| June - July Sightings | ||||||
| JUNE 20 - JULY 4 | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| lesser scaup | redhead duck | great blue heron | ||||
| red-winged blackbird | gadwall duck | common snipe* | ||||
| Hundreds of birds | blue-winged teal | clay-coloured sparrow | ||||
| in zone 3 remain | Canada goose | song sparrow | ||||
| unidentified. | American coot | widgeon duck | ||||
| mallard duck | Franklin gull | |||||
| ruddy duck | ||||||
| black tern | ||||||
| tree swallow | ||||||
| common goldeneye | ||||||
| Observations above made Tuesday June 22nd (4:00 pm, warm, slight overcast, no wind) | ||||||
| A number of species have young at this time: Canada geese, mallards, blue-winged teal, goldeneye and coots. | ||||||
| Three dead birds (ducks) were spotted from the platform laying in the river directly under the power line hazard. | ||||||
| * Bird heard but not seen. | ||||||
| JUNE 6 - JUNE 19 (zones where spotted in brackets - scope used) | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| blue-winged teal (1,2, RP) | lesser scaup | green-winged teal (2) | great blue heron* | |||
| red-winged blackbird | gadwall duck | cinnamon teal (2) | ||||
| Hundreds of birds | redhead duck | clay-coloured sparrow | ring-necked duck-RP | |||
| in zone 3 remain | Canada goose | song sparrow | raven | |||
| unidentified. | American coot | widgeon duck | canvasback | |||
| mallard duck | ring-billed gull | |||||
| Franklin gull | crow | |||||
| tree swallow | black tern | |||||
| ruddy duck | northern schoveler | |||||
| common goldeneye | bufflehead | |||||
| Observations above made Sunday June 13th (7:00 am, cool, overcast, no wind) | ||||||
| * J. Fortier reported the sighting of a great-blue heron early in this time period. It was also photographed in the gazette. | ||||||
| Goldeneye (RP) seen with 27 ducklings, one of which appeared to be extremely light coloured (albino?). | ||||||
| MAY 30 - JUNE 5 | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| American coot | Canada geese | black-crowned night heron-RP | ||||
| Hundreds of birds | blue-winged teal | bufflehead | ruddy duck | |||
| in zone 3 remain | red-winged blackbird | lesser scaup | gadwall duck | |||
| unidentified. | canvasback | mallard | northern harrier | |||
| black tern | northern shoveler | pied-billed grebe - RP | ||||
| common goldeneye | clay-coloured sparrow | |||||
| song sparrow | ||||||
| widgeon | ||||||
| crow | ||||||
| Observations above made Sunday 30th (9:00 am, cool, slight rain, strong wind, overcast) - additions June 1st | ||||||
| Goldeneye with 12 ducklings on Riel Pond (June 1st, 6:00 am) | ||||||
| MAY 23 - MAY 29 (zones where spotted in brackets - scope used) | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| American coot (1,2,3) | Canada geese (2,3) | common loon (2RP) | ||||
| Hundreds of birds | lesser scaup (2,3) | common goldeneye (1,2) | yellow-headed blackbird (2) | |||
| in zone 3 remain | bufflehead (1,2,3) | gadwall duck (1,2) | redhead duck (2) | |||
| unidentified. | blue-winged teal (1,2) | mallard (1,2) | crow (2) | |||
| northern shoveler (1,2) | sora rail* | |||||
| clay-coloured sparrow (1,2) | ruddy duck | |||||
| red-winged blackbird (1,2) | red-necked grebe** | |||||
| black-crowned night heron*** | ||||||
| Observations above made Monday May 24th (5:00 pm, mild, slight wind, overcast) | ||||||
| Three muskrats seen close to platform. Canada geese with three goslings seen. | ||||||
| Note: Horned grebes nesting in Grandin Pond. | ||||||
| * Reported by C. Zihrul on May 24th, 2:30 pm south of the viewing platform | ||||||
