Rainy River!! (part 1)

I have been pretty fortunate this year to be able to travel extensively throughout Ontario for work surveys. So far I have been on two trips to Kenora, two trips to Windigo Lake (3 hours north of Pickle Lake in northwestern Ontario), a trip to Fort Albany on James Bay, and a variety of southern Ontario locations from Cornwall to Niagara. I am actually in my room at the only lodge in Fort Albany at the moment, where I will be completing the final round of breeding bird surveys and other work this week. While busy, this field season has afforded me the opportunity to get acquainted with all of the boreal bird species found in Ontario, along with a few interesting amphibians, mammals, reptiles and insects.

Last week I completed my last surveys for my Kenora site and with two days to kill before my next trip I drove south to the open prairies and aspen woods of western Rainy River district. This part of Ontario serves as a sort of crossroads for habitat types and their resulting species. Boreal meets western meets southern here, and it is not difficult to rack up a huge bird list in a day or two of birding in June. Several species are easier to find in Rainy River than elsewhere in Ontario, such as Black-billed Magpie, Franklin's Gull, Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Sharp-tailed Grouse are common throughout the grassy areas, while Sedge Wrens and Le Conte's Sparrows make up a significant percentage of the songbirds heard singing throughout the prairies. Connecticut Warblers can be found both in aspen woods and spruce bogs, while other typically boreal species such as Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided Flycatcher and Spruce Grouse are occasionally seen.

male Brewer`s Blackbird - near Rainy River, Ontario

I left Kenora at 3:00 AM, making decent time on the drive down. I did make a few stops while still in Kenora District before dawn, as the chorus was deafening! This gave me a few final Kenora "ticks" including Palm Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrow.

Several of the lakes were occupied by fishing American White Pelican. I'm not sure what species of fish this is, but the pelican had no trouble with it! While American White Pelicans are spreading eastward in Ontario and have recently begun to colonize Thunder Bay District and James Bay, they are still uncommon in Ontario and the large population in Rainy River District is always fun to see.

American White Pelican - near Crow Lake, Kenora District

I drove some backroads north of Emo, working my way slowly west towards the town of Rainy River. The first Black-billed Mapgies appeared in some of the fields, near farms, or in flight. They were all ridiculously hard to photograph, and despite my best efforts I hardly could even manage a "record shot". Singing Sedge Wrens and Le Conte's Sparrows were even less accommodating, though I was in a hurry and I'm sure with a little effort it wouldn't have been difficult to tease one or two up from the depths of the weedy fields.

I was a little surprised to see this adult Bald Eagle on a fence post while traveling west on Highway 11. It allowed me to take just this one photo before taking off.

Bald Eagle - near Pinewood, Rainy River District

Without a doubt the highlight of my day was coming across a pair of Great Gray Owls. I had checked out a location on a tip from Tyler Hoar where he had seen one Great Gray Owl a week or two earlier. It was pretty surprising to see not only one but two of them within 100 m of each other along the road!

Great Gray Owl - western Rainy River District

For much of the observation, the owls would sit quietly, listening intently to the rustlings in the grass below along the edge of the road.

Great Gray Owl - western Rainy River District

 The second owl was perched conspicuously on a fence post at the edge of a field. This was actually a new addition to my northern Ontario list - all of my previous sightings of Great Gray Owls had been in the south! Somewhat surprising, given the amount of time I've spent in the north over the last few years. Maybe I just suck at finding owls...

Great Gray Owl - western Rainy River District

Great Gray Owl - western Rainy River District

Great Gray Owl - western Rainy River District

I left the owls after twenty minutes of observation, eager to see what else I could turn up. Another location for Great Grays turned up nothing, though a distant Connecticut Warbler was singing from within the bog and I heard my first Palm Warblers for Rainy River District. Driving some nearby fields south of Highway 11 was productive as I finally saw a Sharp-tailed Grouse - typically poor in-flight views! A nearby riparian corridor held my first two White-breasted Nuthatches for the district - another southern species that is rare in most of northern Ontario.

White-tailed Deer are abundant in the fields and forests of western Rainy River District

By late morning, with over 90 species under my belt, I drove up to the Rainy River sewage lagoons. The water levels were very high leaving no shorebird habitat, but quite a few species of waterfowl were frequenting the ponds. Common Goldeneyes, Wood Ducks and Mallards were toting around large groups of youngsters, while both teal species, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser and a pair of Lesser Scaup were also present. Singles of Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot were added to the list, while the only shorebirds I saw were a pair of Spotted Sandpipers. This one was keeping a vigilant eye on me, while the other was presumably sitting on a nearby nest.

Spotted Sandpiper - Rainy River lagoons

These bluets were the most common of the odonate species at the lagoons - I`ll have to ID it when I am home and can check some resources, unless someone reading this blog knows what it is!

As I was getting ready to leave the lagoons, a Red-bellied Woodpecker called from the aspen grove to the south. This species is expanding its range northward, and now can be found with some regularity in parts of western Rainy River District. As I was listening to the woodpecker, a group of 24 American White Pelicans cruised by - such a bizarre sight that takes a little bit of time to get used to for a southern Ontario birder like me!

The afternoon was spent visiting Windy Point, an island in Lake of the Woods, which my next post will detail.