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On Field Thoughts: Of Birds and Bison
by Jacques Saquet, MFGA Board Member
Jacques Saquet is a MFGA Board member, representing the Manitoba Bison Association on the MFGA board. For nearly a quarter century, Jacques and wife Claudette have raised a herd of grass-fed bison at Laurier, Manitoba, east of the Manitoba Escarpment. Currently, the Saquet's herd of 60 plus animals graze pastures rotationally in areas surrounded by annual croplands.
Fifty-four years ago, during the last week of August, I was working at Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP) as an interpreter taking tourists out on a car tour. At one stop, we walked a short distance to a lookout on the north side of a steep gorge with a vast view of the valley before us and the distant farmland to the east.
There were dozens of medium size birds in view flowing out from above the tree tops spilling into the early evening clear sky over the Manitoba Escarpment. This is when I first became aware of the late summer migration of the Common Nighthawk. I have watched for this migration every year on the same week, between Aug 22 and Aug 25. I have noted a distinct reduction in the numbers of birds involved in the flights. Maybe I missed the peak flight days since their occurrence is usually in the early evening hours and my schedule of farm activities is in constant flux.
Nowadays, my vantage point for this seasonal display has shifted to our farmland near the base of the escarpment. In 1998 my wife Claudette and I moved to a permanent site just east of RMNP near the Scott Creek drainage and began our journey with the Plains Bison. Our bison herd currently stands at 60 magnificent animals.
On the evening of August 23, between 5:30 and 6:30 pm., I was happy to witness a formidable display of aerial acrobatics. The Nighthawks came in small numbers, four or five together in view at a time just above the treetops. They floated up and down over the grassland field of hay bales in a southeasterly direction. I was moving and stacking the bales, but I had to stop to admire the show as more birds coming from the northwest spilled out from just above the treetops into the open prairie. The first bunch of more than ten birds soon became fifty flying in all directions, circling, diving, and bouncing like kites in a windy sky. But the evening was calm. The birds were not battling wind.
By their jerky flying motion, they appeared to be foraging for insects. Barn Swallows also flitted among them but were not as adroit or fast as the skilled Nighthawk insectivores. I do not know if more birds were arriving while others were leaving but the sky seemed to be moving constantly with the very active Nighthawks.
As stated above, my own migration observations have shown a decrease in Nighthawk numbers during their late-August flights. As well nesting surveys and field research on Nighthawks have recorded only 10 per cent of eggs laid yield a fledgling at fall migration. Since grasslands are key for many species of ground nesting birds, including Nighthawks, native prairies and forage lands are important habitats for them. Changing land use due to agricultural and urban pressures are widely thought by experts to be contributing to the decrease in some grassland bird populations.
Claudette and I acquired a nearby native grassland in 2019, recognizing that its value to wildlife and prairie landscape was in danger of conversion. I knew firsthand that the 130 acres had never seen a field tool other than a mower and grazers. The remaining thirty acres of the quarter section contain a parcel of mature hardwood forest and another of about the same size of fire-generated aspen parkland. As evidenced by the even-aged stand of Trembling Aspen and of course the partially burned treated fence posts and telltale dead mature oak trees covered with charred trunks tells me that forty plus years ago a grass fire occurred here. On cue, the suckering poplars took over the task of repopulating the wooded section. I grew up in this area and do not recall ever seeing or hearing of a large fire on this land, though, I was absent for several years when employed by Parks Canada.
In 2020, I attempted to sod-seed some legumes in thirty acres of the grassland to give the stand more diversity. The bales I was moving now contained several of the legumes that were spread out over the land. The clovers, milk vetch, alfalfas and bird's foot trefoil were now adding their colour and weight to the bison winter feed and soon will be part of their summer pasture fare.
The entire quarter section will be cross fenced with more than ten different paddocks of different quality and composition all providing access to water troughs at strategic locations. A pipeline is being installed to push water from a thirty foot deep well using a 24V piston pump to send water on demand with control valves in each trough. Solar panels at the well site will power the pump and energize the fence keeping the animals in their paddock.
Wildlife are part of our venture as white-tailed deer and wapiti are known to visit and feed in the grassland and shelter in the treed parcels. In fact, our early attempt to do the 2024 MFGA bird survey in June with Marissa Berard, an expert birder from Important Bird Areas, was delayed by the presence of five wapiti females and one young away from the adults. Finally, as we waited, the animals moved to an adjoining wooded area with three young of year in tow.
