Return to Algonquin

It seems so long ago when I booked my vacation weeks for 2011 and at that time, I really had no idea what my plans were for the week of December 5. As the week approached and the ticks kept on coming, I reckoned a return to Algonquin for another chance at the Boreal species we missed in April would be worthwhile. While enjoying a Muskoka-brewed ale in Huntsville, the plan for our first day in Algonquin Provincial Park was set.

December 8

Our target Boreal species were reported the previous week and it was possible all three could be found in one location. Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker and Boreal Chickadee had been observed along the Old Railway east of Arowhon Road.

Travelling east from the West Gate, we stopped at kilometre 8 and searched the Tea Lake Dam picnic area.   When dump trucks were not passing by on the logging road across the creek, it was fairly quiet while walking along the gravel road towards the picnic area. Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches were moving quickly through the conifers and a Downy Woodpecker, working away on some dead wood, was a first of many that had me envisioning a Black-backed Woodpecker addition to the year list.

To reach the Old Railway, you leave Highway 60 and travel along Arowhon Road for a few kilometres. On the OFO Algonquin trip, we usually park at the chain gate (east of Arowhon Rd) and walk along the abandoned railway until we reach the Mizzy Lake Trail and Wolf Howl Pond. Due to the snow, I did not trust that the turn around would be successful so I selected a parking spot that had us walking approximately 200 metres to reach the chain gate. We found a dozen Pine Siskins, but after spending an hour in the area, we did not spot any Boreal Chickadees.

At the Visitor Centre, staff were decorating a Christmas Tree and though it was a weekday, we were allowed to enter and view the feeders. Evening Grosbeaks had been stopping at the feeders on a regular basis and we were lucky enough to observe one female during our time at the Visitor Centre. The Evening Grosbeak (another species missed during our April visit) was #215 for the year.

Our last stop for the day was at the Spruce Bog Trail. Another chance at ticking Boreal Chickadee and Spruce Grouse. At the register box, we left the trail and walked through the Black Spruce forest to search for grouse. Once we walked away from the parking area, there was no bird activity what-so-ever.

It was eerily quiet.

December 9

Before starting our second day in the provincial park, we did some birding in Muskoka and added Black-capped Chickadee and White-breasted Nuthatch to the county list. It's still a short list.

Jean and I had a late breakfast Friday morning and we did not make our first stop until we reached the Visitor Centre. This time there was a large flock (over 3 dozen) of Evening Grosbeaks at the feeders.

We stood in the cold and wind hoping for a Crossbill or Bohemian fly-by that never did materialize.

We moved on to Opeongo Road. It was untouched and we were the first to lay tracks. The Gray Jays, reluctant to land in a hand filled with crushed peanut butter granola bars, preferred to take their spoils from the ground.

While admiring the Whiskey Jacks, a park plow passed by and cleared a path the rest of the way to the Opeongo Access Point.

Lake Opeongo was still open and behind a family of 4 otters, we spotted a late Common Loon.

We arrived at the Logging Museum and as I moved towards the garbage and recycling receptacles to throw away an empty chip bag and pop can, 4 Gray Jays swooped in and without hesitation, took pieces of granola bar from  Jean's hand.

We walked along the Logging Museum Trail and again it was quiet. All we found was one Blue Jay and the tapping, come on it's going to be a Black-backed....nah...it's a female Downy.

Our last attempt at a reported sighting was at kilometre 41. On November 26, several Red Crossbills were photographed feeding on dead wood (a source of ash and calcium) by Ringneck Pond. Though the odds were not in my favour, I could not let the chance of a lifer pass us by. The dead trees were easily spotted, but the lifer crossbill will have to wait for another day.

Evening Grosbeak ended up being the only addition to our lists over the two days of exploring my favourite provincial park. The Nipissing County list now stands at 79 species. Since we're ahead of our goal for the year, I'll be OK with missing the 3 Boreal species just this once. There, I said it.

For 2012, I'm setting my sights on 225+ species. If Jean and I have any chance of succeeding, the trend for finding Spruce Grouse on the Algonquin OFO trip had best return.

Birding Above the Falls

After missing the upper Niagara section of the OFO Niagara River Gull trip on December 4, Jean and I returned with her mum on the morning of the 6th for a chance to observe Harlequin Duck, Slaty-backed Gull and our nemesis bird. 

At the control gates, I quickly spotted 3 female Harlequin Ducks (#214) flying upriver along the outside of the break-wall.

After floating down river, the 3 females returned to rest on the break-wall.

There were a few gulls (Herring and Ring-billed) on the wall and on the large flat rock island in the middle of the river, we spotted 3 adult and 1 first winter Great Black-backed Gulls. I could not convince myself that one of these adult gulls had legs the colour of "bubble-gum pink". The Slaty-backed Gull was out of sight and most likely closer to the New York side of the river. We continued to scan the gulls but neither we or the visiting Ohio birders that joined us at the overlook found the gull that is more at home on the northeast coast of Asia.

