Windygates Hawk Watch

 Good day all! 

Today I headed out to the Pembina Valley with a good friend for a day of sunshine and birding. We've been enjoying well-above-average temperatures this March which has made migration begin a little earlier than usual and also makes getting outside all that much more exciting and enjoyable.

The Pembina Valley is located near the American border about two hours from the city of Winnipeg. It is a bit of an unexpected and unusual geological location (as far as stereotypical Manitoba goes) as, amid some rolling hills, there suddenly appears a steep and deep gorge. This valley funnels many avian migrants through it especially in the spring. The most notable migrants through here are the raptors. The Pembina Valley boasts both a diverse array of raptors and staggering numbers thereof. One example which supports this claim is the high count for Red-tailed Hawks. On a single day, on April 15, 1989, observers recorded 2771 Red-tails over a mere six hours! During the first week of April, the average number of red-tails observed per hour of birding is 97! These incredible stats have made it the hottest birding hotspot in Manitoba during the early weeks of spring.

Red-tailed Hawk - photographed last year

To be fair, March 13 is too early so witness such large numbers of Red-tails but it is the best time to spot Golden Eagles (a species which has evaded me for some time now), so I decided to head out there a bit early in the raptor migration season to (hopefully) observe a couple of these early migrators. I was not disappointed as within the first 45 minutes we had a Golden Eagle cruise by us without flapping once, riding the thermals and the breeze. This ended up being the only one of the day (those there day before I was saw 11) but I was not disappointed. My friend and I (with about 25 other avid birders) were privileged to witness nearly 50 Bald Eagles make their way across the clear, blue sky over the three hours we were there, and smaller numbers of other species as well. Here is the full list of species I recorded, as well as their quantities, below.

• 12 Canada Goose
• 2 Mallard
• 5 Rock Pigeon
• 1 Golden Eagle (Lifer, FOY)
• 2 Northern Harrier
• 8 Sharp-shinned Hawk (FOY)
• 2 Cooper's Hawk (FOY)
• 2 Northern Goshawk (FOY)
• 47 Bald Eagle
• 1 Pileated Woodpecker
• 4 American Crow
• 7 Common Raven
• 4 Black-capped Chickadee
• 3 Horned Lark
• 2 House Finch
• 2 Common Redpoll

The outing produced one lifer and three additional FOYs. As if the birding wasn't good enough, we got to enjoy 8 degrees, full sunshine, a light breeze, and clear blue skies. To be fair, the warmth of the sun created strong thermals which meant the birds could soar higher in the sky and were therefore harder to spot and identify. On top of all of this, the scenery is gorgeous (pun intended), and I would definitely recommend checking it out if anyone is looking for an excuse to get out of the house and see parts of Manitoba they may never have known existed, and hey, maybe you'll see a couple hawks while you're there.

Joel G.

2020 - A Year in Review

 Good day all! What a year it has been! Indeed 2020 will be a year not too quickly forgotten for a number of reasons. For me, it was a year which provided a lot of extra time to go out birding, and having significantly fewer plans for my weekends meant I could get out a bunch more and enjoy God's creation. 

As such, I had an incredible year of birding, smashing my records for most species seen in a year, and my record for every single month as well! I finished the year with a list of 217 species (nearly all of which were seen in Manitoba). In addition I was able to add 33 species to my Life List, jumping it from 218 to 251 over the course of the year. Here is the list of birds which I added to my Life List this year (from in order they were seen):

1. American Black Duck
2. Red Crossbill
3. Boreal Chickadee
4. Bohemian Waxwing
5. Swamp Sparrow
6. Greater White-fronted Goose
7. Worm-eating Warbler
8. Red-breasted Merganser
9. Red-throated Loon
10. Nashville Warbler
11. White-rumped Sandpiper
12. Dunlin
13. Hudsonian Godwit
14. Blackpoll Warbler
15. Olive-sided Flycatcher
16. Eastern Towhee
17. Black-crowned Night-heron
18. Caspian Tern
19. Red-necked Phalarope
20. Ruddy Turnstone
21. Upland Sandpiper
22. Chestnut-collared Longspur
23. Loggerhead Shrike
24. Baird's Sparrow
25. Great Gray Owl
26. Great Crested Flycatcher
27. Indigo Bunting
28. Gray-cheeked Thrush
29. Blue-headed Vireo
30. Canada Warbler
31. Philadelphia Vireo
32. Lapland Longspur
33. White-winged Scoter

This year I made a commitment to submit at least one checklist a day on eBird and was successful in meeting that goal. But I did not limit myself to one checklist a day... no, in fact I submitted 635 checklists and along the way I reached a bit of a milestone, on November 2nd, as I submitted my 1000th eBird Checklist in my life. At the time of this writing I am only one complete checklist short of 500. A complete checklist is a checklist wherein you can confirm your list contains all of the species you could identify during a certain time of intentional birding (for example while going for a walk whereas a checklist recording a bird you saw as you were driving should not be labelled as a complete checklist as it would have been impossible for you to see or hear as many of the birds around you as you could). 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (taken at Assiniboine Park on September 8, 2020)

While none of us can be sure what 2021 will bring, I am looking forward to another year full of opportunities to get outside and discover the beautiful creatures that God has placed around us. I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year and all the best in 2021! I look forward to continuing to share my birding adventures with you via this blog and also possibly in person!

Thanks for following along this year!

Joel G.