Alberta Birds

Life List & Beyond

As of April 2018, Charlotte's life list stood at 385 species. The blog also tracks mammal year lists, with counts ranging from 8 to 23 species annually between 2012 and 2016.

• Mammal Year List 2012: 23 species
• Mammal Year List 2013: 22 species
• Mammal Year List 2014: 18 species
• Mammal Year List 2015: 22 species
• Mammal Year List 2016: 8 species

Regional Highlights

Posts in this section cover birding news and identification tips relevant to the Alberta prairies. Charlotte shares sightings from her farm and travels, often connecting with the Alberta Birds Facebook Group and other local birding communities.

In April 2018, the blog featured a giveaway for Best Places to Bird in the Prairies, published by Greystone Books, with Mary W announced as the winner.

Keeping a year list is a rewarding way to track the changing seasons on the prairie. Each new sighting adds to the running tally, from the first returning robin in early spring to the last snowy owl of winter. The farm itself offers a surprising variety of habitats—shelterbelts, sloughs, and native grassland—that attract both common backyard visitors and rarer migrants passing through. Over the years, the discipline of daily observation reveals patterns: which species arrive early in a warm March, which warblers appear only during peak migration, and how drought or wet summers shift the mix. A year list becomes a personal diary of the land, written in feathers and flight calls.

The Alberta birding community is small but passionate, sharing sightings and tips through local networks and online platforms. Many birders keep careful records not just of rarities but of the everyday species that define the prairie landscape. A morning walk along a gravel road or a quiet vigil at a slough edge can yield unexpected treasures, especially during spring and fall migration when the air fills with warblers, sparrows, and waterfowl moving north or south. The farm serves as a base camp for these explorations, offering a front-row seat to the annual cycle of arrival, nesting, and departure that unfolds across the grasslands each year.

Birding on the Canadian prairies requires patience, good binoculars, and a willingness to brave the elements. Winter birding means scanning bare fields for snow buntings and rough-legged hawks, while summer brings the challenge of identifying the many sparrow and warbler species that nest in the region. The farm’s location provides access to a variety of habitats within a short drive, from boreal forest edges to prairie potholes. Each season offers its own rewards, and the long-term record of sightings helps build a deeper understanding of how bird populations respond to weather, habitat change, and the broader rhythms of the natural world.