Panama - Day 6 (March 5, 2014)

Introduction 

February 28, 2014 - Gamboa and Pipeline Road

March 1, 2014 - Old Gamboa Road, Ammo Ponds, Pipeline Road at night

March 2, 2014 - Plantation Road, Pipeline Road 

March 3, 2014 - Achiote Road and Caribbean lowlands

March 4, 2014 - Altos del Maria

March 5, 2014 - Altos del Maria

March 6, 2014 - Juan Hombrón road, drive to El Copé

March 7, 2014 - El Copé

March 8, 2014 - Lago Bayano, Torti

March 9, 2014 - Into the Darién

March 10, 2014 - Rancho Frio to Rancho Plastico

March 11, 2014 - Cerro Pirre endemics

March 12, 2014 - Rancho Frio to El Real

March 13, 2014 - Leaving the Darién

March 14, 2014 - Lago Bayano, Nusagandi

March 15, 2014 - Cerro Azul, Costa del Este

March 16, 2014 - Panama City, Old Gamboa Road

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March 5 was another full day of birding in the paradise known as Altos del Maria, located on the Pacific Slope in central Panama. For a second straight day, Alfred was generous in guiding us around his mountain, showing us some of the best spots. 

This Stripe-throated Hermit provided excellent looks for the first time, as our lifer the previous day was a much more brief sighting.

Stripe-throated Hermit - Altos del Maria, Panama

Stripe-throated Hermit - Altos del Maria, Panama

We birded some new areas, as well as hitting up a couple of spots where we had been successful the previous day. It is amazing the drop-off in the number of new birds you see when visiting an area for multiple days. Yesterday, I added 40 lifers, while today the number was just 3 (Bran-colored Flycatcher, Common Tody-Flycatcher, Ochraceous Wren). Of course, having Alfred along to show us so many of these species helped speed up the process yesterday.

Even though there were fewer new birds to see, we enjoyed another day of excellent birding. Mixed flocks of migrants and resident birds, beautiful weather, good hiking and gorgeous scenery made for an excellent day in the field!

Golden-winged Warbler - Altos del Maria, Panama

Double-toothed Kite - Altos del Maria, Panama

Hepatic Tanager - Altos del Maria, Panama

As we were hiking along the edge of a meandering stream in the forest, we observed several of these dragonflies hovering over the water. I still need to look this one up at some point.

 That evening we ventured out on another night hike, though this time it was to the lake where we had seen the Little Blue Heron yesterday. The stream where I photographed the above dragonfly fed into the lake, and the potential for reptiles and amphibians looked good.

 The walk was fantastic and we observed about a dozen species of frogs. Some of these I had seen in 2010 on my trip to Panama, while a few were new.

Espadarana prosoblepon (Emerald Glass Frog) - Altos del Maria, Panama

Espadarana prosoblepon (Emerald Glass Frog) - Altos del Maria, Panama

Rana warszewitschii - Altos del Maria, Panama

Rana warszewitschii - Altos del Maria, Panama

The insects were just as fun as the amphibians - perhaps even more so. Check out this spider taking down a massive 5 inch moth.

And this bad-ass spike-headed katydid:

Here are a few more random photos from the rest of the evening hike.

As we were walking back to the man-made resorvoir, my camera disconnected from the strap and went crashing down, landing right on the external flash. Fortunately the camera was OK but the flash was beat up pretty badly. It still worked, but was now jammed into the hotshoe on the top of the camera and the plastic housing at the base of the flash had ripped badly so there was nothing to hold the flash in place. I ended up MacGuyvering a few elastic bands later in the trip to hold it into place, which was just enough to get me through the Darien before it was too broken to use anymore.

