November 25, 2017 - Owls in the Rain

I had a client from New York who was only able to come to the park for one full day, and was interested in seeing most of the specialty birds in the area, including more general northern stuff like Snowy and Great Gray Owls.

Snowy Owl is extremely rare in Algonquin, and the few records were all one-day wonders. I gave some tips to Mike, who was coming from the south, for a few places to check for Snowy Owls on the way up to the park, and he was successful in seeing one near Hamilton. Great Gray Owls breed in Algonquin but they are very sparse and difficult to find. I usually only see them once or twice a year.

Nonetheless, we were eager to give it a try and cruised Highway 60 as it got dark the night before, hoping for owls or mammals but even after a couple of hours and covering close to 100 km, we saw nothing - not even a Red Fox. The next day I woke up and it was 8°C/46.4°F and steadily raining. Not ideal weather for birding.

As we made our way into the park early in the morning, in the first hour of light, I noticed a cow Moose in the woods close to the road. We pulled over and she eventually came out to browse on some twigs beside the road, giving great views. Not a bad start.



We pulled up to Smoke Lake to look at a duck that Mike had spotted and it was a late Common Merganser, a nice surprise. It was following a foraging Beaver around. The beaver noticed the car and gave a classic tail-slap before disappearing.

A Red Fox had crossed the road in front of us and we pulled over to watch it hunt the ditch adjacent to the road for a few minutes. It was not particularly concerned with our presence but was wary, always kept an eye on us and did not approach the stopped vehicle - good to know that it was indeed "wild" and not food-conditioned. 



Several flocks of Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch and Purple Finch were on the road. Many tree species had a good crop this year so we can expect lots of these in the winter.

As we arrived to our first stop of the day to look for Spruce Grouse, I had barely had the time to explain that they can be a bit tricky at this time of year before we saw a nice male within 10 metres of the parking lot. In typical Spruce Grouse fashion, it was unperturbed and allowed for great views and photos.




Some White-winged Crossbills were flying around and perching, but pretty far. A couple Red Crossbills were also about but again, flying over mostly. We noticed another grouse on the trail, and it turned out to be another male Spruce Grouse! We still needed Ruffed Grouse and connected with one a bit further.




The Visitor Centre had recently put up their feeders and they were already found by several Evening Grosbeaks - our target here. Purple Finches were also in evidence.

We then drove eastwards to the far east end of the park. Walking a trail here, we did not find anything particularly exciting until we noticed an animal running around on the ground near the parking lot - an American Marten! It put on a great show, chasing some Blue Jays in the trees and grooming itself before descending to the ground again. In the dead of winter, these can be easy to find, but with this warm weather we were lucky to spot this one.




We still needed to see some Gray Jays so we went to a location where they are easy and come to the hand. We saw two pairs and they entertained us with their antics. We tried hard for Boreal Chickadee and Black-backed Woodpecker, but they did not make a showing.

Another bird appeared at the tops of one of the black spruce trees, and while it looked superficially like the Gray Jays we were watching earlier, closer inspection revealed it to be a Northern Shrike! Shrikes spend the winter every once in while, but are more regular on passage. A pleasant surprise and an unexpected lifer for Mike.

Still hurting for the chickadee and woodpecker, we went to yet another site. Waking up early and taking advantage of the entirety of the few hours of daylight available has many benefits! We saw many Black-capped Chickadees but alas, the Boreal evaded our best efforts.

My Barred Owl imitation did inspire a Black-backed Woodpecker to fly over, but it barely qualified as a good look. Thankfully, the bird returned to mob the imaginary owl and gave us our first good looks at this Algonquin specialty!

We noticed a raptor soaring in the distance and looked at it. This late in the season, it was certainly something good, and I was hoping for Rough-legged Hawk, which is an uncommon passage migrant here.



Imagine our surprise when the bird, as it came closer, revealed itself to be a Snowy Owl!!! Snowy Owl has only been recorded in 8 of the last 50 years in Algonquin. There is essentially no habitat for them here so we were lucky to see one actively migrating. A moment that will live forever in Algonquin Park history!

It was getting dark, so we had planned to drive some roads to see if we can find more mammals or owls. A Red Fox crossed in front of the car. It was that time of day!

