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!
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