A Good Day in the Month of May

It has been quite awhile since I last posted something to this blog. Since my last post in June (!!!), a lot has happened in my life, including finishing up my contract working in Algonquin Park (ending an amazing 14 months of my life), and starting my undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph. Understandably, with that latter thing, the time I have had for naturalizing has decreased significantly, although I must assure you, I still get out from time to time.

I wanted to come back and write a post on something I am surprised I never mentioned here—the story of one morning in late May, back when I was working in Algonquin. If nothing else, it will be good to immortalize the story here, even if it is eight months late!

The date was May 22, 2022. It was a Sunday of the May long weekend, and I was scheduled to work a later shift that day (we were going to be leading a night hike with the interpretive program). It was a rather cool and drizzly day, with winds coming out of the northwest, as they had been all night (and I believe it even rained overnight), so generally things didn't look like it would be a great day to go out an observe migrant birds. However, as had been my routine for the past month or so, I pulled myself out of bed, and made my almost-daily pilgrimage to the Old Airfield in the morning. I was thinking it would just be a quick morning walk, just going through the motions, you know? I wasn't properly dressed at all. I think I may have even been in my uniform. The quicker I get this walk over with, the quicker I can go back home and be dry, I thought to myself.

I walked the edge of the airfield, and was quite pleased when I spotted a Wilson's Warbler working the edge. There had been one reported the day prior, so it was one I was hoping to encounter. This was a new Park bird for me, as I hadn't seen any the fall previous. It was surely going to be the highlight of my day!

I snapped a couple mediocre photos, and continued on my way. I was sort of absent mindedly sauntering along, when I heard it. What was it that I heard? A very weird sounding Northern Flicker. But no, that wasn't quite right. There is goes again. Certainly not flicker. What was it? It sounded very mimid-y. The phrases were repeated ~6 times. Hmmm...that's what mockingbirds are supposed to do. Must be my Park bird Northern Mockingbird then! Cool! I walked towards the alder thicket, expecting it see the culprit, but...nothing. Playing hard to get, I see. I bushwhacked a little bit, the bird singing the whole time, but I just couldn't lay eyes on it. I knew that mockingbirds could be skulky, but this was getting ridiculous. It moved further down the edge, and I followed in hot pursuit, wanting to see what the heck I was dealing with. What could possibly be making that sound, but also be so hard to see? I racked my brain, trying to place it. A thought crossed my mind, and on a whim I decided that maybe just a little bit of playback wouldn't hurt. So I pulled out my phone, and played a small snippet of song of my far fetched idea...and wouldn't you know it, a couple seconds later, my far fetched idea wasn't looking so far fetched. Up popped a Yellow-breasted Chat. I saw it for approximately two seconds before it disappeared and shut up.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I frantically tried to re-find it over the next few minutes, but it wasn't turning back up. At this point I put out the alert to the community, and made a few phone calls. Jeff Skevington was just packing up his car in Ottawa, two hours away, when I called him. My friend and colleague Henrique Pacheco (who, it should be noted, I invited to come out with me that morning, but had opted to sleep in), finally picked up on about the sixth call. He would later tell me that he thought, in his sleepy state, that he was being bombarded with spam calls. I also called Algonquin Park legend Ron Tozer, who famously missed the only other park record of Yellow-breasted Chat in October 1981, by only a matter of seconds. You can read his account on this in his 2012 Birds of Algonquin Park (A.K.A The Bible). Unfortunately for Ron, when he picked up the phone he was at Big Creek NWA down near Long Point. It appeared that he would be missing another chat in the Park! 

What followed will probably go down as the most intense twenty minutes of my life. Finally (finally!), the bird popped up again, not to far from where it was first seen, and began to sing. I was very happy to be able to finally document this sighting photographically, and with an audio recording.

