Manitoba Fall Hawk Watch – 13 September 2025
There was excellent coverage during the 2025 fall hawk watch, with eleven groups in the field. The weather cooperated, although one group in particular was hampered by fog and the Westman group had strong winds. Overall raptor variety was excellent, although some species’ tallies were much below normal (Turkey Vulture and Sharp-shinned Hawk). Several observers noted a distinct lack of warblers.
Thank you to all who participated.
Group 1. Lindsey Bylo, Joel Kayer
The time was spent in the Carrot River Valley. Lindsey and Joel tallied the highest number of kestrels, recorded the only Rough-legged Hawk and saw more crows than they could count!
Group 2. Cathy Swiderek, James Whitelaw
Cathy and James traveled via Birds Hill PP, Patricia Beach, Grand Beach and the Traverse Bay dump to Victoria Beach. They were the only ones to report Common Merganser and found a late Cliff Swallow. A Cooper’s Hawk was their best raptor.
Group 3. Andy Courcelles and Gene Walz
Traveled via Oak Hammock Marsh and the west side of Lake Winnipeg to Hecla Island. During lunch they made a brief stop at Dunnotar, where they joined the local watchers. A Prairie Falcon was at Oak Hammock, while nearby early American Tree Sparrow and Fox Sparrow were seen. They were the only party to record Common Nighthawk and Canada Jay
Group 4. Rob Parsons, Jo Swartz, Jan Bradley and Betsy Thorsteinson
Drove via Carman to Holo Crossing (Pembina River Valley) and returned via the Kaleida Marshes and Lac Rondeau. They were hampered by thick fog from Carman on. They recorded 65 species, which included American Golden-Plovers and Black-bellied Plovers, five Great Egrets, a Peregrine Falcon at Lac Rondeau and 1600 American Coots at the Kaleida Marshes.
Group 5. Walker Giesbrecht and Richard Boyd
Participated for the first time and traveled via St. Adolphe to the Rat River, Grunthal and Landmark. They noted Trumpeter Swan, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Red-headed Woodpecker and Eastern Bluebird.
Group 6. Rudolf Koes and Peter Taylor
Started with a traditional walk at Walter Chryplywy Nature Park at Beausejour, which produced two small warbler flocks. They then headed east and northeast to Brightstone, Lac du Bonnet, then along the Winnipeg River and back via Pine Falls and the Brokenhead River. They had their lowest-ever tally of Turkey Vultures, but found a late Cliff Swallow and had 16 Vesper Sparrows for the day.
Group 7. Gwen Armbruster, Bonnie Chartier, Judy Wilson and Heidi Streu
Relaxed at Dunnotar and observed the skies. The only raptors they noted were Sharp-shinned Hawks. During lunch they were joined by Andy Courcelles and Gene Walz, who were enroute to Hecla.
Group 8. Katharine Schulz and Cathy Dewar
Traveled west from Winnipeg to the Portage la Prairie area. Neil Butchard, their former count partner, now deceased, was with them in spirit. Best birds for them were an Osprey at the Portage Spillway, with 12 Marbled Godwits also there. They recorded eight Red-headed Woodpeckers. This species was seen by several other groups and seems to have had a successful breeding season.
Group 9. Ward Christianson and Marlene Waldron
Covered their traditional route through Argyle to West Shoal Lake and on to St. Ambroise and the PR 227 dump. They found seven Snow Geese, 159 Sandhill Cranes, both Prairie and Peregrine Falcon, two Yellow-throated Vireos, plus, at the dump, a Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Group 10. Garry Budyk, John Weier.
As usual this party recorded the highest number of species, although the total of 87 was well below their long-time average. Like some other groups, they lamented the almost total lack of warblers. However, they did record 12 Wild Turkeys, 287 Sandhill Cranes, a Caspian Tern, an Osprey and two Peregrine Falcons. Their shorebirds included Semipalmated Plover, Sanderling and Hudsonian Godwit.
Group 11. Seventeen Westman birders
Watched at Virden. While they did not record many raptors, they noted a swirling flock of about 1450 Franklin’s Gulls and saw large numbers of Blue Jays (179), Cedar Waxwings (422) and American Goldfinches (389).
Report by Rudolf Koes.