We moved on and set up our scope near the engineerium. The barge was in the usual spot, but searching the exposed rocks did not produce the Purple Sandpiper that was observed 2 days prior. Ouch!

We walked along the paved path towards the fore-bay. Near the gatehouse, chickadees cheerfully collected bits of almond from my mother-in-law's hand while Golden-crowned Kinglets and a White-breasted Nuthatch flitted in the nearby bushes.

After observing a couple dozen Hooded Mergansers in the waters of the fore-bay (they are regularly found here during the winter) we called it a day.

Unable to find lifers on the upper Niagara early in the week, our attention turned to the Boreal species that were not found on the Algonquin trip in April. Jean and I were on vacation the week of December 5 and once I printed Ron Tozer's Algonquin Park Birding Report, I was optimistic we would  have some additional Algonquin ticks for our 2011 Ontario year list.

OFO Niagara Gull Trip: Dance of the Black-legged Kittiwake

Sunday morning was sunny and though it was only 7:30, the temperature was a balmy 9 degrees as we drove along the General Brock Parkway (Hwy. 405). This was odd. Jean and I were heading to the Adam Beck overlook to meet fellow OFO members for the annual Niagara River Gull trip. Where was the freezing cold? The knee-deep snow? Yes, during our first gull trip in 2007, a large amount of snow fell on the Niagara Region overnight and we were stuck behind a snow plow on the 405. The slow-moving plow delayed our arrival and we missed some good gulls that were found early. Since then, we always arrive an hour before the planned start time. 


Jean Iron (co-trip leader) was unloading her scope and there were a few eager birders already searching the river below when we arrived at Adam Beck. Jean and I started surveying the many Herring and Bonaparte's Gulls. We were looking for our first of the year (FOY) Thayer's and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Both had been regularly observed at this location (except the last time we were there) recently and it seemed the ticks would likely happen on this day.


Our first tick was a brownish bird that Jean spotted flying directly into the mass of Herring Gulls.  The bird was a juvenile Pomarine Jaeger! A lifer tick (#311)! While viewing the jaeger, we observed it harassing the gulls periodically as it flew above the turbulent waters. I had viewed video of this jaeger from last Sunday, but I was not expecting to observe this species during the gull watch. After the more than satisfactory views of the juvenile Pomarine Jaeger (and Jean bringing me to the realization that it was indeed a lifer), Jean and I commenced our search for a Lesser Black-backed Gull observed by some in the group. We found the first winter Lesser Black-backed milling about the wall of the Robert Moses power station.

The next gull was a "Kumlien's" Iceland spotted by Jean Iron. Our 5th gull species of the day was an adult Great Black-backed Gull. It was standing on a rock further down river. There are a few rocks on the U.S. side of the river, near the wall of the U.S. power generating station, that should be scanned when standing at the Adam Beck overlook. Jean Iron found a gull sitting on the water near this rocky point that she suspected was a Thayer's Gull. The brown streaking on the head and neck was extensive (also found on Herring Gulls),but it was the dark eye that confirmed our next FOY (#212).

The next stop for the group was the Whirlpool. Prior to the day of the trip, I was afraid we would not have time to continue on. Jean's mum had purchased tickets to a matinee performance of The Nutcracker at Brock University. I thought we would be birding at Adam Beck until 10:00 am, leaving little time for the Whirlpool, but due to the fact we started earlier in the morning and the group spotted the birds we wanted to see, we were done at Adam Beck shortly after 9:00 am. There was time for another shot at spotting the Black-legged Kittiwake.

The viewing platform at the Spanish Aero Car was 2 to 3 birders deep. Even a tall birder would have had trouble spotting a gull at the bottom of the Niagara Gorge from behind this wall of birders. Though they were viewing the kittiwake quite easily from the platform, it was difficult to get on the gull when standing away from the ledge.

Patience was required and when a spot opened up for both Jean and I, we squeezed in and started scanning the Bonaparte's Gulls flying above the Class 6 rapids.

This time, we got on the first winter Black-legged Kittiwake, lifer #312 (FOY #213) without a hitch.

The group moved on with trip leaders Jean Iron and Ron Tozer in search of a Slaty-backed Gull at the control gates above the Falls. Jean Iron captured images of the rare visitor (that was spotted by Kevin McLaughlin) the day before the trip.

We observed the kittiwake a little longer before heading back to Queenston Heights for a try at spotting some Black Vultures. While at Adam Beck, Jean Iron received a call from Willie D'Anna confirming the presence of Black Vultures over Lewiston, N.Y. so the tick was possible.

With General Brock's statue pointing in the right direction, we looked for another FOY species from two locations across from Queenston Heights.