The first ever photo of a Yellow-breasted Chat in Algonquin Park

The chat soon moved to a more unobstructed perch, and gave me some great views—the best views anyone got of this bird. As a side note, this was only the second Yellow-breasted Chat that I have ever seen—and frankly it may as well be the first, as my experience with the other individual was very brief and largely unmemorable. 

The bird flew back over to the alders beside Lake of Two Rivers. This photo isn't great, but I kind of like it—a Yellow-breasted Chat in the Old Airfield!

Henrique, who had been asleep only moments ago in the staff house not too far away, arrived on the scene at this time, and thankfully the bird was cooperative enough for him to see it. Those who arrived after Henrique, not so lucky...

A few more observers had arrived by this point, however we had lost the chat. We spent the next hour or so scouring the airfield, but I could tell that hope was waning. On a whim I walked over to the southeast corner overlooking the Madawaska River, and paused to look at the water. Wouldn't you know it...the chat popped up basically at my feet. Somehow, we had lost the bird on one side of the airfield, and it had managed to move undetected to the other side! I called over the others, and after another few minutes of intensity, managed to get those present on the bird. I feel not only lucky and overjoyed to have been able to find this bird to begin with, but also that I was able to share it successfully with others. Almost everybody who came out that morning, some as far away as Ottawa and Arnprior, were able to eventually see or at least hear this incredible bird—a species nobody thought would ever be likely to occur in Algonquin Park again. 

It turned out to be a great morning of birding, chat aside. It was drizzly the whole time, which seemingly "knocked down" some other birds. The highlights for me were two new species of swallow for my Park list, Cliff Swallow and Bank Swallow. Both of these species have become rather rare in Algonquin. 

Cliff Swallow

Bank Swallow

There were a couple other nice birds as well, such as a group of four White-winged Scoters flying off the lake, and a few Bobolink. As there always are in Algonquin Park birding, there were a couple that "got away"; a flyover pair of Calidris sandpipers, and a couple of scaup sp. (hopefully not Greaters, as I missed that in 2022 for the Park). 

It was an absolutely spectacular morning of birding, and just another example of why late May birding is so magical in Algonquin Park. 

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Fast forward a week, and I had my "grand finale" of Spring birding in the Park (see my blog posts from back in June that detail the climax of the week). I was just out for a pretty lowkey morning of birding on my day off at the Old Airfield, and I paused to stop and listen at the northeast corner, overlooking the airfield marsh when I heard something that I could hardly believe...the song of a Least Bittern. Although I was pretty confident in the ID, it was a bit distant and I wanted to rule out the very small possibility that it was another birder, unseen to me, playing a tape, so I went over to the Lake of Two Rivers Campground beach and launched my canoe (I knew it was a good thing I didn't take it off after my adventure a couple days prior on Lake Travers!). After paddling around for over an hour, myself, and Sarah Lamond (who had arrived on the scene) were able to locate the Least Bittern. Super exciting! Later that evening, we got several more of the Park Naturalist staff on the bird—except for Henrique, who was back home for the weekend. Sorry buddy!

I think this is the seventh (?) record for Algonquin Park, and only the second time one has ever been actually seen and photographed. This is a species that is probably annual in the Park, but very under detected—although that being said, proper breeding habitat is rather limited. 

Well, that's all for now folks! I have soooo many more stories about my time in Algonquin. One just has to wonder how many I'll actually get around to writing about, before I'm right back up there again making more memories! 

Yarmouth Yellow-throated

Yesterday I went down to the Yarmouth Natural Heritage Area near Sparta in Elgin county. There has been a Yellow-throated Warbler seen there for the past couple weeks, and since I had never seen one before, I wanted to go try and see it.

My dad and I arrived around 11 am. It was quite hot, so I was worried that the birds would have quieted down and the target bird would be difficult to locate. Thankfully, it seemed that at least some birds were still active. As soon as I got out of the car, I was serenaded by Indigo Buntings and a Yellow-throated Vireo. As we started to make our way down the trail, I noted a few first of year odes, such as Eastern Forktail, Dot-tailed Whiteface, Common Whitetail, and a smaller darner, probably Springtime.

