Diario del proyecto Lesser Slave Lake Region (Alberta) Birds and Insects

Saturday, March 6 the excitement began with the first sighting of a lone Canada Goose at the Lesser Slave River by the Highway 88 bridge. Spring Migration is on, one of the most exciting times to see all the birds that are coming back to either stay or have a rest before continuing on their journey.

While most people in the cities aren't as excited by the Canada Geese, the arrival of the Geese are usually the first to appear in large numbers and soon other ducks/waterfowl start to appear.

When you see one, you know the next day you will see more and by March 7 I spotted 7 Canada Geese along the river. The rest of the week was relatively quiet, we knew more had arrived but they weren't hanging around at the Point or down river to the weir.

With warmer weather, an explosion of Canada Geese occurred and now there are over 100 doing what the geese do, make a lot of noise, rumble with each other, display and feed.

Exciting observations were the Northern Pintail Ducks - 3, 2 males and a female. March 19 3 male Green-winged Teals. Mallards have also been observed, 2 males and a female sighting for me, more for others.

Until the ice is off the ponds and the lake is more open, we are bound to see a lot more waterfowl over the next few weeks in a relatively small area at the mouth of the Lesser Slave River down to the weir.

Spring has sprung!

Every day more birds are coming back and on Monday, March 22, 2021 we saw the first Trumpeter Swan at the Point on the Lesser Slave River. By Tuesday, 2 more had joined. We have had snow for the last 3 days and temperatures to -13 in the mornings - we are having our 2nd winter!
Sunday, March 21 we saw a male Common Merganser at the Weir and 4 more further down river at the bridge on the Old Smith Highway.
I will be using this journal to post about when we see the birds back. Happy birding!

Friday, March 26, 2021 a Hooded Merganser (male) sighted on the Lesser Slave River down from the pumping station with a few Common Goldeneyes.
Sunday, March 28, 2021 flocks of Northern Pin-tailed Ducks, Mallards at the Point. More Common Goldeneyes at the river, lots more Canada Geese and 4 Eagles - 3 adults and 1 juvenile. 1 Ring-billed Gull. 2 Bufflehead Ducks.
The 3 Trumpeter Swans were not anywhere down the river from the Point to the weir.