Northwest Territories Portion of the Alberta/Northwest Territories/Nunavut Trip, July 1-11, 2026

My annual birding trip for 2026 featured extended stops in 3 Canadian provinces and territories:

- Alberta (AB) - 3 days concentrating in and around Calgary and Edmonton,
- Northwest Territories (NWT) - 3 days centered on Yellowknife, and
- Nunavut (NU) - 4 days in Cambridge Bay with a brief stop in Kugluktuk.

For AB my goal was to fill gaps in my province list which stood at 173 before the trip, hoping for perhaps 17 additions.  This was my first trip to NWT and NU, so my goals there were to maximize the number of species I could find in each territory, hopefully at least 60 in NWT and 40 in NU.  All in all, I hoped for 117 new "ticks".

I was joined by my local NC birding friend Bill Hooker for the entire trip, and his wife Anita for the first 2 days. 

By all accounts the trip was a great success!  Among the 198 species we had on the trip, 41 were new for my AB list. That brings my province total to 214.  We had 76 species in NWT, and 40 in NU including all our realistic Arctic targets.  That gave me 157 new ticks for the trip, well over my goal.  Four of these species were new for my Canada list, now at 393.  

The eBird Trip Report can be found here:  ebird.org/tripreport/546824

There’s now only one Canadian territory that I’ve yet to bird – Yukon Territory.  Whitehorse, the largest city in the Yukon, is located in the southwest part of the territory near British Columbia and close to the Alaska panhandle.  Birding in all three of those jurisdictions would make for a nice trip in 2027!

This post summarizes the NWT portion of the trip.  My previous blog post focused on the AB portion.  The next post details the NU portion of the trip.

Planning for Birding Yellowknife

I often start my planning for birding a new area by reading either paper or on-line field guides about the site.  However, I found no field guides that addressed Yellowknife specifically, or even NWT in general.  I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised given Yellowknife’s small size (population of about 20,000 per its Wikipedia site).  There were a couple bird guiding companies that offered trips that included Yellowknife, though details were limited.  Then I found an NWT birding page on Facebook.  I queried the group about preferred birding sites nearby and got several suggestions for the best hotspots.  As the trip neared, I hoped to see lots of posts about recent sightings but there were few from Yellowknife.  But of course there’s always eBird, where I principally picked out the hotspots with the greatest number of checklists or greatest number of species.  Plus, Google Maps in satellite mode was helpful to look for good habitat. 

All in all, I felt as prepared as I could be as the NWT portion of our trip approached.  One guiding company had seen 55 species in Yellowknife in 2 days the previous year.  We were going to give it 3 days, and despite not knowing the area well, I hoped for perhaps 60 species.

July 3 – First Day in Yellowknife, NWT

After an uneventful morning flight from Edmonton, AB, Bill and I landed at the small Yellowknife airport right on time.  While waiting for our rental car we spotted a Ring-billed Gull flying around the parking lot.  A less-than-exciting first bird for the territory, but we had to start somewhere.

We then headed to our hotel, the Chateau Nova.  This has been the hotel of choice for past birding tours at least partially because it was adjacent to Niven Lake, one of the best hotspots in Yellowknife.  Niven Lake was nestled in a suburban community, with a walkway around the perimeter featuring boreal spruce woods on one side, and cattail marsh and lake on the other.  With lots of nice, diverse habitats in a relatively small area, there was considerable birding potential.

The hotel restaurant was not yet open for lunch when we arrived, so we headed over to Niven Lake for a short walk near the lake’s headwaters.

We only stayed for 15 minutes until the mosquitoes found us (our bug spray was still in the suitcases), but we tallied a quick 13 species featuring - American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup and Horned Grebes on the water, numerous breeding plumage Bonaparte’s Gulls and Tree Swallows overhead, Swamp Sparrows in the marsh, and Eastern Kingbird and Tennessee Warblers in the woods. 

My province map for Tennessee Warbler is inserted below.  The light blue shaded provinces/territories are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range.  The cross-hatched ones are those in its regular range where I’ve yet to see this species.  And per Sibley's maps they're not expected in NU.

That gave us 14 for our NWT list before heading to lunch.

