February 28 & 29, 2024
Birding Report by Jane Burgess
Day 1
Eleanor and I met
at Barbara and Bill's place and were on the road at 7:16. We stopped at
Golden Lake to see if we could find the swans, we did not, but we did
see a Bald Eagle. We made excellent time getting to Whitney, but it
took far too much time to register. I had texted Barb C that we had to
register and then get to our rooms at the DreamCatcher. I was so glad
we were able to get into 2 of the 3 rooms. Oh my, the parking lot at
the back was so muddy and there was a truck parked close to the motel,
that he had to move so we could get to our rooms. I had my hiking
boots, regular jeans and my ski jacket on as we drove up to the park,
the weather forecast was for decent temperatures but with rain later in
the day. Yeah they were wrong, it was cold and windy, so I changed into
"tomorrow's clothes". We met with Barb at the park entrance and she
was about to text us to meet her at the Spruce Bog. At the parking lot
we heard and saw Pine Siskin (we saw soooo many of them, on the road and
the trails). Eleanor offered delicious muffins to each of us as we
discussed our strategy for the park,
First we
decided we would check out the Logging Museum, but not to walk the
trails. Behind the museum, we saw more Pine Siskin, American Tree
Sparrow, and Evening Grosbeak.
We drove to
Spruce Bog Trail and it was spitting out, so I did not bring my camera.
Barb C very kindly lent me a pair of grippers, I think that was the
only thing I forgot to pack. The trail was very icy. We got to the
feeder and really nothing, well there were Blue Jays. We had heard that
there was a scarcity of Spruce Grouse and Boreal Chickadees had not
been seen in over a year. But we still went looking for the Spruce
Grouse, Bill decided it was too slippery for him so off he went to the
main trail. We were unsuccessful in finding the grouse. Back at the
main trail Bill reported he had seen a Black-backed Woodpecker, good for
him, sad faces for the rest of us.
We did see
two Canada Jays, love those birds. It was more than spitting now, so off
to the Park's Visitors Centre. There is a feeder in the parking lot,
where there were Evening Grosbeaks, a couple of American Goldfinch and
Blue Jays. We parked and walked toward the feeder, birds flew and never
returned.
As we entered the Visitors Centre,
we were greeted by one of the rangers, who told us we had just missed a
major rarity - an Evening Grosbeak that was gynandromorphic - he showed
us a photo of an Evening Grosbeak that had the colouring of a male on
one side of its body and a female colouring on the other side. It was
not in your face different. I have copied two photos of birds that are
gynandromorphic, just to give you a better understanding. The lunch
room was packed with people, we did note that the parking lot was rather
full, with lots of park vehicles. Barb C told us that it was park
staff appreciation day. I asked Barb C how she knew it was park
appreciation day, she said she had absolutely no idea, she must have
read it somewhere. All those people, what do they all do at the park??
No idea.
The weather had turned miserable,
so it was a good time to have lunch, by the time lunch was over, the
lights at the centre had flickered. We decided we would check out the
feeders at the back of the centre, not one bird and it was pouring rain
and very windy. Then we had a torrential rainstorm and mega mega
windy. They decided to close the centre, what a great way to be
appreciated and get the rest of the day off!! (I have no idea if they
had the day off,I am just speculating).
Barb C
had been closely watching the weather forecast, she told us she was
leaving us, they were predicting flash freezing and she did not want to
be on the roads, so off to Round Lake she went. We decided, given the
weather, that we should go to Mew Lake Campground to find a Pine Marten,
We did not see one. Okay, where to next? Opeongo Road, where we saw
Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and a single Common Redpoll. We did the
road twice hoping we would see Northern Goshawk or Spruce Grouse or
something good, but that unfortunately did not happen.
Time
to call it a day, we went back to get Bill and Barbara's room key
(their room was not ready when we checked in). So maybe we should make
reservations at the Mad Masher since when we checked in she told us,
maybe they would close early if the business was slow. We drove up to
the restaurant, the sign said open, great. I walked in and said we
would like to make reservations for 6:00, I was told they had closed at
4:00. Oh dear, now where do we eat? I was told we could get something
at the Freshmart or eat somewhere out of town. We opted to find
something at the Freshmart. Good thing I booked at Dream Catcher
because they had microwaves in the rooms, while EastGate Motel does not.
Bill
parked in the same place as the truck this morning, but he left room on
both sides so that people could walk around the vehicle. We thought we
were the only people occupying the rooms at the back. We met up in
Bill and Barbara's room and enjoyed our frozen dinners. It was
definitely cheaper but.. We decided we would be at the vehicle at 7:00
to pack up.
February 29, 2024
Day 2 Birding Report
We headed to the park
at 7:06, our destination was the Visitors Centre. As we drove into the
parking lot and just after the Centre we stopped to see many Pine
Siskin and Red Crossbills, on the road eating grit. Barb was out and
took photos. Then we drove over to the feeder, where there were lots of
Evening Grosbeak, more photos. We wanted to get to the feeders behind
the centre, the thinking was we would take the ramp to the left and it
would get us access to the back, we were wrong. We walked back to see
if the siskin and crossbill were still on the road. They were, great. I
was ready to take a photo, darn my battery is dead, how can that be? I
did not use it yesterday and I took maybe 30 photos today, well no sense
trying to figure it out, just go back and get the extra battery.
