First visit to Point Pelee

Point Pelee has been on top of my "places I want to go" wish list for the last decade and I finally had a chance to go spend 3 days in this wonderful National Park with Gary last week. My birding experience south of Cochrane District is practically non-existent. Other than a quick camping trip to Presqu'ile in July 2015 and another quick camping trip to Awenda in September 2016, I had never really observed birds south of the Timmins/South Porcupine area. Point Pelee was actually my first trip exclusively dedicated to birds.

The Tip at Point Pelee National Park
 30 April 2018

My goal was to take my time and observe and listen to many species that rarely or never make it all the way up north and learn as much as I could.  Hey, it's good to be able to recognize them by sight or sound if they ever decide to show up here one day, right?  

Before getting to the park, we read about Willets at Wheatley harbour and it turned out it was only a 14 minute drive so we went and we found them on the beach.  This was the first Ontbird alert that I was ever able to follow; they are usually over 8 to 12 hours away! I had seen Willets in Nova Scotia in 2008 but these were my first Ontario Willets. Someone we met told us we were now in Chatham-Kent county and I couldn't believe how small the counties were down south. Cochrane district is 500 km wide!

Willets / Chevaliers semipalmés
Wheatley Harbour (28 April 2018)

At Point Pelee, we went to explore the Tip, then we went to walk a few trails. Here are a few random observations:

I watched Field Sparrows for a very long time.  (For way too long, according to my husband! But we don't have them up north) At first I thought it was trying to gather nest material but it turns out it was feeding. It was jumping on tall grass, bringing it down, then eating the seeds off them. It was entertaining!

Field Sparrow eating
Cactus Field (29 April 2018)

Field Sparrow / Bruant des champs
Cactus Field Trail - Point Pelee (29 April 2018)

There was a Vesper Sparrow hanging out at the Visitor Centre:

Vesper Sparrow / Bruant vespéral
Visitor Centre - Point Pelee (29 April 2018)

We listened to the many songs of the Carolina Wren, another bird that doesn't come up north. 

Carolina Wren / Troglodyte de Caroline
Woodland Nature Trail - Point Pelee - (29 April 2018)

I also got to observe and listen to many Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Gary called them Nutchatchers. 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher / Gobemoucheron gris-bleu
Point Pelee (30 April 2018)

In the evening of April 30th, we went for a stroll on the DeLaurier Homestead trail where we watched a Brown Thrasher sing non-stop from his perch. We also observed a Chimney Swift flying over us and a group of Wild Turkeys. 

Brown Thrasher / Moqueur roux
Point Pelee (30 April 2018)

All the trails were amazing at Point Pelee but The DeLaurier Homestead Trail was particularly picturesque in the evening sun. 

DeLaurier Homestead Trail - Point Pelee
30 April 2018

On April 30th, we had the opportunity to observe a Louisiana Waterthrush that was first found by a nearby birder that helped us locate it.  When the group that was looking at the bird with us left (to chase a nearby Prairie Warbler) I decided to stay and observe this lifer for another 10 minutes. You can see the bright legs, the thicker white rear supercilium. In the second photo, we can see  the white throat. The bird kept slowly bobbing up and down, giving us great views, and I was enjoying the moment.

Louisiana Waterthrush / Paruline hochequeue
Tilden Woods -Point Pelee - (30 April 2018) 

Louisiana Waterthrush / Paruline hochequeue
Tilden Woods - Point Pelee (30 April 2018)

When we left the Louisiana Waterthrush, we thought the Prairie Warbler would be gone but it was still being observed!!  And we were able to get decent views and listen to it sing.

 

Prairie Warbler / Paruline des prés
Cactus Field - Point Pelee (30 April 2018)

A Pine Warbler and a Palm Warbler were in the same location. 

Pine Warbler / Paruline des pins
Cactus Field- Point Pelee (30 April 2018)

The tip is a great place to watch waterfowl in flight.  Surf Scoters are a rare occurrence in the Timmins area and I had a lot of fun watching them fly back and forth.

