I Love This Park: Part 1

I've spent too much time exploring Algonquin Park, and not enough time writing about it! I'll have to play some catch-up. Today's post will be about a three day trip I did on the East Side of the Park in Late May.

Back on May 23, I met up with Jeff Skevington and Vince Fyson for a couple days of Breeding Bird Atlassing in the interior of the Park (Jeff had an interior access permit to use logging roads). Our destination was Odenback on Radiant Lake, but also planned to do a bit of exploring along Bissett Creek Road, Shirley Lake Road, and Hogan Lake Road.

We met at Achray in the evening, and after a night of listening to Long-tailed Ducks migrating overhead, we left in the wee hours of the morning for Radiant Lake. The drive was pretty uneventful, although we did encounter a couple Whip-poor-wills along the way.

We arrived around 5:30, and got right to it. It was pretty cold out, and with nights of north winds in the days before, there weren't very many migrants to look at (Odenback has hosted a number of rarities over the years that we were keen to try and find). Overall, not really anything to write home about, other than a Brown Thrasher, which are very uncommon in the Park. We still garnered a decent list though: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S111264330

We got back into the car and went for a drive, stopping along the way whenever something piqued our interest. One of our first stops of the day was at an interesting looking wetland that the Little Madawaska River meanders through. Jeff wanted to put up a song recorder, so we got closer to investigate and scope out possible locations. As I approached, I heard a pair of Virginia Rails, which are always a great bird to encounter in Algonquin Park. There were also a number of Yellow Warblers, another very uncommon breeder in the Park. Then, as we were talking, off in the distance, I heard it. It stopped me dead in my tracks. A simple, but beautiful, "Fitz-bew!".

I couldn't believe it. A few tense seconds passed, and then it sang again.

"Fitz-bew!"

Could it be? Jeff heard it when it sang for the third time, and his heart rate must of spiked to the same dangerous levels that mine had. We took off running in the direction of the vocalization.

"Fitz-bew!"

We found ourselves in the presence of the Holy Grail of Algonquin Park birds. It was a Willow Flycatcher. But not just any Willow Flycatcher, the first Willow Flycatcher to ever be observed in Algonquin Provincial Park. 

This species is a true enigma. It has left Algonquin Park birders scratching their heads for the better part of the last century, wondering why this species had never been recorded in the Park. It is a species that I have long dreamed about finding, and now, there it was, in front of me.

I should mention, I forgot my rubber boots at the office, so my only pair of footwear for the entire three days was my steel-toe work boots. There was a wet sedge-y area between me and the flycatcher, so I did what any reasonable person would do—I took off my boots and socks, and cut my feet to pieces on the sharp edges (scabrous, for those who are botanically inclined) of the Carex stricta leaves in order to get closer to the quarry. Jeff had done the same, although he left his boots on. 

Willow Flycatcher habitat, apparently

We managed to get great looks and audio records of this flycatcher. You can see some photos and recordings taken by Jeff here: https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S111264301

I didn't have my camera...

Needless to say, that was the highlight of the day. We did some more exploring, but didn't find any more new park birds. In the evening, we went back into that wetland by canoe to try for Yellow Rails, but had no success. Not super surprising, I suppose!

The nest morning we were back at Odenback, and it was COLD. There was frost on the ground, so it was right around zero degrees. Again, it seemed as though there were no new migrants which was a bit discouraging. We looked regardless. At one point, Jeff and I were on the far side of the field, and spotted Vince waving us over. What could it be? Well, it turns out we got at least one migrant—Vince had found a singing male  Golden-winged Warbler. This is an excellent bird for the Park, and one I was very happy to get to see. He was moving around quite a lot. Habitat is decent, so in the unlikely case a female shows up, perhaps he has a chance.

It was another decent morning, but again not a ton of movement. A pair of Green-winged Teal were a bit odd. https://ebird.org/canada/checklist/S111264124

We left Odenback and started to make our way back to Lake Travers, were my car was, and we would part ways (Jeff and Vince were on their way out to Saskatchewan). We stopped at a bridge over the Petawawa River at Radiant Lake to look at a pair of Barn Swallows (a nest was found), and decided to bird around a bit. It paid off, as we soon found a Blackpoll Warbler (new for my Park List), and got very brief looks at a Northern Mockingbird, a rarity. A stop that was worthwhile! My feet were also killing me at this point due to the dampness and the sedge scratches, but no pain, no gain...