Rhinella marina (Cane Toad) - Altos del Maria, Panama

Smilisca sila - Altos del Maria, Panama

Total bird species so far: 299

An early Christmas present in Wallaceburg

Last Friday, December 18 I was at home in Niagara-on-the-Lake, tying up a few loose ends at work before the weekend hit. The following day Laura was arriving back in Toronto after a long three and a half months in Edinburgh, U.K. where she is in her final year of vet school. I had planned to spend Friday evening and Saturday morning at home, doing errands and cleaning the house before picking up Laura when her flight landed at 6:00. That was my plan, until my phone buzzed with a text from Barb Charlton with news of a rare bird.

The bird was a Vermilion Flycatcher, an extremely rare vagrant to Ontario from the southwest. Larry Cornelis found the bird as he was working at his home farm north of Wallaceburg, in northern Chatham-Kent Region. He noticed the bird in a walnut tree at the north end of the enclosed pasture, but was without binoculars at the time. However, he observed a flash of red as the bird dropped down to the ground and was sure it was a Vermilion Flycatcher. Larry called Steve Charbonneau, a local Chatham-Kent birder who promptly drove over to check it out. Steve was able to re-find the flycatcher in the same area, then contacted a few other birders before posting to Ontbirds to spread the word to a wider audience. Since it was already noon and the sun would be setting 4.5 hours, I hesitated in making the 3.5 hour drive to the site, electing to spend Friday afternoon and evening taking care of all the errands I had planned, while setting an early alarm for Saturday morning.

By 5:00 AM the next morning I was on the road, driving westwards in the dark and making good time on the quiet roads. My car's thermometer read -2 degrees, an unusual reading for this abnormally warm early winter that we are experiencing. I was hoping that the flycatcher was able to survive a chilly December night and would re-appear in the same field.

Brett Fried and Len Manning were also en route at the early hour, though we all took separate vehicles due to our individual obligations at various times later in the day. I made good time through Hamilton and then London, as the rising sun illuminated the thin clouds along the horizon. Brett Fried texted me as I was 10 minutes from the site, saying that he had located the bird right away!

I pulled up beside Brett and within seconds was on the bird, perched on a small cedar on the south edge of the property, occasionally dropping down to the edge of the tilled field to grab some hidden morsel.

We enjoyed the views of the Vermilion Flycatcher in the scope as Len Manning and Dan Greenham arrived in short order. Larry Cornelis' mother had graciously given permission to visiting birders to access her yard, allowing closer views of the flycatcher's favorite area. The four of us decided to venture back there, where we promptly found the flycatcher resting on a fence post. Over the next 20 minutes or so we enjoyed the bird as it foraged around the perimeter of the pasture and actively hunted. Due to the cloud cover the lighting was fairly dim, but with a boosted ISO I fired off a few usable photos of the flycatcher (image stabilization would be a nice addition to this lens...).

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

The breeding range of Vermilion Flycatcher is from Texas, Arizona and New Mexico south through parts of Central America to northern and central South America. It does occasionally wander north and east, particularly in the autumn, with records spread out across the upper Midwest and Eastern Seaboard. It is a fairly regular winter visitor to the Gulf Coast and occasionally to South Carolina but anywhere else to the north Vermilion Flycatcher is a very rare bird indeed.

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

Eventually we lost track of the bird as it flew further out in the field. I met a few other birders while waiting for its reappearance, including Daryl and Sharon Nethercott, and Mark Field. Eventually I pulled myself away as I had places to be later that day.

While checking out the photos on my camera a few minutes later, the Vermilion Flycatcher re-appeared on the fence along the roadside. This provided one last photo opportunity and soon all the birders in the vicinity were here enjoying great looks as the bird foraged from the dead stalks of milkweed, teasel and various asters. It seemed to be fairly successful, diving down into the grasses on many occasions.

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

Adult male Vermilion Flycatchers exhibit a showy red underside and head, contrasting strongly with the black back, wings and eye-line. Females are more subdued with brown, and gray tones, with a splash of pink across the lower belly and vent providing the only color. This bird was a young male - already it was beginning to show the first early signs of adult plumage with red and orange feathers in the crown and cheek.

