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.
We started the week going after a few common winter birds that can be tougher to find and had been reported locally. Snow Buntings are pretty prolific in the fields during the winter months and can be found in flocks of hundreds but there may only be 1-2 Lapland Longspurs around at the same time. Luckily they had both been reported 30 minutes from home and we got both species fairly quickly. We stopped at a spot know for nesting Great Horned Owls but did not see them but added a couple more common species. I added a Heard Only Pileated Woodpecker that Jerry did not hear so we were even in the count again. Next was mopping up on Duck species so we hit a few spots around Lake Ontario on Tuesday and saw Black Scoter, Lesser Scaup, and Ruddy Duck. I walked down the path and Jerry found a Green-winged Teal which I could not re-find later as the evening sun turned all the ducks to black so Jerry was once again ahead by one bird.
On Thursday we took our first trip north for the year and drove through snow squalls around Bracebridge that thankfully turned to snow flurries in Algonquin. The temperature was -9 when we arrived at noon and it made for a magical winter wonderland walking though Spruce Bog Trail. There were a few species of birds around but not as many as we had anticipated, I think the snow kept them tucked away. We both added our 100th species in algonquin – for Jerry is was Common Redpoll and for me it was Evening Grosbeak!
I had hoped to be at 100 by the end of February so I’m super happy to have hit that milestone in only week 3. I know there are still many potential birds out there to find in the next weeks. On Friday we woke up to a temperature of -24 with a windchill of -31 and warnings of frostbite. We put on extra layers and covered up as much as possible. Steamed glasses made looking through binoculars difficult and thick mitts made operating cameras a bit of a challenge. A short distance into the park we saw cars pulled off which, in Algonquin, means a moose, and sure enough a large male without antlers was munching on evergreens off the side of the road.
We added 6 of the Boreal species but sadly did not see a Canada Jay or a Pine Grosbeak. The Pine Grosbeak have stayed further north because of plentiful food so we will have to travel to Sudbury and beyond for them and we plan to be back in Algonquin in the spring and fall to hopefully get a Canada Jay too. Red Crossbills were plentiful on the roads and at the Visitor Centre and we also managed to see a couple of the rarer White-winged Crossbill. Our only boreal rarity, a Hoary Redpoll, was seen at the feeders too.
We then headed to Ottawa for another crack at the Western Tanager. Our grandson had a hockey tournament for the weekend so we decided to spend a combo weekend of birding during the day and hockey games at night. We dropped in at the Tanager site late Friday afternoon and stood in -10 for 2 1/2 hours just like the last time and did not see the bird. Early Saturday morning we headed out to the area where Gray Partridge have been seen and spent 1 1/2 hours driving slowly, sitting watching fields before deciding to give up and as we headed away I decided to pull over just around the corner thinking we could see the area and Jerry quickly spotted a covey of 11 sitting out in the field! We quickly posted to Discord so other drivers that had been looking would know where to find the birds. We spent a few minutes admiring and taking some pictures and headed to the Tanager stakeout with renewed optimism. There were may birders gathered at the spot when we arrived at 10 and the bird had not been seen at all. We walked around a bit, kept our eyes on numerous feeders, chatted with other birders and waited and waited. When we were just starting to feel like it might never show the bird flew in at 11:45! WE GOT THE WESTERN TANAGER!
The level of excitement at finally seeing this bird was over the top LOL. I couldn’t believe it had actually happened. It took three visits and 7 plus hours standing in -10 temperatures to get that bird. We enjoyed the moment, took some pictures and video and then the bird startled from the feeder into the shrubs.
We left to head to our next destination – a Barred Owl. One of the birders from the Tanager graciously offered to show us the owl location and true to his word found us the Barred owl munching on a freshly caught Red Squirrel. Thanks Bob! It was an epic moment for us having never seen an owl with prey. It was wonderful to watch as the owl went about his meal with no worries of the people standing below him.
As a bonus we also got a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that was wintering there. The last bird for Ottawa was Bohemian Waxwing. Large flocks were reported in a neighbourhood east of Ottawa and after driving around for a few minutes we saw about 20 in a tree in a backyard but quite a distance away. We continued driving and finally found a flock of over 100 where Jerry could get a bit better pictures. FIVE birds added to our list in one day! An epic birding day where all the stars aligned. We wish they could all be like that.
Sunday morning we left at 7 so we would be at the rare Lark Sparrow location in Kingston at 9. We walked up the driveway and the bird was sitting in a shrub feet away from us. We were there a total of 7 minutes. We would have loved to enjoy the bird a bit longer but when these birds are on private property and the owner’s have given permission to view we do not overstay our welcome. We got back in our car and headed to see a Harris’s Sparrow that was coming to feeders 10 minutes from home and again got out of our car, went up the driveway and the bird was on the feeder for about a minute before flying back into the shrubs when a Merlin appeared. We stayed and chatted with other birders hoping the sparrow would reappear but it did not so we left after 30 minutes. A two rare sparrow day!
And the icing on the cake was on the way home a birder neighbour had an Eastern Screech Owl in his bird box so we stopped for a quick few minutes to enjoy the Owl snoozing and sunning while Black-capped Chickadees harassed it from branches inches from its face.
A truly great 3rd week with rarities still popping up around the province. A Slaty-backed Gull was reported in Mississauga at 4:35, a bit late for us to make it there before dark but maybe it will stick around.
Week 3 – 3 rarities added for a total of 7, 2 more owl species, 22 species added 113(E) 114(J) species seen
