used a very sophisticated method to find and monitor nests (i.e. drag a rope across the prairie to flush the parent off the nest, then proceed to carefully dig around the grass to locate and mark it for monitoring), and took nestling measurements and fecal samples from our most abundant species, Savannah Sparrow and Chestnut-collared Longspur, to determine if there are physiological disadvantages to growing up in a noisy area.

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Fun Finding: Singing in the noise

When confronted with the challenge of singing in the presence of loud drilling noise, Savannah Sparrows and Baird’s Sparrows altered their songs to attempt to compensate for this interference, but opted for different strategies: Savannah Sparrow sang at higher frequencies, while Baird’s Sparrow sang at lower ones³.

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Since grassland bird populations have endured steep constant declines and vast amounts of their habitat has already been lost, my research goal is to isolate potential negative effects driven by oil development to inform management decisions and the implementation of effective mitigation measures.

What I hope to achieve through my work with the IBA program

I am eager to learn more about Manitoba-specific issues related to bird habitat protection. I am also excited at the prospect of building dynamic relationships between people and nature to protect Manitoba bird habitat, and actively participate in conservation and educational efforts. One of the best parts of working with birds is that they are so ubiquitous and accessible, and therefore, a great means to get people initiated to wildlife monitoring and its importance!

What are my favourite birds?

My favourite songbird is the Chestnut-collared Longspur. It is not only one of the most vibrant birds in the prairie, but also has a delightful flight-call display where it squeaks along as it flutters up and down.

My favourite shorebird is the Marbled Godwit. Despite being dive-bombed by them on several occasions in the past, I am always pleased to hear their goofy calls!

 

¹Rosa, P., Nguyen, V., & Dubois, F. (2012). Individual differences in sampling behaviour predict social information use in zebra finches. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 66, 1259-1265. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1379-3

²Rosa, P., Swider, C. R., Leston, L., & Koper, N. (2015). Disentangling effects of noise from presence of anthropogenic infrastructure: Design and testing of system for large‐scale playback experiments. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 39, 364-372. DOI: 10.1002/wsb.546.

³Curry, C. M., Antze, B., Warrington, M. H., Des Brisay, P., Rosa, P., & Koper, N. (2017). Ability to alter song in two grassland songbirds exposed to simulated anthropogenic noise is not related to pre-existing variability. Bioacoustics, 1-26. DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2017.1289123.

Kinosota-Leifur IBA is something rare in Manitoba – a readily accessible IBA which appears to be completely ignored by everyone. Much like Sandy Bay Marshes, this IBA is on the western side of Lake Manitoba and probably out of sight and out of mind for the majority of birders from Brandon (who head towards Whitewater and the southwest) and Winnipeg.

The first thing that is apparent with Kinosota-Leifur is the rather unusual map. The map probably needs some adapting, allowing for the fact that the target species does not tend to live and breed in the middle of Lake Manitoba! This target species in question is the beautiful and rare Red-headed Woodpecker. At least 100 have been counted in this area previously, a breeding population of national and global importance.

Being early May, it was very unlikely that I would see Red-headed Woodpecker. However, there was plenty of habitat around for this wonderful bird. The favoured habitat is heavily grazed, open woodlots with large amounts of standing deadwood.

One issue that is of concern is loss of habitat as the woodlots are converted to crop production.

I am considering trying to get a group or two out to the IBA later this summer to blitz for Red-headed Woodpeckers. Driving around I wondered if a group from east of Lake Manitoba could access the IBA from the north via The Narrows and a group from south cover the southern part of the IBA. It would be great to at least start to monitor this undiscovered area.

 

International Migratory Bird Day on Saturday at Oak Hammock Marsh was probably overshadowed at Oak Hammock Marsh this Saturday by the early morning appearance of a Ruff, a Eurasian shorebird known for its lek dances. Unfortunately the guy who spotted (and photographed for all you naysayers) the bird saw it at 7am. By the time yours truly showed up for the early morning birdwalk, the Ruff had well and truly moved on, and no doubt proved that the ‘early morning’ bird walk was not nearly ‘early morning’ enough!

But International Migratory Bird Day was great for other things. Christian Artuso and I led bird walks for two groups with about 20 or so people. We had a great time seeing nearly 60 species including great views of Dunlin, Baird’s Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Greater White-fronted Goose to name just a few.

The remainder of the day included bird banding, a shorebird workshop and a warbler talk by Christian and I led a cub scout birding trip. The highlight however were the birds.  The shorebird workshop proved especially useful, mainly thanks to some very helpful shorebirds. Here are a couple of lessons from the session using photos taken on the day on the front pond.

