Common Loon Mid-April Mid-Sept
This bird really does look like its portrait on the One dollar coin. Rarely seen much further south than Christie lake in Prince Albert, this is regularly seen on Emma Lake at camp. They need a deep lake with fish and a boggy edge and find it here .
White Pelican May Late-Aug
Distinctive white birds with yellow pouches below their bills. They nest in large colonies at Redberry Lake, in the North of the National park and at Suggi lake NW of Cumberland House. We have sometimes seen groups of three or five in the Summer in the Lake.
Cormorant
Usually associated with the ocean, these black birds have long rounded necks and perch on posts and fish. They migrate through in Spring and Fall, and are to be found at Waskesieu sometimes by the paddle steamer dock.
Great Blue Heron
Our bird, Mid-May to mid-August. There is a large colony of these birds nesting in trees adjacent to Anglin Lake. They fish often walking along the muddy edge of a lake or on a post standing on one leg. They fly with an s shaped neck and feet behind. They make a noise like rattling wooden spoons.
Bittern
Once common around Carlton Fort and Lily Plain, they make a distinctive deep echoing boom. I haven't heard of one at Okema.
Swans April to mid-October
Big white birds with straight necks(ok, English swans do have a bent neck but not as much as Herons) which like active water and grassy banks, thy migrate over but don't stop here.
Canada Geese
March to Late Oct. These birds fly in the hundreds in classic V's. Their honking is a sign of Spring and has appeared on Canadi>n Airlines planes for many years. They can be seen flying and swimming past Okema, and I think that they nest at the Kenadine camp.
Mallard Early April to mid October
Our commonest ducks, to be seen on the end of the dock and wandering across the camp at quiet times nibbling grass. The older males are quite gaudy with their green heads while the females and young are brown and white speckled. They dabble(upend in the water) and do shallow dives so they like Okema beach.
Pintail Mid-April to late August
Smaller, more social and with a black head and a dolls eye. In Tern bay and by Fairy Island is the place for these birds. Loons are bigger and swim lower in the water. It's easy to mix the two up.
Common Goldeneye Mid April-Early July
The male is like a mallard with a white dot on his head and the female has a brown head. Both have a light body. They nest in holes in mature trees but feed on the edges of lakes. Watch for them by the point.
Red tailed Hawk Late April-Mid August.
The bird that sits on power poles and hunts small birds and ground squirrels. There should be one around camp, there often is one on the road in at Christopher Lake.
Golden Eagle All year. Found in the park but not regularly seen at Okema or further east. A big powerful bird which flaps rather than soars.
Osprey Mid March to late August. Featured on the 10 dollar note.Soars and flaps, catching only fish and carrying them streamlined head forward. When flying the wings form a bow shape rather than a V. They have solitary nests high in trees and nest by the South Saskatchewan River near Rosthern, at Candle Lake and "Somewhere in the Bottom of the Park".
Bald eagle March late November This gave the Cree name to March. It lives in the North of the Park and at Montreal lake, and also over to the east as far as Lake Superior.
Northern elders and real bird watchers can distinguish the above four birds and sundry other buzzards and hawks by the flight pattern and their habits in the twilight. I can't!
Whooping Crane May- June
Flies like a cross in the sky and lives by Kingsmere Lake. Rare birds with a bad attitude, white and more straggly than swans or geese.
Sandhill cranes Early May to late October Tall birds which are brown with a red crown or tuft on their head. They are often to be seen around Fort La Corne and Love, and in the Sturgeon valley part of the Park. They migrate south to Baraboo in Wisconsin and the Plate River in Nebraska in big flocks but most fly north of us for the summer.
The Birds of the Saskatchewan River Houston S.& Street M. SNHS 1959