A day in Moonbeam

The weather forecast called for rain all weekend, except for a day of nice weather in Moonbeam on Friday, so that's where we went.  We went to René Brunelle Provincial Park and Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons, Moonbeam's two best spots to see birds in May.

René Brunelle Provincial Park was quiet, not a lot of campers were there yet because it's still early in the season.  This made it a perfect day to look for birds. We spent over 4 1/2 hours there.  The warblers were very active and singing non-stop everywhere. 

Magnolia Warbler / Paruline à tête cendrée
René Brunelle Provincial Park (27 May 2016)

Bay-breasted Warbler / Paruline à poitrine baie
René Brunelle Provincial Park (27 May 2016)

Snowshoe Hare / Lièvre d'Amérique
René Brunelle Provincial Park (27 May 2016)

Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons was our second stop.  The first pond of the lagoons had been emptied that week, so the bottom was mostly all mud.  This usually attracts a number of migrating shorebirds.

Semipalmated Plover / Pluvier semipalmé
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (27 May 2016)

There were 6 Semipalmated Plovers, 3 Dunlins, 1 Least Sandpiper and 6 Semipalmated Sandpipers.  I wish I was there this coming week to see what else might show up! For the last 2 years, we've had Wilson's Phalaropes at the Lagoons in May 2014 and 2015.  I was hoping to see some, but no luck.

Dunlins / Bécasseau variable
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (27 May 2016)

We saw a total of 6 American Coots.  That was the biggest number I had ever witnessed at this spot.  We usually see 1 or 2.

American Coot / Foulque d'Amérique
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (27 May 2016)

In the trees surrounding the lagoons, we observed this Blackpoll Warbler.  Unlike the other warblers that we see here, this one doesn't breed in our region, it is migrating north for the summer.

Blackpoll Warbler / Paruline rayée
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (27 May 2016)

Birding Porcupine Lake

I have always wondered how long it would take me to go around the entire Porcupine Lake on a bicycle while noting all the species of birds I observe.  There was only one way to find out.  I did it yesterday; It took me 5 hours.

I had biked and walked around the whole lake before but I had never actually birded the entire circumference of the lake in one shot. I usually bird only half or a third of the lake at once when I'm biking or walking because I'm extremely slow; when I look for birds I like to take my time, double-checking each i.d. and watching every bird for a while; in other words, I like to enjoy every minute of it!

I chose a weekday because the trails are less busy than during the weekend, and there's nothing like being completely alone surrounded by birds and nature. I started at White Waterfront area, cycled the 8.5 km that surrounds Porcupine Lake, counter clockwise, all the way back to my starting point.  It was around 13°C when I started at 10:40am and it became really warm (23°C) by the end.  I finished at 3:40 pm.

As you can see in the photo, the lake was calm.  The trees have no leaves yet, which makes May the ideal month to observe songbirds. 

Porcupine Lake - Dead Man's Point Trail
19 May 2016

The first half included the trail that starts at Station rd and goes all the way to Dead Man's Point and Bob's Creek Marsh. This trail had the most activity, mostly because it was earlier during the day and it was just starting to warm up.  The warblers and kinglets were concentrated in patches of spruce and in the deciduous trees that are just starting to show some buds.  I didn't take many photos.

Blue-headed Vireo
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2016)

Blue-winged Teals
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2016)

Black-and-white Warbler
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2016)

The second half of the loop was much quieter.  I saw that the swallows (Cliff, Barn and Tree) are returning to their normal activity near Bannerman's Park.  The cold snap of last week had forced hundreds of them to seek insects on the water at Bob's Lake and Three Nation's Lake.  At Bannerman's, I observed 9 Least Sandpipers.  We usually see more migrating shorebirds in May at Porcupine Lake but it's been a strange migrating season; these were my first for this year.

Least Sandpipers
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2016)

The Redheads were still hanging around in Bristol Park bay.

Redheads
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2016)

I plan to do a full circle of the lake every year in May.  I saw 57 species, including 13 species of warblers, but I think there should have been more birds in general. I didn't see any Grebes, Herons, Ospreys, Merlins, Dunlins, Dowitchers, etc. We usually see a larger variety of birds at Porcupine Lake in May.  But May is not over yet, so there is still time. So far, 139 species of birds have been observed in the last 3 years at Porcupine Lake (eBird data) and the list will likely keep growing.  

Moonbeam Spring Sightings

I spent the last week in Moonbeam and witnessed the arrival of warmer weather as well as a few birds.  I also had the opportunity to speak to a group of people at the Fauquier Community Centre about all the wonderful bird species we have in our region.  It was organized by the Fauquier Library and it was a lot of fun to share my passion with people who love birds.

