Day 2: September 27, 2014
Day 3: September 28, 2014
Day 4: September 29, 2014
Day 5: September 30, 2014
Day 6: October 1, 2014
Day 7: October 2, 2014
Day 8: October 3, 2014
Day 9: October 4, 2014
Day 10: October 5, 2014
Day 11: October 6, 2014
Day 12: October 7, 2014
Days 13 and 14: October 8 and 9, 2014
October 5, 2014
Weather: between 6 and 8 degrees C, wind SE to SW 20-40 km/h, overcast with brief periods of light rain
47 species
Ebird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20221318
The cool conditions persisted overnight and by dawn it was six degrees with a brisk southwest wind. My notes tell the story of the day....
"Another sh**** day. No birds and some rain. Seawatching was a bust and the rain kept us inside for much of the day. The winds do not appear to be changing as the weather pattern is holding. Hope a good landbird drops in but we are starting to lose motivation to find them."
It seems like all my blog posts are starting to sound the same. Each day the weather isn't ideal, the seawatching is futile, and very few interesting birds are found. At the time it was easy to get disappointed with the sightings (or lack thereof). But looking back, while that may have seemed the case at the time, we actually did have a pretty decent trip and saw some awesome birds. Its just that these birds were seen on relatively few of the total days of the trip. Often on a trip like this, to a remote part of the province that is relatively unknown, the expectations are high to find a really rare bird or two. Given the time of year and track record of that place, anything is possible. But in reality, the weather doesn't always cooperate and the great birds just do not show up most days. The really excellent birds from earlier in the trip begin to seem like a distant memory with each passing day filled with southeast winds!
Since October 5 was a bit of a write-off, I neglected to take any photos for about the third day in a row. Instead, here a few photos of a male Northern Harrier hunting for songbirds one afternoon, taken earlier in the trip when our expectations and morale were both significantly higher.
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| Northern Harrier - Netitishi Point |
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| Northern Harrier - Netitishi Point |
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| Northern Harriers - Netitishi Point |
In this photo you can see a few wayward feathers behind the harrier; a product of a successful hunt!
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| Northern Harrier - Netitishi Point |
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| Northern Harrier - Netitishi Point |
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