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

Prior to this bird Ontario had five accepted records of Vermilion Flycatcher to its credit. The first was from Toronto in 1949 - a young male (like this one) found in late October that was collected several days later. Three other records were "one-day-wonders": at Holiday Beach (October 31, 2000), Point Pelee (May 7, 2002) and Wolfe Island (October 13, 2010). The other accepted record was from nearby St. Clair National Wildlife Refuge, a distance of only around 30 km from Wallaceburg. That bird was found on November 3, 1994 and continued until December 9, allowing many Ontario birders to add Vermilion Flycatcher to their lists while also providing the first winter record.

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

Vermilion Flycatcher - north of Wallaceburg (December 19, 2015)

The rare birds continue to show up during the first few weeks of December, as the warm weather refuses to end. What will be next?

Upcoming travel plans and "Trip Reports" on the blog

We are now approaching the later part of December here in southern Ontario, though you wouldn't know it based on the weather. The winter birding season is fully upon us, and most birders are in the process of preparing for the holidays, Christmas shopping, and perhaps planning some Christmas bird counts or local winter birding.

After a busy but productive autumn in which I managed to take care of a lot of things on the long-range "To Do" list, I am now approaching winter with a full schedule ahead of me. One of the perks of my job is the ability to bank hours during the busy season, to take as time off when things are slower. This spring and summer I put in longer hours nearly every day throughout southern and northern Ontario, and as a result of banking the extra time combined with my vacation time I am able to take a good percentage of the winter off.

This summer I began to plan how I wanted to use some of my banked time. I had originally planned to visit Kenya with Laura, as she will be completing a long placement there this spring. My plan was to travel on my own/with a friend or two for a month or so prior to meeting up with Laura for a few weeks before she began her placement. However, as the time got closer I still hadn't planned this trip, the political situation in parts of the country was unstable and I was having trouble finding someone to go with. It was looking like it would be out of my price range as well, especially since I wanted to do some safaris. David Bell, however mentioned that he was thinking of heading back down to South America this winter. We both had Patagonia and Chile on the mind, so I abandoned Africa plans and focused on South America. I would plan a few weeks with Laura in Europe in March instead, prior to her trip to Kenya. Chile and Argentina would be a bit cheaper, and while we will see less new species, there are some pretty awesome birds in that part of the world.

Blue-winged Mountain-Tanager - Reserva Rio Blanco, Caldas, Colombia

After the success of California in 2011, Panama in 2014 and Colombia earlier this year, I am looking forward to birding and traveling with David again this winter. David is flying into Santiago early in the new year, than catching an internal flight to the Arica area in north Chile, where he will bird for a few days before flying back to Santiago. I fly down on January 8, and we will meet up that day to partake on a pelagic the following day to the Humbolt Current off of Valparaiso in central Chile. At some point we will meet up with Adam Timpf, who Dave and I traveled with in Colombia earlier this year.

David Bell (nearest), Adam Timpf and Dan Wiley birding at PNN Chingaza, Colombia

We'll be doing this trip on the cheap as best we can, though we may rent vehicles for part of it depending on how things go. The plan is to work our way south to Patagonia, where we will look for seedsnipe, skuas, penguins, rheas and other awesome Patagonian wildlife. The plan will be to continue into Argentina, likely making our way north towards Buenes Aires. I fly out of here at the end of January.

In February I will be returning to western Cuba with Worldwide Quest Nature Tours, who I guided with earlier this year. The trip this year was a success and I'll be the sole guide from Quest on the 2016 trip. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to explore this beautiful country once more, and to gain more experience as a guide.

