Tobin Lake Birding Tour from Saskatoon, Melfort or Nipawin – Forest and River birds 2024

Saskatoon Custom Bird Tours

Email: birdtours [at] sasktel.net
Phone: 306 [then] 652 [then] 5975

Tobin Lake Birding Tour

Situated in northeastern Saskatchewan, Tobin Lake region including the Saskatchewan River Valley downstream from the Campbell Dam often attracts a variety of owls and woodpeckers. Late winter owling tours might see or hear any of the following owl species.

  • Barred, Owl
  • Boreal Owl
  • Great Gray, Owl
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Northern Hawk Owl
  • Northern Saw-whet Owl
  • Snowy Owl

Private Tours

Private Tours: Available year-round
Email birdtours@sasktel.net with your proposed dates to get a quote.

Public Group Tours

2-Day Public Group Tour

  • March 20 – 21, 2024 Winter Birding Tour to Tobin Lake Region.
    Limit: 4 vehicles plus leader

On this March 20 – 21 winter tour, we will focus on searching for any Barred Owls, Great Gray Owls, Northern Hawk Owls and Snowy Owl.  We will also watch for any Spruce Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Pileated Woodpecker, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Pine Grosbeak, Common Redpoll and other winter birds. No guarantees on which species we will find.

On summer tours we will focus on woodpeckers, warblers and other woodland and wetlands birds.

Escorted self-driving tour

Estimated Return Driving Distance from Saskatoon: 900 km

Ideal Birding Tour for residents or visitors to:

  • Saskatoon
  • Prince Albert
  • Melfort

Saskatoon starting point: 9:00 AM
Melfort starting point: 11:15 AM
Nipawin town starting point:  12:30 PM
Pierceland town starting point: 3:00 PM

Where to See Birds in Tobin Lake Region?

Tobin Lake Birding Tour Description

Join a private tour or a public group tour with a small group of birders on a Tobin Lake Birding Tour.  We will visit the best birding hotspots in this forested region along the Saskatchewan Fiver valley.

March is a great time of year for watching for the owls. We often find Barred Owls, Great Gray Owls and Northern Hawk Owls.

In summer, this forested region contains Bald Eagles, Osprey plus many species of warblers, vireos, sparrows and flycatchers.

In all seasons, we usually find Boreal Chickadees, Canada Jay, Spruce Grouse plus Hairy, Downy, Pileated and American Three-toed Woodpeckers. Black-backed Woodpeckers often occur.

Your leader will be Stan Shadick with Saskatoon Custom Bird Tours. All proceeds support Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Both novice and experienced bird watchers are welcome. A loaner pair of binoculars may be available if requested. The leader will bring a spotting scope to allow you to view the birds under high magnification.

See sidebar for a list of potential species. A checklist of Saskatchewan birds may be downloaded HERE.

Accommodation Options. Hotel accommodation options are available in the Nipawin region. Suggested accommodation will be sent to registered guests.

2-Day Tobin Lake Birding Tour Itinerary

Weather conditions may result in changes to this planned itinerary.

Day 1

Tour departs Saskatoon at 9 am.
Participants may choose to join the Tobin Lake birding tour at either Melfort (11:15 AM) or Nipawin town (12:30 PM). Bring your lunch. We will make roadside stops for any interesting birds during the drive.

  • Visit open water below Campbell Dam to look for waterfowl.
  • Watch for owls near highway.
  • We will eat a late supper in Nipawin.

Day 2

Breakfast in town. Bring food for your lunch. We plan to bird on the north side of Pasquia Hills all morning. then drive back home in the afternoon.

Transportation

Participants on the Tobin Lake Birding Tour need to drive their own personal or rented vehicle. RVs are permitted on private tours but not on group tours. Vehicles pulling a trailer may join the tour after the trailer is parked at a campground.  This tour is not recommended for owners of full electric vehicles.

Carpooling on group tours

If you would like to share the costs of a tour with other interested birders, then complete the Car Pooling Section of the Registration Request Form below or email the tour name, your name, phone number and email address to birdtours@sasktel.net

Tobin Lake Birding Tour Fee

March 20 – 21, 2024 Tobin Lake 2-day Group Birding Tour Fee: CAD $950 (about US$690, £550) per vehicle for your party of 1 – 4 persons travelling in a single vehicle.
This fee is the total fee for your party of 1 – 4 persons. It is not a per person fee.
Fee includes guiding services. Meals and accommodation and transportation are NOT included.
Trip begins in Saskatoon at 9 am on day 1 and ends in the park about 1 PM on day 2.
Participants may then drive back to Saskatoon with the leader or stay overnight in a park motel.
Tour limited to a maximum of 4 vehicles.