 

Christian has the most comprehensive list (minus the Ruff as he didn’t spot it). Here is his list. All photos copyright Tim Poole

Greater White – fronted Goose – 1

Canada Goose – 300

Trumpeter Swan – 1

Gadwall – 17

American Wigeon – 1

Mallard – 200

Blue – winged Teal – 55

Northern Shoveler – 350

Northern Pintail – 15

Green – winged Teal (American) – 9

Canvasback – 12

Redhead – 8

Ring – necked Duck – 1

Lesser Scaup – 18

Hooded Merganser – 1

Ruddy Duck – 1

Sharp – tailed Grouse – 4

Pied – billed Grebe – 1

Horned Grebe – 1

Western Grebe – 2

Double – crested Cormorant – 8

American White Pelican – 1

Turkey Vulture – 1

Northern Harrier – 2

Red – tailed Hawk – 1

Sora – 1

American Coot (Red – shielded) – 32

American Avocet – 1

Semipalmated Plover – 1

Killdeer – 40

Hudsonian Godwit – 8

Marbled Godwit – 5

Dunlin – 16

Baird’s Sandpiper – 1

Least Sandpiper – 28

White – rumped Sandpiper – 1

Pectoral Sandpiper – 1

Semipalmated Sandpiper – 3

Short – billed Dowitcher – 18

Wilson’s Snipe – 1

Wilson’s Phalarope – 17

Greater Yellowlegs – 1

Willet – 5

Lesser Yellowlegs – 36

Franklin’s Gull – 36

Ring – billed Gull – 2

Forster’s Tern – 6

Mourning Dove – 5

Merlin (Prairie) – 1

Black – billed Magpie – 3

American Crow – 8

Common Raven – 1

Purple Martin – 22

Tree Swallow – 48

Bank Swallow – 10

Barn Swallow – 24

Cliff Swallow – 6

Ruby – crowned Kinglet – 1

American Robin – 5

European Starling – 4

Yellow Warbler – 1

Palm Warbler (Western) – 1

Yellow – rumped Warbler (Myrtle) – 4

Chipping Sparrow – 1

Clay – colored Sparrow – 14

White – crowned Sparrow – 2

Harris’s Sparrow – 1

White – throated Sparrow – 6

Vesper Sparrow – 1

Savannah Sparrow – 17

Song Sparrow – 6

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2

Swamp Sparrow – 9

Bobolink – 2

Red – winged Blackbird – 200

Western Meadowlark – 24

Yellow – headed Blackbird – 100

Brewer’s Blackbird – 25

Common Grackle – 30

Brown – headed Cowbird – 20

 

Oak Lake and Plum Lakes has been recognised internationally as one of the world’s most important places for birds and wildlife. Huge concentrations of birds use this area for feeding during migration including globally important numbers of waterfowl. In addition, the diverse habitats host large numbers of threatened grassland birds, woodland birds and wetland birds. On Saturday May 20th, Manitoba Important Bird area Coordinator Tim Poole will lead a bird walk at the NCC property at Jiggin’s Bluff south of Oak Lake. the walk will start at 10am and will finish around 12pm. Bring sturdy walking shoes and boots and any appropriate clothing for the weather plus water and snacks. If you have binoculars then please also bring them along.

Jiggins Bluff can be reached by:

From Souris

1. From Souris head west on Highway 2, for 30km, Turn North on Highway 254
2. Continue north for 2.5 miles (4km) (if you reach the creek you went too far!)
3. Turn West on the Gravel Road and continue into the yardsite

From Oak Lake Resort

1. From Oak Lake Beach head East and then South on PR 254
2. Continue South for 8 km
3. Turn West on the gravel road just after the bridge, and continue into the yardsite

People can park along the road in the yard

Before Friday of last week, Sandy Bay Marshes was one of those places which was familiar merely as a name and a mark on a map. Last Friday while heading north to a meeting near Winnipegosis (more to follow in another blog on that subject), I stopped off for a while to discover what it was about.

Sandy Bay was designated due to significant breeding concentrations of Western Grebe (see the IBA Canada profile for more info). It is a relatively unknown spot on the western shore of Lake Manitoba south of the Sandy Bay First Nation and near Langruth. Access to much of the marsh interior is difficult due to the road network hence the fact that there is very little information generated from this IBA in the past. Part of the IBA is in the Sandy Bay First Nation Reserve and any access taken by volunteers would need prior approval granted by the Band Council, something I had not sought beforehand, hence I did not stray into the First Nation part of the IBA.

