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The Adventure Zone

Past stories Surf's up! The Calgary Stampede Moraine for Life Adventure Relay Monarch Redux Rockies Bird Festival Arctic Winter Games Bolivia's Acotango Mount Kilimanjaro The Drambuie Pursuit Canadian Aboriginal Festival Mountain Mania Adventure racing Manitoulin Island Star Party Celebration of Light Algonquin Park Ottawa Race Weekend Maple syrup festival Cain's Quest Have Snowshoes, Will Travel Quebec Ice Hotel In the Eye of the Storm Arctic Aurora Borealis Canada's 'Deep South' Agawa Canyon Ablaze Mahone Bay Boat Festival Vancouver Island's rocky trail Wild Women Expeditions Eco-Endurance Summiting Canada Gourmet getaway Yukon Arctic Ultra Canadian Wind Riders Winnipeg's urban pathways Canoeist/artist Bill Mason Take a hike Whitewater kayaking The 2005 Sea Cavalcade Moonstruck - Adventure racers Delta Marsh Birding Festival Climb for conservation The Eagle has Landed Gold Rush Trail Whistler Film Festival Fit to ski Whyte Museum of the Rockies Cheakamus Challenge "Super Dave" Norona Ontario's French River region Cabot Trail Relay Race Point Pelee Festival of Birds Canmore Ice Climbing Festival Winterlude Yeti Mountain Snowshoe Series Golden Horseshoe Orienteering Club Banff Mountain Book Festival Haliburton Highlands Sand Sculpture Championships BC Mobility Society Bathtub Race Championship Bike Month Running off the road Birds of a Feather Grand Plans in Grand Cache Le Festival du Voyageur Raid Ukatak Around the World Alone November culinary adventure Mountains in Miniature In the Belly of the Dragon Raid the North Extreme!! Making a splash! Volunteer for nature Cycling for sustainability Working for Wildlife Whale of a time Canadian Death Race Mont Tremblant Skiing Nanook of the North Eco-challenge Climate Change Caravan Royal Regatta Unleash the hounds World Cup mountain bike race Yukon River Quest On top of the world Canada's World-Class Heritage Gliding across the silver screen Marathon Madness National Ski and Snowboard Week Christmas Bird Count Banff Festival Adventure racing Coast-to-coast trek Whitewater rodeos In praise of parks Watching Canada's wildlife Canada's Highest Peak Alaska Adventure Racer

Black-throated Green Warbler courtesy Heidi den Haan/DMBO

Politicians may not belong in the bedrooms of the nation, but that's no reason Canadian birders shouldn't sneak an inside peak at the mating behaviour of the Sharp-tailed Grouse. This May 13 to 15, at the Delta Marsh Birding Festival, a tour of one of the male grouses' dancing grounds earn visitors a bird's-eye view of the ancient courtship ritual known as a "lek." It's just one of many activities organizers have planned for the seventh annual birding festival at Manitoba's Delta Marsh, one of the largest freshwater marshes in the world.

Spanning some 22,000 hectares at the southern tip of Lake Manitoba, the marsh began its life roughly 2,500 years ago, when the lake's currents deposited sand along its southern basin. Today, as a result of dune-ridge succession, a 50-kilometre band of deciduous trees and shrubs has emerged between the beach and marsh, creating a natural migratory pathway. Clouds of mosquitoes and other insects in combination with the physical habitat create a marsh that's hard to resist for nesting songbirds. Indeed, the Delta Marsh Bird Observatory (DMBO), which performs daily operations of banding and census-taking during spring and fall migrations, estimates an average of 7,500 visiting songbirds a year, with the yellow warbler topping out at an average 1,500 per year. 

The marsh's unique characteristics inspired outdoorsman James Ford Bell (founder of General Mills) to consult with Aldo Leopold in the early 1930s about his ambition to create what is now known as the Delta Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Station. In operation since 1938, Delta is famous for its ornithological research; in 1999, the marsh was designated an Important Bird Area by Birds Studies Canada and the Canadian Nature Federation. Boasting some of the highest breeding densities of yellow warblers and Baltimore orioles in North America, the marsh has a checklist of 307 species with spring proving to be an especially rewarding time.

Early registrants and volunteers to the festival might snag on-site accommodation at Mallard Lodge, the 932-hectare estate built in 1932 by Winnipeg businessman Donald Bain. From there, they can take daily guided birding tours, hike along interpretive trails, sit in on workshops (including one on "First Aid for Birds") and attend a banquet and a fish fry, where guest speakers share their insights into the world of birds.

For more information call 204-857-8637 or visit www.dmbo.org/festival