Final Thoughts Saskatchewan Part 3

June 4-5 2013  Regina Beach, Saskatchewan
My whirlwind visit of Saskatchewan via Point Pelee and Churchill came to an end with two more days of birding.
I had 31 'Lifers' in Ontario, 9 in Churchill and a Brown Thrasher in Saskatchewan. That's 41 plus a few flycatchers yet to be identified.
This is my second annual birding road trip and so far it has been two for two. Last year I drove through southern B.C, the Okanagan, Milk River in Alberta and Regina and had a great time.

I decided to photograph at Craven at the very southern tip of Last Mountain Lake. Reed beds and slow moving river, sloughs, open lake and quiet backwaters attract a multitude of species. 

Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonata))
Hundreds of Cliff Swallows (above) nest under a bridge at the entrance to the Exhibition Grounds in Craven.

Kildeer (Charadruis vociferus)

Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
The Swainson's hawk winters as far south as Argentina, only the Peregrine Falcon travels further.
This bird was hunting along route 99 between Craven and Regina.

Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalis) is a very common bird on the prairies.

List of Saskatchewan Birds:

Yellow Warbler, Song, Vesper and Savannah Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Forster's Tern, Black Tern, Swainson's Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, Eastern and Western Kingbird, Gray Catbird, American Pelican, American Robin, Willet, Northern Shoveler, American Widgeon, Mallard, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Black-billed Magpie, Western Meadowlark, Warbling Vireo, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Canada Goose, Common Grackle, Wilson's Phalarope, Kildeer, Brown Thrasher, American Goldfinch, Horned Lark, Brewer's Blackbird, Western Grebe, Starling, European House Sparrow, Cliff, Bank, Barn, Tree and Cliff Swallow, Purple Martin, Gadwal, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintail, Blue-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Cedar Waxwing, Bobolink, Turkey Vulture, Horned and Eared Grebe, Wilson's Snipe and Flycatchers???

Are these Western Grebe on the left and Clark's Grebe (right) or both Westerns, any takers out there?

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

'A Slough of Birds' Saskatchewan Part 2

June 4 2013 Regina Beach, Craven, Saskatchewan.

A Slough of Birds

The second day of the 2013 road trip in Saskatchewan was one of driving around exploring new backroads in the hope of seeing a Sharp-tailed or Ruffed Grouse. Everyone I spoke to had seen 'Prairie Chicken' and suggested I take an early morning drive along just about any gravel road. Apparently they were everywhere. I drove and walked and searched but none were to be found, not even a tail feather, not a glimpse! I suppose it's a perfect excuse to plan another road trip sometime soon! 

However, I did see fifty-three species of birds including some goodies like Forster's and Black Tern Willet and Swainson's Hawk.  I'm sure any experienced birder could have achieved a much higher tally quite easily but I know that will come with time spent in the field.

What can one say out this little corner of Saskatchewan. It's amazing,very accessible and close enough from B.C. for a two week road trip and if you fly, less than an hour from Regina Airport. You could be birding that same evening. If you decide to drive don't forget to stop off at Chaplin Lakes to see the Piping Plover, Black-Crowned Night-Herons and flocks of American Avocets. While Saskatchewan has some of the best birding in North America, April or May are the prime times with the Fall being the best chance of seeing both Sandhill and Whooping Crane migrations. 

On a weather note both April and May can produce surprise snow storms so make sure you are well prepared and are able to hunker down for a few days while keeping warm and fed. You can still bird but the backroads can get difficult. That is how I came to see the Piping Plover last year. I had to shelter at Chaplin Lake and when the snow stopped I took a drive around the lake and within minutes found a single Piping Plover feeding in the shallows. 

A roadside portrait of a Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata),  Regina Beach, Saskatchewan.

The Slough

• Slough, a stream distributary or anabranch, or in some cases, a regular stream.

More localized meanings of slough are:

• a muddy marsh in the British Isles.
• a swamp or shallow lake system with trees (Eastern and South Eastern United States).
• a secondary channel of a river delta, without trees (Pacific coast of North America).
• a pond, often alkaline, often a glacial "pothole" (prairies of North America (see Prairie Pothole Region).

A typical prairie slough in June. Note the cultivated fields behind.
Farmers are working with naturalists to leave a swath of wild grasses to ensure nesting birds are safe from tilling, ploughing and spraying. A slough like this in Craven will host numerous species of ducks, grebes, phalarope, and Yellow-headed and Red-winged blackbirds. Various sparrows including Vesper and Savannah while Meadowlarks, Bobolink, Horned Lark and sometimes Willet nest nearby.

Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)

Redhead (Aythya americana)

Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) feeding on dragonfly larvae.

A pair of Willet nest close to a slough at Regina Beach hunt and for food in the adjoining fields and pastures.