In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the Bruce Peninsula last weekend. Hopefully I will be able to get a full post out soon!
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| American Bittern |
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| Cape May Warbler |
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| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
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| Ovenbird |
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| Tree Swallow |
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| Sora |
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| Sora |
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| Golden-winged Warbler |
Showing posts with label Olive-sided Flycatcher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olive-sided Flycatcher. Show all posts
Monday, 28 May 2018
Sneak Peek at Bruce Birding
With the school year starting to come to a close, I have been swamped with many year end projects and such. I haven't really had the time to sit down and write!
In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the Bruce Peninsula last weekend. Hopefully I will be able to get a full post out soon!
In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the Bruce Peninsula last weekend. Hopefully I will be able to get a full post out soon!
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Arctic, the Plains, and the...Everglades?
(This post was written and originally published on Monday, August 14th, however due to a weird system glitch, it re-posted on August 19th)
No, I did not travel extensively. Yesterday we found birds from all three in one place...Point Pelee and area!
Some of you may know about the juvenile Wood Stork that was found on Saturday on the Tip of Point Pelee. This is a first record ever for the park, and for most of the birders going to see it, a first for their Ontario list. As soon as I found out about this bird, I ditched the plans to go to Rondeau and instead to make a beeline to Point Pelee for this MEGA bird.
We arrived at the park around 10:45 and I went right into the VC to get some Wi-Fi and check the ONTBIRDS alert. What I saw nearly gave me gave me a heart attack....Jeremy had posted that the Wood Stork was at the Tip!!!
It's fair to say that Jeremy got a little excited...but then again, who wouldn't be!
I ran from the VC and was considering running to the Tip, but then I saw that the Tram was just about to leave so I hopped on that. I swear the Tram has never gone slower!!!
I passed the slow Tram ride by texting my mom and aunt, who I had left behind in the parking lot. I warned them that if I got word that the bird was at the Tip I would hop on the first Tram with or without them!
I quickly joined up with the only other two birders on the Tram and we made our way to the Tip. When we arrived, only one birder was there (I guess the rest hadn't gotten the memo yet!). He told us to look up as the stork had just taken off.
Not 5 minutes into the search it flies perhaps 20-25 feet off the ground off the Tip then back again right over top of me! It was absolutely incredible.
Later, while heading back down the West Beach trail, we see it again circling above the trees.
It was awesome!
The stork continued to be seen off and on again throughout the day, but not after around 2:15. I am very happy that I was one of the lucky few today that got to see it more than once and closer than half a kilometer away!
I explored the West Beach trail and a little but of Shuster in the afternoon.
While I didn't really pay all to much attention to butterflies, I still did find a few.
I was happy to be able to finally find some Cicada Killers.
I found an Eastern Garter Snake.
West Beach had the two most interesting birds (other than Wood Stork). A Canada Warbler was heard singing and an Olive-sided Flycatcher was seen sallying for insects.
A few other birds could be found throughout.
After the park, we went and checked out the Essex Sewage Lagoons. The targets here were birds from the Plains and from the Arctic...Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes!
Phalarope have always been a nemesis of mine. I have tried numerous times to try and find them, yet all of my attempts yielded nothing. My luck turned around yesterday!
There were 2 Wilson's and 4 Red-necked Phalaropes to be found.
Of course a few other shorebirds were around as well.
The final stop for the day was to be Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. While nothing here would be a lifer, I wanted to see if I could add a few things to my Chatham-Kent list.
Lesser Yellowlegs were abundant.
There were a couple Short-billed Dowitchers in one of the cells.
The real highlight were 8 Wilson's Phalaropes! Considering I had never seen a Phalarope in my life prior to yesterday, 14 in one day plus a Wood Stork is really cool!
Many Bobolinks were found in the grasses along the dikes and on the road.
There were a few species of ducks around, including the summering Ring-necked.
Surprisingly, this is my first Great Blue Heron for the lagoons.
As the sun set, and the peeps became impossible to identify in the deteriorating light, I knew it was time to finish for the day.
Going into the day, I thought that finding the Wood Stork would be a very slim chance. I definitely didn't think finding it within 20 minutes of arriving at the VC was even possible!
This is just the beginning of what I believe will be an amazing fall!
No, I did not travel extensively. Yesterday we found birds from all three in one place...Point Pelee and area!