Lunch at the hotel was tasty but painfully slow, especially given that we were anxious to get back to birding.  We eventually made it back to Niven Lake, and this time we made a complete loop around the lake, including this picturesque view.

We added six waterfowl species – Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, and Red-necked Grebe.  Numerous Lincoln’s Sparrows, Soras and a couple Eastern Phoebes sang from the wetlands.  A flyby Bald Eagle passed overhead.  New gulls featured Herring and California, and our first of many Short-billed Gulls, likely nesting in the marsh.

 

Walks through the wooded portions of the trail netted species like Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned and Yellow Warblers, and 3 sparrows – Junco, White-throated, White-crowned.

When we finished the loop around Niven Lake we were at 34 species for the day so far  – not a bad total after just 2 hours of birding. 

Our last stop of the day was at Willow Flats, one of the best hotspots in the area at the northern end of an arm of Great Slave Lake.  Before we even started birding there, we noticed these houses floating on the lake, taking the term “house boat” to a new extreme.

One of the targets of this site are waterfowl, but our scans were unsuccessful due to swells and whitecaps in the windy conditions.  Though we were able to find numerous small groups of Tree Swallows passing by, all flying into the wind.  And twice we found lone Cliff Swallows flying by as well (NWT #35).  We also had several Sterna terns fly by, each one we could identify being an Arctic (NWT #36).  Later we found this one nicely perched nearby.

Next we focused our attention on the wet grasses and brush along the boardwalk at Willow Flats.  One of the first birds we saw was a Blackpoll Warbler that flew by at eye level (NWT #37)  And in the wetlands we had singing Savannah and LeConte’s Sparrows (NWT #38-39).  In my Savannah Sparrow map below I just need this species in NU and YT.

Our last birds of the day were several calling House Sparrows along the city streets – certainly not too exciting but still a new one for the list (NWT #40).  And we had our only “sighting” of a Ptarmigan for the trip.

July 4 – Day 2 in Yellowknife

The plan for the day was to principally bird hotspots east of Yellowknife along the Ingraham Trail (Route 4).  But first we decided to start the day back at Niven Lake.  Since the stop there the day before was in the afternoon, we wondered if there would be a better mix of species in the early morning. 

Although we did add 2 species – Cedar Waxwing and Chipping Sparrow (NWT #41 and #42) – we were pretty much seeing the same birds as yesterday, including the same waterfowl.  It’s interesting to note that Sibley’s range maps indicate that Cedar Waxwing is not expected in NWT, instead being replaced by Bohemian Waxwings.  However, Cedars are much more likely in this area per eBird.  In my province map for Cedar Waxwing below, NWT is shaded in dark blue indicating that I’ve seen this species as a rarity per Sibley’s maps.

As we started to re-think our plan, we realized that there was next to no wind.  So we decided to change our strategy and go back to Willow Flats for a short visit to see if we might have better views of waterfowl in the calmer conditions.

Just as we exited the car at the Willow Flats parking lot we heard a Black-capped Chickadee calling (NWT #43), surprisingly our only one for NWT.  And as we headed toward the lake, we heard 2 singing Northern Waterthrushes (NWT#44), and 2 calling Wilson’s Snipe (NWT #45).  That gave us 3 new birds before we had even made it to the lake.  I still need Snipe in NU, NWT, and Ontario.

As expected, with nearly calm winds, viewing conditions on the lake were much different than yesterday.  Soon after setting up the scope we picked out a Common Loon on the water in the distance (NWT #46).  And then we noticed a Red-breasted Merganser swimming right by us (NWT #47) - that was easy.  Our last addition to the list was a pair of very distant all-dark diving ducks which were definitely scoters – but which species?  Under these excellent conditions I was finally able to get pretty good views of the head and felt good calling them White-winged Scoters (NWT #48).  Slowly filling in the province map for this species.

Other notable birds were 5 flyby Arctic Terns; still couldn’t turn one into a Common though.

It was just barely 7 AM and we had already made 2 quick stops, adding 8 new birds, bringing us to a total of 48. 

We then returned to our original plan to bird east of the city, and headed to Vee Lake.  The lake itself was an eBird hotspot, though with few checklists.  However, on Google Maps the 3-mile-long road to Vee Lake appeared to go through nice boreal habitat.  So we focused our birding along that access road, and soon were greeted by this nice scenery. 

