Rainy River part 2 - Windy Point

I decided to explore Windy Point, an island in Lake of the Woods located about half a kilometer offshore from the Harris Hill Resort, after a successful morning of birding the open fields and woodlands further south. Originally I was going to rent a boat/outboard motor from a different resort to explore the Sable Islands, an excellent rarity magnet that has records of Black-necked Stilt, Cinnamon Teal, Snowy Egret, Western Sandpiper, Green Heron, Willet (several) and a few other species rare for northwestern Ontario. However, I did not have a boat license, nor did I have the free time or inclination to take the online test. Additionally I did not want to spend a lot of money on either acquiring the license or renting a boat, so I decided that the 20$ fee to visit Windy Point for the afternoon was a better option. Normally it's 10$ a person, but since I was on my own the fee was 20$.

Gary, one of the owners of the Harris Hill Resort, was happy to take me across to windswept sandy island. I arranged with him to pick me up at 6:00 PM, giving me ample time to roam the island.

In its current iteration, the interior of the island is marshy, while sandy beaches surround the west, north and east facing shorelines.The south shore is largely vegetated with spillover marsh vegetation. A large sandspit extends several hundred meters to the northeast, while several sandbars provide loafing areas for gulls off of the easterly point of the island. Of course, water currents transform these easily malleable, sandy islands each year, particularly along the edges where vegetation has yet to take hold.

One of the first things I noticed after Gary dropped me off at the southeast corner of the island was the constant singing of Yellow-headed Blackbirds - one of my favorite sounding birds for sure! I peaked over some willows to gain a view into the marshy interior and saw at least a half dozen male Yellow-headed Blackbirds perched on the reeds, singing their hearts out. Others were chasing each other, while the odd female flew by as well. Red-winged Blackbirds were also present, but in far less numbers than their golden-headed cousins. I also heard a Nelson's Sparrow since occasionally from somewhere within the marsh, a "song" that is easy to miss.

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Windy Point, Rainy River District

My attention was soon grabbed by the large flock of gulls that flushed from a sandbar as I passed into their line of sight - Franklin's Gulls! Dozens had been resting on the east tip of the island while close to a thousand had been biding their time on a nearby sandbar a hundred meters offshore.

Franklin's Gulls - Windy Point, Rainy River District

I was actually a little surprised that so many Franklin's Gulls were present, considering it was still the month of June. Franklin's Gulls do not breed in Ontario, but rather visit Lake of the Woods in early summer after breeding further west, so I'm told. The Ontario Field Ornithologists trip only a couple of weeks earlier had missed them.

Since it had only been a short while since they had departed the breeding grounds, most of the gulls looked pretty spiffy and many still exhibited a light pink wash across their undersides. It was tough getting close enough to resting birds to photograph them, but birds were constantly flying by at close range, providing near constant photographic opportunities.

Franklin's Gull - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Franklin's Gull - Windy Point, Rainy River District

It was around this time that I began noticing the dark storm clouds forming far to the west. When I had arrived on the island it was mostly clear with just a few clouds, but before long two massive cells had appeared, heading my way. I should have checked the radar before deciding to explore the largely treeless, open island! Luckily I at least had some foresight to pack a raincoat, and my pack also had a rain cover.

Storm a brewing - Windy Point, Rainy River District

One benefit of the imminent storm was that the dramatic lighting made for nice results with birds in flight. The dark gray backgrounds really helped the birds "pop" from the image. In this image below you can really appreciate the variability in the amount of black in the primaries of Franklin's Gull.

Franklin's Gulls - Windy Point, Rainy River District

I walked out to the end of the sand spit as I wanted to scan all the birds and make it back to the relative safety of the few scraggly trees before the weather hit. A Greater Yellowlegs landed nearby and screamed at me, while I located an adult Least Sandpiper not long after. Presumably both of these birds were either autumn migrants or summering individuals.

Greater Yellowlegs - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Least Sandpiper - Windy Point, Rainy River District

I heard a Piping Plover call from somewhere near the end of the spit, but decided against continuing further as the storm was coming in hot and heavy and I was the tallest object out on the sand spit. Lightning was going off every few seconds from the direction of the storms. Piping Plovers occasionally breed out here, and Gary had mentioned that the previous day some other birders were out there and located a single Piping Plover.

Storm a brewing - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Taking shelter on the lee side of a young basswood, the storm raged around me, and even with the tree for shelter and a raincoat I was soaked pretty quickly. Luckily the contents of my pack (including my phone and camera) remained bone dry, and I was wearing quick-dry clothing which allowed me to somewhat dry out between blasts of thunderstorms.

The Franklin's Gulls and American White Pelicans began flying again once the first wave of the storm had passed. I contented myself with attempting flight photos once again, though the light was weaker making it more difficult to obtain a sharp, "noise"-free photo.

American White Pelican - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Franklin's Gull - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Franklin's Gull - Windy Point, Rainy River District

 Three young Bonaparte's Gulls were in the large gull flock, though they usually remained along the perimeter or mostly apart from the Franklin's.

Bonaparte's and Franklin's Gulls - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Bonaparte's Gull - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Given the nice lighting, I even stopped to photograph a Ring-billed Gull - a striking gull in its own right if you catch it in its breeding finery.

Ring-billed Gull - Windy Point, Rainy River District

This American White Pelican flew a little too close for a good flight photo and I clipped the wingtips. However with a little cropping I like how it turned out.

American White Pelican - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Yellow-headed Blackbirds were flying out to the beach every now and then, but they are just a little too quick for the auto-focus of my camera combined with my slow reflexes. Regardless, a few turned out OK.

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Windy Point, Rainy River District

I eventually wandered back out to the sand spit but was unable to located the Piping Plover. Perhaps it had taken shelter elsewhere around the island during the storm. This Killdeer was one of many roaming the beaches.

Killdeer - Windy Point, Rainy River District

Before long the next wave of thunderstorms hit, delegating me back to the trusty basswood to wait it out. Unfortunately the rain was unrelenting this time and effectively put an end to the productive birding. The weather did finally break around 6:00 PM, allowing Gary to zip out and pick me up fortunately.

Despite the unsavory weather I was quite happy with my time at Windy Point and I encountered all the "target" birds that I was hoping for - a rare event when it happens but always enjoyable. The storm itself was also pretty exciting as it was certainly one of the most intense thunderstorms I had ever been exposed to. Nature can sure be powerful, especially when you are huddled behind a scraggly basswood on a windswept island while lightning strikes the nearby shorelines, thunderclaps are constantly going off above you, and the rain pours down. A neat experience to say the least, and perhaps the most memorable part of my visit to Rainy River.