Voices from the Field - Bird Species at Risk Crew
Hey there! I’m Abbey, one of the Habitat Stewardship Assistants for the Bird Species at Risk crew along with my field partner, Ty. Since this is my first year working for Nature Saskatchewan, I really didn’t know what this summer would bring, but I can assure you that it has surpassed my expectations in all ways possible. The thing I was most excited about was the new adventures the summer would bring. Growing up, I spent most of my time in the northern and eastern part of the province, so the past few months have been quite the switch up. Throughout our time here, we’ve spent many of our work trips in the South of the Divide area, which if you know anything about this area, it is nothing like rest of the province. The most exciting aspect of this area is the diversity of species. Additionally, the landscape has also been quite astonishing; this is the first time I’ve been to grasslands so it was definitely quite the shock. However, the more time I spend here the more I’ve come to appreciate the beauty of the land, and the importance native prairie has for so many species.
Along with exciting adventures, this summer has been full of knowledge covering a range of information from navigation, species information and identification, all the way to history and land practices. With all the information has come a plethora of life skills that will forever be valuable. For instance, this was the first time I ever used an RM map, I barely even knew what an RM was! Now I can confidently say that I can successfully navigate an RM map on the road, though Ty is the true star when it comes to maps and has been extremely helpful in me learning how to properly read an RM map. Along with his knowledge of RM maps, Ty is also extremely knowledgeable about the province in general. This has been quite the treat for me as he always has a fun fact to share no matter where we go and keeps me on my toes! Of course, I’ve also collected quite a large amount of bird information and identifying abilities. I’ll be honest, my first couple weeks at Nature Saskatchewan were quite the challenge in identifying birds. Of course, like anything else, practice leads to improvement and though I won’t claim I’m an expert, I do feel as though I can label myself as somewhat of a birder. Through this process, it’s been amazing to find out the diversity of birds if you look a little closer; now I can’t seem to drive anywhere without seeing multiple species!
A very special moment for me was when Ty and I were on our own for the first time and we saw our first Ferruginous Hawk. I was so excited because it was also a dark morph and after seeing Swainson’s Hawk after Swainson’s Hawk, we finally found a Ferruginous Hawk! Moments like this are what have made the summer so special to me. Sure, at times it can be frustrating, especially in the beginning when you can barely figure out where the bird even is, but all of the sudden you see your first of a species and it hooks you! You begin to fall in love with challenge and then “poof!” you start seeing them everywhere. Not only seeing, but you also start hearing or looking for habitat a specific species may like. For example, I really struggled in the beginning with identifying Loggerhead Shrikes; the Kingbirds always tricked me! This caused some headaches at first. However, after some useful tips from our supervisors and Ty, and finally seeing one for the first time on our own, that’s when I noticed my improvement. After these weeks of identifying, I do have to say that hawks hold a special place in my heart and are what I enjoy identifying most. I especially love to take photos of them, and this summer has provided more photos than a girl could dream.
Not only have we had the opportunity to see more birds than you could think of, but we have also had the pleasure to see lots of other animals and plants. Most exciting was on our way to Eastend where we saw a Swift Fox! This was a box to check off as many of the full-time staff have each only seen one a number of years ago. In addition to seeing the Swift Fox, we also saw a very cute Red Fox. Though not at-risk, it was quite the model for the camera. Even though most of my summer’s focus has been birds and animals, I’ve really enjoyed learning about the different plants. So far, I haven’t had too much time with the plants, only during training, but I’ll soon get to see lots with upcoming range health assessments, which I’m looking forward to!
Overall, this summer has proven to be an amazing learning opportunity that’s exceeded my expectations in so many ways. It has also been extremely fun getting to interact with so many landowners! They’ve all been very kind, and it has been so nice to see such a large amount of people be passionate about the same thing, while also having similarly aligning goals. I’m excited to finish this summer with doing range health assessments as it will add to my collection of ever-growing knowledge from this summer.
Until next time!