I have four full days at the end of my Cuba tour where I'm on my own before flying out, so I am considering flying east to Camaguey, renting a car or a car+driver, and birding some hotspots in the area for those few days. There are still around 10 endemic Cuban birds I haven't seen, and I could end up locating six of them (Cuban Parakeet, Giant Kingbird, Cuban Palm Crow, Cuban Gnatcatcher, Oriente Warbler, Zapata Sparrow) in the Camaguey area or in the northern cayos (Coco, Guillermo, Peredon Grande, etc). I would also have a chance at all five remaining Caribbean endemics I could find in Cuba, including West Indian Whistling-Duck, Bahama Mockingbird, Thick-billed Vireo, Key West Quail-Dove and Plain Pigeon.

Cuban Grassquit - Orquideario de Soroa, Pinar del Rio, Cuba

Bare-legged Owl - Zapata, Cuba

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Over the past few months, I've began assembling together all the blog posts I have written for each of the trips these posts are from. This includes trips such as Netitishi Point, California (2011), Cuba (2015) Panama (2010, 2014), Europe (2013), etc.

Links to all of the trip reports can be viewed here. Once on this webpage,clicking on a link for a trip report will bring you to the first post for that trip. At the top of each post will be links to all subsequent posts (usually covering 1-2 days) from that trip. Also in the text you will frequently see locations highlighted. Clicking on the link will bring you to my eBird checklist for that location and time. I will be trying to link these eBird checklists with all the blog posts in the trip reports.

While quite a few trip reports are up and running, there are still many more to add. This winter I hope to set some blog posts to auto-post while I am away from southern Ontario. I have all of my Panama photos from 2014 edited as well as a good chunk of the daily blog posts written. I also have to create daily posts from the Colombia and Morocco trips, but that may wait until the spring.

October 9 and 10 - Manitoulin Island to Tobermory, Tobermory to Niagara-on-the-Lake

October 1-2, 2015 - Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marathon
October 3, 2015 - Marathon to Rossport
October 4, 2015 - Rossport to Hurkett Cove
October 5, 2015 - Sibley Peninsula to Thunder Bay
October 6, 2015 - Thunder Bay to Rossport
October 7, 2015 - Rossport to Wawa
October 8, 2015 - Wawa to Manitoulin Island
October 9, 2015 - Nelson's Sparrow in Oliphant
October 9-10, 2015 - Manitoulin Island to Tobermory, Tobermory to Niagara-on-the-Lake

This is a trip report from my 10-day drive along the north shore of Lake Superior from October 1 to 10, 2015. I began in Sault Ste Marie and worked my way north and west to Thunder Bay, before retracing my steps back south towards Sault Ste. Marie. From I there I headed then south through Manitoulin Island, across to Tobermory, and south through southern Ontario to get back home to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The links above will bring you to that particular day of the trip. Any links in the text below brings you to the eBird checklist corresponding with that location.

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Last post from the northern trip!

On October 9 I birded Manitoulin Island for the entire day, slowly making my way west before turning south, finishing at the ferry docks in South Baymouth for an evening crossing to Tobermory.

Most of my birding was concentrated around Gore Bay, including the sewage lagoons, airport, waterfront, nearby Barrie Island, Ice Lake, and the causeway along HWY 540. The long 100 km stretch to South Baymouth I drove late in the day once the sun was setting, so I had all the daylight hours to thoroughly bird the Gore Bay area.

The Gore Bay sewage lagoons were quite birdy and I even ran into Gerry Binsfeld here! Ducks were nothing unusual (just the regular Sewage Lagoons Ducks) but there were several hundred sparrows in the weedy areas. Most were White-crowned but with a lot else mixed in. Of note were 1 Orange-crowned and 1 Palm Warbler, both working the dead tansy stalks with the Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

I came across a Vesper Sparrow along a hay field on Barrie Island. The white outer tail feathers as it flushed from the road keyed me off to it, and as it landed on the fence and turned, it showed a white eye ring and the distinctive breast pattern. I took some photos through my windshield - hardly worth posting! By the time I could open my window and try for some real shots it took off further into the field. The Vesper was my 14th sparrow of the trip.

Vesper Sparrow - Barrie Island, Manitoulin

Sandhill Cranes were quite common on the island. They amass here in numbers each fall before departing for the south.