At one of our first wetland stops we heard an Alder Flycatcher singing nearby (NWT #49).  And on the other side of the road, we could hear a Least Flycatcher singing from the drier forest (NWT #50).  That made for 2 quick additions.  A bit farther down the road we stopped in some boreal forest and were serenaded initially by a Hermit Thrush, then the first of 3 Swainson’s Thrushes (NWT #51).  I’ve now seen Swainson’s Thrush in each province/territory where it is regular except Yukon Territory.  (Will that come in summer 2027?)

Our next stop in spruce/fir forest netted at least 2 calling Canada Jay’s in the distance (NWT #52).

We stopped at a number of lakes and other wetlands along the way, with one or more nesting pairs of water birds at most every stop.  Red-necked Grebes were the most common, followed by Lesser Scaup, Mallards, and Common Loons.  And in one of the last ponds we spotted a flock of 18 adult Ring-necked Ducks (NWT #53).  Plus, we can’t forget the Short-billed Gulls likely nesting in the wetlands.

Vee Lake at the end of the road was pretty quiet likely due to the presence of several boats.  But these wildflowers at the lake edge were a nice distraction.

Continuing our trek east, our next stop was at the Route 4 bridge over the Yellowknife River.  There were a couple recent eBird reports from this spot, which included a small flock of Greater Scaup and several nice landbirds we still needed.  Our initial focus was to look for the Scaup, and finally downstream of the bridge I picked out a pair of Scaup with rounded heads – we had the Greater Scaup (NWT #54).  My province map for Greater Scaup looks a lot like my map for White-winged Scoter map.

While scanning for the Scaup we were serenaded by Cliff Swallows nesting under the bridge, though couldn’t pick out any Barn Swallows that might have been mixed in.  And we had no luck with the Kingfisher previously reported from this spot.

We then headed back into the little park downstream of the bridge and added a Flicker and a flock of Boreal Chickadees, captured in this photo taken by Bill (NWT #55 and #56).

Other birds in the park included Chipping and White-throated Sparrows, Juncos, and Tennessee and Orange-crowned Warblers.  Along with good numbers of mosquitoes!

A short distance to the east we headed to Cell Tower Road which had had some nice reports recently.  However, we didn’t see a single bird there.  As we headed back to the car we heard a distant call that sounded like an Osprey.  Sure enough, in the distance we spotted a large Osprey nest on a power pole, with an Osprey perched nearby (NWT #57).

Continuing our route east we took the turnoff to Cassidy Point.  Although we had 5 waterfowl species in our brief stop here, the key attractions were the landbirds.  While scanning the lake we spotted a Barn Swallow flying low over the water (NWT #58).  I’ve seen this species throughout the provinces, including in Newfoundland as a rarity.

And then from the thin strip of vegetation along the lake edge we heard a singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet (NWT #59).   

Prosperous Lake was our next stop as we continued our trek east.  This was another brief but rewarding stop – and it had some nice scenery too.

As we starting to scan out over the lake we heard a shorebird calling from the water’s edge nearby – was it a Spotted Sandpiper?  We eventually got a quick view which confirmed the ID (NWT #60).  Then we spotted a Tern flying out over the lake.  Luckily it wasn’t too far out as it gave good views showing additional black in the wings.  We finally had a Common Tern (NWT #61).  I still need this species in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Our farthest east stop was at the Cameron Falls trail.  The spruce habitat looked great, though we saw few birds – likely since it was now mid-afternoon on a surprisingly warm day in the upper 70’s. 

We eventually made it to the falls which were most impressive!  Made the long walk worthwhile. 

 

As we doubled back to the car, we discussed starting the next morning along this trail hoping to run into a Spruce Grouse.  But we decided to bird closer hotspots where target birds were also more likely.

Our last stops of the day were at lakes within Yellowknife.  First we headed to Frame Lake, though a quick stop didn’t reveal anything new for the list.  Then we made our way to Range Lake where we found this very young juvenile Pacific Loon with its sleeping parent (NWT #62).

Another very successful day of birding!  I had originally hoped for 60 species in NWT, and we had already tallied 62.  Plus, we still had one more day of birding in the territory.