Surf Scoters / Macreuses à front blanc
The Tip - Point Pelee (30 April 2018)

A group of White-winged Scoters also flew by. Even if we do see them here in the South Porcupine area once in a while, it was a great opportunity to watch them in flight.

We went twice to Hillman Marsh and observed a Forster's Tern for the first time. The day we left, we went back for a quick visit before we had to fly home and we saw some Black-bellied Plovers, Least Sandpipers and Dunlins. 

Black-bellied Plover / Pluvier argenté
Hillman Marsh (1 May 2018) 

Observing birds that I rarely have a chance to see was great, but that wasn't the only thing that impressed me.  At Point Pelee, there are birders! You actually meet people with binoculars on trails, doing exactly what you are doing. I had never really experienced this before (although we do see more and more people getting into birding here in the Timmins area, for many years we would meet on average 1 to 2 per year) Everyone at Point Pelee was friendly and helpful, from the birders who pointed out the Louisiana Waterthrush and Prairie Warbler to Jeremy and Amanda who took time to walk and talk with us at the Marsh Boardwalk. 

Overall, for a first quick first visit, it was great. On the day we left, a lot of new migrants arrived and the Festival of Birds started; I really wanted to stay. I would definitely love to go back one day; maybe in mid May and for at least 5 to 6 days. 

My first but hopefully not my last visit to Point Pelee
28 April 2018

After a pause, migration is on again

It was a very cold and strange start of spring here in the Timmins area. After a few arrivals in the last week of March and the first few days of April, migration came to an almost complete stop during the first 2 weeks of April.  The temperatures remained significantly below average every day until April 21st.  A few days of south wind and warm weather from April 21 to April 26 brought us an important number of new arrivals and a larger number of previously arrived migrants.

Common Grackle during a snow fall
16 April 2018

As of today, our lakes are still 99% ice covered (with a few inches open in some areas near shore).  Thankfully, we have a few rivers that offered a bit of open water to the migrating waterfowl. Here are a few of our arrivals:

First Yellow-rumped Warbler of spring
South Porcupine (23 April 2018)

First Rusty Blackbird of spring
South Porcupine - (26 April 2018)

With a very limited number of open water areas, we get to see a good congregation of waterfowl at Porcupine Lake where the Porcupine River starts (near Bannerman Park).  Yesterday, I saw my first Pied-billed Grebe of spring (as well as our first American Coot) along with many species of ducks.

Pied-billed Grebe / Grebe à bec bigarré
Porcupine Lake @ Porcupine River (25 April 2018)

At the same location, we observed a Trumpeter Swan.  It had been found earlier that day by someone in my neighbourhood and I was glad it was still there at 5pm. They are uncommon in our area so it was a big surprise. It was a new species for Porcupine Lake (species #165) and a new species for me in our district. I had only seen them in Southern Ontario and in BC.

Trumpeter Swan / Cygne trompette
Porcupine Lake (25 April 2018)

Further on the south side of Porcupine Lake, a small open area contained 2 Tundra Swans.

Tundra Swans / Cygne siffleur
Porcupine Lake (25 April 2018)

I will try to continue to update my Spring Arrival Page with every new arrival.

Mink watching us as we were looking at birds
Porcupine Lake (25 April 2018)

Winter 2017- Eastern Towhee and CBCs

Although I sometimes complain about frozen toes and fingers, I actually don't mind winters in Northern Ontario. This year, our first snow started early (late October) and the ground has been snow covered since the first week of November. The weather in November wasn't bad but the last 2 weeks of December were very cold, like most other places in Canada.

This year, our lakes and rivers have been frozen since the second week of November.  The last waterfowl seen in the Timmins area were these Long-tailed Ducks on November 17 - they were taking advantage of the very last tiny patch of open water. (last year, the last LTDU were seen on December 4th, 2016)

Long-tailed Duck / Harelde Kakawi
Little Pearl Lake, Timmins (17 November 2017)

Bald Eagles have been overwintering in our area for a few years and their numbers seem to be increasing. On December 2nd, we saw 43 Bald Eagles (a record high count for me) at the Timmins Landfill and on December 9th, there were 31 left.  On the day of the Timmins Christmas Bird Count (Dec 23), someone counted around 20.

