Hecla Island and More!

Today was quite the day! Birding while following COVID-19 guidelines is quite different from regular birding as I and two others found out. The major difference was that driving in all separate vehicles could make driving rather dangerous; if we are all riding in the same car, the driver can focus on driving while the others spot things out the window... now, however, we were all spending more time looking out the window instead of watching the road as there were no dedicated spotters. This is in addition to how much more we had to spend on gas. The day was a good one, however, and I was able to record two lifers, and 14 FOYs.

One of our trio was a guy who had never gone birding before, so, as we met at his house, we first walked around his neighborhood pointing out and giving identification tips on some of the birds present. Upon completing this rather short walk we hit the road and headed to possibly the most popular birding destination in Manitoba... Oak Hammock Marsh.

We were greeted first by a bunch of Tree Swallows. While I love these birds, seeing so many of them was a little annoying as I have recently set up some Tree Swallow nest boxes in my backyard but have yet to see one so much as fly by them let alone take a look. Regardless, I enjoyed watching them fly around and squabble over who gets which nest box.

Tree Swallows

Tree Swallows fighting over nest box rights.

The champion male guarding his front step.

There were numerous sparrow species to be found around the marsh as well including Song, Swamp, and Savannah Sparrows. Here is a Savannah Sparrow who was singing atop a shrub.

Savannah Sparrow

As you can always count on when visiting Oak Hammock, the ponds obligingly provided some ducks for us to look at and identify for our rookie birding friend.

Canvasbacks

Male Northern Shovelers

This photo features five separate species of ducks with a Lesser Scaup front and center, a Canvasback to the left, a pair of Redheads to the right, a couple male Ring-necked Ducks far left, and a pair of Blue-winged Teals on the other side of the pond (center of the image).

Mixed waterfowl

Male Blue-winged Teal

Ground Squirrels were present on the lookout mound and were found mingling with Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Richardson's Ground Squirrel

Richardson's Ground Squirrel with Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird song fills the air here too as the males vie for the best reedy homes. The occasional Yellow-headed Blackbirds were seen and heard as well.

Male Red-winged Blackbird

Here is a Brown-headed Cowbird perched on a bush.

Male Brown-headed Blackbird

Just before we hit the road I spotted this flock of Tundra Swans flying by.

Tundra Swans

After spending about an hour at Oak Hammock Marsh we decided to head north along the shore of Lake Winnipeg. We first stopped in a small town near Gimli called Matlock where we scanned the shore for waterfowl, gulls, and shorebirds. We found a few Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, a couple diving ducks and quite a number of Purple Martins among other common birds.

A little farther down the highway we pulled to the side of the road as we spotted an Osprey nest. These "fish-hawks" build their nests atop telephone poles near lake shores and can be effectively encouraged to do so by building osprey nest platforms. They do not have to be precise, but simply have to increase the surface area of the top of the pole upon which the Ospreys may add sticks and other nest materials.

Ospreys surveying the state of last year's nest...

... adding sticks for structural support...

... and some bits of fabric for a bit of comfort.

This squadron of American White Pelicans flew by as we observed this pair of Ospreys.

American White Pelicans

We saw numerous groups of Sandhill Cranes throughout the day, here is a shot of the first flock we observed.

Sandhill Cranes

A stop at a retention pond produced a wide variety of waterfowl. Here are some Ring-necked Ducks

Ring-necked Ducks

Here are some pictures to practice your duck identification skills with (and to show off the diversity of waterfowl to be found in the Interlake region).

We eventually made it as far north as Hecla Island where some 180 Red-throated Loons had been spotted. The significance of this was two-fold; first, Red-throated Loons are rarely seen as far south as Hecla, and second, they are rarely seen in such large numbers.

As we crossed the causeway we knew we were in for a challenge. Waterfowl crowded the limited open water as the ice still had not been melted off the lake's surface. In addition to the sheer numbers, the large rafts were pretty far away and we only had binoculars (no spotting scopes).

Some of the first birds I noticed were these Red-breasted Mergansers (a lifer for me) and they were kind enough to swim nice and close to my so I could get some good pictures.

Red-breasted Mergansers

 Where there's standing water, ducks, and fish, there are Bald Eagles.

Bald Eagles

Here are some photos of the great rafts of Scaup. They were incredibly numerous... we conservatively estimated 5000 individuals of Greater or Lesser Scaup (they were mixed, and we weren't about to go separating them).

Great raft of Scaup

Mixed Scaup

Some Lesser Scaups practicing social distancing (from the rest of the group anyway).

Lesser Scaups

Some Tundra Swans just hanging out!

Tundra Swans

Here are some pictures which clearly illustrate the differences between Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Compare overall size and bill length relative to body size.

Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs

 This Gray Squirrel was just lying on this snapped-off branch as we hiked through a small section of woodland inhabited by Eastern Phoebes, various sparrows, nuthatches, and the occasional warbler.

Gray Squirrel

Gray Squirrel

After hiking through woods which were still under six feet of snow in places (no I'm not exaggerating), we discovered the area where the loons were hanging out. It took us a little while to determine what to look for (slender overall loon shape, grey bodies, upturned bills, low profile in the water) but as soon as we spotted one Red-throated Loon, we realized just how many there actually were. In fact, they were more common here than the Common Loons! Despite the fact that there's ice on the water, the distortion from heat waves made my pictures all turn out sub-optimally. The loons' distance from shore didn't help much either. Here are my evidence photos nonetheless.

Red-throated Loon (Double-crested Cormorant in the background).

Red-throated Loon

Red-throated Loon

Red-throated Loon

Here are a pair of Common Mergansers (with a pair of Mallards behind them). We saw all three species of Merganser that occur in Manitoba as we also spotted a couple "hoodies" on our hike.

Common Mergansers with Mallards

Birding the picturesque shoreline

We spooked this group of Scaup and Double-crested Cormorant. This is one of four large rafts of Scaup observed.

Double-crested Cormorants and Scaup

Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant (Scaup and American White Pelican in the background)

Herring Gull

We were somewhat surprised to see this beaver hanging out on the lake... wonder where he came from/where he's going.

Beaver

Beaver

You always know you're bound to see stuff when you see this sign.

As we prepared to depart (and while navigating car troubles), I found another Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

This male Common Goldeneye was a real show-stopper in the sun.

Common Goldeneye

This Wood Duck got my species list up to 77 for Hecla Island! We recorded nearly 80 species in only a few hours!

Male Wood Duck

 American Kestrels never cease to delight.

Male American Kestrel

I came across this pair of foraging Sandhill Cranes on the drive home.

Sandhill Cranes

As well as this flock in flight near Matlock.

Sandhill Cranes

It was an extremely successful day which I'm glad I was able to share with good people. We made the most of our circumstances and had a blast exploring Manitoba's eastern Interlake region! For links to our eBird checklists (and to see which other unmentioned FOYs I added) feel free to check out my Bird Log post. Thanks for checking in!

Joel G.