Our Birding & Critter Pages

In South West Saskatchewan  (Swift Current and surrounding Area), our birding is somewhat limited... though if you look around and know what you are looking for, you can find all kinds of interesting birding life out there ......

Our  binoculars are always very close at hand, whether it be sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast, or going for a drive...  Some of the exciting sightings in our own backyard over the last two or three years  have been:   The Sharp-shinned Hawk, House Finch (including an albino in the winter of 1999 - 2000), American Robin, Weaver Finch (a.k.a. House Sparrow), Tree Swallow (my favourite!), Barn Swallow,  American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Gray-headed Catbird, House Wren, Brown Thrasher, Common (Northern) Yellow-shafted Flicker, Mourning Dove, Grackle, Swainson's Thrush, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Yellow Warbler, and the Nighthawk (flying overhead during the summer evenings... and if we're lucky, go swooping through our yard, flying low to catch the insects that make up their diet!!)  ***We also have had the more uncommon occurrences of Townsend's Solitaire (this really got everyone excited in Spring - 2000, we again sighted a Townsend's Solitaire in Spring - 2001 three or four blocks from our house, and had one eating Mountain Ash berries in our tree the first weekend in October, 2001!!), Mourning Warbler, Northern Oriole, Cedar and Bohemian Waxwing!  In the Fall - 2001, we had the pleasure of having a Spotted (Rufus-sided) Towhee spend a morning in our front yard... eating good things along the Cotoneaster hedge!!  We were quite excited to have the opportunity to host this visitor!!

In the early summer, our yard becomes a smorgasbord,  nursery, and playground for many of the local area birds!  We have nesting Tree Swallows and Robins, and also enjoy the antics of many fledged Tree Swallows, House Finches, Pine Siskins, House Wrens,  American Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, more Robins, Grackles, and Houses Sparrows.  All the birds in the neighbourhood enjoy the welcoming water of our birdbaths... and the fruits of the Saskatoon bush and the Mountain Ashes.

We planted three Chokecherry trees in the garden in Spring, 2001 -- especially for the birds, so they will have more to choose from in future years:-)  Summer, 2000  we planted large  sunflowers for the birds to feast upon, and in Summer, 2001 several grew from black-oiled sunflower seeds spilled from the winter feeding stations!!   We have been letting the sunflower seeds grow "volunteer" ever since!!!  These are a favourite of the American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, and Grackles!

"The Hills are Alive..."  with the flurry of wings and the songs of birds!!  We have taken a few day trips to the Cypress Hills Provincial Park, and a few camping trips.... and we have hit paydirt each time!  We have sighted Mountain Bluebirds along the highway between Maple Creek and the Cypress Hills Prov. Park (what a very beautiful colour of blue these guys sport...), and once in the Park, we have seen male WesternTanagers (this has been much cause for excitement for us... two years in a row, now!!) and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets (these guys have such big, beautiful songs for such little birds), as well as a Three-Toed Woodpecker, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, and American Redstarts.  There is also a multitude of other wonderful  birds and animals to see, as well as some very gorgeous flowers (such as the Three-flowered Avens, Indian Paintbrush and Orchids to name only a few) and other plants!!  Could life be any better??

The Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park has provided some very good  birding for us, as well... and it is only a short 30-minute drive North of Swift Current.  We have seen the Brown Thrasher and heard his beautiful and very extensive song repertoire, as he sang to his lady friend, who was busy eating on the ground as he serenaded her!!  We seen a Rufous-sided Towhee (also known as the Spotted Towhee), Lark Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Clay-Colored Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows & White-Crowned Sparrows.  We've also seen Swainson's Thrushes, Horned Larks, Sharp-Tailed Grouse, Killdeer, Willets, Western Grebes, Horned Grebes, American Wigeons... and much more!  During the 2003 Christmas Bird Count, Larry saw and counted a VARIED THRUSH - spotted in the campground area!!  Not a common bird found on the Prairies!!  With the South Saskatchewan River flowing through the Park, you get to enjoy the water birds along with the prairie birds!!  (We have picked up a good number of LIFERS at the Landing!!!)  In the summer, you can get some great close-up  photos of the Prickly Pear Cactus... just don't step on any!!  YEOW!

Do you enjoy watching the great birds of prey??  If you find yourself driving down the #1 Highway between Regina and the Alberta border, or if you venture off on one of the many secondary highways or gravel roads, you will see a multitude of species of hawks and falcons...  as they watch for Richardson's Ground Squirrels (the "gopher"), mice, voles, etc...  They are so very graceful as they soar through the prairie skies, swooping down on unsuspecting prey.  You will also see some hawks sitting on power poles and fence posts...  I have pulled off the highway to watch hawks flying over the railroad tracks as a train goes rushing by, catching whatever little critters may be scared up from the noise and rumbling of the train.  Pretty smart birds, to know where to find an easy meal!!!

My husband and I belong to the SouthWest Naturalists  and attend most of the monthly meetings held the 2nd. Tuesday of every month (Sept. through June), and try to get out on the field trips whenever we can.  Our family also participates in the Christmas Bird Count every year!

Check out our Lifelist ... to see a list of all the birds hubby and I have seen so far (though not necessarily both of us have seen all these birds... )  The list changes each time we're lucky enough to add a new bird (not often enough, for us, but I am discovering it requires patience... a lot of patience!!)

It is really hard to pick a favourite Field Guide .... with each one being unique.
We do find ourselves using the National Geographic Field Guide  most often... partially because it does have a lot of very good identification information in it, and it includes both the Western and the Eastern species all within one book!!  But, there are many times we have to use one or more of the other books to help positively identify a particular bird (sometimes we use every one of the guides we have, and still come up with an unidentified bird!!)
The Sibley Guide  is very comprehensive, and does show many various phases of a particular bird.  It comes in very handy for identification purposes (but because it is the largest of the books, it is awkward to carry around, and does get damaged.)  We find we use the Audubon and Peterson's "Eastern" guides much more than we use the "Western" guides... though we do get some birds found in the "Western" guides that are not in the "Eastern"!!  Saskatchewan is on the fringe of both regions...  When we were in Waterton Lakes National Park, however, the Western Guides shone through!!  We very recently purchased the Peterson's Field Guide to Warblers -- maybe we can get a positive I.D. on some of the up-to-now unidentified warblers we've been seeing!!  A very tough species to identify (too bad they wouldn't stay still longer than a split second so we could get a better look at them!!!)

Feel free to    me!!!