Bald Eagles / Pygargues à tête blanche
Timmins (2 December 2017)

Iroquois Falls Christmas Bird Count

This year, Gary and I participated in the Iroquois Falls Christmas Bird Count as well as the Timmins CBC.  It was only the second year of the Iroquois Falls CBC revival (Iroquois Falls had a CBC before but it was stopped until Rhonda Donley re-started it in December 2016) We saw mostly regular winter birds.  However, we did observe this White-crowned Sparrow, a very unusual bird for winter in Northern Ontario. I believe it was the first White-crowned Sparrow recorded in the Iroquois Falls CBC.

White-crowned Sparrow / Bruant à couronne blanche
Iroquois Falls (16 December 2017)

Timmins Christmas Bird Count

The Timmins Christmas Bird Count was held on December 23, 2017. Unlike the rest of December, the count day was warm for Timmins: -10°C (-14°C with the wind chill) The data is not final and still being compiled but we were around 21 participants and we counted 24 species which is a regular average for the Timmins Area winter count.  Although the data hasn't been finalized, I believe we added 3 new species for the Timmins CBC: an American Robin, a Brown Creeper and an Eastern Towhee.

American Robin / Merle d'Amérique
Photo by: Andrew Warren
Porcupine (December 2017)

Eastern Towhee / Tohi à flancs roux
Photo by: Andrew Warren
Porcupine (December 2017)

The Eastern Towhee is a rare visitor for the Timmins area in any season. The bird arrived in Porcupine on December 8, 2017 (found by Andrew Warren) and is still around today, surviving more than 10 consecutive days of temperatures around -30°C and many nights where the wind chill was -40°C.  I observed the Eastern Towhee on December 10th but was unable to take photos. These photos were generously provided by Andrew Warren who is doing a great job at hosting the bird since its arrival; he keeps his feeders full for the Eastern Towhee and for the overwintering American Robin. Andrew has been very helpful in documenting this sighting, participating in the Timmins CBC and letting birders view the Eastern Towhee in his yard.  

Eastern Towhee / Tohi à flancs roux
Photo by: Andrew Warren
Porcupine (December 2017)

Known records of Eastern Towhee in Cochrane District - Notice that most are in winter.

1. July 1984 in Cochrane
2. November to December 1991 in Hunta - (near Cochrane)
3. November 2006 in Timmins 
4. January 2016 near Hearst (I just found out about this sighting)
5. December 2016 to March 2017 in Dugwal - 29 km NE of Timmins  (This female survived the winter but died in March after a cold spell)
6. December 8 - Continuing - in Porcupine (near Timmins)

I would like to wish all my readers a Happy New Year; I hope 2018 will bring you health, peace and many great bird sightings!

Boreal Chickadee / Mésange à tête brune
South Porcupine (28 December 2017)

Gray Jay / Mésangeai du Canada
South Porcupine (29 December 2017)

Fall Update

This was going to be a quick fall update but I realized I haven't posted since the end of spring. I wouldn't want anyone to think that I have been ignoring the birds so here's a quick update of the last 5 months.

July 2017 - Gary and I went on what we called our own little "Canada 150 Scenery, Birds and Beer Alberta-BC Tour" We spent 3 weeks touring Alberta and British Columbia, exploring the sights, enjoying some craft beer and of course, looking for wildlife and western birds species.  We rented a car in Calgary and drove a 3000 km loop that took us to Olds, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Golden, Salmon Arm, Vaseux Lake, Osoyoos, Rossland, Nelson, Fernie, Pincher Creek, Drumheller and back to Calgary. We saw lots of geography including the Mountains, the shrub-grassland-desert of the south Okanagan valley, Alberta's never ending fields and the Alberta Badlands.  We collected a decent list of life birds. We saw our first Grizzly as we drove on the Icefields Parkway and our first Bighorn sheeps in Golden.  After this trip, I can now honestly say without a doubt: we have the most beautiful country in the world.  It was an unforgettable trip. I won't post my western observations here because this is a Northern Ontario blog but you can view some of them on my flickr account in my Alberta Album and in my British Columbia Album. 

