Big Nickel Birding:Recollecting

July 20

Our last evening in the region of Greater Sudbury was spent searching the marshland environments of Lily Creek Park and Robinson Lake. I had planned on birding the marsh across from Science North by using the boardwalk, but my brother let us know that it was closed until further notice. The boardwalk was built by Science North in 1991 and now that the lease has expired, they no longer wish to maintain it. Now it's up to the city to determine the fate of the boardwalk. 

Since we could not walk through the marsh, an alternative access was required. We approached the southern edge of the marsh from the sports fields of Lily Creek Park. After climbing over a large rock formation, Jean and I stood at the edge of the cattail-filled marsh. 

We observed a pair of Yellow Warblers and a little pishing roused a Marsh Wren (#41 for the county list). 

Nothing else was found at Lily Creek, so we revisited the Robinson Lake Trail and came up empty handed when trying to add to the county list.

July 21

Birding was set aside the next morning to spend time with my brother and his family before we headed back to the Niagara Region. Though I had my bins at the ready while sitting at Moonlight Beach on Ramsey Lake,  nothing special was seen.    

Before leaving, wild blueberries were purchased from a roadside vendor and a Northern Harrier spotted flying near Highway 69 was the last tick for the Sudbury list until our next visit.

While in Sudbury, only one species was added to the year list. The Blackburnian Warbler I sought could not be found nor was Pileated Woodpecker. We had one last attempt before committing ourselves to a long drive home. French River Provincial Park was our last try. Birding after that would have to be done from the car while travelling at 100 km/hr.

Both Jean and I had heard the call of a Pileated at the park earlier in the week, but I was reserving the tick until the bird was seen. After a quick check of the area around the parking lot and no success, we hiked a trail to Recollect Falls. The exposed rock and roots, and the closeness of a sheer drop reminded me of hikes along the Bruce Trail back home. 

While Turkey Vultures soared over the gorge, we quickly added Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler and Northern Flicker to the Manitoulin list. 

Further along the trail, Jean and I stopped when we heard a faint tapping to our right. What we saw next was a total surprise. I would have never guessed that the soft tapping was created by our quarry. There in open view was a male Pileated Woodpecker! This was only the second time we have observed this species. We chose to ignore the deer flies buzzing around our heads and stood our ground to watch the woodpecker as it tore into the tree to feed on any insects it uncovered. In the centre of image below, you can make out the red crest and the black and white of the Pileated's neck. The view through the binoculars was unobstructed and I continued observing the Pileated until it moved to another tree and could no longer be seen.

We still had approximately 1.5 kilometres to walk (with deer flies in constant pursuit) to reach the view of Recollect Falls.

Though it's more of a rapid than a waterfall.....

...it would be wise to portage this section when canoeing along the French River.

Anything else upriver besides those Mallards?

With our Sudbury vacation over and Pileated Woodpecker securely ticked, it was time to start working on additional target species. A try for some birds closer to home, followed by shorebirds and then chased down with some Fall migrants would help lengthen the 2011 Ontario list. Some I expected would be easy, others required some work. Stay tuned for ticks 184 to 203. It was a well enjoyed venture.

Big Nickel Digiscoping

July 20

Jean and I were walking along the Trans Canada Trail in Sudbury and we were not having any luck locating a Pileated Woodpecker. Out on Kelly Lake however, a pair of Common Loons appeared and remained in the area long enough for Jean to capture some digiscoped images. 

Before starting our hike, we observed one of the loons from Southview Drive and I did not think we would encounter it again or even spot a second one for that matter.

We have never been this close to a loon. It was aware of our presence, but the loon showed little concern that we were watching it.

Check out that bill!

My favourite.

Being this close to a Common Loon soon had me forgetting what we were looking for and was well worth bringing our hike to a stop. I was determined Jean and I were going to find our target species though. We still had an evening of birding and the next day to find the whatchamacallit before returning to Niagara.

Big Nickel Birding: Birding in Manitoulin and Greater Sudbury Counties

July 19

The main reason Jean and I were in Sudbury this past summer was to visit family. We returned to French River with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew for a bit of sight-seeing at the provincial park's visitor centre. The binoculars were at the ready in case the Pileated Woodpecker, heard earlier in the week, decided to make a public appearance.

During our last visit to the Sudbury region, there was no centre at the park nor was there a pedestrian bridge spanning the French River gorge. At first, I thought the bridge was installed by the provincial government, but once we reached the 512 ft span, we discovered that it was built by the French River Snow Voyageurs snowmobile club in 2005. It is Canada's largest cable supported snowmobile bridge.  While birding from the bridge, Jean and I added Caspian Tern, Ring-billed Gull and Red-breasted Nuthatch to the Manitoulin County list.

