Here (finally) is my post on the birding trip I went on two weekends ago (May 29-31). It was a remarkable weekend; of the 126 species we recorded 10 were lifers for me and 23 were FOYs! Here is a rundown of the trip.
We (me and three other guys) departed from Winnipeg around 8:30pm... I got held up on the job site and didn't get home until 7:00 which put us a little behind schedule. We cruised west for a couple hours until we hit Spruce Woods PP. We didn't really have a plan where we wanted to camp and were waffling between Spruce Woods PP, Turtle Mountain PP, and Riding Mountain NP but decided to stay at Spruce Woods since it was the closest and because most of us had never explored the park much, let alone been in it. We found a trail through the bush and decided to follow it and on this trail we found a nice clearing to set up camp. It was quite an experience driving down a random trail which led who-knows-where at 11:00pm... an we were excited, tired, and a bit nervous as we navigated our way through the woods. Nevertheless we were able to set up camp in a clearing and were privileged to enjoy a perfectly still, clear night wherein we could see the stars and enjoy the total silence of the night. It did get quite cold overnight and in fact dropped below zero; we woke up to frozen water bottles, a frosty tent, and cold feet.
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| Frost on the truck |
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| Our "campsite"... just a clearing in the middle of nowhere |
Our first birds of the trip sang for us at around midnight; a Clay-coloured Sparrow vocalized a few times into the early morning, and a Sora in a distant marsh called through the night. As soon as the sun rose we were out of the tent exploring the area... we had no idea what our surroundings actually were as we had arrived and set up in the dark. We were able to hear a decent number of warblers singing as well as a variety of sparrows, finches, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
eBird Checklist Link (Campsite)
Upon packing up the tent and grabbing some breakfast from the cooler we headed to Spruce Woods' infamous dunes. On the way, we stopped by Marsh Lake and opened the windows to see what was present there; nothing too special... just the common marsh residents such as a Sora, Marsh Wren, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and Common Yellowthroats.
eBird Checklist Link (Marsh Lake)
We continued on our way to the Spirit Sands trailhead and once on the trail we saw and heard many species. Some highlights were Wild Turkeys, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and an Eastern Towhee (a lifer for all of us).
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| Male Eastern Towhee |
Here is an Olive-sided Flycatcher we observed along the trail. These are relatively uncommon flycatchers so we were quite excited to see one. As you can see from the picture, these birds are aptly named as they have olive-green flanks whereas most other flycatchers have plain, drab undersides.
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| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
While standing on the lookout platform, this little Black-and-white Warbler (also aptly named) treated us to a stunning view and sang his sweet, high-pitched song for us.
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| Black-and-white Warbler |
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| Black-and-white Warbler |
This is a Lark Sparrow, a fairly uncommon sparrow which is unfortunate as they are quite musical as far as sparrows are concerned. They are quickly identified by their distinct face markings.
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| Lark Sparrow |
We finally reached the dunes and found almost no birds there which wasn't too surprising as it is truly a desert. Here are a couple pictures, taken on my phone, from in the dunes.
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| Cactus |
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| Interesting hole created by some insect |
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| Trekking through the sand |
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| Dunes |
The temperature swung a full 15 degrees over the two and a half hour walk! When we got out of the truck we were debating whether to take a jacket along as it was only five degrees. By the time we hit the dunes it was over 20 degrees! Needless to say we were dying in our pants and hoodies... to make matters worse we didn't take a lot of water with us as we didn't expect it to be so hot. We survived thankfully and overall enjoyed the walk. I would definitely recommend exploring this little desert (and the park in general) if you have the opportunity.
There is a bridge right near the trailhead parking-lot entrance which is home to hundreds of Cliff Swallows; we conservatively estimated 250 individuals! Here is a shot of a portion of the flock in flight... when they were all out together they covered the horizon above the river like a cloud of really big bugs.
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| Cliff Swallows |
eBird Checklist Link (Spirit Sands Trail)
From Spruce Woods we bombed down to Whitewater Lake Provincial Wildlife Management Area. This lake is essentially a large tract of farmers' fields which has flooded and is slowly growing. This lake is very rich in avian life and is especially known for the number of shorebirds and heron-like birds it hosts. This is because there is an abundance of shallow water and wet mudflats which the birds require for foraging. Highlights from this stop included a number of Snow Geese, a Tundra Swan, some Ruddy Ducks, Eared Grebes, American Avocets, Black-bellied Plovers, American Golden-Plovers, Upland Sandpipers (lifer), at least 200 Ruddy Turnstones (also a lifer), Red-necked Phalaropes (yet another lifer), Caspian Terns, American Bitterns, Great Egrets, a Black-crowned Night-Heron (lifer), Bobolinks, Rusty Blackbirds and more. In total we recorded 76 species over the 4.5 hours we birded there. We did notice abnormally low amounts of shorebirds and waders, and this was because the lake is apparently quite a bit higher than normal which means that the mudflats, which are normally exposed, are submerged. Here are a number of photos from this location.
