SK Big Year: January
January Recap: The Great Start, The Locals, and The Winter Reality
January enthusiasm is always somewhat tempered by the reality of Saskatchewan winters, and 2026 was no exception. After the Christmas holidays on the East Coast, I returned to Saskatchewan just after New Years Day. My first bird seen in Saskatchewan for the year was a Blue Jay, which I took as a good omen: showy, smart, and tenacious. All the qualities I’d like in a Big Year.
My first real order of business for the year was participating in a Christmas Bird Count (CBC). CBCs are some of North America’s longest running community science initiatives. Each year, volunteers brave the cold (in Canada, anyway) to count all the birds they can find within the ~24km diameter count circle. In Canada, Birds Canada oversees the program, in partnership with the National Audubon Society. The season runs from December 14th to January 5th. This year, my schedule lined up with the Pike Lake CBC on January 3rd which provided a good opportunity to get a variety of local birds. While the weather was reasonable, it was a fairly quiet day for birding, and I ended up adding 10 species for the year. Highlights included a Pileated Woodpecker, and White-winged Crossbills - which have been uncommon so far this winter.
January is a good month to tackle the local birds, and I made visits to some of the good local hotspots (notably the Weir and the Forestry Farm) to pick up a few species (Common Goldeneye, Northern Flicker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Mallard, Merlin, Downy Woodpecker, Cedar Waxwing and Pine Siskin). An excursion to see Snowy Owls was met with ice fog, although one bird was seen en route.
A Pileated Woodpecker on the Pike Lake Christmas Bird Count.
A Northern Hawk Owl sits on its favourite perch.
Winter is also prime time for northern owls in Saskatchewan. While we have to contend with the Arctic-like conditions of the northern Prairies, a small consolation is that we often have a front row seat to good showings of northern owls. While populations of these predators cycle with their food sources; Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls are semi-reliable in the boreal forest - if you look long enough - and can be easier in irruptive years. Irruptions are sudden increases in animal populations. In a birding context, this often refers to the abrupt arrival of Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls on the boreal fringe. Though it can also occur with winter finch species, especially in the Lower 48. Irruptions usually occur through a combination of population booms coupled with a food shortage, with maybe some weather patterns sprinkled in. In the case of the owls, these are highly coveted species for birders across North America. They are uncommon, secretive, and have a commanding presence. Great Gray Owls are known as ghosts of the northern forests, while Northern Hawk Owls are often cited as the least studied owl species in North America.
The Quest for Willow Ptarmigan
In mid-January, Laura (@wildlife_messett on Instagram) and I made a trip to Creighton in northeast Saskatchewan, to look for some boreal specialties. We made the chaotic decision to head up there in spite of a winter storm, which made the visibility low, road conditions poor, and made us question our judgement. In spite of the stormy weather, we spotted Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls on route, as well as an American Goshawk, and Pine and Evening Grosbeaks at Candle Lake.
The Creighton area can be reliable for Willow Ptarmigan in the winter, who move down into the forest in some years to avoid the harsher tundra winters (another species with irruptive tendencies). This high latitude grouse species can be hard to track down in Sask, and bagging it early in the year gives me a little bit of an advantage. While the weather was bad on the road up, the storm blew itself out by the time we actually got to the Creighton area, and we decided to bird the Sturgeon Weir Road in the evening. It was cold but we were rewarded with some otters playing in the river at dusk, as well as some Canada Jays and Boreal Chickadees. At the river dead-end at dusk, we were a bit disappointed we didn’t have any luck seeing grouse of any species along the road. With the last light rapidly dwindling, we made the joke that the only way we’d spot a Willow Ptarmigan today is if it flew directly in front of our vehicle.
Half way back up along the Sturgeon Weir Road, exactly that happened.
Driving through a wetland thick with willow and alder, an all-white, chicken-sized bird exploded out of the brush, and careened across the road directly in front of our car, level with our windshield. Looking at each other in shocked disbelief, we questioned what we had just seen, but we didn’t have to wonder: the Willow Ptarmigan that had flown across the road made a wide loop to our right, and circled back - directly in front of our headlights - to roost back where it had been, as if it confirm to us what we had seen. While dramatic, we didn’t realize how lucky we were at the time: this sighting ended up being our only one during our trip.
After the excitement of the northeast, the rest of January was used for hibernating: extreme cold temperatures of -40 C, and a mild cold kept me indoors. In total, I added 33 species to my year list this month.
For those who want to further explore the first month of 2026 on eBird:
January 2026 Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/496067
Ptarm Ptown Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/465442
