Tag Archives: Bird Tour

DANCING GROUSE TOUR

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Early Morning or Evening Tours during April and May

Join our experienced local birding guide for a 4-hour early morning or evening drive to view the spectacle of dancing Sharp-tailed Grouse at a roadside lek outside Saskatoon.Many of the traditional indigenous dances were inspired by this display.

Sharp-tailed Grouse Dancing
by Nick Saunders

COVID SAFE. We will practice special safe self-isolation steps during all 2020 spring tours. Clients will drive their own personal or rented vehicle while the leader will travel in a separate vehicle. We will communicate via cell phone while remaining in separate parked vehicles near the dancing grounds.

Sharp-tailed Grouse jumping
by Nick Saunders

Your parked car serves as a bird blind from which you may view the birds dancing in adjacent fields. Birds usually dance about 100 – 300 meters away from car.

  • Morning Tour: 4:30 AM – 9:30 AM – April
    3:45 AM – 8:45 AM – May
  • Evening Tour: 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM
  • Morning tours are recommended because birds are usually more active near sunrise than sunset.
  • Trip will be postponed if the weather forecast suggests rain or strong winds. Grouse do not display well during adverse weather.
Sharp-tailed Grouse Portrait
by Nick Saunders

 

Suggested items to Bring:

  • Clothes suitable for the weather
  • Water bottle
  • Binoculars
  • Spotting Scope (optional)
  • Camera (optional)

Tour Fee: CAN$325 (about US$230, £185) for groups of 1 – 4 persons. Taxes included.
Fee includes guiding services only during early morning or evening tour.  Client supplies their own transportation. Meals, transportation and accommodation are NOT included.

All proceeds support the work of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation registered charity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESERVATIONS: Send us your full name(s), mailing address, email address and requested tour dates.

E-mail: birdtours@sasktel.net

Phone: 306-652-5975
Text: 306-281-2215

TOUR GUIDE: Your guide has many years of experience finding and observing birds throughout Saskatchewan. For over 30 years, Stan Shadick has been a birding guide for nature tours around Saskatchewan and other parts of the country that have been organized by Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation, Nature Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan Extension Division. He is a past president of Nature Saskatchewan as well as a past president and current field trip chairman for the Saskatoon Nature Society. He is a co-editor of the reference publication “Birds of the Saskatoon Area” and contributed significantly to the recently published “Birds of Saskatchewan”. He is currently a regional coordinator for the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas project and helps with their bird identification workshops. He regularly contributes sightings to e-bird and currently holds the e-bird record for the most bird species seen in Saskatchewan.

Stan Shadick

 

Blackstrap Guided Birding Driving Tour

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Situated in a glacial valley, Blackstrap Lake is fed by a canal from the South Saskatchewan river. This deep lake provides habitat in season for many species of ducks, geese, loons, grebes, pelicans, gulls and terns. Shallow sloughs near the lake provide habitat for many kinds of sandpipers and plovers. Woodlands adjacent to the lake are home to songbirds including numerous Purple Martins, Baltimore Orioles and Western Kingbirds. Rarities are often reported from this lake. Over 200 species of birds have been reported in or near this lake.

During our tour, we will drive to visit the best birding locations near this lake. Washrooms and food are available at nearby locations.

Fees. Groups of 1 – 3 people are charged a guiding fee of $65 per hour (3 hour minimum, 4 – 5 hours recommended). If you need return transportation from a Saskatoon hotel to the site, add an extra $150. Fees must be paid in advance.

Step-on Guide Service available for bus tours.

Email birdtours@sasktel.net for advance payment instructions.

All fees support Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

SPECIAL BLACKSTRAP BIRDS OF INTEREST

Eared Grebes

Eared Grebes

by Nick Saunders

Marbled Godwit

Marbled Godwit

by Nick Saunders

Western Kingbird

Western Kingbird

by Nick Saunders

Ruddy Duck

Ruddy Duck

by Nick Saunders

American Avocet

American Avocet

by Nick Saunders

Wilson’s Phalarope

Wilson’s Phalarope

by Nick Saunders

Beaver Creek Guided Birding Tour

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Beaver Creek is an attractive wooded valley with several walking trails. Here this creek flows into the South Saskatchewan River. Many native wildflowers may be found blooming here in summer. An indoor interpretive centre on site has displays and washrooms with running water.

During guided tours, we usually select the trail with the best variety of songbirds. The trails are relatively flat with stairs provided in the steeper portions.

During spring and summer months from mid-May through early-September over 60 species have been found at this location. Additional migrating songbirds may be seen in late May and late August / early September.

Fees. Groups of 1 – 3 people are charged a guiding fee of $65 per hour (3 hour minimum). If you need return transportation from a Saskatoon hotel to the site, add an extra $50. Fees must be paid in advance.

Step-on Guide Service available for bus tours.

Email birdtours@sasktel.net for advance payment instructions.

All fees support Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

SPECIAL BIRDS OF INTEREST

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

by Nick Saunders

Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher

by Nick Saunders

Vesper Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

by Nick Saunders

Clay-colored Sparrow

Clay-colored Sparrow

by Nick Saunders

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

by Nick Saunders

Veery

Veery

by Nick Saunders

Orange-crowned Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

by Nick Saunders

American Redstart

American Redstart

by Nick Saunders

Upcoming Bird Tours

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Saskatoon is located where two major North American flyways meet. During the breeding season in June and July about 150 bird species occur within grassland, wetland and woodland habitats. This list is augmented during the migration months of May, August and September when boreal and arctic nesting warblers, flycatchers, vireos and shorebirds are plentiful.

American Avocet by Nick Saunders

Spectacular Sharp-tailed Grouse courtship displays are best seen in April and May. Their displays are the basis for indigenous Plains Cree dances. Elegant and endangered Whooping Cranes, North America’s tallest bird, are regularly seen from late September through mid-October.

Snowy Owl by Nick Saunders

The world’s highest concentration of Snowy Owls occurs here in winter.

We offer many Half-day, Full-day and Multi-day Guided Birding Tours throughout the year starting in Saskatoon.

  • SNOWY OWL TOUR (November – March)
  • CHICKADEE FEEDING TOUR (September – May)
  • SASKATOON WINTER BIRDING TOUR (November – March)
  • FOREST WINTER BIRDING TOUR (November – April)
  • DANCING GROUSE TOUR (April – May)
  • PRAIRIE GRASSLANDS BIRDING TOUR (May – July)
  • CHAPLIN SHOREBIRDS TOUR (May – August)
  • PRAIRIE RESERVOIRS BIRDING TOUR (May – October)
  • BEAVER CREEK BIRDING TOUR (January – December)
  • WHOOPING CRANE BIRDING TOUR (September – October)
  • SANDHILL CRANE & GEESE BIRDING TOUR (September – October)

EMAIL birdtours@sasktel.net for full details of any tour.

Please include your name, location and email address and
your approximate travel dates (if known).

All proceeds support work of our local wildlife charity – Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Our expert birding tour leader, Stan Shadick, has over 30 years experience as a bird guide for nature tours around Saskatchewan. He is an author and editor of a variety of birding publications and serves on the board of several birding and nature conservation organisations. He currently holds the e-bird record for the most bird species seen in Saskatchewan.