July 5 – Day 3 in Yellowknife

The plan for the day was to bird at a mixed bag of hotspots near town, including two hotspots that are almost always on a birder’s list of favorites – a landfill and a sewage treatment impoundment. 

Our first stop of the day was at the Yellowknife landfill, specifically looking for Sandhill Cranes.  That’s a new one for me – I’ve never seen Cranes at landfills, unless maybe they were in grassy patches or wetlands around the perimeter of the landfill.  I reached out to the NWT Facebook group to get some advice, and it seemed like the Cranes were routinely seen right amidst the landfill trash.  We arrived just after 6 AM and found the landfill gate was still closed.  So we drove along a perimeter road just outside the landfill and luckily we could see the open face of the landfill from there.  Just as we were parking a pair of Canada Geese flew by (NWT #63).  And just a minute later a Crane flew in and landed in the trash (NWT #64), just as the local birders suggested.  Go figure…

And of course, before we left we had to look through the gulls at the landfill.  But we were only able to pick out Herring and Ring-billed in the small flock.  As we drove away from the landfill 3 other Cranes flew overhead, hopefully headed towards some more natural habitat. 

Next, we were on to the small First Nations community of Dettah a short distance east of Yellowknife.  Located at the southern tip of a peninsula surrounded by an arm of Great Slave Lake, it looked to be a good spot for a seawatch.  Along the way we passed by some small lakes with Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, and Wigeon, not to mention a breeding Lesser Yellowlegs calling from the top of a spruce (NWT #65).  My province map for this species is similar to many of the others – I’ve seen Lesser Yellowlegs in most of the provinces but still need it in the 2 territories where I’ve yet to bird.

The seawatch at Dettah was quite successful.  The first birds we saw were a flock of 5 Surf Scoters (NWT #66) and later a single White-winged Scoter flying north.  We also had a flock of 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, and a single Common Goldeneye (NWT #67), fly in and land right in front of us. 

And while scanning the lake a Song Sparrow chipped from the brush nearby (NWT #68). I just need this species in Yukon Territory (maybe next year?)

On the drive back we spotted a Kestrel perched on a wire along the road (NWT #69).  And I’m glad we stopped to confirm the ID because that gave us a chance to scan a nearby lake picking out a small group of Buffleheads (NWT #70).  I still need this species throughout the Maritimes where it’s a wintering bird – I’ve never birded there in the winter.

We next headed west of town, first stopping at a wetlands along Merlin Rd. where Yellowthroat and Clay-colored Sparrow had been reported.  It was a nice wetlands, with singing LeConte’s, Lincon’s, and Swamp Sparrows, and Yellow Warblers, but we couldn’t tease out either target.

Then after a bit of doubling-back we eventually found our way to the hotspot named Yellowknife Sewage Outlet.  As sewage lagoons go, this one was quite attractive with nice natural habitat, including shallow open water, brushy edges, and mudflats.  

We had 4 species of dabbling ducks including 16 Pintails (NWT #71).  Then we got excellent looks at Short-billed Gulls as they foraged nearby at the water surface.

Then we started scanning the distant edges and noticed some shorebirds moving in and out of the vegetation.  We were able to find 6 species, including Solitary, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers (NWT #72-74).  All of which took off as a Merlin came passing by (NWT #75).  Looks like I missed Merlin during my Ontario trips.

That was quite the stop!

Our last stop of the day, and the last one for Yellowknife, was a cattail marsh along Kam Lake where Common Grackles had occasionally been reported.  Sibley’s range maps indicate that Grackle is a rarity anywhere in NWT, but they seemed to be almost reliable at this spot. 

Within seconds of getting out of the car a Grackle flew low over the cattails (NWT #76), which was followed by a flock of 8 more that landed in trees at the edge of the marsh.  That was easy for a rarity!  I’ve now seen Common Grackle in every province where it is regular, and now in NWT as a rarity.

As we headed back to the car we noticed this sign – appropriate for this high latitude location.

 As was this license plate for NWT residents. 

We finished our 3 days in NWT with 76 species, obviously well above my goal of 60.  And although 76 is a nice tally, it only puts us in 143rd place for NWT all time per eBird records.  Though 12th place for 2026 is pretty respectable.