The two-wire cross-fence is low enough for the adults to jump over and high enough for the young to crawl under. Similar accommodation will be made at known trail locations on all sides of the perimeter fence. Bears, wolves, coyotes, and red fox are known visitors.
The MFGA Bird survey of the nesting birds revealed the presence of at least thirty species. Some birds I have observed on or over the grasslands since July include; hundreds of Franklin's Gulls catching grasshoppers as I cut the hay with the hay bine, a few Ring-billed Gulls looking for mice or voles, Red-tailed Hawks perched on the bales, Merlin’s hunting for small birds, Kestrels, Red Headed Woodpeckers feeding a juvenile, a Pileated Woodpecker, two Sora Rails, a flight of White Pelicans, Canada Geese, a Comorant by the dugout, Turkey Vultures soaring overhead, a Bald Eagle perched in a tall dead tree, a Great Blue Heron fishing in the adjacent creek, Rock Doves that nest under the bridge nearby, a Catbird, and possibly a juvenile Loggerhead Shrike chased by a pair of Eastern Kingbirds. The hay land is also home to the Northern Leopard Frog as well as wood and grey tree frogs, American toads, plains and red-sided garter snakes and the diminutive red-bellied snake.
The insect world can be varied on these undisturbed forage lands especially with the different soil types from high organic peat soils to sandy loam and grey clay. Since the Scott Creek spills over its diked banks every other year the silt accumulation is quite apparent in the northeast corner. This is where tall reed grass has taken over some twenty plus acres. The remainder of vegetation is composed of brome, timothy, Kentucky blue grass, and some unidentified native grass species. Two types of clovers are present, pink, or white and the taller red, wild pea vine and cream colored vetchling. I added some Cicer milk vetch as well as bird's foot trefoil and alfalfa. Snowberry brush abound in most areas that have not been mowed recently, as well as narrow-leaved meadowsweet. I call it white spirea. I even found a cluster of thirty Milkweed plants, an essential food of the Monarch butterfly.
Eventually adding our Bison to this grassland would close the loop on the evolution of this grassland and help enhance the plant diversity sought after in a healthy land. Special emphasis will be on keeping the paddock with the lek attended by 20 to 40 Sharp-tailed Grouse free of grazers until after the mating displays are over. My plans for rejuvenation of this grassland are to sod-seed more legumes on an additional 60 or 70 acres after dealing with the invasion of Canada Thistle which is a perennial and not at all high on the bison's grazing menu.
Our pasture rejuvenation experience has been accelerated via winter bale grazing. Amazing yield improvements and species diversity can happen with this regenerative practice. As soon as there is sufficient snow cover of 15 to 20 centimetres on the rested pasture and the bison can eat snow at will, I roll out enough large round bales - usually six or seven bales at 1600 pounds each - to keep the herd content for almost a week.
I try to cover different areas of the land laying two bales of different or similar quality, legume-grass mix versus grass only in nearby proximity. The herding instinct in bison is very strong so having almost 100 metres of hay close together allows all participants a place to eat and the fare is varied with two different fodders.
If at first the mix is not tasty enough, the herd migrates to the next two rows of hay just rolled out. By the end of the winter grazing, almost every area has received at least one treatment of manure, urine and waste hay with many hay seeds. By mid-June the next year, the pasture is very green all over with brome, timothy, red top, Kentucky blue, quack, sweet grass, red and white clovers and even sweet clover. The previous patches of fox-tail barley, which received two or three treatments in the winter, have been replaced with a different, more palatable grass.
As one can see with the foregoing vegetation concerns, keeping the landscape in its present form is important to favour the wildlife that rely on it. Providing some nitrogen-fixing legumes can increase the soil fertility and add some diversity to the forage. I would like to choose some appropriate native legume species as well. I noticed this year that pea vine was more present. The addition of wild bison is simply choosing a grazing animal that once lived here. There is more forage than what our sixty bison require so we can share with some occasional visiting grazers. We farm alongside nature. The Nighthawk migration is an annual reminder that what we do and how we farm impacts many species.
My neighbour to the east found a bison skull on his land just a few hundred metres east of our peat lands close to the Scott Creek. There are no telltale clues to elucidate a cause of death, but we can guess that the animal died some two or three centuries ago.
This treasured find alone tells me bison are at home here today!
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