Week 23 Part 1-Rainy River Delivers!!!
As all our travels begin, we were up at 4am and on the road by 4:30. We love leaving early so the drive through Toronto is empty and fast. We were up in Sudbury by 9am and in Wawa by 3 with a few stops along the way to stretch legs, take a walk and check out birds. We headed to the Wawa sewage lagoons, a favourite birding spot and walked the road across from the lagoons where we saw and then heard our first Alder Flycatcher of the year. We checked the lagoons and I saw a bird that looked different on the fence, at first glance I was thinking a Mockingbird but my bins told me a Western Kingbird! We will, of course see lots of these through the Prairies but it is a nice rarity for Ontario. As the bird flew around Jerry moved down to the road to get some pics of it on the wires and he was distracted by a bright yellow bird flying in the trees across from the lagoons and he took a second look and said to me, “Western Tanager”. I thought he was just mixed up and meant Scarlet but no it was a Western Tanager! Right across from the Western Kingbird. Two rarities to Ontario within feet of each other! I made Jerry show me pics and checked against Ibird Pro because at times like this I almost do not believe my eyes. Yes, the identifications were correct. Suddenly within minutes we had added 3 new birds to our list. A VERY good start to our west trip.
Monday the temperature was 0C and we were on the road just after 6. Within the first hours we saw 3 moose feeding on the side of the road at different spots.
Shortly after that we passed a man who had driven his car off the road deep into the gravel and was clearly stuck. We stopped and offered to call for assistance. There was no cell service there so I got his details and we left him, thinking we would have to go to the nearest town but a few minutes later I suggested I try to call 911 as my phone had said it has satellite. Sure enough it connected to 911 and they connected me to local police so I could relay the information and send out a car and tow truck. We continued on and stopped to bird in a few places along the route. Terrace Bay being one of our favourite. While we added nothing new it is a lovely place to visit.
The next stop was in Rossport which is merely a drive off the highway through the tiny town and back on again but it has had an amazing number of rarities over the years and we were lucky enough to see a Yellow-headed Blackbird to add to our list and finally saw a Purple Finch in Ontario. We saw one in BC in February and usually would have seen multiple birds in Ontario by now.
By Thunder Bay smoke from the wildfires north of Kenora was noticeable in the air and the temperature was 30C! We crossed the Central Time Zone line and instantly gained another hour to use for birding LOL. We arrived in Rainy River, in rain, at 5 and settled in to the Walla Walla Inn for a quick supper and then out to bird. We wanted to try for Yellow Rails and Whip-poor-wills for Jerry. Those of you who have been reading the blog from last year will recall the window screens I made for the car to keep mosquitoes out.
We really needed them Monday night. The mosquitoes even breached the screens because a magnet came off and so there was much slapping going on in the car as we waited to hear the tic tic of a rail. Nothing. and so we moved on for the Whip-poor-will. Nothing. We knew from last year that we also heard them along the road home and so we opted to head home having lost all patience with the numerous mosquitoes buzzing around us and within a minute we heard the Whip-poor-will almost beside the car. We pulled over, recorded the song and happily went home to bed.
Tuesday morning we were on the same road again at 5am. Because it was only 4C there were few mosquitoes, the opposite of the night before. Still I had my head net on and gloves so no bites for me! Phil joined us and the three of us spread apart a bit down the road to cover a larger area and then listened for the “tapping of rocks together”. That is how the Yellow Rail song is described and indeed it sounds exactly like that. I heard the song and called Jerry and Phil over and then they heard it again. A few minutes later Leo joined us and he heard some further back with his young ears! It was a great start to the day complete with a beautiful sunrise. We headed off for our other targets and by 10:30 we had heard a Connecticut Warbler, seen Sharp-tailed Grouse, a bonus Spruce Grouse I was not expecting to get here, Black-billed Magpie, Brewer’s Blackbird, and great pics of Leconte’s Sparrow.
We took a break at the hotel and Phil stopped by to tell us he and Leo had just found two Great Gray Owls about 20 minutes away. We rushed back out and found one that we spent some minutes photographing and taking videos. Just us and the owl. The owl was preening and looking around for possible snacks showing no signs of stress from us being there. Still, we limited our time and headed back for an early microwave dinner.
After dinner we headed back out to see if the Connecticut’s might still be singing but it was very quiet on the road so we opted to drive a circle and see if the owl was still there. It was, and this time we saw the second one across the road and further back. We took a few more pictures and then headed back and suddenly I saw a lump on a tree and it was another Great Gray Owl!!! Three in ONE DAY!!! CRAZY, that we spent all those years trying to see the first one and now 3 in a day. They are an awesome bird to see, there is something magical about them. Rainy River has delivered and then some. We added 7 species to our Canada list and 9 to our Ontario list. Wednesday we head into the Prairies.