On May 5th, I saw my first American Bittern of the year.  It was hiding really well, as Bitterns always do, in the dried cattails in a small pond.  We heard it as soon as we arrived and surprisingly, 20 minutes later, my dad spotted it.  I was able to get a few photo as well a a short video.  

American Bittern / Butor d'Amérique
Moonbeam, ON (5 May 2016)

I've never posted a video on Blogger before so I'm not sure if this will work.  Here is the American Bittern vocalizing:

Tundra Swans are currently migrating to the arctic tundra to breed.  Even though our region is not far off their migration path, we don't see them too often.  I was happy to observe this one on May 9th.  It seemed to be walking on water; it was standing on a thin layer of ice on the pond.

Tundra Swan / Cygne siffleur
Kapuskasing, ON (9 May 2016)

The White-crowned Sparrows arrived last week.  They are also on their way to their breeding ground up north.

White-crowned Sparrow / Bruant à couronne blanche
Moonbeam, ON (7 May 2016)

The ducks are slowly starting to arrive at the Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons.  The ice only melted around May 1st.  We're not seeing the large number of ducks we usually see at the lagoons, but we're seeing the usual; Ring-necked Ducks, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneyes, Scaups, Green-winged and Blue-winged Teals, Mallards…also American Coots and Red-necked Grebes.  And of course, the Northern Shovelers...

Northern Shoveler / Canard souchet
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (9 May 2016)

There is a creek on Ste-Marie road where we always see a good number of ducks.  So far, it's been almost empty.  I'm not sure why.

Where are all the ducks?
Moonbeam (10 May 2016)

There has been a few Sandhill Cranes around, but no big flocks like we used to see a few years ago.

Sandhill Crane / Grue du Canada
Moonbeam (10 May 2016)

We were lucky enough to witness 2 Sandhill Cranes doing their courtship display on the 8th of May.  I managed to get this short video.

A Chilly Spring in South Porcupine

It looks like spring and it sounds like spring but as soon as you step outside, you easily forget it's spring. As I'm writing this, it's currently -1°C.  The temperature doesn't seem to want to rise above 5°C this month.  I hope May will bring some warmth.  The birds are slowly arriving even though it's consistently cold and none of the lakes have thawed out yet.  Here are a few of this year's spring arrivals…

As always, the Frederick House Lake waterfront in Connaught is one of the first area to offer some open water to the migrating waterfowl:

Northern Pintail (Canard pilet)
Frederick House Lake, Connaught (24 April 2016)

As for yard birds, we have had some Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, Purple Finch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pine Siskins, White-throated and Fox Sparrows… But the bears are already wandering around and they have already destroyed one of my feeders... it's time to put the feeders away until next winter.

Fox Sparrow (Bruant fauve)
South Porcupine (April 2016)

Fox Sparrows are probably my favorite sparrows because of their melodic songs… I have been blessed with 3 Fox Sparrows this last week.  And they sing all day long!  I always have a few that stops by in spring but these 3 are staying for the whole week, which is unusual (they usually stay for a couple of days only).  I am obsessed with recording their beautiful melodies on my phone. I have a few of their melodies I wanted to share...I tried to insert a sound link here but I guess blogger doesn't offer that option.

Also visiting my yard this week was this Dark-eyed Junco with a patch of lost pigmentation.

Dark-eyed Junco- Leucistic (Junco ardoisé)
South Porcupine (25 April 2016)

We went out only once to Porcupine Lake.  We walked the trail following the shore, dressed in full winter clothing.  It's been too cold and I wasn't expecting lots.  We saw the usual for April: Mallards, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, Killdeers, Bald Eagle, Northern Flicker and Great Blue Heron.

Mallards (Canard colvert)
Porcupine Lake (27 April 2016)

Killdeer (Pluvier kildir)
Porcupine Lake (27 April 2016)

Great Blue Heron (Grand Héron)
Porcupine Lake (27 April 2016)

And last but not least, a sure sign that spring is really coming… my first warbler of the year.

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Paruline à croupion jaune)
Near Shallow Lake, Porcupine (24 April 2016)

Next week, I will be heading to Moonbeam for some meetings so I will hopefully have a chance to go birding at some of my favorite spots: the Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons and the rural roads in the Moonbeam area.

