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Saskatchewan
   
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Sharp-tailed Grouse - Tympanuchus phasianellus © Mike Danzenbaker http://www.avesphoto.com/

Often simply described as a prairie province of the Canadian interior, Saskatchewan tends to escape much of the attention that its rich diversity should attract. Birders, however, recognize this province as a key breeding area and migration resting area, offering to its 414 recorded bird species a variety of habitats, including forests, bogs, freshwater and saline lakes, grasslands, and sloughs.

Birders will discover an ever-changing landscape as they travel around the province. Deglaciation, with its erosive and depository processes, sculpted Saskatchewan's landscape and created distinct differences in soil and vegetation. Elevations range from 213 metres at Lake Athabasca to 1,392 metres at Cypress Hills. As a result, within its trapezoidal borders, Saskatchewan houses four major ecosystems that correspond to the northern sub-arctic region, the Canadian Shield, the southern boreal forest, and the prairie.

These broad ecosystems can be further divided into smaller eco-regions and again into even smaller important landscape areas, each with its own particular mix of plant, mammal and bird species. Sub-arctic woodland, Precambrian rocks, peatland and numerous lakes characterize the Taiga Shield. The Boreal Shield is noted for its bedrock outcrops, sand dunes, eskers, wetlands and lakes. The Boreal Plain boasts steep escarpments, glacial till plains and wetlands. Finally, the Prairie, which covers only 38% of the province, contains aspen groves, glacial till and glacial lake plains, sand hills, potholes and badlands.

Even though more than half of the province has a sub-arctic climate, the rest being continental and steppe climates, with temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius in the winter to +40 degrees in the summer, Saskatchewan is the home or resting place for large numbers of many bird species. Its 651,900 square kilometres is the summer home for one quarter of the world's population of American White Pelicans and it is an important breeding area for the Bald Eagle, American Avocet, Forster's Tern, Gadwall, Ruddy Duck, and Northern Pintail, to name a few.

In recent history, humans have been carving the landscape of Saskatchewan, with agricultural development and forestry altering ecosystems and thereby affecting the species that live there. Officially, the populations of 15 species of birds in Saskatchewan are currently at risk. The Passenger Pigeon is extinct and the Greater Prairie Chicken has been extirpated. Endangered species include the Whooping Crane, Sage Thrasher, Piping Plover, Mountain Plover, and Burrowing Owl. The Sage Grouse and Loggerhead Shrike populations are also threatened. Vulnerable species include the Ferruginous Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Long-billed Curlew, Short-eared Owl, Caspian Tern, and Red-headed Woodpecker.

To fully appreciate a birding experience in Saskatchewan, visiting birders need to understand its various ecosystems and the current status of bird species in this vast province. Among the growing number of birding websites offering such information, the Birding in Canada website is a valuable resource on birding in Saskatchewan, including information on birding hotspots and a list of birders with e-mail.

Some information drawn from Atlas of Saskatchewan: University of Saskatchewan, 1999

 
 

Brenda Schmidt
(Creighton, Saskatchewan)
vinny@sasktel.net

Number of bird species: 440
Provincial Bird - Sharp-tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus

Manitoba & Saskatchewan Birds

by James Kavanagh (Author), Raymond Leung (Illustrator) - Waterford Pr (November 1999)
ISBN: 1583550380
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Saskatchewan Birds

by Alan Smith Lone Pine Publishing 2001
ISBN: 1551053047
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Nature Saskatchewan

Website

Nature Saskatchewan is one of the largest conservation organizations in the province. We are striving to help protect Saskatchewan's native species and natural ecosystems - our biological wealth. Nature Saskatchewan believes that a healthy natural environment and sustainable economy is crucial for the survival and well-being of present and future generations...

Regina Natural History Society

Website

Meetings are generally held on the third Monday of each month, except during the summer, and are open to the public. They are held at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, at Albert Street and College Avenue, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada...

Last Mountain Bird Observatory

Observatory
Satellite View
The Last Mountain Bird Observatory (LMBO) is a member of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network, a Canada-wide network of observatories that has been established to monitor populations of migratory songbirds. The Observatory is located in Last Mountain Regional Park.

Royal Saskatchewan Museum - Ornithology

http://www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/

The RSM Life Sciences collection includes a specimen of the passenger pigeon, a bird that is now extinct. The passenger pigeon's extinction is particularly amazing, because only a century ago it was the most numerous species of bird on the Earth, numbering in the billions! During migration, it was common to see flocks a mile wide flying overhead for 4 and 5 hours at a time. The flocks were so thick that a single shot could bring down 30 or 40 birds at a time! So what happened to them?

Bradwell National Wildlife Area

Information
Satellite View
Bradwell National Wildlife Area (NWA) is located in the mixed-grass prairie ecodistrict of central Saskatchewan. Wetlands consist of five inter-connected permanent basins which receive run-off water from the surrounding undulating land. A system of dykes, ditches and water control structures maintain water levels in the basins and help to supply water to several adjacent marshes via the main Saskatoon southeast supply canal. Native grassland surrounds most of the wetlands. Native grasses, tame grasses and legumes seeded on previously cultivated land provide dense nesting cover for waterfowl. Woodland is comprised of small scattered aspen-willow bluffs. A Ducks Unlimited (Canada) cairn on the Wildlife Area acknowledges donors who funded the project...

