Burrowing Owls: Sentries in Fields and Prairie Dog Towns

Study the eyes of this Burrowing Owl. So watchful and attentive. © SB

Okay, maybe I do have a true favourite among grasslands birds: The Burrowing Owl.

We saw at least three pairs of Burrowing Owls — two nesting in Grasslands National Park, and one not far from the park on the Prairie Passages Tour of Saskatchewan pastures and grasslands earlier this summer.

I love the way they stand guard over the area around their burrows, whether in the middle of a Black-tailed Prairie Dog town, or on fence posts in the park and along nearby roads.

So small. So serious. And, in Saskatchewan, so endangered.

Once again, the habitat they need is being lost, along with vital companion species, including the gophers and prairie dogs that dig the burrows they use.

(I recently finished Rock Creek, a beautiful memoir based in Southern Saskatchewan. In it, poet Thelma Poirier says: "Burrowing owls. A misnomer. More fittingly they could be called borrowing owls'. They borrow the burrows of ground squirrels." Indeed.)

Close-up of a Burrowing Owl,
standing guard over its nearby burrow. © SB

As an example of their declining numbers, the website for the Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre in Moose Jaw, SK, says that the population trend for Burrowing Owls around Regina, SK, in the last ten years "points straight down." The site continues:

Agricultural crops don't provide the habitat that burrowing owls require, so the owls are restricted to the small fragments of prairie that remain as cattle pastures. In much of southern Saskatchewan, these small cattle pastures are the last remaining refuge for burrowing owls. The horses and cattle are beneficial to the owls, as they keep the grass short by grazing and provide nest-lining material (manure!) for the owls.

So what a treat, to see these owls near Val Marie!

Wider shot:  Burrowing Owls are another Prairie Dog town resident.
The nesting burrow must have been nearby, 
as we saw a pair of owls here. © SB

What are these birds? Burrowing Owls.
Location: In and near Grasslands National Park, Val Marie, Saskatchewan. 

Photo date:  July 25, 2013.

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Common Nighthawks: Birds Disguised as Bark

Common Nighthawk: Feathers mimic bark  © SB

Now this bird is amazing: The Common Nighthawk has such intricate camouflage feather markings that once it lands, it almost disappears.

(We first saw it — but almost didn't — perched and sleeping on a fence post in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.)

The camouflage works so well that All About Birds says that the insect-eating Nighthawks make no nest; with these markings, even the young are hard to find.

On our recent Prairie Passages Tour of grasslands and pastures in SW Saskatchewan, several people commented that it seemed the Val Marie, Saskatchewan, area was like a Common Nighthawk sanctuary.

They talked about seeing large groups resting on trees (which I missed...), and we saw several buzzing the early morning skies for bugs.

I was so happy when this Nighthawk was found roosting in plain view at the new GNP campground!

Easy to see in a close-up shot... Trickier in person, at a distance.   © SB

What is this? A Common Nighthawk

Location: Campground, Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.
Photo date: June 26, 2013.

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Chestnut-collared Longspurs on Pasture Rocks in Saskatchewan

Chestnut-collared Longspur, singing in early morning. © SB

Early morning, and Chestnut-collared Longspurs are singing from rocks and sagebrush in a pasture near Grasslands National Park, in southern Saskatchewan.

These small songbirds seem to like a very specific habitat... I only saw them in this one small area, with sagebrush and these rocks.

Their limited habitat — and land-use competition for it — may explain why Chestnut-collared Longspurs are now entered as "threatened" on the Canadian federal government's Species At Risk lists.

In general, they prefer native pastures, followed by other grazed grasses and hayland, and in Saskatchewan, Chestnut-collared Longspurs are more often found on pastures than on hay or cropland.

That's significant, as their breeding territory and distribution is very limited, from southern Alberta to southern Manitoba, south to westcentral Colorado, and east through North Dakota and South Dakota to western Minnesota. (Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Chestnut-collared Longspur, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.)

From a distance or in flight, these prairie birds look, well, brown. Just like so many other little birds. But in breeding season, the males sport crisp black vests and vibrant chestnut collars. And start the morning, singing.

Chestnut-collared Longspur, displaying its chestnut collar.  © SB

Sagebrush: Another singing spot for Chestnut-collared Longspurs. © SB

Closer view of the Chestnut-collared Longspur on sage.© SB 

Seen on the Public Pastures-Public Interest 2013 grasslands/pastures Prairie Passages Tour with Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson. For more on the tour and updates on the work of PPPI and the future of the PFRA pastures, see Trevor Herriot's Grass Notes, and Pasture Posts.

What are these? Chestnut-collared Longspurs.
Location: Near Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.
Photo date: June 25, 2013.