| ** Reported by C. Zihrul and R. McKown (24th and 26th) on Riel Pond | ||||||
| *** Reported by R. McKown (May 26th 8:30 pm) around Riel Pond | ||||||
| MAY 16 - MAY 22 (zones where spotted in brackets - scope used) | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| American coot (1,2,3) | northern shoveler (1) | Canada geese (1,2,3) | ruddy duck (2) | |||
| red-winged blackbird (1,2) | common goldeneye (1,2) | tree swallow (1) | ||||
| Hundreds of birds | lesser scaup (1,2,3) | gadwall duck (1,2) | red-necked grebe (3) * | |||
| in zone 3 remain | bufflehead (2,3) | redhead duck (2) | canvasback (3) | |||
| unidentified. | mallard (1,2) | blue-winged teal (1,2) | ring-billed gull (1) | |||
| yellow-headed blackbird (3) | common snipe (2) * | |||||
| song sparrow (1) | common loon** | |||||
| gadwall duck (1,2) | western grebe** | |||||
| Franklin gull (1,2) | ||||||
| song sparrow (1) | ||||||
| clay-coloured sparrow (1,2) | ||||||
| common tern (1,2) | ||||||
| Observations above made Monday May 17th (1:00 pm, warm, slight wind, sunny) | ||||||
| This is not the best time of day to go in search of birds. Early morning is best. | ||||||
| * Birds heard but not seen. Hyperlinks for each provides an audio recording of the sounds of these birds. | ||||||
| ** Reported by P. McKown from May 20th around 5:00 pm. | ||||||
| MAY 9 - MAY 15 (zones where spotted in brackets - scope used) | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| American coot (1,2,3) | eared grebes (1,2,3) | northern shoveler (1) | crow (2) | |||
| lesser scaup (1,2,3) | tree swallows (1) | red-winged blackbird (1) | lesser yellowlegs (2) | |||
| Canada geese (1,2,3) | common goldeneye (1) | |||||
| Hundreds of birds | ruddy duck (1,2) | redhead duck (2) | ||||
| in zone 3 remain | song sparrow (1) | widgeon (2) | ||||
| unidentified. | bufflehead (2,3) | ring-necked duck (2)*** | ||||
| mallard (1,2) | gadwall duck (2) | |||||
| * Special thanks to | yellow-headed blackbird (1) | |||||
| P. McKown | common goldeneye (1) | |||||
| for contributing | blue-winged teal (1,2) | |||||
| some information | canvasback duck (2) | |||||
| northern harrier (2,3) | ||||||
| Observations above made Sunday May 9th (cold, windy, 9:30 am, easterly winds) | ||||||
| ***Note error in newspaper letter to editor: not 'ring-billed' but ring-necked duck | ||||||
| Only the sounds of geese, coots and wind. Conditions cold. | ||||||
| * R. McKown notes male Northern Shovelers head-bobbing in courtship displays. | ||||||
| * R. McKown also notes six new goslings swimming into Big Lake from the Sturgeon River with parents. | ||||||
| MAY 2 - MAY 8 (zones located in brackets - binoculars used) | ||||||
| Abundant | Numerous | Present | Rarer Sightings | |||
| American coot (1,2,3) | red-winged blackbirds | northern shoveler | northern harrier | |||
| lesser scaup | crows | |||||
| Hundreds of birds | mallard | common goldeneye | ||||
| in zone 3 remain | redhead duck | |||||
| unidentified. | Canada geese | |||||
| song sparrow | ||||||
| Only one set of information obtained from the platform for this reporting period and there was | ||||||
| a marked reduction in the number of birds observed. Other individuals are encouraged | ||||||
| to report sights to email@bless.ab.ca | ||||||
| Frogs are now very noisy at times. A beaver is still to be seen off and on in zone 1 just around | ||||||
| the platform along with muskrats. Coots are very abundant and close to the platform. | ||||||
| Click here for March-April Sightings | ||||||
