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Rare bird spotted near Preeceville

On Monday, October 24, Michael and Kathleen Pitt of Preeceville witnessed an impressive sight, a red-bellied woodpecker, which is considered to be a rare bird in Saskatchewan.

            On Monday, October 24, Michael and Kathleen Pitt of Preeceville witnessed an impressive sight, a red-bellied woodpecker, which is considered to be a rare bird in Saskatchewan.

            “It is officially listed as a straggler in Saskatchewan, which is defined as 30 or fewer sightings ever recorded,” said Kathleen Pitt. “We learned from a CBC article from last December that during the Christmas bird count in Regina, Dan Sawatzky, a contract biologist, stated that the red-bellied woodpecker has been seen less than 20 times in the province in the last 100 years.”

            Kelsey Ecological Society’s guest speaker, Kelsey Marchand, also saw the bird, as did Norman Johnson and Dallas Fairburn, who came over on their dinner break, Pitt said.

            “The single bird, likely a female, entertained us all day, collecting sunflower seeds from our feeder, and then flying to dead stumps to break them open,” she said. “According to what we have read, the red-bellied woodpecker, common in the woodlands and forests of the eastern U.S., has been extending its range northward. Maybe it will overwinter in our backyard.”