Sandhill Cranes - near Gore Bay, Manitoulin

Sandhill Cranes - near Gore Bay, Manitoulin

Other odds and ends seen included Merlin, loads of Red-necked Grebes, Horned Grebes, Surf Scoter, Eastern Meadowlark, Bonaparte's Gulls and a good variety of late autumn migrants. I finished with 57 bird species for the day according to eBird.

After the evening ferry crossing, I was a guest at Michael and Martha's place near Tobermory, then birded the Bruce Peninsula the next morning. I discovered a Nelson's Sparrow at Oliphant in the late morning, which you can read about here.

The rest of the day was spent hitting up as many sewage lagoons, harbours, and other hotspots I could on my way south through Bruce, Huron, and Middlesex Counties.

A quick rundown of some of the places I visited throughout the day . As always, highlighted text links to the corresponding eBird checklist.

Ferndale Flats, Bruce Peninsula
-Cackling Goose (first of trip)

Oliphant
-Nelson's Sparrow (first record for Bruce County)
-several more first of trips...LEYE, GRYE, WRSA, etc...
-7 Lapland Lonspurs
-Ruffed Grouse (nearby edge of town)

Oliphant Docks
-American Golden-Plover and Black-bellied Plover (first of trip)
-Merlin

Southampton, Horseshoe Bay
-continuing Hudsonian Godwit (my first of year)
-hundreds of diving ducks offshore
-Pied-billed Grebe, 3 Horned Grebe
-more Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover etc

Saugeen Shores - Pond by Independent (grocery store)
-hundreds of waterfowl, including 8 Northern Pintail, 2 Green-winged Teal, 2 American Wigeon, 2 Common Goldeneye
-2 Dunlin, 7 White-rumped Sandpiper, 1 Greater Yellowlegs

Ripley sewage lagoons
-Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Pintail, Wood Duck, Redhead etc
-4 White-rumped Sandpipers, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers (first of trip!), 2 Killdeer (ditto) and 1 Dunlin

Exeter sewage lagoons
-1400 Canada Geese, which I found a Greater White-fronted trying to hide among (see photo)
-2 Blue-winged Teal, 350 Ruddy Duck etc
-lots of shorebirds. many of these had been seen by Mike Burrell on October 7
-2 Black-bellied and 1 American Golden-Plover, 2 Killdeer
-90 White-rumped Sandpipers (numbers down from 310 on October 7)
-2 Least, 1 Pectoral, 1 Semipalmated Sandpipers

Greater White-fronted Goose - Exeter sewage lagoons

Strathroy sewage lagoons
-12 species of ducks including 4 Blue-winged Teal (no Cinnamon Teal!)
-26 White-rumped Sandpipers and 4 Pectoral Sandpipers
-an Eastern Towhee in a shrub tangle (my 16th sparrow of the trip)


The sun set as I finished at Strathroy, and I made one last dinner of eggs on toast with my portable camp stove. I continued onwards to my place in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the final stop of the trip.

It was a worthwhile trip, even if the numbers of birds (and rare birds in particular) was somewhat low. Overall I saw around 130 species, including 16 species of sparrows and a wide variety of fall migrants. Several interesting mammal sightings, the varied habitats of the north shore, and the freedom to explore the entire area over 10 days made for an excellent trip. I would certainly do a trip like this again in the near future, though hopefully in a year with a few more western and southern birds around.