Manitoba – The Final Frontier, Part 2 of 3, June 2025

When it came time to start planning my big spring 2025 birding trip the destination was quite obvious – it had to be Manitoba.  That was my last state or province that I hadn’t birded extensively.  To paraphrase the Star Trek intro – Manitoba, the final frontier.  (Then again I haven’t yet birded Canada’s more distant and less accessible territories – Nunavut, Northwest, and Yukon.)

With an existing province list of just 61, there were lots of potential new province birds waiting for me in MB.  And if I flew into Grand Forks, ND, I could also fill a few gaps in my MN and ND lists before or after the MB portion of the trip. 

I reached out to my good birding friends Bill and Anita Hooker who went with me on my trip to FL back in January 2025, and they agreed to come along on this trip as well.  It was all coming together.

I spent several months planning the trip, including searching for the best birding hotspots in MB to maximize our species total, and looking for specific one-off targets near Grand Forks in MN and ND.  I came up with a 13-day itinerary where I could add at least 140 species in MB to break 200 for the province, add perhaps only 4 in ND, and hopefully 2 in MN.

This is the second of 3 blog posts summarizing the MB portion of the trip, covering June 2nd through the 5th. 

6/2 – Riding Mountain National Park

Earlier in our trip Brandon birder Gillian Richards connected us with local Riding Mountain birder Ken Kingdon to see if he could help us out in the park.  Better than that, Ken offered to show us around the morning of the 2nd, taking us to multiple stops north along Route 10.   

Our first stop was a short walk along Gray Owl dump road.  Here I added Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cape May Warbler and Purple Finch.  (MB #165-167)  My Canadian province and territory map for Purple Finch is inserted below.  Provinces where I’ve seen this species are shaded in light blue – I’ve now seen Purple Finch in all 10 provinces.  Cross-hatched jurisdictions are those in the Purple Finch's regular range where I’ve yet to see it.  I’ve never birded in Canada’s three northwestern territories (yet!) so none of these will be shaded in for any of my Canada maps.

However, I missed the Siskins that everyone else heard.  Maybe I was distracted by the buzz of the hordes of mosquitoes.  Hopefully that wouldn’t come back to haunt me.

Next, we continued north to Bead Lakes for a longer walk through excellent boreal habitat.  It proved to be a great spot, with finds like Evening Grosbeak right in the parking lot, Hermit Thrush, Canada Jay, Canada Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, a heard-only Boreal Chickadee, Black-throated Green Warbler, and a calling Three-toed Woodpecker.  (MB #168-174)  Unfortunately we dipped on Winter Wren and Trumpeter Swan at an adjacent wetlands.  Ken also pointed out this tree to us – a bear had not only removed the bark near the top of the picture, but it had also rubbed on the bark below leaving some dirt behind.

Our next stop was at the far north end of the park at Crawford Creek.   I hadn’t picked out this site for a possible stop when I was planning the trip so I wasn’t sure what the targets might be here.  As we got out of the cars Ken said that this location was a reliable spot for Golden-winged Warblers, and before we left the parking lot we were hearing one singing nearby (MB #175).  We took a short walk and soon reached this classic Golden-winged habitat – an area of young deciduous trees with open grassy and shrubby patches. 

Soon we got visuals on one male with 2 others singing a short distance away.  I had planned to search for this species at a site on the eastern escarpment of the park – I didn’t realize they were at this site as well.   

We turned around and started heading south, soon reaching our next stop at Moon Lake.  Here we added 2 birds - a breeding plumage Bonaparte’s flew by just as we arrived, and we finally found Trumpeters Swans in the distance.  (MB #176-177)  We also took a short hike especially focused on Lincoln’s Sparrow and Wilson’s Warbler but with no luck.

Next we were on to the Boreal Trail, a site that has had quite a number of nice checklists in recent years.  Although the gate was closed, we assumed it was OK to walk in and take a short hike.   And we’re glad we did.  Here I finally heard multiple Pine Siskins, then an Olive-sided Flycatcher singing softly in the distance.  Then we focused on the willows and alders lining this fast-flowing stream and added both Lincoln’s Sparrow and Wilson’s Warbler. 