The rest of the drive back to my car was uneventful. We said our good-byes, and then went our separate ways. Although, I didn't have to go very far, as I would be spending the night on Lake Travers...and there was rain in the forecast.

Part 2

Fanshawe Finches n' Stuff

I had been aiming to put out a post detailing the mothing in my yard this past summer, but given the great sightings I have had since my last birding post, seems that will have to hold off! 

Fanshawe Conservation Area is a spectacular birding location only about 10 minutes from where I live. I am looking forward to the breeding bird atlas, starting next year, as my London area square encompassed the conservation area. Should be good!

On Halloween, I started at "The Lookout", as I normally do. I find it can be a great spot to see a variety of waterfowl and other flyover birds. After about 40 minutes, I was quite delighted to see a Red-necked Grebe fly by and land in the north end of the lake! This was my first observation of one in Middlesex, and a species I had been hoping to see every time I had gone out to the reservoir. 

Also on the 31st, I had nine Evening Grosbeaks and another Red Crossbill. Certainly a nice finch year! eBird checklist (Oct 31)

The next few times I went out to Fanshawe (November 3, 4, and 7) weren't too eventful, other than adding Common Redpoll and White-winged Crossbill to my winter finch list for the location. I am not up to eight finch species there this fall, with hopefully still some Pine Grosbeaks and Hoary Redpolls on the way. I also continued to see Red Crossbills, with the largest group being 11 on the 4th. I still have not seen both crossbill species in one day though!

eBird checklist (Nov 3)

eBird checklist (Nov 4)

eBird checklist (Nov 7)

Today was certainly an exciting day as well. Not two minutes after getting out of the car, I found a Northern Mockingbird. Mockingbirds sightings are rare, but increasing slightly, in Middlesex. It was a new year bird for me. I thought for sure I had missed it!

I was a little disappointed that the rowing teams (Fanshawe is where they train) had beat me to the north end of the lake where all the waterfowl were. They flushed basically everything in sight! As such, I wasn't really expecting to see too much on the lake. Finches and other birds kept me entertained, and I had 25 Common Redpolls, as well as a Red Crossbill (type 10). At one point, I noticed a lone duck. I raised my binoculars and, could it be? I got my scope on it, and it sure was! A Black Scoter! A new Middlesex bird for me. I called Bill Lindley, who needed it for his big year, and he came and saw it shortly before it disappeared.

It hadn't been looking great for the county getting all three scoter species this year, even with all the effort put in. I believe that this is the 253rd species recorded in the county this year, incredible! The last record for Black Scoter in the county I can find is 2012, so it has been awhile!

eBird checklist (Nov 8)

Hopefully, we are just getting started! I am expecting some good things on the next cold front (but will it be bean goose good? Who knows)

(Another plug for Ezra's site, it's ready now!)

The East and the West

Last week two rarities were found in the province. One was a Common Eider in Toronto, and the other a Black-throated Grey Warbler in Burlington. Common Eiders, although they breed in far northern Ontario along the Hudson Bay coast, are quite rare in the south. They winter in the Maritimes (the east) but seldom make their way to the Great Lakes. Black-throated Grey Warblers are warblers from western North America (the west). Although they are the most common western warbler vagrant, they are still quite a treat to come across. Lucky for me, those two rarities stuck around until this past Saturday, when I planned to go and try to see them.

The first stop of the day was Humber Bay park in Toronto. We got there early (with my friend Ethan in tow), as the eider was known to head out further into the lake as the day progressed, It did not take us long to see her.

Some other waterfowl present included Long-tailed Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, and White-winged Scoters.

Long-tailed Duck

There was a lingering Yellow-rumped Warbler.

I don't get to see too many mockingbirds down where I live, or any for that matter, so seeing one was a treat (despite my Toronto friends laughing when I told them that)

We went to quickly check out Colonel Sam Park afterwards. Nothing really of note was found, but Red-necked Grebe and another mockingbird were highlights (I don't see many Red-necked Grebes either!)

