Registration is full but you can be put on a waiting list.
Our Host Chris Olsen has booked the Red Deer River Naturalists Bird Focus Group Walk to join the Wainwright Wildlife Society (WWS) in their annual Sharp-tailed Grouse Tour on April 27, 2024. WWS set comfortable blinds on a lek site. The birds come in the pre-dawn to display to potential mates, and it is truly amazing to witness the strutting, posturing, rattling and even aggression in the dawn light. Dancing at this very site was recently filmed and shown on the Nature of Things. Go to CBC GEM and search the Nature of Things; look for a 3-part documentary titled the ‘Secret World of Sound’. The segment that includes Sharp-tailed Grouse on this lek is in part 2, ‘Love and Rivals’.
Pre-registration is required contact olsencdel@gmail.com to participate. Deadline for registering is April 6, 2024. Chris has reserved 14 seats for $35 adults, $15 students (cash) to support the WWS – bring exact change. We have 6 people already committed, so there are only 8 spots left. This outing will meet at a parking lot (tba) in Wainwright and depart for the lek at 4:00 a.m. sharp. Plan to be in the blinds until about 8:00 a.m., dress in warm layers, and bring a hot thermos and a snack. If you are unfamiliar with this spectacle, you will be amazed! If you wish to attend on your own on a different date the WWS runs this Sharp-tailed Grouse Watch from mid April to mid May. See their Facebook page for details and more information about the Tour.
The Tofield Snow Goose Festival also runs the weekend of April 27-28, 2024, based on offerings of years’ past, there is a ‘bird festival’ site in the Town and guided bus excursions with a biologist or interpreter to area wetlands. You can expect to see very large aggregations of Snow Geese and other migrating waterfowl and shore birds. Two or three hour bus tour options, tickets go on sale in March 2024. You can pre-register to reserve your seat! Tour cost: Adults: $25, Youth (12 & under): $10, Family (2a/2c): $60. Google Tofield Snow Goose Festival for more information. It may be something you may want to do after the Sharp-tailed Grouse watch, or the next day, depending on travel logistics.
Photo by ALAN SCHMIERER, Set 72157633375095620, ID 26700452955, Original title 086 – SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (4-19-2016)