Then Bill got a brief look at a very dark woodpecker – sure sounded like it could be a Black-backed but we needed better looks.  Eventually we all got great looks at not one but 3 Black-backed Woodpeckers.  Seems early in the year to be a family group.  Could it be a small breeding colony?  (MB #178-182)

Our last stop of the morning was at a marsh just south of the park where Ken had had LeConte’s Sparrows recently.  The marsh and adjacent meadows seemed drier than normal – perhaps too dry for LeConte’s.  We listened intently for a while, and played some tape, but with no luck.  It was actually quite windy now, so we decided to come back in the evening to try again when the winds would hopefully be calmer. 

We thanked Ken for all his help in getting us on some great birds that morning, hoping that we might cross paths again some day.

After a quick lunch we decided to head to the west of the park, first to check out a report of 2 Connecticut Warblers.  Ken said that COWAs were not likely in the park anymore, so we were a bit skeptical.  The checklist area had some good habitat, but we couldn’t scare up a Connecticut. 

Then we were on to the dam at the south end of Lake Audy.  The area was quite birdy, and our first addition was a flock of 25 or so American White Pelicans on the north shore of the lake very far in the distance.  Good thing Pelicans are so large because they could have been as much as 2 miles away!  Much closer were several flyby Forster’s Terns followed by 2 Common Terns.  Six Trumpeter Swans were a nice sighting as they swam by.  (If only a 7th bird had joined them, we’d have had “7 swans a swimming”.)  And minutes later an Osprey and Bald Eagle flew by. (MB #183-186)  Finally, not new for my list, but still a nice find, was this Red-necked Grebe on its floating nest.

And as we drove from Lake Audy we encountered this Bear walking down the road shoulder right past us.  At this distance it’s nice to see the bear from the safety of a car.

That evening we went back to the marsh for another try for LeConte’s Sparrow.  Even though winds had greatly reduced, we still couldn’t turn up a LeConte’s.  Maybe water levels were just too low this year.  Next we planned to head to the area east of Lake Katherine for Woodcocks.  We were a bit early when we arrived in the area, so we headed to Lake Katherine and had a spectacular nighthawk show over the lake.  That was the highlight of the evening because we had no luck with the Woodcocks. 

I ended the day with 22 new species for my province list, bringing my MB total to 186.  Closing in on 200…

6/3 – Riding Mountain NP

This day was focused on sites along Route 19 on the eastern side of Riding Mountain.  My first key stop was at a stream-lined with willows, hoping for looks at Lincoln’s Sparrow or Wilson’s Warbler.  Unfortunately, those targets remained elusive, but I did have a Red-breasted Nuthatch calling in the distance (MB #187).  Ken had told us that the lack of a cone crop in the Park this year meant that Red-breasted Nuthatches (along with Crossbills) were very scarce, so I was happy to get this one.

A bit further down the road I had a Pileated Woodpecker calling in the distance – the first for the trip but not new for my list.  And as I neared Whirlpool Lake I spotted the first of 3 Wild Turkeys ambling along the road shoulder (MB #188).

Soon afterwards I reached Whirlpool Lake and the woodlands near the parking lot were quite birdy, including 13 species of warblers.  Plus this “scruffy” Canada Jay.

And the lake itself was very pretty.

I doubled back to Lake Katherine and did some quick birding along the trails there.  The highlight of this stop was an Olive-sided Flycatcher characteristically perched on top of the tallest dead snag.

Our last stop of the day was along Clear Lake where we heard another Boreal Chickadee though couldn’t get any visuals.  We called it quits early that day, taking the late afternoon off.    

 I finished the day with 2 additional species, bringing my MB list to 188.

6/4 – Riding Mountain, Portage-la-Prairie

The plan for the morning was to bird the East Escarpment of Riding Mountain along Route 361 out of McCreary.  But first we had to take a picture of the formal east entrance to the park.

Our key target along the East Escarpment had been Golden-winged Warbler, but of course we already found this one at the north end of the park.  Our other 2 remaining targets were Indigo Bunting and Eastern Towhee, both near the northern edge of their ranges.  Gillian had suggested a trail to take to find both targets, along with the Golden-winged.  So that trail was our first stop, and almost immediately after getting out of the car at the trailhead we heard a singing Eastern Towhee.  And then seconds later a singing Indigo in this habitat.  That was easy… 

We took a short walk along the trail adding a flyby Ruby-throated Hummingbird (MB #189-191) and an additional Indigo.  We didn’t have any Golden-wings though – good thing we got them earlier.  Though I’m sure we would have birded more of the trail if we still needed this target.

