Target Species
Trip Itinerary
1
Day 1 – Arrivals and welcome dinner
- You’ll arrive at your hotel, beautifully situated along the South Saskatchewan River bank where you can take a stroll or visit a nearby art gallery.
- The tour officially begins with a 6:30pm group dinner as we discuss the exciting days ahead.
- On arrival, you’re likely to spot some common year-rounds birds and fall migrants including Franklin’s Gull, American White Pelican, Osprey, Black-billed Magpie, and Common Grackle.
- Our first experience of the tour is a casual evening and group dinner as we prepare for exciting days ahead.
2
Day 2 – An evening out and destination dinner
- We begin with an truly unique tour element – an evening birding session. You’ll have the morning free to explore the city and river valley before we meet as a group for lunch at noon.
- We’ll set off for our first views of Whooping Cranes at about 1:30pm! On the drive, we’ll share some information about the Whooping Crane and their natural history here in Saskatchewan.
- The evening outing is timed to catch cranes, geese, and ducks in flight as they make the return trip from their daytime water roost to the fields for feeding. We’ll eat dinner around 6:30pm and arrive back to hotels close to 8:00pm.
- Our main target this evening is the Whooping Crane, though we’ll likely get our first views of enormous flocks of geese and start to pick out various species including Canada, Cackling, Snow, Greater White-fronted, and Ross’s Goose.
- Beyond the birds and evening views, our first targeted experience is an unexpected townsite dinner known for an eclectic mix of empanadas, perogies, and sandwiches. Subject to hours and availability.
3
Day 3 – A picnic in a salty sanctuary
- If we were successful on day 2 viewing the Whooping Cranes, then we’ll start day 3 by taking a long detour back north to the same area for daytime views.
- Our detour will include morning birding and a picnic lunch at Redberry Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary – a unique saltwater lake located in the aspen parkland ecoregion of Saskatchewan.
- If we didn’t see Whooping Cranes on day 2, then we’ll head straight back to the area where they’re known to occur and catch Redberry Lake on the way back instead.
- This day starts at around 6:45am and returns back to the hotel around 4:30pm, well in time to change and rest before supper.
- In addition to Whooping Cranes, we’ll have opportunities to view a wide variety of birds including White-winged Scoter, Sandhill Crane, American Golden-Plover, American Avocet, Franklin’s Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Forster’s Tern, Horned Lark, Black-billed Magpie, American Pipit, and Brewer’s Blackbird.
- If the weather cooperates, today will be well paced with a good mix of birding by foot and car. We’ll target a picnic lunch with saltwater fauna and a relaxing evening in prep for an early day 3.
4
Day 4 – An observatory visit in North America’s oldest bird sanctuary
- Your final day will start early, as we’ll aim to make it to the Last Mountain Lake (LML) Bird Observatory in time to join Nature Saskatchewan on their 9:00 daily census.
- We’ll spend the morning in the regional park doing some casual walking and a viewing tower. We’ll then spend a good amount of time on driving tours across LML National Wildlife Area, North America’s first bird sanctuary.
- After our LML visit, we’ll aim to do some opportunistic birding on the way back to the city, stopping for species that we haven’t yet seen. We’ll aim to be back by 4:30pm and enjoy a final meal together before ending the tour.
- Today we’ll aim for complementary species with common targets including Gray Partridge, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Western Grebe, Eared Grebe, Black-bellied Plover, Long-billed Dowitcher, California Gull, Harris’s Sparrow, Lapland Longspur, and Western Meadowlark. Delightful surprises possible include Clark’s Grebe, Great Egret, and Smith’s Longspur.
- Our target experience will be to observe the bird banding and participate in the daily survey by Nature Saskatchewan. This activity is highly dependent on weather and is only possible for the Sep 29 – Oct 3 tour dates. If the banding isn’t possible due to weather and for the Oct 6 – 10 tour, we’ll add a few bonus stops to and from our visit to LML!
5
Day 5 – Departure
- No tour activities are planned but we can provide some self-guided recommendations within the city for you to do if you have extra time. Optional extra nights can be booked, subject to availability.
Join us and bear witness to one of the most spectacular sights on the prairies, fall migration. Whooping Cranes may be the highlight for some. For others, it’s watching the cranes, ducks, and geese – often in the tens of thousands – as they make their way south for the winter.
Gallery
✓ What's included
1-2 Saskwatch Birding guides (1:5 guide to guest ratio)
All accommodation (4 nights)
Meals and soft drinks (2 breakfast, 3 lunch, 4 dinner)
Tour ground transportation
Regional park fees and observatory donation
✕ Not included
Flights and transport to and from airport
Personal items, extras, and equipment
Personal travel insurance
Alcoholic beverages
Tax (5% GST + 6% PST)