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Northern Leopard Frog: Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park, Val Marie, Saskatchewan, Canada: I probably surprised this Northern Leopard Frog as much as he surprised me. I was walking through grass on the shoulder of Grassland National Park’s Ecotour Road, trying to frame a shot of a Burrowing Owls sign, when something leaped out at my feet.

This is rattlesnake country. Yes, this frog is only a few inches long, but any movement by any unseen creature is alarming.

Northern Leopard Frog camouflaged in grass,
as well as water weeds. Grasslands National Park. © SB

Close-up, this Northern Leopard Frog was beautiful — green, black and golden tan, its damp skin gleaming.

There was at least one other frog in these mown roadside grasses — when G got out of the car to see what I was taking pictures of, one hopped away from him, too. More cautious, that second frog hopped back under the grass and stayed hidden.

In the West Block of Grasslands National Park, Northern Leopard Frogs are most likely to be seen in sloughs, puddles, marshes and the brackish water along the edges of the Frenchman River. We were in the valley, very near a bend in the river and close to a muddy ditch, when this one appeared.

Later,  we saw several more in the muddy wetlands between the old 76 Ranch corral and the Frenchman River.

Brilliant green frog, half-submerged in brackish water with reeds,
at the old 76 Ranch in Grasslands National Park © SB 

If these frogs look familiar, that’s because they may, in fact, be the archetypal Canadian frog:

Ask someone to illustrate a frog, and they’ll almost certainly draw a Northern Leopard Frog. The combination of green body and black spots seems to be engrained in most people’s minds when they visualize a frog, which seems pretty fair because the Leopard Frog, next to the Wood Frog, is the most widespread, easily encountered species in Canada. (from Reptiles and Amphibians of Canada: Fisher, Joynt, Brooks, Lone Pine Press.) 

However, Northern Leopard Frog numbers began to decline in Western Canada during the mid to late 70s , and in the Prairies, they are now considered a species “of special concern” (Reptiles and Amphibians).


In Grasslands, the numbers of Northern Leopard Frogs (and frog sightings) vary significantly from year to year.

Here’s some advice for visitors who want to see them:  

The best way to find them is to walk slowly along the edge of the water with your eyes on the ground. The frogs will be aware of you long before you are of them, and at first all you will see is the long, sudden leaps (of up to one metre), and the splashes, accompanied by squawks of alarm. Practice will allow you to make them out, little crouched shapes in the grass, or half-submerged beneath the bending waterside reeds. (from Guide to Herptiles of Grasslands National Park: Larry Powell.)  

Or, you could just stumble over them, like I did.

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Black-tailed Prairie Dogs at Grasslands: Late July

Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada: The Black-tailed Prairie Dog colonies are even more active than they were in early summer. Young prairie dogs play on the mounds and run across the grass and roads.

The purple milk vetch has finished blooming, and their meadows now extend green and brown to the edges of the hill and coulees.

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog at Grasslands © SB 

This prairie dog below looks familiar to me... I think I caught him last month, too. (Or maybe all black-tailed prairie dogs look the same...) 

Black-tailed prairie dog warily watching me... © SB 

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What are these? Black-tailed Prairie Dogs  

Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan  

Photo dates: Late June and late July, 2011. 

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Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs: Grasslands Park

Black-tailed prairie dog, with purple milk vetch. © SB 

Grasslands National Park: Above the rush of wind, high chirping across grass. The Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs warn of intruders to the tune of anxious birds or creaking rail fences. Like gophers*, they stand on hind legs for a better view, but prairie dogs are taller, plumper than Richardson's Ground Squirrels — perhaps three times the size.  

Prairie dog colony © SB 

From a distance, the prairie dog colony may look destructive — especially in a province which has often offered bounties for their smaller cousin's tails. But here, Parks information says, they are a key part of the grasslands ecosystem.

Up close with purple milk vetch © SB 

And they are cute! Chirping, running, playing, peering at intruders while standing on hind legs. And in early summer, what a picture in milk vetches.

The Ecotour drive through the West Block of the park goes through two large prairie dog colonies. The first is near the north gate, the second, near the south gate, near the signs for the burrowing owls. (The sign, I saw, but not the owls.)

Another park sign, this one about prairie dogs and other park creatures 

Car wheels on a gravel road, the wind and the cheeping of prairie dogs form the soundscape of the video below, taken while driving through Grasslands:

* Yes, we call Richardson's Ground Squirrels "gophers". Perhaps the early settlers in Saskatchewan were confused, or missed their gophers back in England, so gave that name to the tiny skipping prairie creatures, with their flickering tails.  

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What are these? Black-tailed Prairie Dogs  

Location: Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan  

Photo dates: Late June and late July, 2011. 

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Song of the Western Meadowlark: Grasslands

Grasslands: The Western Meadowlark perched high on top of a power pole at the edge of the park, and sang its downward trill above the buffeting winds. I couldn't see the meadowlark until it swooped down and away across the waving grasses.

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