John Acorn - Best Places to Bird in the Prairies

Rock Wrens do indeed prefer rocky places, such as canyons and badlands.

GERALD ROMANCHUK

FOREWORD

YOU HEARD IT here first: Canadas three midwestern provinces are a paradise for birdwatchers. Were talking about a region that spans 1.8 million square km (almost 700,000 square mi.), more than three times the size of France, and an immense territory that invites superlatives. To the north, broad swaths of boreal and mixed-wood forests receive an annual influx of migrating songbirds, millions upon millions of them, drawn to some of the richest and most productive breeding grounds anywhere in the world. Farther south, wide-open expanses of prairie provide living space for grassland specialists like Greater Sage-Grouse and Long-billed Curlews, permitting them to extend their range into northerly latitudes. Meanwhile, the regions thousands of prairie potholes, or wetlands, are home to enormous flocks of ducks that hatch out most of the ducklings on the continent. Add in rugged mountains, active sand dunes, even a strip of Arctic coast, and it becomes easy to understand why birdwatching in the so-called Prairie provinces can provide a lifetime of fascination and happiness.

And yet, it would be easy to miss out on all the fun if you didnt know where to look. As impressively varied as the region is, its also a country of broad strokes, long distances, and deceptive sameness, and it can pass us by in a blur, an endless dull streak on the far side of the car window. Thats why the book that you have in your hands is so welcome and valuable. In these pages, three seasoned birders, each an expert on his or her own home province, offer detailed introductions to their own personal birding hot spots. Some of their recommendations are almost mandatoryan array of national, provincial, and municipal parks, for example, or Manitobas famous Oak Hammock Marshbut others are wonderfully quirky. Who wouldnt want to hang out in a decaying industrial site with John Acorn, watching Gyrfalcons and Prairie Falcons strike at pigeons (mostly without success) or to head down an ever-dwindling trail with Alan Smith to look for Belted Kingfishers at the confluence of the South Saskatchewan and Red Deer Rivers? Who wouldnt want to help Nicola Koper check Assiniboine School in Winnipeg for nesting Chimney Swifts? Its exciting to be trusted with this kind of insider information.

Ive spent most of my life in the Prairie provinces, and though Im not a Very Serious Birderno life list or target species for meI usually have my binoculars and bird book within easy reach. I know a marsh from a meadow, a cowbird from a chickadee. And yet, thanks to the generosity of these authors, I am reminded how much I have yet to discover and how thrilling those discoveries can be. For instance, it says right here that Harlequin Ducks, which Ive never seen and which are spectacular, have sometimes been spotted on the river not far from my home. So now, if youll excuse me, Ill look forward to seeing you later, out on the birding trail.

CANDACE SAVAGE

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

July 2017