Eastern Forktail (with a connected shoulder stripe)

There were a couple Northern Parulas singing in the area where the Yellow-throated had been seen, but no Yellow-throated. As we made our way down the trail, I picked out a few other birds such as Eastern Towhee, some more Yellow-throated Vireos (I put down three total, there were probably more), and a nice male Indigo Bunting. At one point I picked out a song that was familiar, but I couldn't place what it was. I was quite pleased when the Yellow-throated Warbler popped up! I believe this individual is of the subspecies albilora. 

Happy that we were able to see our target species, we continued on our way. I had never been to Yarmouth before, and it seemed like quite the neat place!

Dad spotted a small patch of Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica). Always a treat to see.

There were a couple other plants of interest throughout the area. Will definitely have to go back and explore more thoroughly!

Blue Ridge Carrion Flower (Smilax lasioneura)

Seneca Snakeroot (Polygala senega)

Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata)

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Grove Bluegrass (Poa alsodes)

In the main pond, I saw one of the two continuing Least Bittern. I also found a Common Gallinule, which seems to be a pretty good bird for Elgin county! It has been a good spring for the species.

On my way back to the car, I heard three warblers of interest. The Yellow-throated had moved upstream, a Mourning Warbler (great habitat, I was wondering if I'd get one), and a Cerulean! The Cerulean had been reported previously, and I was hoping to cross paths with it.

It took a bit of bushwacking, but I managed to get a visual of the Cerulean. This is the first male I have actually seen!

I found a second Mourning Warbler. Not the greatest photo, but it beats my previous ones!

A Yellow-throated Vireo stopped in.

It was neat to find an American Redstart nest. 

 It was a very successful outing! I will definitely have to go back to this hidden gem.

A Day at Pelee

This past Saturday, I did my annual trip down to Point Pelee, the southernmost tip in mainland Canada. Pelee is a well-known haunt for many birders in May, and low and behold, I am one of those birders.

The day started early. I arrived in the park about 5:15, and was at the VC and began the walk to the Tip at around 5:30. I planned to walk the road in hopes of finding a nightjar, in particular, Chuck-wills-widow. Thoughts of this species had been circling in my mind in the days leading up to the trip, and the day before I was to go, one had been found on the road. Perhaps my fantasy was to come true!

Alas, no nightjars were found on the road, but at least I was the second one at the Tip! I even got to see the Tip Tower for the first time. It is a sight to behold...but it wasn't open. Apparently it didn't pass its safety inspection. I'm sure there is a whole story behind that!

Upon arrival at the Tip, I was greeted by a number of Black-bellied Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, a Sanderling, and a nice Red Knot.

Black-bellied Plovers

Nice bird, knot a nice photo

Soon, birds started "reverse migrating", in which birds will fly off the Tip towards the lake, and then they may circle back around to the mainland. It wasn't super intense, however there were a couple highlights, such as a Brown Thrasher flying in off the lake, and some Tennessee Warblers flying around people's feet. This is when my camera started acting up, so photos are limited.

Baltimore Oriole

After birding the Tip a bit, we walked up the West Beach trail. We flushed a Sora of all things while walking through a wooded part of the footpath, which was quite odd! A few non-birds too...

Ebony Sedge (Carex ebenea)

Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia cespitosa)

Orchard Oriole

Next was Tilden's Woods trail. A few warblers here and there, most notably Canada Warbler and a few Northern Waterthrushes.

Canada Warbler

Northern Waterthrush

American Jumpseed (Persicaria virginiana) was found here and there throughout.

We went next to Cactus Field, but no luck there. Though I must say, Common Yellowthroats can do a mean Sedge Wren impression! We did a tad more birding north of Cactus Field, but didn't get too far as an alert came through for a Worm-eating Warbler (pretty rare in Ontario) on Redbud trail!