August 2017

In August, we went on our only camping trip of the summer at Esker Lakes Provincial Park.  I had won 2 nights of free camping in a photo contest last summer!  I really like the trails at Esker Lakes. We didn't see as many birds as last year but we got to watch this Solitary Sandpiper catch food in a shallow pond near the beach.

Solitary Sandpiper / Chevalier solitaire
Esker Lakes Provincial Park (28 August 2017)

FALL 2017

We had a great fall in Northern Ontario.  We had warm weather until the 3rd week of October.  We didn't see many migrating shorebirds other than Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, and some American Golden Plovers in Moonbeam. A very small number of shorebirds went through Porcupine Lake this fall, including this Black-bellied Plover.

Black-bellied Plover / Pluvier argenté
Porcupine Lake (6 September 2017)

At the end of September, we participated in the Mattagami Region Conservation Authority's Fall Hiking Day at Hersey Lake Conservation Area. MRCA is the agency responsible for creating and maintaining the many wonderful trails in the Timmins area. We saw this Black-backed Woodpecker during the walk; Hersey lake offers the ideal habitat for these elusive woodpecker.

Black-backed Woodpecker / Pic à dos noir
Hersey Lake Conservation Area - Timmins (30 September 2017)

New species for Porcupine Lake

We added a few new species to Porcupine Lake this fall including a Yellow-headed Blackbird (found by Pierre Noel), a Black Scoter and a Canvasback.  When I say new species, I certainly don't mean that they were never there before, just that they had never been previously documented at the lake. 

Yellow-headed Blackbird / Carouge à tête jaune
Porcupine Lake (6 September 2017)

Black Scoter / Macreuse à bec jaune
Porcupine Lake (1 November 2017)

Canvasback / Fuligule à dos blanc
Porcupine Lake (4 November 2017)

During the last 3 years, I have been making an effort to observe and photograph butterflies. I find them fascinating and I'm trying to learn more about them.  I was delighted to observe my first Monarch in the Timmins area in October.  It seemed late for a Monarch to be so far North but we had such a warm September. We have been planting Milkweed in a few spots in the last few years and I hope to see more Monarchs in the future. 

Monarch near South Porcupine (9 October 2017)

Monarch near South Porcupine (9 October 2017)

My last butterfly sighting of fall was this Painted Lady on October 22nd at Porcupine Lake.  It was the last of the warm fall days.  I'm still looking for a good butterfly guide that would work for our Northern Ontario area - I would appreciate any suggestions.

Painted Lady
Porcupine Lake (22 October 2017)

Winter has arrived this week. The ground has been snow covered for at least a week and the lakes have all frozen over in the last 3 days.  But I'm not going to complain because the arrival of winter means the arrival of these beautiful birds:

Pine Grosbeak / Durbec des sapins
South Porcupine (10 November 2017)

Bohemian Waxwings / Jaseur boréal
South Porcupine (12 November 2017)

Dickcissel, Brant and more at Porcupine Lake

Migration was still going strong during the third week of May in the Timmins/South Porcupine Area.  We observed a few good birds and added a few more birds to Porcupine Lake's species list.

On Wednesday, May 17, we got a call from a friend (who lives right on Porcupine Lake) about a "different looking bird" at his feeder. He said the bird had a yellow breast and a black triangular patch on the lower neck.  His sense of observation is always great so without hesitation we jumped in the truck and were over there in under 2 minutes.  It turned out to be a Dickcissel.  My first ever Dickcissel sighting (and a first for Porcupine Lake and the Timmins area)

Dickcissel / Dickcissel d'Amérique
Porcupine Lake (17 May 2017)

The Dickcissel was with a group of White-crowned Sparrows at the feeder. It only stayed for 2 days.  The owner of the property generously let me bring other people to his yard to see this bird.  Unfortunately, only 1 other person got to see it; 3 other disappointed birders didn't.  This is what a rare bird stake-out crowd is like in our area: 4 people!  I love it! The Dickcissel is a grassland bird that spends the summer in central United-State. It was a little far from its normal range.

