Sunday, June 6, 2010

Birding Southern Manitoba June 5, 2010

Today, June 5th, spent most of the day birding the southwest section. Our first stop was at Whitewater where we have a great 4 hours of birding. The highlight was an adult Glossy Ibis feeding with a couple of White-faced Ibis. Other birds of note included 1 Great Egret, 2 Cattle Egret, 17 White-faced Ibis and 9 California Gull. Northbound shorebirds were still on the move with 75+ Red-necked Phalarope, 50+ White-rumped Sandpiper, 60+ Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2 Stilt Sandpiper, 1 Short-billed Dowitcher, 1 Semipalated Plover and 1 Sanderling. In the extreme southwest corner near Hwy 256 and Antler Road 171 we observed 1 Baird's Sparrow singing, 1 Loggerhead Shrike, 10+ Upland Sandpiper, 1 Grasshopper Sparrow and 1 Ferruginous Hawk. At the community of Broomhill we observed 1 Say's Phoebe hanging around the ruins of the old store. South of Melita there were a few areas with both Sprague's Pipit and Chestnut-collared Longspur. Before the rain started we observed another Ferruginous Hawk near Pipestone.
Good Birding, Bruce Di Labio
An adult California Gull was the official greeter at Whitewater.   
Cattle Egret in flight at Whitewater.  
The Marshwren is easy to hear but sometimes very secretive.   
A Great Egret over Whitewater. Note the large size, black legs and yellow bill colour.   
The Franklin's Gull is a common breeder in southern Manitoba.    In the extreme southwest we observed 2 pairs of Burrowing Owls   A Burrowing Owl in flight.   Very easy to overlook when on the ground.    But no problem finding on a fence post!

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