High number of birds, species recorded in Lac La Ronge region

“With the lakes being covered with ice, the amount of water birds like ducks, geese and comrades were quite high because they couldn’t disperse. The only open water was on the Montreal River.”

There was also a higher than usual amount of loons which were spotted. Schisler also contributes that to a concentration at the Montreal River due to the ice-covered lakes.

Some of the other most common birds record include common golden-eyed ducks and crows. In addition, magpies, which began showing up in the region about five years ago, also continue to be seen.

“The number of song birds were quite low,” Schisler noted.

“I think they were queuing up down south waiting for the weather to get spring-like before they headed North because right after the count was finished, lots more song birds were showing up – more warblers and other song birds.”

The annual spring count is held during specific time period because it is when many birds are migrating through the region. The Lac La Ronge area is a popular stopover for many of them headed further north.

“A lot of them hang out around here. The red poles, they all go to the Arctic,” Schisler remarked.

“They migrate here in the early winter, and they hang out around this area and down south all winter and then they migrate through here. When they were migrating, that was earlier than the bird count. When they were migrating, they were cleaning out my feeders in a day. It was just massive.”

Schisler added more residents of the tri-communities are becoming interested in the birds that either migrate through or live in the region. He recommends people download a bird identification app such as Merlin Bird ID developed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The app is able to identify a bird’s call based on an audio recording.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

by Derek Cornet

High number of birds, species recorded in Lac La Ronge region

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