Northern Mockingbird

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-necked Grebe

I saw a bunch of this plant, Oriental Bittersweet, on this day.

We went down to Burlington in hopes of spotting the Black-throated Grey Warbler. As soon as we arrived we saw a group of 25 people all looking in the same direction. We figured that was a good sign.

Within a couple minutes we saw our target bird.

After enjoying the warbler, we went out to see what other birds we could find. There was a lot of waterfowl on the bay.

Mallard

Ring-billed Gull

Common Goldeneye

Redhead

Canvasback

Carolina Wren

All three species of swans could be found.

Trumpeter Swans

Mute Swans

Tundra Swan

With all the bird feeders, there were plenty of fat squirrels.

We decided to try and see if we could get any better photos of the warbler before we left. Everyone else had left by that point, so when we found him again we had him to ourselves pretty much, there were a couple other people just arriving to enjoy it as well. It took some patience, and many failed photos due to the warbler hiding behind leaf (so many perfect shots ruined!), but we left with some photos we were very happy with!

Nothing like the feeling of seeing some good birds!

Toronto Twitches...and Dips

Yesterday I went to Toronto to hopefully catch a few of the rarities that have been reported.

My first stop was Colonel Sam Smith park, where I met up with Jeremy and Tim, who were looking to add a reported Purple Sandpiper to their Ontario Big Years. I also was able to finally meet some young birders with whom I have been communicating with online. Unfortunately, the Purple Sandpiper never showed itself, but we did see this Snowy Owl!

I checked out Rotary Park after for the reported Tufted Duck, but saw that the raft of scaup were in fact the next park down the shoreline. I did see a few ducks around this park though.

Redhead

I went to the next park over, just to realize it was actually the NEXT park over...

I finally arrived at the right park, and carefully scanned the scaup, and guess what? I couldn't pick out the Tufted Duck! No doubt he is still there, but I just couldn't find him!

I went to Tommy Thompson Park to meet up with yet another young birder, Owen Strickland. We tried for Long-eared Owls, but couldn't find any! We did hear from another birder that he had what was most likely a PURPLE SANDPIPER!!! After a quick call to Jeremy, we spent the next two hours trying to locate the sucker along the shoreline. Unfortunately, we had to abandon the search due to a sudden snow squall, but at least we can say we tried! The Snowy Owls we saw along the way were a decent consolation prize.

I was almost out of the park, when I looked over and in the fading light, saw what appeared to be a Northern Shrike about 20 feet away from me. "Great", I thought, and snapped a few photos. Imagine my surprise when I checked the photos to see how they turned out, and realized that it was not a shrike, but my Ontario lifer Northern Mockingbird!

I managed to snap a few more photos before it flew away, which I though turned out pretty nice considering that there was very little light left. It was a pretty darn good ending to an otherwise "slow" day!

I can't believe that the year is almost over! Thanks to everyone who made this year super special, and I can't wait to have an even better (and bigger :p) year in 2018!!!

March Break...What a Week!

I just got back from a week in Virginia. It was awesome!

Since I went with my Air Cadet squadron, the main focus of the week was the military bases that we would be touring. However, for me, the focus was to enjoy the tours and find as many birds as possible during them.

I made a list of 27 birds that I could possibly see while I was down there, and I was very happy that I was able to find eight of them. The first one was Brown Pelican, which is the bird you could say I wanted the "most".

It took awhile before I could get a photo of a Laughing Gull, despite them being in almost every parking lot we visited. I probably could've gotten more if I had a better camera (I only brought my small one with terrible quality).

Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Boat-tailed Grackle, and Northern Mockingbird were also new additions to the good ol' life list.

Boat-tailed Grackles....I Swear!

The final lifer I obtained was a pair of American Oystercatcher. I was quite shocked to see these birds as they were walking along the shore of the Chesapeake Bay right along a residential area. Unfortunately I was too stunned to even make an attempt to photograph them (it would have done no good anyway, as the bus was going quite fast).