Chaplin Lake

Website
Satellite View
Chaplin Lake was designated a Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network site in May of 1997. This is the highest designation possible. There are only 35 sites in the Western Hemisphere with only 5 of them being in Canada and only 2 of these are Hemispheric...

Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

Website
Satellite View
Where in Saskatchewan can you find lush green forests of lodgepole pine and white spruce towering over colourful and unique meadows of wild flowers, high plateaus and surrounded by natural prairie grasslands? The Cypress Hills...

Quill Lakes International Bird Area

Website
Satellite View
This new website highlights the Quill Lakes International Bird Area in Saskatchewan, Canada. This birding hotspot hosts millions of birds annually with one day counts exceeding 250,000. Large concentrations of ducks, geese, cranes, and shorebirds. The site has numerous international designations including an Important Birding Area. The area includes Canada's largest saline lake and Canada's largest breeding population of endangered piping plovers. Facilities include the Quill Lakes Interpretive Centre, the Wadena Wetlands Viewing Area, and the Foam Lake Heritage Marsh Viewing Area.

Saskatchewan Parks

Website
Portal to all of the public open spaces in the region...

1997 [September] - Gavin Edmondstone

Report

I recently had the pleasure of a few days birding in Saskatchewan. I arrived in Regina about noon on Thursday, Sept. 18. I immediately called local birder Bob Kreba to discuss strategy. He suggested I that for the afternoon I explore the Wascana Lake area within the city (I had no car at this stage)...

2001 [October] - Blake Maybank

Report

After Beaver Creek I made a quick visit to Cranberry Flats, where the Meewasin Valley Authority has built a trail leading to a viewing platform above the South Saskatchewan River...

2005 [May] - Ted Hindmarch - Meadow Lake Provincial Park

Report

I spent the past 4 days (19-23 May) camping at the beautiful Kimball Lake, in Meadow Lake Provincial Park, and took the opportunity to enjoy a little birding. This area is predominately aspen, birch, and jack pine [PDF map] with a few spruce groves. It was definitely White-throated Sparrow country and there was a singing male and pairs on territory almost every 50 meters. The robin population was also very healthy around the campground. Chipping Sparrows were also everywhere, many still migrating through with some warblers mixed in...

Birding Pal

Information

Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

Walton's Birding and Nature Tours

Tour Operator

Ken has been a tour leader for over 40 years, spending most of the time birding in North America from coast to coast. His relaxed way of birding along with knowledgeof Southwestern British Columbia, Southern Saskatchewan, southern Ontario with tours to other areas, will help you see the most birds on each tour. He is the author of 3 bird books, and many bird notes across North America. Ken is also a wildlife artist also, with painting in homes around the world...

Lakeside Longhorns Guest Ranch

Accommodation

Old Wives Lake is home for thousands of shore birds, as well as major bird sanctuary Isle of Bays.

SaskBird

Mailing List
To post to list:Saskbirds@yahoogroups.com
List contact:Saskbirds-owner@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to list:Saskbirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Mailing List – Discussion Group - If you have seen something which would be considered rare or unusual in the Saskatchewan birding world, please feel free to post the specifics. If you wish to begin a discussion about some aspect of Saskatchewan birding, feel free to make a posting. If you wish information about birding in Saskatchewan or information about a particular species in this province, feel free to request it on this sight.

SaskBirders

Mailing List
To post to list:SaskBirders@yahoogroups.com
List contact:SaskBirders-owner@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to list:SaskBirders-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Mailing List – Discussion Group - For Saskatchewan and Canadian birders who want to share sightings, trip information or equipment choices. While this group focuses on Saskatchewan, due to the migratory tendencies of many birds I welcome all who wish to contribute. Feel free to post anything and everything that has to do with birdwatching.

Alone on a Boreal Stage

Blog

Brenda Schmidt - Writer, painter, birdwatcher, bog walker, camera aimer, author of A Haunting Sun, More Than Three Feet of Ice and Cantos from Wolverine Creek...

Saskbirder

Blog

Saskatchewan birds nature and scenery from Nick S...

Chaplin Lake & the Shorebirds

Website

Chaplin Lake encompasses nearly 20 square miles (45,000 acres ) and is the second largest saline water body in Canada. Shorebird surveys conducted by the Saskatchewan Wetlands Conservation Corporation and Environment Canada`s Canadian Wildlife Service revealed that over 30 species, with a peak count of 67,000 birds in a day using the lake. There was over 50,000 Sanderlings or about 25-50% of their hemispheric population were counted in a single day in and around Chaplin Lake. This area is also one of the top four breeding areas in Saskatchewan for the Piping Plover, an endangered species whose principal breeding area is in Saskatchewan

Crane Spotting

Website

Saskatchewan, the staging area for the 4,000-kms (2,500-mile) migration, one of the best places in the world to observe the elegant cranes. The environment is stable, the birds are widely dispersed throughout it, and it`s accessible while thinly populated. Whooping cranes can linger more than a month here while foraging for the grain that fuels their long trip...

Operation Burrowing Owl

Website

The Operation Burrowing Owl (OBO) annual census has documented an alarming decline in the owl population, which if continued, could result in the burrowing owl becoming extinct in Canada. The proposed project strives to reverse the continuing decline in Saskatchewan, where over half the remaining Canadian population spend their breeding season...

Saskatchewan Birdwatching

Website

Saskatchewan information...

Photographer - Dan McIntosh

Gallery

Large gallery of Saskatchewan birds and more...

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