Some of you may know about the juvenile Wood Stork that was found on Saturday on the Tip of Point Pelee. This is a first record ever for the park, and for most of the birders going to see it, a first for their Ontario list. As soon as I found out about this bird, I ditched the plans to go to Rondeau and instead to make a beeline to Point Pelee for this MEGA bird.
We arrived at the park around 10:45 and I went right into the VC to get some Wi-Fi and check the ONTBIRDS alert. What I saw nearly gave me gave me a heart attack....Jeremy had posted that the Wood Stork was at the Tip!!!
It's fair to say that Jeremy got a little excited...but then again, who wouldn't be!
I ran from the VC and was considering running to the Tip, but then I saw that the Tram was just about to leave so I hopped on that. I swear the Tram has never gone slower!!!
I passed the slow Tram ride by texting my mom and aunt, who I had left behind in the parking lot. I warned them that if I got word that the bird was at the Tip I would hop on the first Tram with or without them!
I quickly joined up with the only other two birders on the Tram and we made our way to the Tip. When we arrived, only one birder was there (I guess the rest hadn't gotten the memo yet!). He told us to look up as the stork had just taken off.
Not 5 minutes into the search it flies perhaps 20-25 feet off the ground off the Tip then back again right over top of me! It was absolutely incredible.
Later, while heading back down the West Beach trail, we see it again circling above the trees.
It was awesome!
The stork continued to be seen off and on again throughout the day, but not after around 2:15. I am very happy that I was one of the lucky few today that got to see it more than once and closer than half a kilometer away!
I explored the West Beach trail and a little but of Shuster in the afternoon.
While I didn't really pay all to much attention to butterflies, I still did find a few.
 |
| American Snout |
 |
| Red-spotted Purple |
 |
| Giant Swallowtail |
I was happy to be able to finally find some Cicada Killers.
I found an Eastern Garter Snake.
 |
| Eastern Garter Snake |
West Beach had the two most interesting birds (other than Wood Stork). A Canada Warbler was heard singing and an Olive-sided Flycatcher was seen sallying for insects.
 |
| Olive-sided Flycatcher |
A few other birds could be found throughout.
 |
| Orchard Oriole |
 |
| Eastern Kingbird |
 |
| Bonaparte's Gull |
After the park, we went and checked out the Essex Sewage Lagoons. The targets here were birds from the Plains and from the Arctic...Wilson's and Red-necked Phalaropes!
Phalarope have always been a nemesis of mine. I have tried numerous times to try and find them, yet all of my attempts yielded nothing. My luck turned around yesterday!
There were 2 Wilson's and 4 Red-necked Phalaropes to be found.
 |
| Wilson's Phalarope |
 |
| Red-necked Phalarope |
 |
| Red-necked Phalaropes |
Of course a few other shorebirds were around as well.
 |
| Least Sandpiper |
The final stop for the day was to be Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. While nothing here would be a lifer, I wanted to see if I could add a few things to my Chatham-Kent list.
Lesser Yellowlegs were abundant.
 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral |
There were a couple Short-billed Dowitchers in one of the cells.
The real highlight were 8 Wilson's Phalaropes! Considering I had never seen a Phalarope in my life prior to yesterday, 14 in one day plus a Wood Stork is really cool!
 |
| Wilson's Phalaropes and Stilt Sandpiper |
Many Bobolinks were found in the grasses along the dikes and on the road.
There were a few species of ducks around, including the summering Ring-necked.
 |
| Blue-winged Teal and Mallard |
 |
| Redhead |
Surprisingly, this is my first Great Blue Heron for the lagoons.
As the sun set, and the peeps became impossible to identify in the deteriorating light, I knew it was time to finish for the day.
Going into the day, I thought that finding the Wood Stork would be a very slim chance. I definitely didn't think finding it within 20 minutes of arriving at the VC was even possible!
This is just the beginning of what I believe will be an amazing fall!
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
OFO Young Birder Weekend in Algonquin
This past weekend, I went to Algonquin Park with a group of young birders. It was quite a lot of fun, and we saw many, many things (most of which I am lacking photos!) We stayed at the Wildlife Research Station (WRS), which offered great wildlife sightings just outside our door. The first of many things seen were Chalk-fronted Corporals.
We went for a walk around WRS, where we turned up a few good birds, and got our first taste of summer birding in Algonquin.
That evening, we checked out the Old Railway Bed.
