Another drive to Muskoka (and beyond), another pigeon

Today was a very long day....and I got in the door about an hour and a half ago.

Long story short, a White-winged Dove has been sporadically coming to a feeder in North Bay and I've been keeping tabs on this bird for a few days. After several days where it wasn't seen, it magically re-appeared yesterday at the feeder! Barb Charlton, Brett Fried and I drove up to look for it today since there are only 32 accepted records of this species in Ontario. Additionally, it is only the 2nd winter record, with the first coming on December 14-19, 1975.

After the long drive from Guelph, we arrived in North Bay around 10:15 AM. The dove had been seen only on sunny afternoons and the gray skies didn't bode well!

In Guelph, squirrels roam the neighbourhoods. Apparently in North Bay, deer roam the neighbourhoods.

neighbourhood deer - North Bay

The friendly deer even came by the feeder we were stationed at to eat seeds. Yum.

neighbourhood deer - North Bay

After about 15 minutes of waiting, we decided that perhaps we should follow the deer's lead and also roam the neighbourhood in search of the dove. Reasonable, the thought seemed.

Turns out that was a good idea since I spotted the dove hanging out with some MODOs (Mourning Doves) in a tree just down the road. Well that was easy.

White-winged Dove - North Bay, ON

Here it is doing the crazy neck thing that pigeons/doves love to do.

White-winged Dove - North Bay, ON

After a few minutes of checking us out it followed its MODO friends into the backyard. This photo shows the diagnostic tail pattern that White-winged Doves possess.

White-winged Dove - North Bay

Hmmm....what to do, what to do? We could either drive the 4 hours back to Guelph, or perhaps go to Algonquin which was kind of on the way. Looking for Spruce Grouse at Algonquin ended up winning over the less desirable option of studying for my midterm tomorrow, so onward we went.

Algonquin was fantastic! The Spruce Grouse (grice?) eluded us, but everything else wasn't able to be so elusive. I tried to outdo a previous attempt (see here) at getting the world's worst shot of Red Crossbills and I think I succeeded! Check it out - you can hardly even tell they are birds! There were about 30 or so Reds flitting about the Spruce Bog area as well as a few others heard in other spots. This was really cool as you rarely get decent looks at so many Red Crossbills in Ontario (at least I don't). White-winged Crossbills, Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks, and redpolls were flying over while we were here.

Red Crossbills - Spruce Bog, Algonquin

Of course, what is the Spruce Bog boardwalk without several Boreal Chickadees? These vocal little bastards were not as shy as usual.

Boreal Chickadee - Spruce Bog, Algonquin

The highlight of Algonquin for me was getting reacquainted with Marty, the brave little Pine Marten who likes stealing suet from the bird feeder at Spruce Bog. Marty likes granola bars too.

Pine Marten - Spruce Bog, Algonquin

 The visitor centre was somewhat birdy, as usual. Just one Evening Grosbeak this time, but this vocal Common Raven kept us company. Brett had a pretty extensive croaking "conversation" with the raven.

Common Raven - Algonquin visitor centre

A trip down Opeongo road was great - we spent some time feeding the Gray Jays and checking out a Black-backed Woodpecker.

Gray Jay - Opeongo Road, Algonquin

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Gray Jay - Opeongo Road, Algonquin

Black-backed Woodpecker - Algonquin

A partially leucistic Black-capped Chickadee has been hanging out near the parking lot here, and it didn't take long before we had him in our sights! He was just as inquisitive as the "normal" chickadees, and though he thought about it, he didn't take food from our hands. Cool little guy though.

White-faced Chickadee

White-faced Chickadee

It was another great day in the field with even better company. The weather co-operated, we saw our main target bird (the code 4 White-winged Dove) and we saw a nice variety of wildlife in Algonquin. We didn't get our Sprucers, so that will have to wait until next time!

Northern Trip summary and photos (part 1)

Late last night I finally arrived back in Guelph after the whirlwind trip to the north. There were many ups and downs on this trip....but we stayed (mostly) positive and saw a lot of good birds!

Like I said in the previous post, Barb and I arrived in Sault Ste. Marie on January 24 around noon, giving us all afternoon to bird the city. Our first stop was in the north-east section of town along Fish Hatchery Road to search for the Black-backed Woodpecker. This bird was almost too easy as we found a very visible female only about 10 meters off of the road.

The bird was pretty good at keeping most of its body hidden behind branches at all time, making photography a challenge.

Black-backed Woodpecker - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Extensive scaling was visible on most of the spruce trees in the area. Various Soo birders had seen a male bird at this location meaning that at least two birds are wintering here.

woodpecker scaling - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

While here we saw our first Pine Grosbeaks of the trip! They would prove to be one of the more common birds, being seen and heard at almost every stop we made on this trip.

Dave Bell guided us (via texting) throughout the afternoon. This day in the Soo was an early highlight of the trip as we saw just about everything that was around. A stroll around the Locks produced quite a few good birds (and mammals), including this Red Fox which apparently has become quite tame.

Red Fox - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

While we were checking out the fox we heard the distinctive calls of a White-throated Sparrow near a feeder. According to Dave this bird has been wintering in the area.

White-throated Sparrow - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

This bird feeder consisted of an open jar of peanut butter fastened to a tree - obviously the chickadees liked it!