The surrounding area is primarily tilled agricultural land. However just on the southeastern boundary of the IBA, a few more hayfields and wetlands begin to make an appearance. It was here that I encountered a couple of Marbled Godwit and a number of ducks. The first major stop was at Big Point on the shores of Lake Manitoba. Here I turned up 25 Horned Grebe, Bonaparte’s Gull, pelicans, cormorants and Common Merganser in addition to a number of other gulls, waterfowl and wetland birds.

Already it was apparent that this was a special spot for Western Grebe, 94 counted in the waters of Lake Manitoba – and likely more given that there were certainly a number of distant specks in the wider area.

Criss-crossing north, the next stop would be at Stony Point where the only other folk enjoying the sunshine were the RCMP! Before that there was a cracking wetland pool next to the road with 107 Western Grebe. Also present were 2 Eared Grebe. Already it was apparent that if this one pool had upwards of a hundred birds, how many more would be hidden in the inaccessible parts of the marsh?

Finally to the small beach at Stony Point. There were a couple of American Bittern in the adjacent marsh, White-throated Sparrow, Hermit Thrush and juncos in the trees and a huge abundance of Western Grebes bobbing around in the water. In fact there 522 floating around the bay. This is around 0.25% of the global breeding population of this species – not bad for a single point count. There were also 10 Common Merganser and the usual pelicans and cormorants.

Canada Goose	2
Gadwall	4
American Wigeon	2
Mallard	32
Blue-winged Teal	21
Northern Shoveler	2
Canvasback	12
Redhead	29
Greater Scaup	5
Lesser Scaup	4
Greater/Lesser Scaup	53
Bufflehead	3
Common Goldeneye	32
Common Merganser	11
Ruddy Duck	2
Pied-billed Grebe	1
Horned Grebe	25
Eared Grebe	2
Western Grebe	723
Double-crested Cormorant	106
American White Pelican	35
American Bittern	2
Northern Harrier	4
Red-tailed Hawk	3
American Coot	3
Killdeer	4
Marbled Godwit	4
Wilson’s Snipe	1
Willet	1
Bonaparte’s Gull	10
Franklin’s Gull	48
Ring-billed Gull	49
Forster’s Tern	4
Rock Pigeon	4
Mourning Dove	1
Northern Flicker	1
Black-billed Magpie	3
Common Raven	1
Tree Swallow	1
Barn Swallow	1
Hermit Thrush	1
Dark-eyed Junco	10
White-throated Sparrow	1
Savannah Sparrow	3
Song Sparrow	10
Red-winged Blackbird	53
Western Meadowlark	1
Yellow-headed Blackbird	14
Brewer’s Blackbird	69
Common Grackle	20
Brown-headed Cowbird	1

On leaving the IBA, I headed across towards Langruth and Big Grass Marsh, skirting the edge of that IBA. This is another interesting area if only you can get into it, and I plan to find a way to do just that later in the season, so please watch this space. The one thing that did pop up was a Black Bear loitering at the back of a field.

The Sandy Bay trip makes me realise that we still need to explore some of these areas more fully. I have attached a copy of may route through the IBA below to help anyone else exploring this area. I wonder if monitoring post breeding populations is possible given that we located over 2000 Western Grebes gathered around Whitewater Lake in early August 2016. Food for thought!

Ahead of the coming IBA blitz at Whitewater Lake, it feels like a good time to remind people just how special this place is for migrating birds, especially those boreal, tundra and High Arctic shorebirds. Garry Budyk and John Weier have been busy and sent in another report, this time from Whitewater Lake IBA. This time they clocked a mere 17 species of shorebirds on May 8th including an impressive 200 Pectoral Sandpipers. Hopefully next weekend, 13 days later on the 21st May, we will have larger numbers and more species as the migration season reaches its peak.

