Imagine standing in a flower-filled, short-grass Manitoba prairie on a beautiful June morning, watching and hearing Sprague's Pipits and Chestnut-collared Longspurs displaying while Baird's, Clay-colored, and Grasshopper sparrows sing from low perches and an Upland Sandpiper glares at you from the top of a nearby fence post.

Spruce Grouse— Photo: John H. Boyd

North of Winnipeg, we will visit the famous Oak Hammock Marsh Wildlife Management Area and Conservation Center where shorebirds, marsh birds, waterfowl, and border forest passerines abound. It also preserves the only piece of native tall-grass prairie left on our route. Utterly impressive is standing at an Oak Hammock Marsh overlook and not knowing where to look as those around you call out birds in all directions while a male Yellow-headed Blackbird displays in the cattails ten feet away.

Riding Mountain National Park contains superb examples of the flora and fauna typical of high boreal forests, as well as characteristic of the eastern deciduous forests, which harbor a wide variety of birds in full breeding plumage. Specialties like Boreal Chickadee, Ruffed and Spruce grouse, Great Gray Owl (difficult), Black-backed and Three-toed woodpeckers, Philadelphia Vireo, and over 20 species of warblers including Connecticut and Mourning will be our target birds. This is prime habitat for viewing black bear, bison, moose, and elk.

As we drive south toward Brandon, we pass through "pothole" country with its many beautiful breeding ducks and grebes. Each year, fewer pristine short-grass prairies remain near Brandon so we must travel to the southwest corner in order to see Ferruginous Hawk, Upland Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sprague's Pipit, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Baird's Sparrow in glorious display. Douglas Marsh hosts Le Conte's and Nelson's Sharp-tailed sparrows, Sedge and Marsh wrens, and sometimes even a Yellow Rail.

Along with some of the finest scenery of the far north, the combination of our Southern Manitoba tour with our Churchill tour offers participants an outstanding natural history experience and a remarkable cross section of the wide variety of habitats in central Canada. Photographic opportunities abound. Those combining both tours should see some 225 species of birds, including several rarities and specialties, plus an impressive number of mammals. There will be ample opportunity to study bird song and observe bird behavior. Without question, this combination provides one of the most popular experiences in VENT's North American repertoire.

Comfortable accommodations with one-night stays only the first and last nights; birding both along roadsides and on relatively short hikes; early morning starts; usually pleasant weather, but it can be hot or cold; thunderstorms possible at this time of year; some biting insects at times.