As a most fitting end to the unbelievable day we'd already had, just before dark I noticed a large, gray, loaf-of-bread shaped object breaking up the otherwise straight silhouette of the power lines - a Great Gray Owl. It sat unperturbed as we watched it before it flew back into the woods.




What a trip, perhaps never to be repeated again - but that's the beauty of this part of the world. You really don't know what you're going to see - even on a rainy, warm November day!

November 11 & 12, 2017 - Moose, Otters and Bears

Murray was bringing two people up from Toronto on a Toronto Nature Lovers trip to Algonquin Park. I help Murray out with many of his Algonquin trips in the winter, and it's always a good time.

November isn't a particularly popular month in Algonquin Park. The weather can be a bit iffy, but you're mostly sacrificing sunshine for warmth, as the temperature is pretty mild. It's also a good time to view the winter specialties of the park with some bonus things lingering from the summer. It can make for some pretty amazing days - as our two clients discovered!

I met the group in the late afternoon (they had been to the Haliburton Wolf Centre and seen a couple Bald Eagles earlier) and we went directly to the Visitor Centre to see what was happening there. On our way, a Red Fox was commuting along the road just outside the park. Turns out, not too much was at the visitor centre.

We went to find some Gray Jays, which we did with relative ease and enjoyed feeding them for a few minutes. Another Red Fox ran across the road. We then decided to see if one of our "gimme" locations for Northern River Otters in the winter was any good. There had been a hard freeze on the Friday. Otters are difficult to find in the warm months, but easier to locate on the ice.

It was getting dark, which is prime time for otters. We lucked out and our otters were present, two animals fishing along the mouth of a river, frequently emerging onto the ice! Murray put them in the scope and we watched them for about fifteen minutes.

Driving back towards Huntsville, I spotted some eyeshine and it turned out to be a mousing Red Fox - our third for the trip. It was neat to watch it sit and swivel its head back and forth like an owl while listening for voles. We left him in peace and then noticed a car pulled over just down the road, and there was a cow and calf Moose browsing alongside the road. We got nice views in the headlights even though it was almost dark. We stayed with them until they moved back into the bush and were not at risk from getting hit by the cars passing by!

The next morning, our first nice surprise was a very cooperative cow Moose browsing alongside the road. She was not at all concerned with our presence and there was almost no traffic - a nice opportunity to watch the animal behaving normally. We did not see any Moose last winter, so to have three in twenty-four hours is exceptional.

We hiked for a bit but it was quiet in the woods, save for some flyover crossbills and a Black-backed Woodpecker. We did encounter another pair of Gray Jays and had some fun with them.

On our way to the Visitor Centre, we stopped at a large flock of finches on the road. Most of them were American Goldfinch and Pine Siskin, but there were some Purple Finches and Red Crossbills with them as well. Nice to see them when they're not flying over, but not so good to have them right on the road. I attempted to usher them off but they were pretty hungry for grit.

At the Visitor Centre, we were treated to amazing views of Red Crossbills feeding off the viewing deck. A pair of White-winged Crossbills joined them for a few minutes. The majority of the Red Crossbills were juveniles.

We hiked a couple more trails, but besides occasional flyover finches it was pretty quiet - though nicer than the previous day as the temperature had gone above freezing.

We usually cruise the highway in the late afternoon, as this is the best time for observing mammals. This proved to be true today - as we were driving westbound, Murray suddenly shouted "Bears!". All hell broke loose for a few seconds as a Black Bear sow with two cubs crossed the road in front of us!

Black Bears are difficult to see in Algonquin and to see one in winter is remarkable. They are usually retiring animals and in Algonquin, which is mostly forested, it is much more difficult to see bears as there aren't many open areas. Early spring is probably the best time, when there's still a bit of snow on the ground. There had been mild temperatures and a good Red Oak crop, so it's not particularly surprising that these were still out. They should be hibernating by the end of the month. We were all pretty stoked!



The drive back to Huntsville was uneventful save for a couple of White-tailed Deer starting to yard up outside of town. A fantastic short tour of the park, and just goes to show that you never know what you're going to see out here!