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.