Walking back to join the others, Barbara and I decided we would look at
the birds from another angle. Great thought but a vehicle drove in and
scared all the birds. So we decided we would get the vehicle and drive
the wrong way on the road, no vehicles would be coming because the
Visitors Centre does not open until 9:00. Bill was taking photos and he
says White-wing Crossbill. I think he took maybe 2 photos and a
vehicle drove in. Our vehicle was parked sideways on the road, but there
was enough room to pass. The birds had flown, but had returned. We
were busy taking photos when the man in that vehicle came walking up, of
course he told us to move. I told him that we were not completely
badass, he said he was a photographer as well but we could not park that
way, But there is a White-wing Crossbill, he told us 1 in 10
Crossbills are White-wing. Okay there are two ways to skin a cat, we
drove out and came back in and parked the car on the road close to where
the birds were. Lots of photos of the White-wing Crossbill and we
could walk up relatively close to the birds, so I am sure Barbara and
Bill got many excellent photos.
I was taking
photos with no covering on the fingers of one hand. Oh I forgot to
mention when we set out in the morning it was -17 with a windchill of
-25. My fingers were so cold. Okay let's deal with this. I put on my
little gloves I use in the spring, then my fingerless mitts then my fur
lined mittens. After that my fingers were not so cold. We decided we
would now go back to the restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast we
returned our keys to EastGate Motel and proceeded to the Spruce Bog
Trail. Several people were exiting the trail, so I brought the window
down and asked about the birding. One of the people was Jon Ruddy, he
said they did not get the Canada Jay. Weird because when we went in, we
did. But before the Jay came in there were a lot of Black-capped
Chickadees around, then a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a female Hairy
Woodpecker, then the Canada Jay. Did I mention, I absolutely love
seeing these birds, one of my favourites. Lots of photos later we
decided to go to post #9 on the trail. We had been told yesterday by a
ranger that he had seen a Spruce Grouse, a hen, high in the spruce
tree. So off we went, we did not need grippers, it was just cold. We
walked and checked out trees, we finally got to #9 and no Spruce
Grouse. Just as we got to the last boardwalk, we heard this loud noise,
sounded like a big truck coming down the road, the sound was the wind
and then we felt the bitterly cold wind on our faces. Thank goodness we
did not have to walk much in the open until we got to trees on both
sides of the trail. We must be hearty souls,(or maybe just crazy
birders) to walk slightly over 4 K on such a cold day. But the key is
to dress warmly, my face was the only part of my body that was cold.
Three pairs of gloves, a warm scarf, hat, coat, lined pants, wind pants,
alpaca socks, warm boots helps a great deal, but we all know that,
after all, we are Canadian, eh....
A Common
Raven came into the parking lot, to a tree relatively close to the
trail. Eleanor asked, do you think Ravens like peanuts?" She threw a
bunch of peanuts on the ground near our vehicle. He pretty well ignored
them. Bill and I walked to the suet feeder to find 2 Canada Jays, yes I
took more photos. Eleanor and Barbara followed along maybe 10 minutes
later. The Raven flew down to the peanuts and crunched and swallowed,
yes he ate them all. Another Canada Jay followed them into the suet
feeder, they were not interested in the nuts that were offered.
Yesterday Barbara, Eleanor and Bill all tried feeding them and it was no
thank YOU, but after a while one fed. I think it felt sorry for us and
flew down to Bill's hand, guess it liked the mix of nuts he was
offering.
Walking back to the vehicle, 2 more
Canada Jays greeted us, along with two Dark-eyed Juncos and a couple of
Black-capped Chickadees and American Tree Sparrow. There were Pine
Siskin and Red-crossbills at the parking lot close to the entrance.
Those Pine Siskin are slow at moving and I am sure many get killed on
the road, food for the Ravens (so practical).
We drove back to the Visitors Centre only to find that it was closed. Power Outage I guess.
We
went pack to Mew Lake Campground, in hopes we would see the Pine
Marten, not to be, but maybe for another time. We did see both Red
Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills. What next? Back to the Logging
Museum, it was very quiet there, we did run into Jon Ruddy and his
clients. We then decided to go to Opeongo Road, we had one Canada Jay,
no make that two. Bill tried his luck at feeding them and he was
successful once. The Blue Jays came in and off went the Canada Jays.
We
left the park at 1:15, we had texted Barb C. to tell her what we had
seen and she responded by saying there was a power outage just as she
was taking out dinner, and the power was still out, she was now headed
to Ottawa.
We went home via Ross Road, hoping
to see maybe a raptor. Bill told us on the way up to Algonquin that he
looked at his blog checking out the last time we went to Algonquin
Park. We had killer views of a Cooper's Hawk, or at least we thought
that then. He took one look at the bird and it was not a Cooper's Hawk
but a Northern Goshawk. Well with that hope in mind we search but for
not. Best birds in the area were European Starlings and Rock Pigeons.
We were almost home when we got the last bird of the trip -- Wild Turkeys.
Trip List of Species
- Northern Cardinal
- American Crow
- Canada Goose
- European Starling
- Bald Eagle
- Common Raven
- Blue Jay
- Pine Siskin
- Hoary Redpoll
- American Tree Sparrow
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Evening Grosbeak
- Canada Jay
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- American Goldfinch
- Common Redpoll
- White-wing Crossbill
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Rock Pigeon
- Wild Turkey
Not
a long list for the two days, but we were really happy seeing all the
Pine Siskin, Evening Grosbeak, Red Crossbill and White Crossbill (I
don't think I have ever seen so many). Common Redpolls seem to be a
scarcity this year. Bill the lucky guy getting the Black-backed
Woodpecker and Barbara photographing the Hoary Woodpecker. And of
course, seeing those Canada Jays, always a treat.