The visitor centre has an assortment of displays to educate the public of the rich history of First Nations and European cultures that lived, worked and travelled along the 105 kilometres of interconnecting lakes, gorges and rapids between Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay.

Once outside the centre, we ticked Ruby-throated Hummingbird, but the large woodpecker with the red crest on its head was neither seen or heard.




July 20


The next day, Jean and I returned to Kelly Lake for a hike along the Trans Canada Trail. We entered the trail from Southview Drive (approximately 3 km east of our intro-birding walk with my brother). Before reaching the section of trail that runs along the shoreline of the lake, we walked through a forested section and found a spot rich with birds and Red Squirrels. Redstart, Yellow-rumped, and Black and White Warblers darted about the conifer branches, but to my disappointment there were no Blackburnians.

Other than the recently added branches to the dam, there was no sign of the large rodent that I believe should remain as Canada's national animal. Surfing the web for stories on this somewhat hot topic revealed a quiz on the BBC News site and based on my test score, I'm just beavering away.

Along the open areas of the trail, we found some very cooperative Savannah Sparrows as well as Chipping, Song and White-throated species of the Emberizidae family.

Pileated Woodpecker continues to boldly challenge Jean and I. Once again, we observed evidence of Dryocopus pileatus, but since 2008 the woodpecker itself, carries on evading our lists.

Not to worry this day. Out on Kelly Lake, we found, not one, but two willing subjects for a bit of Big Nickel digiscoping.

Big Nickel Birding: A Lifer in Sudbury

July 18

Jean and I were in Sudbury for a few days to visit my brother, his wife, and the newest addition to our family and on our first full day in the Nickel City, we stopped at Dynamic Earth for a photo-opportunity. We did some birding in the shadow of the Big Nickel and though the sightings found along a short, gravel path were not worth the $5.00 parking fee, we had great views of an American Crow and 2 Common Ravens in the yard of a business below Dynamic Earth. It is not often that I get a chance to compare these two corvid species side by side. 

Later in the day, it was time to start searching for warbler species missed during their migration through the Niagara Region.  My brother Bruce suggested the trail along the southern edge of Kelley Lake and we started our walk from Fielding Memorial Park.

View Larger Map

Bruce tagged along with us this time and he was introduced to Birding 101. OK, Canada Geese he has seen on a number of occasions but we did get him some scope views of his lifer Cedar Waxwings. Warblers observed included, Yellow, Nashville and American Redstart, but the desired Blackburnian tick did not occur.

We came across some Mallards and spotted a smaller, non-breeding male American Wigeon hidden in their ranks, a great find for the region at this time of year. The county list continues to grow, but still no firsts of the year or lifers. 

The day was not over yet. We had picked up a trail guide while at Dynamic Earth earlier in the day. There were a number of non-motorized trails listed and Jean and I decided to walk along the Bell Grove Trail on the south side of Ramsey Lake. The plan was to access the trail from the parking area of a boat launch, but construction in the area prevented us from hiking this section of the trail. An evening of birding would have to be done elsewhere. We travelled further east to the Bethel Lake Trail.

View Larger Map

The trail starts on the north side of the small lake and crosses a marsh before ascending to an overlook on the south side. Little did I know we were about to find lifer # 308.

It was almost 8:30 PM and the sun had started to set. The trail is only 1 kilometre so we had a comfortable amount of time to reach the overlook and return to our car before it was dark. We spotted a pair of Ring-necked Ducks on the lake and while crossing the boardwalk, we found Song Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat.

As we walked up the zig-zag trail to the overlook, a loud song emitted from the birch trees. I had not heard the song in the field before nor had I heard it while studying songs and calls on various bird identification sites. There was some movement low to the ground and we were soon determined to get on this bird. The mosquitoes appreciated our sedentary stance and I had some glimpses of a brownish bird that looked like a thrush at first. The problem was, the loud song was not flutelike at all. Then again, the thrush may not be the bird singing. The song was a series of two syllable phrases.

The bird jumped up onto a log to face me and though I had not seen this species before, this was one of those moments in birding when you realize what you're looking at without referencing a field guide. The brownish bird had spots on its white breast but it was the two dark stripes on either side of an orange crown that had me excitedly but quietly exclaiming, "Ovenbird!" "Ovenbird!" "Ovenbird!". Well maybe not that many times. It seems a befitting recollection since the song of the Ovenbird is described as teacher, teacher, teacher. Though it breeds in southern Ontario, this bird has proven difficult to find while birding in the Niagara Region.

In addition to seeing the crown, Jean observed the bold white eye ring from her vantage point as the warbler continued to skulk along the forest floor. And with that, even before listening to the song back at my brother's house, we knew we had ticked our lifer Ovenbird.  

Though we were delayed by the lifer and it was getting dark under the forest canopy, we still had time to take in the view of Sudbury from the summit of the trail before calling it a day.  

