Trip Information

Date: March 18 - 22, 2009

Duration: 5 days

Leader: Rudolf Koes

Limit: 12 people

Cost: TBA

From: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Featured birds:
• Boreal Owl
• Great Gray Owl
• Northern-Hawk Owl
• Great-horned Owl
• Snowy Owl
• Sharp-tailed Grouse
• Spruce Grouse
• Black-backed Woodpecker

Trip Summary:
• Easy to moderate walking
• Cold winter weather
• Good quality accommodation
• Lots of photographic opportunities
• 4-8 participants with one leader, 9-12 with two
• 15 passenger van(s)

Southeastern Manitoba has become one of the premier locations on the continent for locating northern boreal forest owls. The list of owls present during most winters is very impressive; Great Gray, Boreal, Barred, Great Horned, Snowy, Short-eared and Northern Hawk-owl, with always a possibility of Eastern Screech-owl, Long-eared and Northern Saw-whet Owl. Numbers of each species fluctuate from year to year, but late March is a very good time to be searching for several of these owls as courtship is beginning and the pairs can be very vocal on still nights. Our leader is a local naturalist who will have a very good handle on where each species can be found. On some evenings, the numbers of owls can be quite amazing. Other boreal species could also be present, including Sharp-tailed Grouse, Spruce Grouse and Black-backed Woodpecker. It is still cold in Manitoba in late March, so dress warmly and prepare for chilly weather.

See detailed itinerary below.

Click here to download a registration form.

Click here for the Manitoba Owls 2004 trip report and species seen.

Click here to download a list of species on our 2005 Manitoba Owls tour.

2006 Tour species list (94 kb pdf)

Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrival in Winnipeg
Participants will be arriving in Winnipeg throughout the day. For those that arrive early enough, there are opportunities for birding on your own in and around Winnipeg. Alternatively, there are some great museums worth visiting in the city. We will meet in the evening at our hotel for a get-together and to discuss any possible last-minute changes in the itinerary. Night in Winnipeg.

Day 2
After breakfast we will leave the hotel, with our luggage, at 8 a.m. We’ll head north and west of the city to look for Snowy Owls. En route we keep our eyes peeled for Gray Partridges and Snow Buntings. If the weather is right for diurnal raptor migration, we may next spend some time at a hawk watch site just south of Winnipeg, where we should see Bald Eagles and other raptors, including possibly Northern Goshawk. We will have a picnic lunch, possibly at the hawk watch.

Next we head into the city where we hope to locate an Eastern Screech-Owl at a roost. Late in the afternoon we drive east of the city to our hotel in the town of Lac du Bonnet, which will be our base for the next two days. We may luck into Sharp-tailed Grouse en route.
After dinner, if the weather is calm, we drive still farther east into the boreal forest to listen for Boreal and Northern Saw-whet Owls. (Numbers fluctuate from year to year, so they are not guaranteed to be present). Night in Lac du Bonnet.

Days 3 – 4
Our day outings will start around 8 a.m. We will cover roads and trails at the edge of the boreal forest, where we have the greatest chance of seeing Great Gray Owls. These birds are usually extremely tame and should allow for great photo opportunities. We have a good chance of seeing Northern Hawk Owl also, plus Bald Eagle, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Gray Jay and Boreal Chickadee.

There are a number of small towns and cottages in the area where we will visit feeders to look for Common Redpoll and Evening Grosbeak. At this time of year there are usually still some Hoary Redpolls around and we have a slim chance of spotting a late lingering Pine Grosbeak. Crossbill numbers fluctuate enormously; with luck we may see some.
Other target birds include Spruce Grouse and both “three-toed” woodpeckers, but finding these species is often more a matter of luck than anything else. Lunches will be in the field or at local restaurants. Weather permitting we’ll try again for Boreal and Northern Saw-whet Owl on the evening of Day 3. Great-horned Owl, Barred Owl and Long-eared Owl are all possible too.

Late afternoon on Day 4 we return to Winnipeg, where we will have dinner. This will also be a time to try for those species that we have missed so far; we may even spend the last evening listening for owls.

Day 5 - Departure
Our tour ends after breakfast.

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