October 8 - Wawa to Manitoulin Island

October 1-2, 2015 - Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marathon
October 3, 2015 - Marathon to Rossport
October 4, 2015 - Rossport to Hurkett Cove
October 5, 2015 - Sibley Peninsula to Thunder Bay
October 6, 2015 - Thunder Bay to Rossport
October 7, 2015 - Rossport to Wawa
October 8, 2015 - Wawa to Manitoulin Island
October 9, 2015 - Nelson's Sparrow in Oliphant
October 9-10, 2015 - Manitoulin Island to Tobermory, Tobermory to Niagara-on-the-Lake

This is a trip report from my 10-day drive along the north shore of Lake Superior from October 1 to 10, 2015. I began in Sault Ste Marie and worked my way north and west to Thunder Bay, before retracing my steps back south towards Sault Ste. Marie. From I there I headed then south through Manitoulin Island, across to Tobermory, and south through southern Ontario to get back home to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The links above will bring you to that particular day of the trip. Any links in the text below brings you to the eBird checklist corresponding with that location.

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That night the temperatures dropped to -5 degrees Celsius, but I was quite comfortable in my sleeping bag in my tent, on an old logging road north of Wawa. The next morning I was up at sunrise to continue my journey south. Wawa was only twenty minutes away, and after refilling at Tim's I ventured to the sewage lagoons, down a hill west of town but still east of the highway. 

I found a good variety of duck species at the Wawa sewage lagoons, including two Redheads, one Northern Shoveler (first of trip) and three Northern Pintail (new for my Algoma list). Twenty-five American Pipits and five Lapland Longspurs were on the grassy field nearby, while five species of sparrows and a few Rusty Blackbirds were visible either in the marshy edge of the lagoons or the nearby shrubs. After a few minutes I noticed some distant movement in the lagoons, and after watching for a minute with my bins it became apparent that it was a group of River Otters, diving and resurfacing again. I eventually fetched my scope for a better look, and determined that at least five were present. Pretty cool, and the first time that I have seen this species at a sewage lagoon!

I continued on, stopping in at Michipicoten harbour. After checking the small streets and feeders in the town of Michipicoten First Nation, I drove north on some backroads to reach an access point for the abandoned community and harbour, located several kilometers to the north.

The birding was quite good in the hour I was here. Sparrows were around in decent numbers, and several Lapland Longspurs, Savannah Sparrows and Lincoln's Sparrows were scrutinized closely when they flushed from a grassy hillside.

Around the old shipyard a small flock of American Pipits was accompanied by a few Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks. In a nearby patch of spruce forest an American Three-toed Woodpecker called frequently, though I couldn't catch more than a dark shape working the side of a tree back in the forest.

  I observed the occasional American Tree Sparrow in some overgrown shrubbery near an old road, and with them was one bird with a different call note. It was a Clay-colored Sparrow, working some of the dead aster for insects and spiders. It was staying low to the bushes, but after a few attempts I managed some "record" shots. This was my second Clay-colored Sparrow of the trip, and at that point was the latest that I had seen one in Ontario.

The steely gray skies gave way to darker storm clouds, and eventually the rain began to fall in bands. I decided to make strong headway on my trip and drove south for the three or so hours it takes to reach Sault Ste. Marie. One of these days I'll have to spend some time in Lake Superior P.P., especially if I make another autumn trip. Hopefully I'll have better weather next time around!

Instead of birding in the Sault (the rain was still coming down) I checked in to a local sports bar to watch the Jays' first playoff game in twenty-two years. Anyone who knows me well can attest to my Blue Jays fandom, and in the past three years I have tried to make it to as many games as I could from Aurora. It is a little more difficult now that I am based in St. Catharines but I know I'll still make the trip five or ten times a year.

Unfortunately the game did not end well with a loss to the Texas Rangers. It was still raining pretty heavily but I hit the road to make up some distance before I found a place to stay for the night. I made it most of the way to Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island before pulling off on a side road and finding a secluded place to park my car for the night. The next day I planned to bird Manitoulin for the first time, before taking an evening ferry over to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula where I had an offer to stay with some friends.