Big Nickel Birding: A Sudbury Sunday Night

July 17

It was our first evening in the region of Greater Sudbury, not quite as exciting as a Sudbury Saturday Night but it would do just fine. After dinner, my brother returned to work and he suggested Jean and I check out a neighbourhood trail for an evening stroll. The Robinson Lake Trail is an easy one kilometre of gravel path and boardwalk.

We accessed the trail from a municipal park and ticked Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch and Song Sparrow as we walked towards the boardwalk.

Common Yellowthroat were calling from all directions in the marsh and a family of Mallards had found a spot for the night in the stream that empties into Robinson Lake. Yes, I was ticking birds for a new county list. Mallards, Double-crested cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls were not overlooked. 

Walking through the stand of birch, I hoped to find a more worthy tick. No FOY warblers or a much sought after Pileated , but the Northern Flicker and Hairy Woodpeckers (2) were a nice accompaniment to the robins spotted in the small patch of wild in northern suburbia.  

After a couple of incidentals and some birding on a Sudbury Sunday Night, the county list stood at 13 species. Jean and I would have 3 full days available for Big Nickel Birding so adding birds to the list was not going to be a problem. Finding the target species was another matter. 

Big Nickel Birding:Travelling North

July 17


It was only mid-morning and the temperature was already at the daytime high when we left St. Catharines for Sudbury. I was looking forward to getting away from the humidity for a few days but after only 30 minutes of driving, we stopped for a brief moment in Hamilton. It was a planned stop. An American White Pelican had been observed in a few locations in Hamilton Harbour over the last few weeks and though it had not appeared on a recent post, a quick stop to look for the pelican from the parking area of the Canada Centre for Inland Waters seemed worthwhile.


I thought our best chance would be the three small rocky islands north of the centre. In August of 2008, Jean and I observed an American White Pelican (it could be the very same one seen this summer) near one of the islands. In October of the previous year, we observed our first Ontario American White Pelican at Cootes Paradise (the west end of the bay) while walking along a Royal Botanical Gardens trail known as "The Willows" to birders in the Hamilton area. This year we would not be as lucky. Only gulls, terns and cormorants on the islands. The pelican may have been relaxing in the Dundas Marsh but that chase would have to be put aside for another day.


We continued on through the regions of Halton and Peel and I thought of some of our memorable ticks as we passed the locations of the observations. In May of 2009, Jean and I travelled to Brittania Road to tick a lifer Ruff. At this time, only 13 species are required to reach my goal of 100 for Halton County. It seems I've caught the fever to observe 100 species in each county. Further east along the 407 is the region of Peel where we had observed another lost bird in November of 2009. It was a Phainopepla. Yes, a very lost bird and only the second record for Ontario. In addition to the silky flycatcher, Jean and I have also seen a Western Grebe and Harlequin Duck in Peel County. Only 16 species on a total of two checklists, so a great deal of birding is still required in Peel County.

Once we passed through Simcoe and Muskoka Counties, Jean and I were in new territory. Our first county was Parry Sound but sightings were limited to those seen from Highway 69. We observed only 5 species while in this region of Ontario, the best being a Broad-winged Hawk perched on utility pole near Byng Inlet.


The next county came as a surprise to me once it was entered on eBird Canada. We stopped at French River Provincial Park and when looking at my road map, yes I said road map, it appeared I was still in the region of Parry Sound. According to eBird Canada and maps found online, this area of French River P.P. is within the boundaries of Manitoulin County.





The provincial park follows the routes of voyageurs from Lake Nipissing to Lake Huron and we spent a 30 minute break in a small section of the park adjacent to Highway 69. We observed a few species, including Chestnut-sided Warbler and Warbling Vireo but nothing new was found.


Returning to our car, we heard a loud call that could only be from a member of the Picidae Family. Based on the woodpecker calls we have heard, I quickly eliminated all but the Pileated Woodpecker. This was a species we have observed only once. Though lifers are exciting, it was a distant view through the scope while on a birding-walk through the Hendrie Valley during the 2008 OFO Convention in Hamilton. I wanted to get a good look at this Pileated Woodpecker before committing to the tick. There were some dead trees with large holes near the parking area that suggest the woodpecker could be found at this spot. The bird disappeared deeper into the woods so we planned a return visit later in the week.






Once across the French River, we entered Sudbury County and upon reaching the city limits of Sudbury, we were in the region of Greater Sudbury. The county where the majority of our vacation ticks would occur.

Big Nickel Birding

Ahhh, vacation time! It's always satisfying to have some time off from work and during the week of July 18, Jean and I spent a few days in Sudbury visiting my brother and his family.



This was our first visit to Sudbury, Ontario since Jean and I committed ourselves to a life of birding and if we did not observe any lifers while birding the region of Greater Sudbury, at least we would start three new county (regional) lists. Let the ticks begin.