We bee-lined it for the trail, but had to make a quick stop for a Blackburnian Warbler on the lawn near the VC parking lot. It came quite close, and even perched on my foot at one point!

We rode the tram to the halfway stop, then got off and began the search for the Worm-eating Warbler. Nobody had seen it in about 30 minutes, but we were determined. Lucky us happened to be standing in the right place at the right time, and it flew in right in front of us! It was quite elusive, but I managed a couple of usable pictures before I got out of the way so others could see the bird (I am a bit on the tall side).

The Worm-eating was actually a lifer for me, so I was quite happy. It was probably the bird that I wanted to see the most this spring, especially after missing a couple prior here and there.

After success with the Worm, we headed to take a peek for Prothonotary Warblers. We were successful right away. I actually missed Prothons at Pelee last year, and the only one I saw all year was in London (so I guess I can't complain).

There were a couple plants of interest.

Large-flowered Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)

Walking back down Redbud, I was tapped on the shoulder, and told about another rare bird...a roosting Chuck-wills-widow!

I joined the convey of birders as we made our way through Post Woods to where the Chuck was roosting. Took me a bit to actually spot it, but once I did...woohoo! Another lifer, and the bird I had hoped for going into the day.

A Blue-headed Vireo stopped by for a visit.

After the Chuck, I walked around a bit more, before catching the tram back to the VC, where I hopped off and went and saw the reported Cerulean Warbler. It was right on the ground at our feet!

After the Cerulean, we went to the Marsh Boardwalk. A few non-birds were seen.

Midland Painted Turtle

Golden Shiners

Next, we wanted to go to Hillman, but first we checked out Orientation on our way out of the park. Bay-breasted Warbler was my 100th species of the day.

Hillman was pretty quiet. A few more ducks, and some shorebirds.

Short-billed Dowitchers

We went back to the park, as we had word on two more roosting nightjar species in the park, and we wanted to go for the nightjar trifecta. in addition to the Chuck, our second nightjar of the day was Common Nighthawk at Sleepy Hollow.

The third species of the day was Eastern Whip-poor-will, which was sitting on a log not too far from the side of the road! Hands down my best look at the species.

We heard rumours of a Golden-winged Warbler on Redbud. We had been trying to find a Golden-winged all day, and had even followed up on a couple of reports. It was a bit of deja vu for us, as last year, we did the same thing with Mourning Warbler. To add to it, the Golden-winged Warbler was under the same exact same log as the Mourning Warbler, which we had finally managed to catch up with late in the day!

After receiving word of a Kentucky Warbler in Post Woods, we decided to go and try to find it. We searched in the area where it had been seen, but with no luck. At this point my friends I had been birding with all day decided to call it a day. After saying goodbye, I continued up the path. After another 100 meters up the trail, I came across a small group of birders looking at the underbrush. I pointed my binoculars in the direction they were pointing, and low and behold, it was the Kentucky Warbler! No photos, as I only got a couple glimpses before it disappeared.

Since I was walking by the Chuck again, I grabbed a few more photos. Three nightjars on one eBird checklist, not what I was expecting to do on this day!

I made one last trip to the Tip. A couple bluebirds were on the east side.

The Tip is the longest I have seen it in years. As such, four species of gulls were seen.

Ring-billed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

A few warblers were on the rocks along the west side of the Tip.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

After missing it all day, I finally saw the Least Bittern that had been hanging out all day at the Tip, thanks to my mom pointing it out. It didn't look too good.

One last loop of Woodland Nature Trail resulted in a couple new birds for the day, such as Hermit Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, and Great Egret. By this time it was getting dark, and such pretty much marked the end of my day. Appendage Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum appendiculatum) is an endangered species in Ontario, but it was seen along the paths.

It was a great day, with something like 125 or so species seen. Not too bad given the day and the amount of effort I put in. And heck, two lifers in one day is pretty great too!

Looking forward to see what the remainder of spring brings!