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

March 30 - 5 Trumpeter Swans, 2 pairs, 1 lone
Canada Geese and Cackling Geese - hard to tell but quite a few of the Geese are a bit larger than Mallards and seem quite smaller, some pictures show the indicators that they are Cackling Geese
April 2 - 2 more Trumpeter Swans flew in but landed out on the ice close to Dog Island and our first sighting of a male and female Northern Shoveler, and a Milbert's Tortoiseshell Butterfly landed by us at the public boat launch by Gramiak's
April 3 - 4 Hooded Mergansers - 2 female and 2 males hanging out with a few Common Goldeneyes by the public boat launch

April 6:
7 Hooded Mergansers, 4 males, 3 females by the Highway 88 bridge over Lesser Slave River
15 Ring-billed Gulls at the Point, by Dog Island
5 males and 1 female Common Merganser at the Pumping Station
April 7:
10 Trumpeter Swans at Point and maybe a Greater Scaup by Roland on the River
April 8:
13 Trumpeter Swans and a Juvenile Bald Eagle at the Pumping Station
Lots of Mallards, American Widgeons and 4 male Green-winged Teals - in the water collecting in Old Town park
8 Hooded Mergansers - from Highway 88 bridge to Gramiak's
April 9:
15 Trumpeter Swans - 2 juveniles in the group at Pumping Station/Point and 1 Ring-necked Duck
American Robins and Dark-eyed Juncos at Lilypad, lots of Dark-eyed Juncos all over now
Swans flying in flocks over the Weir
April 10:
28 Trumpeter Swans by Pumping Station/Point, Tundra Swans landed at the Point

April 10 - Tundra Swans have started coming over and landing at the mouth of the river - big flocks, Male/Female Canvasback at Point, Kildeer by the government/public boat launch on the ice and then saw 3 Kildeers at the weir
April 11 - Bald Eagle snatched a female Common Goldeneye from the side of the river, then went to the top of the beaver hut to devour the bird. Happened around 4:45 pm
April 12 - First American Coot seen, came out when at the beaver hut on the side of the river by where the Bald Eagles perch
Yellowleg landed on the other side, not sure if Lesser or Greater - guessing Greater
April 13 at the Point - 77 swans counted - mixed, Tundra and Trumpeter, lots of ducks - Mallards, Northern Pintails, Common Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teals, American Widgeons
April 14 at the Point - first Red-necked Grebe spotted
Blue Heron flew over the Old Smith Highway bridge to the weir - first one spotted
April 15 - Old Smith Highway bridge to weir - Canvasbacks and a Red-headed Duck

April 17, 2021 - Eagle on the nest, in 2020 they didn't nest in this location and thought they had moved on to make another nest. Our walk to see a grouse took us past the eagle nest and the eagle was there.
We went to the ponds road, there was still ice on the ponds but the edges have open water. The Canada Goose was on her nest in the usual place.
Flocks of Brewer's Blackbirds at the Point on the trees. More and more blackbirds are coming back - Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds.
April 20, 2021 - American Coots, about 20 of them by the bridge to the weir on the Gramiak side.
April 23, 2021 - ponds have opened up in most places, there is still ice on some larger ones, but most have the ice gone and ducks are moving to these open waters.