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Saturday 26 May to Monday 4 June 2012 with Stuart Elsom as leader
Cost: £2430 plus about £940 for flights Please click here for details and an explanation of the price breakdown Maximum group size: 5 with 1 leader, 10 with 2 leaders.
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This tour to Manitoba, in southern Canada, is centred around Winnipeg with all the areas we visit situated a few hours away in any direction. We'll be visiting the wide open prairies of southern Manitoba, the impressive Oak Hammock Marsh, a wetland of over 17 square miles, and Riding Mountain National Park where, as well as some much sort-after North American birds, we hope to see an impressive selection of mammals. Manitoba is a great birding destination, especially for anyone wanting to see many of the brightly-coloured wood warblers for which North America is rightly famous. Mouthwatering species such as Ovenbird, Blackburnian, Canada, Chestnut-sided and Magnolia Warblers are easy to see here and we should get wonderful views of all of them. The rare and endangered Golden-winged Warbler also nests here and we'll be visiting a stronghold for this species. Canada is home to nesting Common Loons (or Great Northern Divers) and we'll see them in resplendent breeding plumage on the lakes, along with Caspian Terns, Hooded and Common Mergansers and Bufflehead. The boreal forests contain some northern specialities such as Great Gray Owl, American Three-toed and Black-backed Woodpeckers, Evening Grosbeak and, depending on the pine cone crop, White-winged (or Two-barred) Crossbill. Day 1: The tour will start with a flight from London to Winnipeg, via Toronto. Night in Winnipeg. Day 2: En route west from Winnipeg to the prairies of southwestern Manitoba, we’ll stop first at the vast Oak Hammock Marsh, a marvellous wetland with abundant breeding waterfowl and passage shorebirds sure to catch our eye. Such species as American Bittern, Franklin’s Gull, American Black Tern, Marsh Wren and the gaudy Yellow-headed Blackbird are seen in the reeds, whilst passage waders could include Marbled and Hudsonian Godwits, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers and Red-necked Phalarope. As we head towards Brandon we may encounter our first Swainson’s Hawks or Mountain Bluebirds on the roadside. Near Brandon we'll watch an area of marsh that is home to Nelson’s Sharp-tailed and Le Conte’s Sparrows and if we are lucky we may also catch sight of the elusive Yellow Rail. Night in Brandon. Day 3: We’ll head first to the deciduous woodlands of Brandon Hills Wildlife Management area, where we may find such species as Ruffed Grouse, Black-billed Cuckoo and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. After leaving Brandon Hills we’ll begin our search for prairie specialities including Marbled Godwit and Chestnut-collared Longspur. We’ll also visit Whitewater Lake where passage waders such as American Avocet, White-rumped Sandpiper and Wilson’s Phalarope are often abundant. Night in Melita. Day 4: We’ll spend a full day exploring the prairies near the Saskatchewan border. The avifauna here has a distinctly western feel to it with Ferruginous Hawk, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sprague’s Pipit and Baird’s Sparrow all possible. The prairies are beautiful this time of year, full of bird-song and awash with wild flowers, which in turn attract large numbers of butterflies such as Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, all combining to create a wonderful wildlife experience. Night in Melita. Days 5-6: After a final morning in Melita we’ll drive north across the ‘prairie potholes’ checking the numerous wetlands en route, arriving in Riding Mountain in the afternoon. During the next two days we’ll explore the boreal forests, lakes, and bogs of Riding Mountain, an extensive 1500-foot escarpment which rises up as an island from the Manitoba plains. Birds are abundant and very active at this time of year and we’ll hope for boreal forest species such as Gray Jay, Hermit Thrush, Spruce Grouse, upwards of 18 species of warbler including Connecticut, Mourning and Cape-May, Boreal Chickadee, Lincoln’s and White-throated Sparrows, Brown Creeper and Evening Grosbeak. In some years warblers such as Nashville, Bay-breasted, Tennessee, and Black-throated Green are numerous, along with difficult to see species such as Great Gray Owl, Great Horned Owl and both Black-backed and American Three-toed Woodpeckers. The mammals in Riding Mountain can also be very visible and as a result add considerable extra interest to this tour; previous visits have produced over 20 species including American Beaver, Elk, Moose, River Otter, Marten, American Bison and if we’re really lucky, Black Bear. Nights in Riding Mountain National Park. Day 7: This morning we'll drive to an area of dry forest, home to the endangered Golden-winged Warbler, arguably the best American warbler and we should see several different males on territory. Other species here should include Least Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee, Orange-crowned and Chestnut-sided Warblers and a variety of butterflies including Juvenal’s Duskywing. In the afternoon we will head east towards Gimli, arriving early evening at our hotel which is situated on the edge of Lake Winnipeg. Night in Gimli. Day 8: The town of Gimli has the distinction of being the largest community of people of Icelandic descent outside Iceland. Situated on the west side of Lake Winnipeg this delightful town with a population of 6000 is a great area for birds. Our first stop will be Willow Point, a tree-lined marshy peninsular jutting out into Lake Winnipeg. This is a superb area for breeding birds and migrants alike and an early morning walk could produce displaying Wilson’s Snipe, American Bittern and Sora Rail in the marsh whilst the scattered trees could contain good numbers of migrant passerines including Eastern and Western Kingbirds, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Yellow, Blackburnian and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Hermit Thrush and Warbling Vireo. At the end of the spit the choppy waters should harbour many Red-necked Phalaropes as they feed atop the crashing breakers. Other local areas will be a good place to look for those iconic northern birds, Connecticut Warbler and Great Gray Owl if we have missed them earlier in the tour. Night in Gimli. Day 9: Our final morning will allow us another chance to enjoy Willow Point before breakfast, either checking for migrant passerines, watching the breeding waterbirds or checking the shoreline for migrant shorebirds making their way north. After a late breakfast we will head to Winnipeg for our flight to Toronto then we will catch an overnight flight to London where the tour concludes on Day 10.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
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