This turned out to be great for mammals. We managed to find multiple Beavers, two Moose, and even a Black Bear.
Birds were around, but most were found by ear alone. The best birds by far were a Barred Owl and a Northern Saw-whet Owl, both of which were heard off in the distance.
On the way back, near Cannisbay, some of us were lucky to see an Algonquin/Eastern Wolf cross the road. I only managed to catch the tail end of it in the lead car's headlights.
The next day, we went canoeing in Hailstorm Creek (north arm of Lake Opeongo). Many things were seen, including some River Otters, Ring-necked Ducks, Elegant Spreadwings, and four Sandhill Cranes. We also found a few boreal birds.
The breeding colony of Double-crested Cormorants and Herring Gulls continues.
One of my favourite birds was found regularly on Opeongo.
We went out looking for herps after we got back. All we could find was a Red-backed Salamander.
The next day, we went with the small mammal researcher in the early morning to see what research she was doing. It was quite interesting, even if all we caught were a shrew and Deer Mice.
Birds were pretty easy to find around WRS.
We explored the Old Airfield, where we managed to find some Pink-edged Sulphurs.
This Snowshoe Hare wasn't concerned about our presence.
We were happy to find a Boreal Chickadee.
As if the Red Crossbills from the day before weren't enough, White-winged Crossbills decided to show up.
To cap off the Airfield, my favourite warbler provided great looks.
We went to the Visitor Centre and checked out their private collections. Afterwards, we managed to locate the Olive-sided Flycatcher of the viewing deck.
I pretty much just left my camera behind for the rest of the day, so you'll just have to visualize this stuff....
We went looking for salamanders at Found Lake. It was much harder than expected, but Red-backed and the uncommon Northern Two-lined were eventually found.
We went to the airfield again to see if we could find the Long-eared Owls which had been rumoured to be hanging out there. No owls, but a Merlin was a nice treat.
The next morning, we started out at the Airfield around 5:20 am. We were hoping that a rarity had dropped in or something (Dickcissel seemed like the most likely). While nothing of that sort was found, we found a Wild Turkey, which is great for the park.
Spruce Bog was our next stop. While the Spruce Grouse evaded us, a singing Olive-sided Flycatcher rewarded us. Common Yellowthroats were common as well.
Opeongo Road proved to be very productive. Canada Warblers were heard soon after turning onto the road, and many more warblers could be seen and heard.
Opeongo Rd was flycatcher central, and we found four species. Olive-sided was surprisingly the most plentiful, with four individuals.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher had three individuals.
Alder and Least Flycatcher both had only one representative.
Gray Jays were also found, and came very quickly to be fed.
White Admirals were seen here and there.
While the rest of the group went back to WRS, a few of us braved the bugs and continued on birding, trying to get our list up to 100 species (I think we just fell short, with something like 98 or 99).
The only new bird found was an American Woodcock which I flushed while bushwhacking in a spruce bog. It was the last new bird of the trip.
After saying good-bye to the group, my family continued to explore Algonquin.
The Airfield had some good leps and odes, including a skipper of which I don't know what to think. It looks a lot like a Leonard's Skipper, but it just seems too dark and pretty early for one. If you can help me, I'd be very thankful! (EDIT: Long Dash - thanks Nate!)
The Algonquin Art Centre had a Common Raven that was begging for handouts.
As we were leaving the park, we came across this Moose.
Later that evening, we came back to see what was around the Railway Bed. Nothing much except for a couple of Wilson's Snipe and a Muskrat.
The next morning, we went to Opeongo Rd again. No Gray Jays, but the Olive-sideds were cooperating. I got better photos than the day before.
I didn't take any more photos after that, mostly because everything was heard but not seen. We left Algonquin around three.
Overall, it was an awesome trip, and I can't even begin to share everything that happened in a blog post. It was one of those times that you can't put into words.
Whoever said birding in July is the slowest is quite wrong....I'm at 136 species so far this month!!! (EDIT: Upland Sandpipers, Bobolink, and Dickcissel make it 139!)
We went for a walk around WRS, where we turned up a few good birds, and got our first taste of summer birding in Algonquin.
 |
| American Redstart |
That evening, we checked out the Old Railway Bed.
This turned out to be great for mammals. We managed to find multiple Beavers, two Moose, and even a Black Bear.
