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.
Western KingbirdWestern Tanager
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.
Red Chair Trail Terrace Bay Lake SuperiorBlackburnian Warbler (Firethroat)
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.
Yellow-headed Blackbird (young male without full yellow)Purple Finch
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.
Window Screens and Bug Nets – Pic from last year 2024 Rainy River
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.
Great Gray Owl
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.
As we closed out July the birding was quiet under very hot conditions and south winds. Baird’s Sandpipers started to show up in five or six places around southern Ontario and we decided to twitch (chase) some local sightings on Friday. The first place we checked was a large sod farm in Kitchener where Baird’s had been seen by a few people on Thursday but there were no birds visible Friday morning. The next stop was Flamborough Downs. Jude had reported one a few days before and after scoping for a bit I thought I had a Baird’s in my scope. Sandpipers are a very difficult group to tell apart and while we are improving we still are not fully confident. We use Jean Iron’s shorebird book and that has helped a great deal. Baird’s are a bit larger than a Least and smaller than a Pectoral, with wings that are longer than the tail, shorter legs and a thick black bill with a bit of a down curve. They generally have a more grey tone back when we see them in the fall. The bird I had in the scope seemed to fit with those characteristics. We took pictures and put it in our checklist as a Baird’s Sandpiper. Jerry added our pictures at home and I started getting a bit worried when I looked at the picture. It did not show all the characteristics that I felt I saw in the field. Bob Curry, birder extraordinaire from Hamilton, sent us a note shortly after seeing the pics and suggested he was not convinced it was a Baird’s and that it was more likely a Semipalmated Sandpiper. So bird #313 went on the list and off the list LOL. We should have just had someone check the pictures before putting in the checklist but we got a bit overconfident and sometimes you just feel bad always asking for assistance. Bottom line is, as good as we are at identifying birds we are still nowhere near being “great” and there is still lots more to learn.
Saturday, we patiently waited at home, itching to bird, but not wanting to make a move in one direction or another. At 10:30 a text from Discord announced a rare Western Kingbird 2.5 hrs west of us and we were in the car by 10:45 heading to the spot between Rondeau and Pelee. We had missed Western Kingbird up in Rainy River where they are most often seen in the summer months so I had been hoping one might end up closer to home. When we arrived, Rick and Mike from Pelee had been looking for a few hours without re-finding the bird. That was not good news. It was hot, humid and Jerry had forgotten his hat in the rush to leave. I gave him mine (he has had skin cancer a few times and needs to keep his face covered) and we looped the short 2km trail a few times hoping to see the bird. As the heat increased I started hanging back in the shade while Jerry, in the hat, moved further along the path. Suddenly a text from him, “I got it”. I ran along the path realizing as I ran that I went the long way to where he was and arrived gasping for breath and tried to get my bins on a bird he was pointing out. The bird was in trees, partially obscured. It had the yellow belly, a grayish head. It looked good. I sent a quick text that we had found it and then we got clearer looks at the bird and realized it was a Great Crested Flycatcher not the Western Kingbird. UGGGGH!
A Western KingbirdThe Great-Crested Flycatcher
Another mis-identification. So frustrating. I try to tell myself that with each mistake you learn and you are less likely to make the same mistake again so it is forward movement although at the time it always feels like backward, rookie mistakes. In the end we stayed for almost 2 hours hoping to find the Kingbird but it was not to be and was not re-found the next day either.
Being so close to Leamington we decided to drive some roads outside of the town in the hopes of spotting a Eurasian-collared Dove that we still need on our list and when that failed we stopped at our favourite Mexican restaurant, Salsa Caliente to cheer us up. The freshest guacamole I have ever tasted! On the way home we stopped at a few sewage lagoons to see if we could turn up a Baird’s Sandpiper to redeem the day but it also, was not to be. And to top off a kinda lousy birding day, Jerry ignored GoogleMaps attempt to take us off the highway to avoid an accident and we ended up sitting for 2 hours because they closed the 401 further along and we eventually had to exit the highway onto narrow country roads with hundreds of other travellers. We got home at 10pm. Sigh!
Undaunted by a bad birding day, early Sunday morning we headed to Rattray Marsh in hopes a Baird’s Sandpiper would still be there. It was a beautiful drive in with no traffic or accidents LOL! It was lovely and cool standing at the shady marsh edge talking with Margaret and the other birders while we waited to see if the Baird’s would return. An Osprey catching snacks kept us amused and we had great scope views of the ducks and shorebirds close by.
Osprey
The Baird’s did not return so we headed off to Colonel Sam Smith Park where the wintering Western Grebe had been sighted close to shore. It seems likely that this is the same Grebe that we first saw back on January 7 at LaSalle Park. A Grebe was reported on and off from January until April 30 at LaSalle and then May 1 was the first report from Colonel Sam Park and it has been sighted there and at Rattray on and off from then until today. I found the Grebe quickly off of West Point but it was closer to the farther shore so we decided to walk over to the other side. It was a bit of a hike and in the punishing heat it felt longer but in the end it was worth it to get better views and picture. I think you would agree too…
Our first Western Grebe pictureThe updated Western Grebe picture
We then headed up to Davos Pond where a Neotropic Cormorant had been hanging out, again, for better pictures. This was one of those perfect birding moments where we parked our car, walked across the street and the Neotropic Cormorant was sitting in a pond a short distance away. We were there for 6 minutes. We are appreciative of these easy gets after all the tough ones. Again, Jerry was happy to get better pictures then the ones we got at Pelee in May.
Our first Neotropic Cormorant pictureThe updated Neotropic Cormorant picture
We also got our first checklist of the year in York County. Only 6 more counties in Ontario to get checklists in for the year. So we added no new birds this week but I’m trying to keep a positive slant on things – we did manage better pictures of some birds and got another county completed so still moving ahead with our challenges.
And we can hope that maybe our mis-identifications are finally behind us…
