While last year I got to visit the United States, this year I only traveled within Canada, visiting two other provinces besides Manitoba.

In August we went to Calgary, Alberta. We had been there exactly ten years ago, but not for long. At that time we didn’t get to the mountains. This time we finally did! I added three new species there: Mountain Chickadee, Steller’s Jay and Clark’s Nutcracker. Not too many: for example, I didn’t find an American Dipper.

There were other nice encounters, such as Boreal Chickadees right in Calgary and Rock Wren in the Badlands (not surprising, but something I was not expecting).

On my last day, I went to inspect waterfowl with a specific goal. And I quickly achieved that goal: Black-necked Stilt (the North American sibling of the European Black-backed Stilt). I was also hoping to see Cinnamon Teal in large flocks of ducks. They may have been there, but I did not have a chance to stop and look, because the road shoulders were too narrow!

That same day, I visited the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, where I found a fifth lifer: Western Wood-Pewee.

The next trip took place at the end of October, it was to the city of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. Overall, the birdlife there in October does not differ much from Manitoba. But there is one exception, and a very significant one.

O. and I headed north of Saskatoon, about an hour by car. After circling the fields for a while, we heard the characteristic cooing of cranes. We found them!

These were Whooping Cranes – one of the most endangered birds of the continent. In the 1940s they were close to extinction, but conservation, captive breeding and reintroduction program helped them survive. The largest and the only continuous population breeds in Canada’s Northwest Territories and winters in Texas. They stop at several places on their way to their wintering grounds. Here, in rural Saskatchewan, is one of their known stopovers.

The next day I headed further north, to Prince Albert, this time by myself. Here the prairie gives way to boreal forests, not very different from those of Manitoba. But here too I was in for a surprise. As soon as I entered the forest I heard some tapping. I saw a woodpecker, and it turned out to be an American Three-toed Woodpecker – that’s what I was hoping for. Other worthwhile birds were a Black-backed Woodpecker and a Boreal Chickadee.

---

And now for the year’s summary. In 2025 I saw 239 species of birds, all in Canada. That’s even less than the 242 I found in 2024 in Manitoba alone, but still good. I wasn’t very active in the fall, so I missed some species. The strangest one was the Pectoral Sandpiper, never had a problem with them before. Boreal Chickadee, as I mentioned, was seen by me in two other provinces, but not in the one where I live.

In Manitoba this year I recorded 228 species. I found 194 species in Winnipeg, which was my record high.

Eight lifers: one in Manitoba (Eastern Meadowlark), five in Alberta and two in Saskatchewan. My world list reached 573 species.

Manitoba’s list has added three species to its tally of 291. And my Winnipeg list is now at 240, after adding seven species, six of which are waders, and one tern.

The most birds I found in a day this year was 75 species on May 18th. This result, at the moment, shares 3rd-4th place with June 24, 2024, among the best days.

In addition, I got to see two birds that I have previously only heard.