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| Great Egret |
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| Blue-winged Teals |
There are two types of plovers in this photo in that group which look fairly similar... the Black-bellied Plovers have extensive white on the sides and a much whiter looking back; their back is flecked with white whereas a Golden-Plover's back is flecked with more gold than white. See if you can find the difference. Also the bird in the foreground is a Willet.
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| American Golden-Plovers and Black-bellied Plovers |
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| Marbled Godwit |
Until this day I did not even know that we had Ruddy Turnstones in Manitoba! They have the very rusty red backs.
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| Ruddy Turnstones with a couple plovers. |
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| Ruddy Turnstones |
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| Willet |
This sandpiper is a grassland specialty... and a lifer for me!
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| Upland Sandpiper |
Ruddy Ducks are very neat ducks. Their appearance is unique with a solid chestnut body, sharp black and white head, and bright blue bill. They are a species of stiff-tailed duck and as such can frequently be seen with the tail pointed up out of the water (as illustrated below). They also make a really interesting sound... although I have never heard one in the flesh, the recordings I've heard make me smile; their call sounds like it should be a sound effect in a cartoon.
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| Male Ruddy Duck |
One super-highlight were these American Bitterns. When these birds point their heads skyward they pretty well vanish into the reeds. They are well known for this strategy for camouflage. Well these individuals only half-heartedly tried to hide from us at first, and eventually gave us some really good looks which is almost unheard of for these elusive herons! We were very lucky to see them as we did. To make the experience even cooler one of them started calling... they were about 30 feet away from us at the time! Now if you have never heard one of these before or forget what they sound like, I want you to stop reading this post and watch this video:
Voices: American Bittern. We got to experience that from no more than 30 feet away... all while having a clear, unobstructed view of the vocalist! It was truly a very neat and exciting experience and something I will not soon forget!
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| American Bittern |
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| American Bittern only somewhat trying to blend in |
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| American Bittern |
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| Yellow-headed Blackbird |
We were also privileged to observe a number of American Avocets which, in breeding plumage, are a sight to behold. These large shorebirds sport peachy-pink heads and necks, striking black and white bodies, bright blue legs, and a delicate upturned bill. I never got close enough to one to get a great shot, but here's a decent one of a pair foraging together.
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| American Avocets |
Here are some Red-necked Phalaropes feeding with an Avocet. This species of Phalarope was a lifer for me. There were also Wilson's Phalaropes present but they didn't attract my attention as I have seen many of those before at the pond by my place.
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| Red-necked Phalaropes with American Avocet |
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| Male Ruddy Duck |
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| American Coot |
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| Ruddy Duck pair |
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| Male Northern Shoveler |
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| Male Yellow-headed Blackbird |
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| Male Yellow-headed Blackbird displaying with American Coot photobombing |
We found a fair number of Eared Grebes, a species I've never photographed before and seen only once prior. They are quite similar to Horned Grebes but have their yellow tufts, well, over their ears.
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| Eared Grebes |
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| Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes |
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| Forster's Terns |
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| Male Yellow-headed Blackbird |
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| Common Grackle |
Another highlight (as mentioned in my list) was this Black-crowned Night-Heron which we flushed up from a ditch. This species has been eluding me all my life so I was glad to finally add it to my life list and enjoyed watching him forage in the grassy shallows.
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| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
We were hoping to see a few more shorebirds than we did (with some regular species being completely absent). We were also hoping for more Egrets, Herons, and Ibises. Normally Egrets and Herons can be found in good numbers but we only saw three Great Egrets on top of the Night-Heron and Bitterns... we didn't see a single Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret, or White-faced Ibis; all species that are regularly seen at Whitewater Lake. Now I have an excuse to make the trip again sometime, and I'm sure I will!
eBird Checklist Link: Whitewater Lake PWMA
Once we decided we'd had enough of Whitewater, we hit the road again with our destination being a particular section of field in the extreme Southwest corner of Manitoba; the only place certain grassland species can be found in the province. On the way we stopped at a number of flooded fields and just birded from the truck. Here are some photos from the drive.
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| Western Kingbird |
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| Mourning Dove |
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| Stilt Sandpipers |
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| American Avocet |
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| Eastern Kingbird |
We stopped in Coulter Park for quick bite to eat and to see if there were Willow Flycatchers present. This species is normally only found farther west, but for some reason they frequent this park. We did not locate any but still had a good time cooking dinner and eating from the tailgate of the truck, listening to music, and just hanging out... a welcome break after a long day of birding. Here the highlight was a Baltimore Oriole who came nice and close to us to check us out. I got a number of pictures of him, but my wonderful camera focused on the foliage in between him and I so he's quite out of focus... but I'll share the photo anyway just so you can see the incredible beauty of these blackbirds.