Favorite Birding Spots in Timmins - South Porcupine Area

Northern Ontario is a great place to discover birds.  We have such a vast, wild, non-developed territory to explore.  These never-ending natural areas mean that the birds are spread out and therefore, not easy to find. But that's ok because we love the challenge, right? And when we do find a worthwhile bird, it makes it even more special.  Cochrane district is a great place to look for birds and not a lot of people are doing it!  Actually, the territory is so vast and the number of birders so low, I've only ever ran into birders twice while in the field; that's twice in the last 5 years!  Personally, I think that's great in a way.  But just in case someone is looking for birding spots in the area, I have decided to add a page to this blog.  You will now find a tab that will give you access to a list of my favorite birding spots around the South Porcupine and Timmins area.  I will add spots around the Moonbeam area later on.  Good birding! 

American Redstart - Porcupine Lake

A quick update from the last 8 months

I have not updated this blog for the last 8 months. I skipped summer, fall and winter.  I have been out there trying to observe and learn more about the birds that surround us, but I haven't been writing about it.  I should do a quick update before spring gets here and I get too busy trying to remember all the different variations of warbler songs.

I'm going to post one photo from each month I have skipped, from June 2015 to January 2016.

JUNE 2015

It's always a treat to see these wonderful ducks when they pass by during migration.We don't see them too often… only once in a while on Porcupine Lake.

Long-tailed Duck (Harelde kakawi)
Porcupine Lake (June 2015)

JULY 2015

Every summer, there is a family of Eastern Kingbird that nests in one of my favorite marsh.  They always choose a dead stump in the middle of the pond.  We watched the parents working hard at catching insects to feed the hungry nestlings.

Eastern Kingbird nest (Tyran tritri)
Near Porcupine, ON (July 2015)

AUGUST 2015

Although very common in the southern part of the province, Gray Catbirds are not that common in the South Porcupine area.  We observed this particular Catbird in the Porcupine Lake area, between the Dead Man's Point trail (on the south side of Porcupine Lake) and the Evans street creek area.  In June, it was very vocal; it was interesting to hear it sing non-stop near the trail.  In August, I observed it many times near Evans street creek; it was carrying food (insects) back and forth across the creek.  I didn't see a nest, but this behaviour is a sign that it was feeding young ones nearby.

Gray Catbird (Moqueur chat) - Porcupine Lake
South Porcupine - August 2015

SEPTEMBER 2015

Bear sightings in town have increased alarmingly in the last 6 years.  Black bears seem to love to hide in our huge spruce tree in the front yard.  Every fall, this is a common sight out of our living room window.  We have to be extra careful when we go out the door.  This is why we put our bird feeders away in April and we don't take them back out until November.  

Bear cubs in my tree
South Porcupine (September 2015)

OCTOBER 2015

I missed the huge flocks of hundreds of cranes this fall, but I did spot a few.

Sandhill Cranes (Grue du Canada)
Timmins, ON (October 2015)

NOVEMBER 2015 

A note on learning about birds:  I still consider myself a beginner birder and I know I still have so much to learn.  There are plenty of opportunities to learn if you take the time to look closely.  And you have to appreciate when a good challenge comes along.  My thirst for knowledge is much greater than my pride, that's why I'm not afraid to show my limitations and ask questions when it comes to birds… it's the only way to learn!  For all of you who are, like me, starting to learn about birds, don't be embarrassed to ask a question about a bird's i.d.  If you do, you are limiting yourself.  When I first started, I needed help identifying European Starlings and other common birds.  Every encounter is a learning experience, and if you find yourself in doubt, it just reflects the fact that you haven't been exposed to that particular learning experience before…so take advantage of it.  You have 2 choices: Option 1: you convince yourself you know the answer and you accept the easiest i.d. rather than look further and ask around…this is how you stop learning.  Option 2: you observe every details, take notes, ask questions and look at all the possible i.d. options... and you continue learning.   

We were driving on the highway and spotted this hawk. At first glance, because of the time of year (November), I thought this was either a Rough-legged Hawk or a Red-tailed Hawk because we had seen many of those in this particular area in the past.  But as we got closer, I realized immediately that it was much smaller than a Rough-legged and it looked a bit smaller than a Red-tailed.  The size itself was telling me it could be a Broad-winged Hawk.  I had seen them in the area before and the size seemed to fit. Of course, adult Broad-winged Hawks are easier to i.d. when in flight with the under wing and under tail pattern. But this young hawk was a bit trickier for a beginner like me!  It was a very cooperative bird and I was able to look at it for a while, from the front, the back and in flight. I wrote  observations in my notebook (it's important to write stuff like size and behaviour as you observe the bird because it's not something you can get later from a photograph and time will distort your memory).  When I got home and looked at the photos, I was hesitant between a Juvenile Red-tail Hawk and a Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk.  The size of it was indicative of a Broad-winged Hawk (approx 15 inches) as opposed to Red-tailed Hawk (approx 19 inches) but size is a very tricky thing to judge. The unmarked under tail coverts was also indicative of a Juvenile Broad-winged. There are more details to enumerate but I won't go on forever.  I have to admit this is when I wish I had someone to turn to for help!  Feel free to comment on this i.d. if you feel I missed something… I'm always open to comments and willing to learn!