** SAVE $300 ** if you have room to transport leader in your personal or rented non-smoking vehicle during tour from Saskatoon and back.

TAX RECEIPT: A tax receipt for 50% of the tour fee will be issued to the person paying for the tour.

Tax Receipts

CANCELLATION POLICY: Refunds less a $50 administration fee will be given if cancellation notice received 60 days before date of tour.
No refunds if cancellation notice received less than 60 days before date of tour unless another client takes your place.

 

 

Tobin Lake Registration Form

Reservations: Complete the form below or email: birdtours@sasktel.net and provide names of clients, their addresses and requested type of tour and tour date.
Full payment due at time of booking. Payment instruction will be emailed to you after registration form is received.

The number of participants accepted on this group tour is limited.

Questions: please email birdtours@sasktel.net or phone 306-652-5975 during evenings.

If you don’t have a cell phone, enter your landline number.
Smoking is allowed only inside your own personal vehicle. No smoking is permitted during meals, anywhere in shared accommodations or outside during birding stops or hikes.

If you do not hear back from us within 24 hours, then please email: birdtours@sasktel.net or phone 306-652-5975.

Tour Guide

Tour Guide: Stan Shadick. Click for more information about your tour guide.

Stan Shadick – Tour Leader

 

Common Loon pair with young
Common Loon
by May Haga

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CLICK HERE to sign up for the monthly electronic Newsletter from Saskatoon Custom Bird Tours.

 

Prince Albert National Park Birding Tour
Blackburnian Warbler by Nick Saunders

Some Potential Birds of Interest In Season during Tobin Lake Birding Tours

  • Spruce Grouse
  • Common Loon
  • American White Pelican
  • Osprey
  • Bald Eagle
  • Barred Owl
  • Great Gray Owl
  • Northern Hawk Owl
  • Northern Pygmy Owl
  • Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  • American Three-toed Woodpecker
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Blue-headed Vireo
  • Canada Jay
  • Boreal Chickadee
  • Winter Wren
  • Swainson’s Thrush
  • Chestnut-sided Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Cape May Warbler
  • Black-throated Green Warbler
  • Blackburnian Warbler
  • Bay-breasted Warbler
  • Ovenbird
  • Mourning Warbler
  • Wilson’s Warbler
  • LeConte’s Sparrow
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Evening Grosbeak

Gift Certificates Available Now

GIFT CERTIFICATES: Click here for information about purchasing a gift certificate for this Prince Albert National Park birding tour or any of our other tours.

Bird Tours Gift Certificate
CLICK PICTURE for details.

How to get to Saskatoon

Air: Saskatoon International Airport (YXE) is served by Air Canada, Westjet and their U.S. partners United and Delta.

Air Canada Star Alliance partners also include Aegean, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels, Copa, Croatia, EgyptAir, Ethiopian, EVA, Lot, Lufthansa, SAS, Shenzhen, Singapore, South African, Swiss, TAP, Thai, Turkish, United.

Westjet international partners include AeroMexico, Air France, Air Transat, Azores, Cathay Pacific, China, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta, Emirates, Hainan, Hong Kong, Japan, KLM, Korean, LATAM, Philippine, Quantas, Virgin Atlantic, Xiamen.

Train: Saskatoon’s  Train Station is served by Via Rail’s Canadian train serving Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper and Vancouver.

Bus: Saskatoon – Edmonton and Saskatoon – Regina bus service

Car: Saskatoon is located on Canada’s Yellowhead cross-country highway plus 6 other major highways connecting with all cities in Canada and USA. If you drive, you do not need to rent a car for our tours.

Covid Safety Policy on Tours

  1. Your tour leader is fully vaccinated.
  2. Clients must normally drive themselves in their own personal or rented vehicle. The leader will normally drive in a separate vehicle. We will use cell phones to communicate between each other during the tour.
  3. This policy may change when public health orders change or when Covid case numbers decrease.
  4. Please contact us before booking tour if you have any special requests with regard to this policy. In certain cases if requested, leader may be willing to ride in client’s vehicle.

Other Summer Tours

Summer Prince Albert National Park Group Birding Tour may be taken in conjunction with any of the following summer birding tours. Click Title for more information.

Other Winter Tours

Summer Prince Albert National Park Group Birding Tour may be taken in conjunction with any of the following summer birding tours. Click Title for more information.

ALL BIRDING TOURS

Multiple Tours Discount

Can’t decide which tour to take?

Check out our multiple tours discount described here.

 

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