Though we had the assistance of John Black and Kevin McLaughlin, the Black Vultures were nowhere in sight. A Red-tailed Hawk was the only raptor to drift by the spot that was new to all of us.

In the afternoon, while OFO birders were rejoicing their views of Harlequin Ducks; a very distant Slaty-backed Gull (possible sighting); and yes, of course, our nemesis bird (Purple Sandpiper), I watched my first live performance of The Nutcracker. It was a Canadian-inspired Nutcracker. The ballet was connected to the director's favourite pastimes, canoeing in Algonquin Park.

Algonquin Park? Hmmm. We' re on vacation this week. There may be some time spent birding the upper Niagara and after some inspiration from the Group of Seven painting backdrops used in the ballet, a planned visit to Algonquin Provincial Park seemed all the more reasonable. This birding year is turning out to be better than I thought it would be. And the year is not over yet!

2011-2012 Ontario Winter Bird List

The winter birding season started on Thursday December 1. During the 2010/2011 winter birding season, a total of 198 species were observed by Ontario birders. Josh Vandermeulen has volunteered to compile the Ontario sightings this year and Blake Maybank will be hosting the results on his site.

I'm looking forward to the challenge of exceeding last year's personal total of 77 species. As with every year, the season concludes at the end of February, but this time, due to 2012 being a leap year, Jean and I will have an extra day to accomplish our goal of 78+ species. Wish us luck. Unfortunately, the pelican did not stick around for the upcoming weekend. That would have been a nice start for the list. Looks like Northern Cardinal will start things off this year.

2011/2012 Winter List

95 species

February 21:
Ring-necked Duck

February 19:
Short-eared Owl

February 12:
Glaucous Gull
Peregrine Falcon

February 6:
Horned Lark

February 5:
Fish Crow

Januay 31:
Pied-billed Grebe

January 28:
Redhead

January 22:
Canvasback
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle

January 8:
Cackling Goose
King Eider
Surf Scoter
Horned Grebe
Snowy Owl
Long-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl

January 4:
Sharp-shinned Hawk

January 2:
Greater Scaup
Black-crowned Night-Heron

January 1:
Tundra Swan
Tufted Titmouse
Red-winged Blackbird


December 27:
Mute Swan
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
White-winged Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
American Coot
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Carolina Wren
Eastern Towhee
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow



December 19:
Northern Harrier



December 18:
Canada Goose
Ring-necked Pheasant
Cooper's Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Shrike
Brown Creeper
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch



December 17:
American Robin



December 9:
Common Loon
Gray Jay
American Goldfinch



December 8:
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Tree Sparrow
Pine Siskin
Evening Grosbeak



December 7:
Double-crested Cormorant
American Kestrel


December 6:
Mallard
Harlequin Duck
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ring-billed Gull
White-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet



December 4:
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Black-legged Kittiwake
Bonaparte's Gull
Herring Gull
Thayer's Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-Backed Gull
Pomarine Jaeger
Rock Pigeon
Black-capped Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco

December 3:

American Crow

House Sparrow

December 1:

Northern Cardinal

It's Not Always Going to Be Black and White

Another weekend of exciting birds in Niagara. Many birders were out and about at several spots along the Niagara River. At Queens Royal Park in the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), the Razorbill continued to be observed, jaegers were spotted, Black Vultures were soaring above the Niagara Gorge and an excellent variety of gulls were observed at Adam Beck and the Whirlpool. With the Razorbill and Franklin's Gull safely ticked, it was time for Jean and I to observe a Black Vulture. But first, we had to make a stop at small pond in rural NOTL. 

On Friday, my friend Dave posted on ontbirds that there was an American White Pelican at Jack Custers Bird Sanctuary. Up until Dave's post, I had no idea there was such a place.  

Jean and I arrived late Saturday morning and we discovered fellow Niagara birders, Paula and Kathy had the same idea (this appears to happen quite frequently whether we are in Niagara or beyond). The pond is on the small side, but the juvenile American White Pelican did not seem to mind.  I set up our scope and Jean started capturing images with her Nikon Coolpix.

Jean contacted her dad and we continued to view the pelican until my father-in-law and his partner Ruth returned to St. Kitts to continue their weekend chores. I having set my chores aside (yet again), moved on to Queenston with hopes of ticking #210 for the year. I thought our best chances would be to look from atop the gorge at the Locust Grove picnic area in Queenston. Each vulture we examined, as they soared over the Niagara River and the town of Lewiston, N.Y., had a red head. They were all Turkey Vultures. Dip #1 for the day.

The next stop for Jean and I was at the Adam Beck overlook where we found  "Burg Birder" Blake scanning the gulls on the river. He had seen Franklin's , Lesser Black-backed and Thayer's Gull but during our time there all we found was one adult Iceland, a species already on the year list.