I didn't only see bird lifers, though. I saw a Gray Fox and unfortunately the highly invasive Kudzu plant, which has actually recently been discovered in Leamington.

I saw 72 species in total for the trip. This included Yellow-rumped Warblers, an Osprey on nest, various gulls, Great Blue Herons, starlings, and many, many more. The trip list will be on the bottom of the post.

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Great Blue Heron

Great Black-backed Gull

The scenery on the way up and down was quite spectacular (we drove through NY, PA, MD, and part of VA). The Appalachians remind me of Algonquin park because of all the uneven land and pockets of wetland. The window was fairly dirty, so again, not the best quality.

The weather was cold, but at least it didn't really rain or snow while we were down there. However, the states north of VA got hammered. The guy sitting in front of me fell asleep in Virginia and was surprised to have woken up in Maryland with 3 inches of snow on the ground!

The military bases were quite cool as well. We first toured the USS Mason.

It was one of the few ships in the American Navy that has actually been fired upon and successfully defend itself.

Some Hawkeyes were flying overhead around the ships as well.

The next day we toured Langley. This place is the home of the F-22 Raptor, which is quite a cool fighter jet. The base also is in charge of the aircraft fuel for the area.

On our last day in VA we toured NAS (Naval Air Station) Oceana.

Here they had my personal favourite of the fighter jets...the F-18 Super Hornet.

Afterwards we went shopping at the NEX (Navy Exchange), which was quite fun.

I would look good as a Sea Cadet!

We also visited the Virginia Aquarium, which I thought was very interesting. They had everything from an aviary with the common birds of  Virginia (that Prothonotary Warbler is still evading me) to the stingray touch tank. I would definitely go back!

Northern Bobwhite (captive)

Seaturtle

Cow nose Rays

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

We spent the last night in the barracks running outside every time we heard a Hornet fly over. Sometimes we got lucky and would see some flying out over the tree line.

By the way, here are the barracks.

While the trip was fun, all of us were happy to arrive home and see this.

Even more exciting is that we started seeing this all over the place again.

Overall, it was an extremely awesome week, and I can't wait to go on next year's March Break trip to South Carolina!

Trip List:

1. Canada Goose
2. Wood Duck
3. Mallard
4. Green-winged Teal
5. Ring-necked Duck
6. Bufflehead
7. Common Goldeneye
8. Hooded Merganser
9. Common Merganser
10. Ruddy Duck
11. Red-throated Loon
12. Common Loon
13. Pied-billed Grebe
14. Horned Grebe
15. Red-necked Grebe
16. Double-crested Cormorant
17. Brown Pelican
18. Great Blue Heron
19. Great Egret
20. Black Vulture
21. Turkey Vulture
22. Osprey
23. Sharp-shinned Hawk
24. Cooper's Hawk
25. Bald Eagle
26. Red-tailed Hawk
27. American Oystercatcher
28. Killdeer
29. Greater Yellowlegs
30. Bonaparte's Gull
31. Laughing Gull
32. Ring-billed Gull
33. Herring Gull
34. Lesser Black-backed Gull
35. Greater Black-backed Gull
36. Rock Pigeon
37. Mourning Dove
38. Belted Kingfisher
39. Red-headed Woodpecker
40. Downy Woodpecker
41. Pileated Woodpecker
42. American Kestrel
43. Blue Jay
44. American Crow
45. Fish Crow
46. Tree Swallow
47. Carolina Chickadee
48. Black-capped Chickadee
49. Tufted Titmouse
50. Brown-headed Nuthatch
51. Carolina Wren
52. Golden-crowned Kinglet
53. Eastern Bluebird
54. American Robin
55. Northern Mockingbird
56. European Starling
57. Cedar Waxwing
58. Pine Warbler
59. Yellow-rumped Warbler
60. American Tree Sparrow
61. Chipping Sparrow
62. Dark-eyed Junco
63. Song Sparrow
64. Northern Cardinal
65. Red-winged Blackbird
66. Eastern Meadowlark
67. Common Grackle
68. Boat-tailed Grackle
69. Brown-headed Cowbird
70. House Finch
71. American Goldfinch
72. House Sparrow