Next we headed to the former ski slope at end of the road.  One of our first observations here was of a mid-sized mammal walking up one of the slopes – perhaps a mink? 

Notable birds here were a cooperative Blackburnian Warbler, and another flyby Hummingbird.  It was interesting to imagine this spot during its skiing hay day.  Our last stop in the area was a short hike on the Oak Ridge Trail, with a half dozen Least Flycatchers being most notable,

After 3 ½ days at Riding Mountain NP, we were off to the Portage-la-Prairie area.  Gillian had helped to connect us with Cal Cuthbert who was a local birding expert in that area.   Not only does he know the area extremely well, he has an amazing property with widely diverse habitats and great birds.  But first, Cal took us to the Portage-la-Prairie landfill which is well-known for its gull flock and the potential for rarities mixed in.  When we arrived, we drove right up on the landfill, and had just an estimated 60 Herrings, 40 Ring-bills, and 10 Franklin’s.  That didn’t seem like enough critical mass to have any rarities, but we quickly picked up at least 4 immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 adult Californias, and this stunning immature Glaucous photographed by Anita. (MB #192-194)  

MB was my 5th province where I've seen Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4 of which as rarities (the dark blue shaded provinces in my map below).

Plus, we had one bird that I thought was a Thayer’s but eBird reviewers said it was a Herring.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get on the Thayer’s that Cal spotted when we first arrived.

After a most successful time at the landfill, Cal took us to a private location where he had Saw-whet Owls nesting in a nest box.  

We were lucky enough that this juvenile bird was peering out of the box when we arrived (MB #195).

Next Cal took us to the Delta Beach area at the southern end of Lake Manitoba.  Here we witnessed a spectacular shorebird show thanks to Cal taking us to numerous secluded vantage points along the beach.  At each stop along the lake there were hundreds of shorebirds foraging in front of us, and an almost constant movement of birds heading west in waves along the shoreline.  We estimated at least 5,000 birds were included, mostly Semipalmated and White-rumped Sandpipers among the 14 species of shorebirds.  Here’s a typical shot with Semis, White-rumps, and a Sanderling in the foreground, and a pair of Caspian Terns in the background (one Tern is standing directly behind the other – can you see the 4 legs?).

By the end of the afternoon I had added 3 new MB species – 2 Red Knots (MB #196), 2 Caspian Terns (MB #197 – the old ABA reporting threshold for MB), and 32 Black-bellied Plovers (MB #198).  But nearly all were chased away by a Peregrine (MB #199) – at least now we don’t have to spend time trying for that one in downtown Winnipeg. 

We ended up with 101 species for the day, including 14 species added to my province list which now sits at 199.

6/5 – Portage-la-Prairie

We met up with Cal early that morning and he took us to a wet grassy field that had been good for LeConte’s Sparrow in the past. 

Unfortunately, the local drought meant the field was drier than normal, but with the help of some tape we eventually found LeConte’s - in fact we got great views. 

That brought my MB list to 200 – my original goal for the trip.  And we hadn’t even reached Churchill yet.

Then Cal took us to a large lot heavily wooded with mature oak trees at the Young Husband Lodge, in hopes of finding White-breasted Nuthatch.

We not only were successful in finally finding the Nuthatch, but also had views of, and heard, a Great Horned Owl.  And as we were leaving the lot 4 Sandhill Cranes flew overhead.  (MB #201-203)

We went back to Cal’s amazing yard where we walked several trails and ended the visit with some leisurely birding on the back deck.

We bid farewell to Cal, and couldn’t thank him enough for his help and allowing us to visit his amazing property.

The it was off to Winnipeg where I had 3 possible targets – Cooper’s Hawk, Cardinal, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.  All had been seen several times recently at multiple parks in the city, but local directions were limited for almost all of them.  I decided to try Bunn’s Creek Centennial Park as perhaps the best bet, and we headed there for a late afternoon visit.  Unfortunately, we dipped on all 3 targets, but we added an unexpected singing Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (MB #204).

I added 5 to my province list for the day, bringing my MB total to 204.