Blake informed us that he had observed a juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake at the Whirlpool earlier in the day. Well, since it was worth a shot, we travelled up river for the possibility of observing a lifer bird. We've stood at the look out of the Spanish Aero Car many times in search of a Little Gull. Spotting a kittiwake amongst the hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls would not be easy. Juvenile Bonaparte's and Black-legged Kittiwakes are similar in appearance. What we needed to note was a bolder "M" across the back and a black line across the nape of the neck. We spotted a juvenile gull flying but it was a quick look and neither of us viewed the black collar. Another attempt was offered once we were informed the kittiwake had landed on the waters of the Whirlpool. Unfortunately, it was in the midst of a few hundred Bonaparte's. I used the scope to look for the cliff-nesting gull, but could not find it. Dip #2 for the day.

Sitting one species better than last year's Ontario list, I spent Sunday running errands. The constant light rain was also a deterrent, but I was content with just the American White Pelican tick. As of Monday, the extremely rare visitor to Niagara was still on the small pond in NOTL and it was the subject in the local news section of today's St. Catharines Standard. I'm hoping it sticks around for another few days, then it can be ticked again for another list, the 2011/2012 Winter List.

If only Black Vultures and Black-legged Kittiwakes were as cooperative as White Pelicans.

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.

One Down, Two to Go.

November 20

After ticking a Red-throated Loon and a lifer Razorbill (an extremely rare visitor to Niagara) recently, reaching a new personal best for the Ontario year list appeared to be within reach. This late in the year though, the list for possible additions is a short one. Gulls and waterfowl, specifically Black Scoter, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Thayer's Gull are the most likely to be observed before the end of the year (both species of gulls were reported on the 20th). There are other possibilities. California Gull, Cackling Goose, Brant, and even Black Vulture (the species has been observed at the Niagara Gorge over the last two weeks) could be added before the list resets itself on New Year's Day.

Scrutinizing the head, wings and tail of vultures soaring above the lower Niagara River can wait. Hopefully this was the right choice.

It has been almost a year since Jean and I attended our first Peninsula Field Naturalists (PFN) meeting and on Sunday we attended the Niagara Falls Nature Club 'Lake Ontario Ducks' trip with our fellow members of the PFN. There had to be one Black Scoter somewhere along the shoreline of Lake Ontario between Vineland and Hamilton.

At the first stop in Vineland, ducks were sparse, but as we moved west towards Hamilton, the numbers increased greatly. There were hundreds upon hundreds of Common Goldeneye and Long-tailed Ducks and somewhere in these large rafts were scoters.

A few White-winged Scoters were spotted while standing at the end of Fruitland Road. Public access to the Lake Ontario shoreline is in short supply and to view ducks on the lake, dead-ends are a required substitute. Fifty Point Conservation Area in Grimsby is one of the few public spaces for viewing waterfowl and for those lucky enough, our nemesis bird, but for this trip, our stay would be short and would not justify the entrance fee.

From the roadside where we observed our lifer King Eider (female) in December 2008, we spotted the patches of white on the forehead and nape of a male Surf Scoter. Scoping the other dark waterfowl before they disappeared between waves revealed some scoters with a large orange knob at the base of the bill and no white patches in their wings. In total, 2 male Black Scoters were observed. We had some great views of 2 female Black Scoters at Sayer's Park (a tiny patch of green in a residential neighbourhood) before continuing on to spots along Hamilton Harbour.

Due to dredging at the Windermere Basin, the open waters no longer exist. The small channel that remains holds only a small sample of the migrating waterfowl that could be observed in the past.

At the Burlington lift bridge and ship canal, a large number of Long-tailed Ducks were at the east end of the canal.

The resident Peregrine Falcon was spotted when we heard its alarm call and it quickly disappeared from my view after flying through the arch of the skyway. It returned and came to a rest at the top of a hydro tower, south of the lift bridge.

The group's last stop was LaSalle Marina on the north side of the harbour. A great spot for waterfowl, but unfortunately the Ross' Geese observed a week earlier were no longer present and there was nothing new for Jean and I. The highlight for a few of us was spotting a Little Brown Bat as it skimmed the water and then flew above us with the sunlight emphasizing the reddish-brown colour of its fur.

With the trip concluded Jean and I headed back to St. Kitts with one more stop planned. During the week of November 7, a Cackling Goose was observed on the lawn of the Canada Centre for Inland Waters. Though a number of days had past since the sighting, it would be unwise not to stop at the centre. The lawns had a few small flocks of geese, but none contained the much smaller Cackling Goose.

With Black Scoter (#208) safely ticked, my attention can now focus on the Niagara River. A gull or possibly even a vulture may be the next species to appear on the 2011 Ontario list. Which ever one it is, a new bench mark will be set.