October 7 - Rossport to Wawa

October 1-2, 2015 - Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marathon
October 3, 2015 - Marathon to Rossport
October 4, 2015 - Rossport to Hurkett Cove
October 5, 2015 - Sibley Peninsula to Thunder Bay
October 6, 2015 - Thunder Bay to Rossport
October 7, 2015 - Rossport to Wawa
October 8, 2015 - Wawa to Manitoulin Island
October 9, 2015 - Nelson's Sparrow in Oliphant
October 9-10, 2015 - Manitoulin Island to Tobermory, Tobermory to Niagara-on-the-Lake

This is a trip report from my 10-day drive along the north shore of Lake Superior from October 1 to 10, 2015. I began in Sault Ste Marie and worked my way north and west to Thunder Bay, before retracing my steps back south towards Sault Ste. Marie. From I there I headed then south through Manitoulin Island, across to Tobermory, and south through southern Ontario to get back home to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The links above will bring you to that particular day of the trip. Any links in the text below brings you to the eBird checklist corresponding with that location.

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October 7 was a memorable day for me as it provided the definitive highlight of the trip. And it wasn't even a bird sighting! I will get to that in a minute, but first, a quick summary of the birding that day.

Rossport beach

It was gorgeous, calm sunny morning in Rossport. The hint of frost that had froze overnight quickly melted as the sun rose higher, and the sparrows and other songbirds were very active. Travelling with a small group of Black-capped Chickadees was a bright Nashville Warbler, while a Common Yellowthroat "chack"ed from some small shrubs along a marshy shore. My ears caught the distinctive loose trill of a Bohemian Waxwing as it flew over; my first of the trip and only second of the year.

Eventually I continued on the highway, enjoying the drive as it was a beautiful autumn day. I made a few stops in Schreiber, Terrace Bay, Neys Provincial Park, Marathon. and the Pic River mouth.

Pic River mouth

Lapland Longspur tracks at the Pic River mouth

Overall it was very slow and I did not find any notable birds. I followed a flock of Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs in the dunes, where their tracks remained. I did photograph this very cooperative Eastern Red Squirrel at the Pic River mouth, however.

Red Squirrel - Pic River mouth

It was late afternoon by the time I hit the road, determined to make it to the Wawa area that evening. I was perhaps half an hour north of Wawa, cruising down the highway and listening to some tunes, when a medium-sized mammal appeared on the road up ahead! I slammed on the brakes, slowing to a stop as the cat stopped in the middle of the highway, turned around, and jumped back into the ditch. Luckily there were no vehicles going by at this point, so I came to a stop about 30 meters past where the cat had disappeared. It hadn't slipped past the edge of spruces at the border of the highway so I knew that it was in the ditch. In my haste, my camera fell off the passenger seat onto the floor of my car, my seatbelt became entangled in my phone charger and auxillary cord, and I nearly spilled coffee all over me. Additionally, my shoes were off as I had been on the road for a while. I grabbed the camera, jumped barefoot out of my car (which was still partially on the highway) and slowly walked back towards where the cat had disappeared.

Canada Lynx

Sure enough, crouched in the long grass at the side of the highway was a stunning Canada Lynx. I watched it but it didn't pay much attention to me; it was more interested in listening for the rustlings of small rodents in the grasses.

Canada Lynx

Eventually I positioned myself in a location to obtain some mostly unobstructed photos through the blades of grass. When it glanced at me its eyes seemed to stare right through me...

Canada Lynx

I had slowly maneuvered to a location with a better angle from the sun when I heard the distant rumbling of a transport truck way down the highway. I took a few more final photos of the gorgeous cat before I had to go back to my car and move it safely onto the shoulder.

Canada Lynx

Unfortunately the passing truck was enough to spook the lynx, and in a few quick leaps it silently disappeared into the spruces. I waited for a few more minutes but it did not reappear, so I continued on my way.

The lynx was certainly the trip's highlight at that point. Not only was I able to study it at close range for several minutes but I was able to come away with some photos that I was really happy with. Despite logging tens of thousands of kilometers in northern Ontario in the past few years, this was only my second sighting of a Canada Lynx. It was certainly an encounter I was thrilled to have experienced!

Canada Lynx