Broad-winged Hawk Juvenile? (Petite Buse)
South Porcupine (November 2015)

The same Hawk seen from behind

DECEMBER 2015 

At least this one wasn't hard to identify!  This was my first ever Timmins area Snowy.  I had seen them only in Moonbeam, Kapuskasing and Cochrane last year.  

Snowy Owl (Harfang des neiges)
Timmins (December 2015)

JANUARY 2016

Believe it or not, I saw my first Bohemian Waxwings this year!  This was one species I just couldn't seem to find!  I've been looking for them every winter, but I've had no luck until now.  Ok, I have to admit that I wasn't the one who found them…my husband did.  He saw them in town, correctly identified them with his Sibley's and came to get me immediately (I guess the years of forced training I put him through paid off!).  There were 12 of them eating berries from a shrub.  It was almost dark so the photo doesn't do it justice... I honestly think these are the most attractive birds we have in our region.  They are absolutely stunning!  They are bigger than our abundant Cedar Waxwings and they're only in our area during the winter.  They breed up north during the summer.  They survive on berries and fruits during our long winter months. If you haven't observed this amazing bird yet, and you have fruit or berry trees in your neighbourhood, take your binoculars and look around once in a while… and don't give up, I had been looking for years before I saw one.

Bohemian Waxwing (Jaseur boréal)
South Porcupine (January 2016)

Spring in South Porcupine and Moonbeam

May is the greatest time to observe birds in Northern Ontario.  The weather has been ok so far.  Most of the time, it's been nice for birding but we have had some days with freezing temperature and snow (it wouldn't be Northern Ontario if we didn't go from 25˚C to -4˚C in 24 hours at least a few times!) I have been travelling to Moonbeam a lot this May.  Here are a few of my favorite spring sightings from Moonbeam and South Porcupine.

The Moonbeam Sewage Lagoon never disappoints.  I've observed the Eurasian Wigeon there a few times and I saw it again on May 24. The water was very high until the 2nd week of May, but then the south pond was emptied, which attracted many shorebirds. On the 22nd, I saw a flock of 12 Semipalmated Plovers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, 23 Dunlins, 3 Least Sandpipers, and a Wilson's Phalarope.  It was the biggest concentration of shorebirds I ever witnessed at MSL.  

Semipalmated Plover / Pluvier semipalmé
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (22 May 2015)

This was my second Wilson's Phalarope sighting; the first sighting was a male and female at exactly the same spot in May 2014.  This time, there was only the female.

Wilson's Phalarope / Phalarope de Wilson
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (22 May 2015)

When the pond gets emptied, it leaves the mud exposed.  Lots of shorebirds were feeding that day.

Dunlins and Dowitchers feeding
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (22 May 2015)

Short-billed Dowitchers / Bécassins roux
Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons (22 May 2015)

I was pleasantly surprised when a friend of mine told me about a Great Horned Owl nest  in Moonbeam.  He obtained the property owner's permission to bring me to see them.  It was my first Great Horned Owl sighting.  One adult was in the nest with 2 owlets (the other owlet is hiding in this picture)

Great Horned Owl / Grand-duc d'Amérique
Moonbeam (25 May 2015)

I was far when I took the above photo, but even then I felt like I was invading their peaceful life, so I didn't stay long.  That's why I love my Canon Powershot SX60HS; I can take photos of birds without disturbing them too much.  At full zoom, it offers the equivalent of a 1365mm lens (for under 500$!). Of course, it doesn't produce professional, sharp photos, but at least it's efficient, it's cheap, and I can carry this little camera everywhere!  This is the view from where I was standing when I took the Photo.

View of the Great Horned Owl's nest

Porcupine Lake is another spot that never disappoint in May.  I didn't have a chance to spend as much time there as I wanted, but I did get to see my first Horned Grebes on May 10.

Horned Grebes / Grebe esclavon
Porcupine Lake (10 May 2015)

I haven't seen many shorebirds at Porcupine Lake, but it's a really busy place, with lots of dogs off their leash.  But I did see Dunlins and a Least Sandpiper. 

This post is getting too long, so I will end with a gorgeous warbler that we don't really see often enough around here.  I observed it at my in-laws' campsite, which is close to Kettle Lakes Provincial Park.  I first heard its very distinctive song so I looked for it until I found it.  I had seen them before at Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park near Foleyet; it was a treat to find one near here. 

Black-throated Blue Warbler / Paruline bleue
Near South Porcupine (16 May 2015)