May 2024 Timmins Area Update

My last update was already a year ago. Time flies! We had a busy past year filled with many bird-related projects including the ongoing Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas project, the OFO Convention weekend in Timmins last fall, our 30th Timmins Christmas Bird Count in Dec. 2023 (which was also my first one as the compiler), a few spring library talks...and we're now kicking off the 4th year of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas in Timmins this weekend! 

Blackpoll Warbler - Porcupine Lake (17 May 2024)

Spring 2024

With our last migrating birds passing through the Timmins area this week, another spring has come and gone in what feels like seconds. April and May 2024 were unusually warm and dry. The ice melted quickly in late April and gull watching (aka the greatest show on ice) was very brief this spring. We did have our largest count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls with a high count of 7 at the same time on Porcupine Lake's receding ice, observed by Gary D, Shannon K, Pierre N and I during a wonderful gull-watching evening on April 25. After April 26th, at the peak of their migration, gulls had unfortunately no more ice to gather on at Porcupine Lake and in Timmins.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls on ice with Herring Gulls
Porcupine Lake (24 April 2024)

Lesser Black-backed Gull in flight with Herring Gulls
Porcupine Lake (24 April 2024)

The leaves are all out now, much earlier than usual, and many species have already started nesting. With uninterrupted ideal flight winds throughout the entire month of May in our area, songbirds flew through without lingering, leaving us no real exciting opportunities to enjoy days with large numbers of migrants. There were no cold days with precipitations in May to force northbound birds to stop, feed and rest. From a birding perspective, I feel like we went from a very mild winter straight to breeding season.

For those interested in spring migration timing in our area, I am still collecting spring arrival dates for the 100 km radius around Timmins. This will be the 8th year.   

Northern Shoveler pair
Porcupine Lake the day before the thaw (26 April 2024)

Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) Field Trip: Porcupine Lake and area

We had a great day on Sunday, May 26th, for the 3rd OFO Field Trip in the Porcupine Lake area. (You can find reports of the past walks, OFO Field Trips including the 2023 Timmins' edition of the OFO Convention on the following page: Past Bird Walks - Timmins Area) 

Part of the OFO Field Trip group on the Porcupine Lake trail.
© Photo Adele Malo (26 May 2024)

We started the morning looking at waterfowl, sparrows, warblers and swallows at White Waterfront Conservation Area. More people joined us and we visited a few other locations. Songbirds were active along Porcupine Lake's Dead Man Point section of the trail. The leaves were out earlier than usual and made it difficult to locate birds, but encouraged us to appreciate the various songs and calls. Many in our group managed good views of Black-and-white, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Bay-breasted and Yellow Warblers, American Redstarts, Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireos, and Veery. 

The highlight of the day was finding a Summer Tanager, a very rare bird for the area and a first record for Timmins. Many of us were delighted to watch this beautiful bird sing and feed along poplar branches. This bird was species # 155 added to the Timmins Checklist of Birds! See the updated Timmins Checklist of Birds.  

Summer Tanager - first record for Timmins
Roxane Filion (26 May 2024)

Throughout the day, we saw and heard 65 different species of birds at 5 different locations. 

A very special thanks to all the 24 people who joined us, it was great to meet new people and see old friends. A sincere thanks to Pierre Noel for leading this OFO Field Trip with me and to my husband Gary Dowe for his help keeping the eBird lists.  

Are you interested in joining an OFO Field Trip? It's a great way to spend the day with other bird enthusiasts and explore new spots to look for birds! If you love exploring new habitats and seeing elusive boreal birds, there is an OFO Field Trip coming up Sept. 14, 2024 in Cochrane. I highly recommend it! Spaces are limited, so sign up soon. More details here: https://ofo25.wildapricot.org/event-5465927 

4 new species documented in Timmins:

Since my last update, we had 4 exciting additions to the Timmins Checklist of Birds. All 4 were very rare birds listed on the Ontario Bird Records Committee (OBRC) central review list for our area. 

Great Egret (22 July 2023) First record for Timmins. Found by S. Labelle at Hollinger Tailings. 

Great Egret, a first record for Timmins
Hollinger Tailings - R.Filion (July 2023)

Red Phalarope (11 October 2023) Found at Porcupine Lake by Pierre Noel on the evening of October 11th, 2023. I was able to rush out and see this wonderful bird feed in circles near the shoreline before the sun went down. 

Record shot of the Red Phalarope, a first record for Timmins
11 October 2023 - Porcupine Lake 

Blue Grosbeak (6 May 2024): An amazing bird, found and identified by local residents K. Malo and S. Power. It stayed only a few hours, feeding on insects high up in a pine. Pierre, Gary and I were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see it and we are very thankful to the finders for inviting us. This was also the first record in eBird for the district of Cochrane.   

Blue Grosbeak -very rare for the area -first record for Timmins
6 May 2024 

Summer Tanager (26 May 2024) First record for Timmins, second eBird record for the district of Cochrane, found during the OFO Field Trip at Porcupine Lake. We were on our way back to the parking lot after a wonderful walk along the Dead Man's Point section of the trail when a robin-like song that sounded a bit different stopped me in my track. I was able to locate the sound and spotted a unique orange-red bird with somewhat darker wings that looked like a tanager. I immediately called the others. 

This was my first look.

 

My first look at the bird, singing deep in poplar trees.
OFO Field Trip Porcupine Lake - Roxane Filion (26 May 2024) 

From the sound and the limited view I first had, I thought it could have been a Scarlet Tanager, which is uncommon but occasional in our area. It wasn't easy to get good looks of the bird at first; it was moving constantly, feeding deep in the poplar branches, often hidden behind leaves. However, we all managed decent views and a few photos of this wonderful bird actively singing and feeding. We weren't sure what it was feeding on at the time, but later looks at Pierre's photos revealed it was eating bees or wasp-like bugs (check out Pierre's excellent photos on the eBird checklist!) 

The best part of us finding this bird was that we were able to share this exciting observation with so many people! On site, after getting good views and photos, we looked at Sibley's Guide and at the distinguishing characteristics and agreed that it looked like a Summer Tanager! A first for Timmins. 

Summer Tanager feeding - Porcupine Lake, South Porcupine
OFO Field Trip. Photo Roxane Filion (26 May 2024)

With these 4 new records for Timmins, the Timmins Checklist of Birds now stands at 255 species.

Don't forget to check for updates on the Timmins and Area Birds' upcoming events page.