All photos below are taken by, and copyright of Garry Budyk

Snow Goose, 20

Canada Goose, 21

Wood Duck, 1

Gadwall, 54

American Wigeon, 2

Mallard, 125

Blue-winged Teal, 98

Northern Shoveler, 39

Northern Pintail, 45

Green-winged Teal, 19

Canvasback, 26

Redhead, 79

Ring-necked Duck, 2

Lesser Scaup, 25

Bufflehead, 5

Hooded Merganser, 1

Ruddy Duck, 56

Pied-billed Grebe, 2

Eared Grebe, 12

Western Grebe, 50

Double-crested Cormorant, 14

American White Pelican, 83

Great Blue Heron, 1

Great Egret, 24

Cattle Egret, 1

Black-crowned Night-Heron, 4

White-faced Ibis, 16

Turkey Vulture, 1

Osprey, 1

Northern Harrier, 6

Swainson’s Hawk, 1

Red-tailed Hawk, 1

American Coot, 198

American Avocet, 27

Killdeer, 11

Hudsonian Godwit, 3

Marbled Godwit, 5

Dunlin, 7

Baird’s Sandpiper, 17

Least Sandpiper, 6

White-rumped Sandpiper, 3

Pectoral Sandpiper, 200

Semipalmated Sandpiper, 1

Short-billed Dowitcher, 7

Wilson’s Phalarope, 9

Spotted Sandpiper, 2

Solitary Sandpiper, 4

Greater Yellowlegs, 4

Willet, 19

Lesser Yellowlegs, 28

Franklin’s Gull, 840

Ring-billed Gull, 4

Herring Gull, 1

Black Tern, 1

Forster’s Tern, 77

Mourning Dove, 16

American Kestrel, 1

Black-billed Magpie, 2

Common Raven, 1

Horned Lark, 5

Tree Swallow, 1

Bank Swallow, 1

Barn Swallow, 18

Cliff Swallow, 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2

American Robin, 14

European Starling, 1

American Pipit, 2

Orange-crowned Warbler, 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2

Chipping Sparrow, 10

Clay-colored Sparrow, 26

Lark Sparrow, 1

Dark-eyed Junco, 1

White-crowned Sparrow, 15

Harris’s Sparrow, 43

White-throated Sparrow, 5

Vesper Sparrow, 6

Savannah Sparrow, 27

Song Sparrow, 10

Swamp Sparrow, 1

Red-winged Blackbird, 220

Western Meadowlark, 6

Yellow-headed Blackbird, 507

Brewer’s Blackbird, 33

Common Grackle, 68

Brown-headed Cowbird, 21

House Sparrow, 3

Finally, Garry sent a photo of the current status of the track leading to the viewing mound on the south of the lake. The high spring water levels and incredibly strong winds continue to cause erosion and have pretty much rendered access impossible now – be warned!

Since we are on the subject of posting peoples IBA monitoring reports and photos (see here, here and here), Garry Budyk and John Weier. The highlight for them was probably a Field Sparrow, an occasional visitor to Manitoba, but still a great find in the IBA. Unsurprisingly, they also found good numbers of waterbirds.

Here is the list from across the IBA illustrated by Garry’s fantastic photos:

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) – 126
Gadwall (Anas strepera) – 31
American Wigeon (Anas americana) – 3
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) – 88
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) – 58
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) – 26

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) – 4
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) – 16
Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) – 56
Redhead (Aythya americana) – 24
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) – 110
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) – 31
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) – 10
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) – 4
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) – 6
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) – 10
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) – 2

Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) – 9
Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) – 2
Common Loon (Gavia immer) – 1
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) – 12
Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) – 6
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) – 66
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) – 180
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) – 213
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) – 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) – 18
Great Egret (Ardea alba) – 10
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) – 1

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) – 2
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) – 6
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) – 7
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) – 1
American Coot (Fulica americana) – 44
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) – 8
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) – 16
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) – 4
Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) – 22

Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) – 7
Willet (Tringa semipalmata) – 4

Franklin’s Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan) – 59
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) – 35

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) – 1
Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri) – 3
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) – 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) – 4
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) – 2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) – 7
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) – 6
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) – 1
Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) – 3
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) – 10
Common Raven (Corvus corax) – 25
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) – 20

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) – 4
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) – 2
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) – 5
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) – 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) – 8
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea) – 3
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) – 1
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) – 19
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) – 61
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) – 10
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) – 188
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) – 5
Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) – 35

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) – 58

In addition, John and Garry picked up this porcupine:

Passing through a couple of days later along East Shoal Lake, I also managed to catch this beaver in a small ephemeral wetland:

Thanks to Garry for providing this information. We would be delighted to post others trip lists, stories and photos on the blog as well.

Catching up on a few things here and one of them is some of the large numbers of birds being counted at the Saskatchewan River Delta IBA around The Pas. Local volunteer Joel Kayer has been counting birds in this IBA since 2015 and birding the area, whether as an Atlasser or merely for the fun of it, a lot longer. This year he submitted some terrific numbers which I thought would be worth sharing. Please note, the numbers listed are just the large numbers of birds, not all birds Joel encountered.

9th May 2017

3757 Canada Goose

23,285 Mallard

2570 Northern Pintail

827 Ring-billed Gull

22nd April 2017

915 Canada Goose

912 Tundra Swan

11,599 Mallard

752 Sandhill Crane

1609 Ring-billed Gull

953 Snow Bunting

April 30th 2016 (Tundra Swan only survey)

9,216 Tundra Swan

The latter figure is certainly a significant concentration of this species not only in North America but globally. The area around The Pas is known for its incredible wetland habitats and large concentrations of migratory waterfowl. Thanks to Joel for highlighting this for all those of us living in southern Manitoba!