Black-capped Chickadee - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

The highlight for me at the Locks was the flock of Bohemian Waxwings that flew over us several times. I counted all the specks in the frame (about half of the flock) and came up with 120-ish birds. So the flock was probably close to 250.

Bohemian Waxwings - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Barb and I found this very obliging owl. I'm sure its a new species for Ontario, if only we could identify it...

We also found a flock of redpolls containing at least 1 Hoary as well as a decent variety of waterfowl. That night we stayed at the Bell's place and feasted on a fantastic steak dinner they put on. Living the dream!

After the Soo, we had several of our targets already in the bag and so we left early to get to Marathon in decent time. Along the way we stopped in several towns to check the feeders. White River was particularly good and numbers of both Grosbeaks were around town. Evening was a year bird for both of us.

male Evening Grosbeak - White River, ON

female Evening Grosbeak - White River, ON

We spent a bit of time photographing the Pine Grosbeaks here - us southerners never got sick of them the whole trip (ok maybe a bit near the end).

female Pine Grosbeak - White River, ON

male Pine Grosbeak - White River, ON

We arrived in Marathon around 1:00 PM and immediately went to the feeder where the Harris's Sparrow was over-wintering. Michael Butler had checked in on it previously for us and reported that it was still present. As soon as we arrived, Barb went inside to chat with the homeowners, only to come back outside to see me taking photos of the bird. Nice bird and our first rarity of the trip in the bag! A few Cedar Waxwings were present which was also a year bird.

Harris's Sparrow - Marathon, ON

Later, Michael told us that we were really lucky to see the Harris's Sparrow - apparently it can be extremely difficult to locate during the middle of the day.

That afternoon after checking his feeders (tons of the usual finches including both redpolls), Michael gave us a bit of a tour for Three-toed Woodpeckers in Pukawska National Park. He has seemingly got it down to a science, but despite our best efforts we couldn't turn one up! The wind was a little strong and the birds are usually more easily found in the morning. However this snow-shoe clad hike was one of my trip highlights. It's not everyday that one can explore pristine spruce forest in the north, and it was fantastic to not hear other people or cars as we walked. The only year bird here was Gray Jay, though I was happy to spot a Northern Shrike at the top of one of the trees. This may explain why we did not find any Boreal Chickadees at this location.

Mike and I at Pukawska National Park

Mike and his wife Martha cooked us an amazing chili dinner that evening and good conversation, stories, and maybe a little gossip flowed over wine. Throughout our stay at their place they were gracious hosts and very welcoming. Barb and I felt at home here!

That evening we went out for another snow-shoe trek to search for owls. While we were unsuccessful in that regard, it was great to explore the winter wonderland with the stars in the night sky appearing a lot brighter than they do back home.

The following morning after enjoying a hearty breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, sausages, bacon, eggs and coffee, I took the time to take some photos of Mike's feeder birds. I couldn't catch the Hornemann's that were present the previous afternoon, but I did get a chance to photograph "Mr. Creamy", a leucistic redpoll. Any thoughts on the species?

leucistic redpoll - Marathon, ON

This bird we were debating whether it was a southern Hoary Redpoll or a Hornemann's. It did appear larger than the nearby redpolls and could very well be a female Hornemann's.

possible Hornemann's Hoary Redpoll - Marathon, ON

Update after 3 days in the north

Barb and I are currently in a motel in the quaint town of Geraldton, located northeast of Thunder Bay along highway 11. We have had a whirlwind 3 days and have another 3 crazy days ahead of us! I will post a full report when I get back, so this brief report will do for now.

On Tuesday we made good time, getting into the Soo around noon. Dave Bell was our virtual tour guide - telling us where to go via text messaging. He did a great job and helped guide us to a location where Black-backed Woodpeckers were seen. We got a nice female as well as tons of finches as a bonus!
Dave directed us to Bellevue Park and the Locks among other places. Among the highlights were a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings (250+) and our first Hoary Redpoll. I didn't notice it until looking at photos later.

Black-backed Woodpecker - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

That night we stayed at his parents place, enjoying their hospitality, gourmet steak dinner, and wine. Off to Marathon in the morning!

We got to Marathon and immediately saw the Harris's Sparrow that was coming to a feeder. After meeting up with Michael Butler we got settled then headed out to search for Three-toed Woodpeckers - unsuccessfully I might add. On our evening snowshoe trek we unfortunately couldn't turn up any owls despite our best efforts. The wind picked up and by the morning it was too strong to find the woodpeckers so we decided that we would leave Marathon and head north. While we missed the woodpeckers, we did get a Gray Jay and great looks at a Northern Shrike. Best of all was enjoying Michael and Martha's hospitality and amazing cooking! I spent quite a bit of time studying Michael's redpoll flocks as all four subspecies were present.

redpolls - Marathon, ON

Day 3 was one to forget. Long story short, the entire day was devoted to chasing rosy-finches unsuccessfully. We did find our own "probable" Hornemann's Hoary Redpoll which was rewarding.

Tomorrow we are back-tracking an hour to the last rosy-finch. I forgot my phone at the house of the couple who has the rosy-finch coming to their feeder - perhaps it is a sign. Afterwards we are trying for the Spotted Towhee in Longlac. A Varied Thrush was seen yesterday nearby...could be interesting...

Pine Grosbeak - Marathon, ON