Heavy raindrops splash in the puddles forming on Ski Hill Road, as winds create waves in the forest of bending branches and dancing leaves. These are not ideal conditions for birding, but Don Weidl stops to hike along a stand of trees. He listens carefully and discovers a reason to pull out his field notebook.

Zip zip zip zip zip titititi tseee! Zip zip zip zip zip titititi tseee! Weidl jots down “BLBW” – the shorthand for the Blackburnian Warbler, which Weidl just heard through the rustling leaves and nearby calls of other songbirds.  Weidl’s small notebook contains pages of coded information, detailing what seems to be a lifetime’s worth of bird sightings.

It’s late spring and Weidl, in lock step with the migration of songbirds, arrives in Duck Mountain Provincial park. It's a short journey from his home on the Saskatchewan prairies, but a necessary one if Weidl is going to achieve his bird count goal for this year. Weidl is an avid birder, he says when it comes to birding “it's part of who I am.”

(Don Weidl listens for songbirds at a forest clearing near Selwood Campground in Duck Mountain Provincial Park)

Weidl started birding at a young age under a mentor's guidance, and later refined his skills through formal education. He worked for decades as an environmental consultant, conducting bird surveys across Saskatchewan and Western Canada.

His work took him into many remote areas of the country, sometimes travelling to secluded areas by helicopter and spending days or weeks alone in the wilderness to survey listed endangered species. 

On one project, Weidl worked as part of an inter-provincial team which surveyed the flora and fauna of Duck Mountain Provincial Park. He spent about six months exploring the area and conducting breeding bird counts. Weidl says being able to identify birds by sound is vital in this line of work. 

 

(Little Boggy Creek, Duck Mountain Provincial Park) 

That’s because in a densely forested area like Duck Mountain Provincial Park, it can be challenging to see certain birds. It’s especially difficult to catch a glimpse of species that perch high up in the forest canopy. This is why the term “birdwatching” is a less common description for observing birds. “Birding” includes identifying birds by sound and Weidl says that “listening for birds opens up a whole new world” of experiences.

Most birds make a noise, but there’s a special group of birds, referred to as songbirds, which do more than caw or crow. Their melodies bring landscapes to life with patterns of chirps and trills. Their calls are a natural symphony that play in unique orchestration throughout the park. The Red-eyed Vireo sings “Look at me, way up high, over here, in a tree!” That's the common mnemonic to help birders identify this species. “Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada” is often used to identify the sweet melody of the White-throated Sparrow. “Pleased, pleased, pleased to meet you” is a friendly phrase for remembering the Chestnut-sided Warbler. Duck Mountain Provincial Park is bursting with a variety of birds.

From warblers to waterfowl, birders have recorded 217 different species in this area. Weidl leads the Ebird.org chart for most species observed in the park at 178. He attributes this diversity of species to the diverse habitats and natural features of the region.

(Red-necked Grebe near the Pickerel Point docks on Madge Lake) 

Duck Mountain Provincial Park is on the eastern border of Saskatchewan and on the southern edge of the boreal forest where the forest transitions to aspen parkland. The upland region here rises 240 metres above the surrounding plain and was once a peninsula on the shoreline of the prehistoric Lake Agassiz. The landscape now features beautiful rolling hills, creeks, lakes and ponds within mixed forest.

Weidl is able to access distinct areas of the park in search of a variety of birds using the park's vast trail system. The Fen Trail features a boardwalk through black spruce forest to the rarest ecosystem in Saskatchewan: a calcareous fen.

(Don Weidl birding on the Fen Trail in Duck Mountain Provincial Park)

Other hikes like Pelly Point Trail wind through thick understory of maple trees and mixed vegetation. Even the campgrounds offer great birding experiences. Weidl once heard and located a Barred Owl from his campsite. In the summer months, the sounds of loon calls echo through Pickerel Point Campground from East Bay of Madge Lake.

Duck Mountain Provincial Park is awash with water bodies which attract waterfowl and shorebirds. Madge Lake is the largest lake in the park. Most of the park's infrastructure is centred around its southeast shorelines and sandy beaches.   For Weidl, coming to the park each year is a rewarding experience, especially in June when many birds, including warblers, are migrating through the area. Warblers are small, vocal, perching birds which Weidl describes as little gems of the forest because of their bright plumage. There have been 23 warbler species that have been recorded in the area. Saskatchewan’s total is about 35 species. Weidl says about nine of those species are quite rare for the region.

Some of these rarities remain on Weidl’s bucket list for observations in Duck Mountain Provincial Park. The insect-like buzzing songs of a Golden-winged Warbler are not a common occurrence, but the chance for hearing unlikely songs or adding a new species to the all-time list is an exciting possibility.

 

(A Yellow Warbler stands out from its surroundings - Image credit @corinnes.corner)

Weidl says there’s nothing like the boreal forest and suggests the diversity of species in Duck Mountain Provincial Park is as good as anywhere in North America, if not the world.

He has spent a day and a half in the park during this trip and while he feels his count is low for the time of year, considering the downpours and gusting winds, he thinks his tally of 64 species is respectable. Weidl has filled out a couple more pages in his notebook and has added a few more species to his count this year.

Weidl can’t imagine a day when he won’t want to go out birding or to experience the feeling of being out in nature. After 58 years of birding, Weidl still feels that there is always something new to see. There's little doubt he’ll be back in the park next year when the forest becomes a stage for the songbirds passing through.