Dickcissel / Dickcissel d'Amérique
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2017)

Two days after adding the Dickcissel to Porcupine Lake's species list, we spotted 2 Bobolinks (a male and a female) near the White Waterfront beach. Bobolink was also a new species for the lake.

Bobolink / Goglu des prés
Porcupine Lake (19 May 2017)

On the next day, we added one more new species for Porcupine Lake: a Black-bellied Plover.  And we observed a Brant.

The Brant was first found by a fellow birder who saw it just before it flew away because of a float plane (planes often land on Porcupine Lake on Saturdays) We re-found it at Bristol bay later on in the afternoon.

Brant / Bernache cravant
Porcupine Lake (20 May 2017)

Brants had been previously reported on Porcupine Lake October 2012 and May 2013 but they weren't reported in the Hotspot eBird list and therefore didn't show on the Porcupine Lake printable checklist (I love that eBird feature)  Now with this sighting, Brants will be included in the checklist when the sighting gets accepted.

The Black-bellied Plover, another addition to the Porcupine Lake list, was first found by my neighbour in the morning and later re-found by a friend in the evening. It was with a group of Dunlins. 

Black-bellied Plover / Pluvier argenté
Porcupine Lake (20 May 2017)

Porcupine Lake is a fairly small lake (10 km circumference) and doesn't have lots of good shorebird habitat and resting spots. There is only 1 small beach and it's always busy with people and dogs.  That's why I was pleasantly surprised this Spring by the number of shorebirds that the lake was attracting.  A group of over 100 Dunlins stayed for at least 1 week. This was the largest group of Dunlins ever seen on the lake since I've been birding it. 

This next Dunlin was part of a group that landed near us as we were patiently watching for the Dickcissel during the only sunny day we had in the last few weeks.

Dunlin / Bécasseau variable
Porcupine Lake (20 May 2017)

It's always nice to see groups of Dunlins stop by.  I especially love to watch them fly in groups. The bad weather probably contributed to their stop in this unlikely spot. The largest group I saw this past week was a flock of 143.

Dunlins resting on dock
Porcupine Lake (22 May 2017)

In addition to the Dunlins, during the last couple of weeks we saw Short-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers. All at Porcupine Lake.

Least Sandpiper / Bécasseau minuscule
Porcupine Lake (20 May 2017)

Semipalmated Plover / Pluvier semipalmé
Porcupine Lake (22 May 2017)

White-winged Scoters also stopped by the lake with a flock of Long-tailed Ducks.

White-winged Scoter / Macreuse brune
Porcupine Lake (21 May 2017)

On May 22, it was nice to see the Eastern Kingbirds had returned to the Lake.

Eastern Kingbird / Tyran tritri
Porcupine Lake (22 May 2017)

These 3 Tundra Swans flew over our neighbourhood on May 22.  

Tundra Swans / Cygnes siffleurs
South Porcupine (22 May 2017)

The 2 last weeks of May is an excellent time to observe warblers in our area; the buds are just coming out and all the warbler species have arrived.  Here is a Canada Warbler that stopped by my yard 2 days ago. The Canada Warbler is one of the last warbler species to arrive in the Timmins area along with the Mourning Warbler.

Canada Warbler in the rain / Paruline du Canada
South Porcupine (23 May 2017)

I hope everyone is having a great Spring so far!

May 1 to 15: Greater White-fronted Goose, Wilson's Phalarope...

Even if it's been a cold, dark and wet month of May, the birding has been good.  The sun almost didn't show up but at least the birds did.  The sad part is that almost all our migrating birds are here now and the month of May is almost gone.

Here are a few highlights from the first half of the month of May 2017.  The second half of May will be featured in the next post.