Birds were around, but most were found by ear alone. The best birds by far were a Barred Owl and a Northern Saw-whet Owl, both of which were heard off in the distance.
 |
| Wood Ducks |
On the way back, near Cannisbay, some of us were lucky to see an Algonquin/Eastern Wolf cross the road. I only managed to catch the tail end of it in the lead car's headlights.
The next day, we went canoeing in Hailstorm Creek (north arm of Lake Opeongo). Many things were seen, including some River Otters, Ring-necked Ducks, Elegant Spreadwings, and four Sandhill Cranes. We also found a few boreal birds.
 |
| Ring-necked Duck |
 |
| Elegant Spreadwing |
 |
| River Otter |
 |
| Red Crossbill |
The breeding colony of Double-crested Cormorants and Herring Gulls continues.
 |
| Double-crested Cormorants |
One of my favourite birds was found regularly on Opeongo.
 |
| Common Loon |
We went out looking for herps after we got back. All we could find was a Red-backed Salamander.
The next day, we went with the small mammal researcher in the early morning to see what research she was doing. It was quite interesting, even if all we caught were a shrew and Deer Mice.
Birds were pretty easy to find around WRS.
 |
| Purple Finch |
 |
| Cedar Waxwing |
We explored the Old Airfield, where we managed to find some Pink-edged Sulphurs.
This Snowshoe Hare wasn't concerned about our presence.
We were happy to find a Boreal Chickadee.
As if the Red Crossbills from the day before weren't enough, White-winged Crossbills decided to show up.
To cap off the Airfield, my favourite warbler provided great looks.
 |
| Magnolia Warbler |
We went to the Visitor Centre and checked out their private collections. Afterwards, we managed to locate the Olive-sided Flycatcher of the viewing deck.
I pretty much just left my camera behind for the rest of the day, so you'll just have to visualize this stuff....
We went looking for salamanders at Found Lake. It was much harder than expected, but Red-backed and the uncommon Northern Two-lined were eventually found.
We went to the airfield again to see if we could find the Long-eared Owls which had been rumoured to be hanging out there. No owls, but a Merlin was a nice treat.
The next morning, we started out at the Airfield around 5:20 am. We were hoping that a rarity had dropped in or something (Dickcissel seemed like the most likely). While nothing of that sort was found, we found a Wild Turkey, which is great for the park.
Spruce Bog was our next stop. While the Spruce Grouse evaded us, a singing Olive-sided Flycatcher rewarded us. Common Yellowthroats were common as well.
 |
| Yellowthroat |
Opeongo Road proved to be very productive. Canada Warblers were heard soon after turning onto the road, and many more warblers could be seen and heard.
 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Opeongo Rd was flycatcher central, and we found four species. Olive-sided was surprisingly the most plentiful, with four individuals.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher had three individuals.
Alder and Least Flycatcher both had only one representative.
 |
| Alder |
Gray Jays were also found, and came very quickly to be fed.
White Admirals were seen here and there.
While the rest of the group went back to WRS, a few of us braved the bugs and continued on birding, trying to get our list up to 100 species (I think we just fell short, with something like 98 or 99).
The only new bird found was an American Woodcock which I flushed while bushwhacking in a spruce bog. It was the last new bird of the trip.
After saying good-bye to the group, my family continued to explore Algonquin.
The Airfield had some good leps and odes, including a skipper of which I don't know what to think. It looks a lot like a Leonard's Skipper, but it just seems too dark and pretty early for one. If you can help me, I'd be very thankful! (EDIT: Long Dash - thanks Nate!)
 |
| Long Dash |
 |
| Calico Pennant |
The Algonquin Art Centre had a Common Raven that was begging for handouts.
As we were leaving the park, we came across this Moose.
Later that evening, we came back to see what was around the Railway Bed. Nothing much except for a couple of Wilson's Snipe and a Muskrat.
The next morning, we went to Opeongo Rd again. No Gray Jays, but the Olive-sideds were cooperating. I got better photos than the day before.
I didn't take any more photos after that, mostly because everything was heard but not seen. We left Algonquin around three.
Overall, it was an awesome trip, and I can't even begin to share everything that happened in a blog post. It was one of those times that you can't put into words.
Whoever said birding in July is the slowest is quite wrong....I'm at 136 species so far this month!!! (EDIT: Upland Sandpipers, Bobolink, and Dickcissel make it 139!)
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