2024 was a pretty successful year in regard to birding. There were some interesting encounters and trips that I should have probably wrote about in more detail, but it’s too late.

This year I have recorded 270 species of birds in two countries. 15 species were new for my list, that have reached 565 species.

In Canada and Manitoba I spotted 242 species, which was a new best record. Seven of those were new for the province and country. My Canadian list is 299 species, Manitoban is 288. It was also my best birding year in Winnipeg, where I spotted 185 species of birds.

I found 15 lifers this year, of which eleven were in Florida and the rest in Manitoba.

In early April, I observed two unusual gulls at a landfill in Winnipeg: a Glacous Gull – a lifer for me, and a Great Black-backed Gull – a first for me in Manitoba.

In July, I made a trip to the west of the province to finally find a few birds that I had been missing from there. Unlike previous times, I left not in the morning, but at midnight, so that I could start observations as soon as the sun rose.

This paid off: as soon as I arrived, I immediately heard the song of a Baird’s Sparrow. Unfortunately, I did not manage to see them, but they sang nicely in the prairies. Interestingly, they stopped singing around 7:30, which explains why I did not meet them on my previous visits. That same day, I found another lifer, unfortunately only by voice too: a Willow Flycatcher.

Finally, at the end of the year I tried to find the White-winged Scoter, which is not numerous but regular on migration in November. I visited all the right places, but I still couldn’t find it. Suddenly, in early December, a report came that this duck had been seen on a lake in the boreal region of eastern Manitoba. I had just started my vacation, and I decided to give it a try. Right after a big snowfall I went and found it! White-winged Scoter – the last lifer of the year.

Also, it was close to the Ontario border, so I decided to wander into the neighbouring province, and saw a nice assortment of boreal winter birds, the best of which was the Black-backed Woodpecker.

Additionally, this year I have been to the USA three times. First, on my way back from a trip to western Manitoba, I stopped at the International Peace Garden in North Dakota, where you can get without passing border control. There I added to my US list some common middle of the continent species, such as Black-billed Magpie.

The second time was the already mentioned trip to Florida. And the third time I went to the US for a day in December, driving a little through Minnesota and returning through North Dakota. I tried to find Snowy Owls, which have been seen quite a lot, but I had no luck. In general, I found fewer interesting birds than I expected. But I did add two species: Snow Buntings and Sharp-tailed Grouse. My US list is 202 now.

Also in the fall, two interesting species were observed in Manitoba, and many birders saw them: a Great-tailed Grackle and a Brant.