First week of May:

The month started off right with a Horned Grebe on Porcupine Lake.  Although they are not common here, some were observed at Porcupine Lake last year in May as well.

Horned Grebe / Grèbe esclavon
Porcupine Lake (5 May 2017)

Second week of May:

I didn't go out as much as I wanted to during the second week of May but we did go for 1 day in Moonbeam. We went to the Moonbeam Sewage Lagoons twice (the first time was cut short by the rain) and saw many species.  I was happy to be accompanied by one of my friend who had never been to this spot. After the lagoon, we explored my favorite Moonbeam rural roads and found a Greater White-fronted Goose in a field with Canada Geese. It was my first one.

Greater White-fronted Goose / Oie rieuse
Moonbeam (13 May 2017)

The 14th of May marked the arrival of a few shorebirds. We saw 4 Short-billed Dowitchers, 4 Least Sandpipers and 2 Solitary Sandpipers at Gillies Lake Conservation Area in Timmins.

Short-billed Dowitcher / Bécassin roux
Gillies Lake, Timmins (14 May 2017)

Solitary Sandpiper / Chevalier solitaire
Gillies Lake, Timmins (14 May 2017)

The second week of May also marked the arrival of a lot of our warbler species including this Cape May:

Cape May Warbler / Paruline tigrée
Gillies Lake, Timmins (14 May 2017)

On May 15th we spotted a Wilson's Phalarope.  This was only my 3rd sighting in our area so far.  It was at a decommissioned lagoon along with Wood Ducks, American Wigeons and Gadwalls. The gate was locked so I had to take the photo from very far away.

Wilson's Phalarope / Phalarope de Wilson
South Porcupine (15 May 2017)

Wood Duck / Canard branchu
South Porcupine (15 May 2017)

The first 2 weeks of May were ok but the rest of May was even better (see next post)

Harlequin Ducks in the Timmins Area!

One of our favourite spots to look for migrating birds in Spring and Fall is the Frederick House Lake waterfront in Connaught.  It's 40 km north-east of Timmins (so 30 km from our home in South Porcupine).   If you're coming from the other direction, it's also a 'must stop' location because it is only 14 km south-west from Highway 11 (turn off near Porquis Junction).  Frederick House Lake is a large lake and the bridge where Frederick House River goes into the lake is a great spot for migrating waterfowl.  That's where we saw the Harlequin Ducks.  I was scanning and counting a group of Scaups when the Harlequin Ducks appeared in my binoculars.  As you can imagine, I was so surprised that I quickly lost my count, snapped a photo, and had to start counting again.  

Harlequin Duck / Arlequin plongeur
Frederick House River/Lake (29 April 2017)

I managed to take one more photo before the nearby flock of scaups flew away. Then the Harlequin Ducks followed and landed near the railway bridge. I had seen Harlequin Ducks before at Clover Point on the shore of Victoria BC but I never imagined I would see some so close to home. In Canada, there are populations of Harlequin Ducks on the Pacific coast and on the Atlantic coast but they can also be observed around the Great Lakes in Southern Ontario.  Even though the male (on the right) is resting, you can see its unique colours and patterns. On the left is the female. 

Harlequin Duck / Arlequin plongeur
Frederick House River/Lake (28 April 2017)

A little further east from the bridge, there are nice spots where you can park and scan the shore.  When the water is low, there are shallow sandy areas where you can sometimes spot migrating shorebirds if the conditions are right.  A lone Greater Yellowlegs was there. No sign of any other shorebirds yet but it is still early for other shorebirds in our area.  I will definitely be back in May.

Greater Yellowlegs / Grand Chevalier
Frederick House Lake (28 April 2017)

Exactly 24 hours before the find, on Thursday April 27th, we had a severe thunderstorm go through the whole Northern Ontario area, with wind gusts so strong they blew some roofs off and trees down. The storm was followed by south-east winds.  I'm not sure if that's what brought the Harlequins here but it's always a good idea to check your favourite spots after irregular wind storms.