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| Male Baltimore Oriole |
It was refreshing to see a deer other than a White-tail; some Mule Deer were there at Coulter Park! These deer are larger than White-tails with giant, mule-like ears (hence the name). They seem to bounce instead of trot and jump the barbed wire fences like it's nothing.
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| Mule Deer Doe |
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| Male Deer Buck |
eBird Checklist Link: Coulter Park
Once we were full of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni and fried vegetables we took off for our final destination of the weekend. We arrived at our site which was a corridor of protected field about four miles from the US border and two miles from the Saskatchewan border. This tract of land was good for the species we hoped to locate according to a trustworthy source so we set up camp. We did not get a lot of birding done as it was getting late and the birds were settling down for the night. It was also cooling down a fair bit so we decided to have some Pork'n'Beans and bacon for an evening snack... unfortunately we could start not the camp stove we had with us so we settled for granola bars and Chicago mix popcorn. As the sun began to set we explored the area a little bit and we found one of our target species; a Chestnut-collared Longspur! Unfortunately I was unable to photograph one but we all got a good look and listen to these interesting sparrows. We were amused by a herd of cows for some time as the sun went down and they posed for some neat photos!
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| Cows at sunset |
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| Cows at sunset |
eBird Checklist Link: Manitoba Grasslands Birding Trail (Evening)
Around midnight we heard another uncommon grassland species, a Nelson's Sparrow, singing. It wasn't one of our target species as it can be found elsewhere, but still a neat find.
eBird Checklist Link: Manitoba Grasslands Birding Trail (Night)
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| Sunrise over the camp |
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| Our setup... just a tent and truck in a vast expanse of grass. |
On our way to the campsite (Hwy 256) we noticed a number of Sharp-tailed Grouse on the lek. This is the term for their display; individuals from the surrounding area get together in their traditional display ground and the males display and jump and dance to impress the females. They are very skittish so we didn't really get to see them going full at it but it was still neat to see them together and to witness the occasional male jump. With the hopes of getting a better look at them we decided to get up with the sun and go to the lek to watch them at dawn. While the action was a little better when we went in the morning, it still wasn't great. Since we were out we birded the surrounding gravel roads scouring every line and post for a specialty species. Every meadowlark we saw looked like something promising and we did a lot of stopping to get better looks at birds only to find it was one of the common species.
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| Wilson's Snipe at dawn |
Finally we found another of our target species... a Loggerhead Shrike (a lifer for all of us)! These predatory songbirds are known for impaling their prey on thorns for later consumption. We have two species in Manitoba, and the Northern Shrike is only found in the winter throughout the province.
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
Other than the Shrike we found nothing else special early in the morning so we headed back to camp to cook a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, Pork'n'Beans, and apple sauce (once we figured out how to get the stove started).
eBird Checklist Link: Provincial Hwy 256
After breakfast we birded around the campsite in the fields surrounding us wherein we were able to locate four of our target species: Grasshopper Sparrow, Baird's Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Ferruginous Hawk. We were unsure whether we had actually heard a Baird's Sparrow as their buzzy song is somewhat reminiscent of the much more common Savannah Sparrow. We could only faintly hear it due to the wind noise, but I was very certain immediately that it was a Baird's... the others agreed slowly over time as we strained our ears for about 10 minutes to try catch the song over the wind.
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| Tree Swallow |
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| Tree Swallow |
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| Horned Lark |
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| "African Savannah" tree |
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| Grasslands |
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| Grasslands |
eBird Checklist Link: Manitoba Grasslands Birding Trail (Morning)
For this (the grassland) leg of the trip we had eight target species:
- Ferugginous Hawk - seen
- Say's Phoebe
- Loggerhead Shrike - seen
- Mountain Bluebird
- Sprague's Pipit
- Grasshopper Sparrow - heard
- Baird's Sparrow - heard
- Chestnut-collared Longspur - seen and heard
We saw five out of eight over about six total hours of birding... not too bad I'd say... and now we have a reason to go back again sometime to find the others!
Around noon we decided to head back home to spend some time with our families on Sunday evening. We drove pretty much non-stop for four hours to arrive back in Winnipeg. Where we unloaded and cleaned the truck.
As mentioned before we recorded 126 species of the trip... that's nearly a third of the species recorded in Manitoba ever! (Manitoba has had exactly 400 species recorded within.) 'Twas a great weekend with a bunch of great guys exploring God's great Creation and I can't wait to do it again sometime!
Thanks for following along with me on this long post! Happy Birding!
Joel G.
Great story!
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