James Bay - short summary and photos

Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to help w/ a Red Knot study on the James Bay Coast: 2 weeks in a remote camp counting shorebirds. So rewarding and a study I would love to take part in again. Many thanks to Mark Peck of the ROM for the opportunity and Christian Friis of Canadian Wildlife Service for arranging my safe arrival and departure to the project. Also many thanks to the Moose Cree First Nation for renting our their camps for the study and their support of the project.

Major highlights:

- Having a Gray Wolf walking unbelievably close to Mark P. and I at the end of our 20k walk from Little Piskwamish Camp to the Longridge Camp. I will never forget that moment.

- A family of Beluga Whales with two adults and one juvenile at Beluga Bay. I spent many days scanning for Belugas so it was such a reward to get relatively close looks of them just off the coast.

- A huge flock of White-rumped Sandpipers flying and separating around me so that I could hear their wingbeats as I was surrounded.

- Successfully reading the tags of Red Knots and seeing 250+ birds in a single day.

- The sense of accomplishment of finishing the 20km walk from Little Piskwamish to Longride with Mark P. even though I had an injured knee and terrible heal sores.

- Seeing my first Sharp-tailed Grouse from the Polar Bear Express as it perched on the hydro wires next to the tracks.

- A spectacular show of Northern Lights. Huge sheets of green waving and shifting across the sky looking like a portal into another universe. I literally gasped.

I wanted to share a few of my pictures on my blog from the trip as well.

 Our helicopter into camp. My first helicopter ride.

 The gorgeous James Bay Coast at low tide. You could get kilometers away from shore and still be in shallow water. The feeling of total isolation is amazing.

 Our study bird, the Red Knot. We were getting counts on adults versus juveniles and also tracking banded birds.

 The Gray Wolf. A truly beautiful moment.

 Another example of the coast. 

 Hudsonian Godwit juvenile - one of 3 new year birds for my 300 year. I came back from James Bay sitting at 299. 

The Team:

 Left to right: Mark Peck, Alex Howard, Aus Taverner, myself, Mark Field, and Greg Stuart.

 When wildlife entered the camp, the cameras came out.

One of my favourite mornings. So quiet and calm and those colours spilling over the horizon.

 View of the coast from the chopper ride back to Moosonee. We flew over flocks of Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese, and Snow Geese.

Sunset while riding the Polar Bear Express.

Our Big Little Sit at Delaurier

On Thursday evening, Marianne suggested we do a Big Sit at Delaurier parking lot in Point Pelee on Friday morning. The weather report called for north winds, useless for jaegars or Sabine's Gulls at the tip, so Marianne thought it'd be cool to do something completely different. I'm glad she did.

A Big Sit is where you park your keister onto a Muskoka (or lawn) chair and let the hours pass by, recording every bird you see or hear. You'll want good company, a notebook or the eBird BirdLog app for keeping track (+ a cell charger cause the app sucks the battery life from your phone like a starved lamprey on a succulent Yellow Perch), sunscreen/hat, etc., food, bins/scope/camera, and a cooler of beer to really get some interesting sightings (we of course could not have an obvious cooler of beer sitting there since we were in a national park...we brought flasks*).


*we did not actually consume alcohol.

We began our Big Sit at 8am, enough sleeping in to recover from my hangover (ok, I promise that's my last joke about alcohol...I'm 10 characters away from an intervention here). We sat until 12:30pm, a total of 4.5 hours. Big Sits are usually a day-long affair but we decided to go for just a morning Sit. The day started off pretty well with flyover flocks of Pine Siskins, American Goldfinch, and House and Purple Finch. (Totals: PISI - 29, AMGO - 30, HOFI - 5, PUFI - 8).

Lots of blackbirds flying over with 3 Red-wings identified and 2 Brown-headed cowbirds w/ flocks of unidentifieds totaling 150 (conservative). The highest count for the day was European Starlings w/ a total of 1,495 birds. Next highest was of course Blue Jays, which are in full-force migration right now. We counted 690 birds but there were likely more. One thing that is difficult about doing a Big Sit at Point Pelee is that the peninsula funnels migrants (hawks and passerines) toward the lake and many turn around and fly back north, complicating counts to a degree since you don't always know if you're counting the same flocks over and over again! Our general rule was we counted birds flying south but not north.

As the morning went on, raptor flights started to pick up. Highest count was Turkey Vulture w/ 35 birds followed by Sharp-shinned Hawks - 28. Other raptor totals: Bald Eagle - 6, Red-tailed Hawk - 16, Northern Harrier - 10, Broad-winged Hawk - 4, Cooper's Hawk - 2, and American Kestrel - 2.

iScoped Instagram of a Sharp-shinned Hawk perched near Delaurier parking lot. This individual had a Northern Flicker and Blue Jays really riled up.

Close to our Sit end, Marianne stood up from her chair as a corvid approached. It was large, soaring, had a wedge-shaped tail...this was looking good for raven, a difficult bird to get for the Pelee Birding Circle. There are few records in Pelee since the 70's so we were excited when the bird flew directly overhead confirming Common Raven. This was a new species for my Pelee list so I was excited at the sighting. It flew over us heading south and not long after flew back north, calling. 

I was quite pleased w/ our count of Chimney Swifts, which were migrating south in good numbers. We counted a total of 59 birds just in the morning. We ended up w/ 29 Tree Swallows and a single late migrating Barn Swallow though I see from eBird that they are still being seen throughout southwestern Ontario. I wonder who will have the late date for BARS in Pelee?

Other #'s: 

Canada Goose - 15

Mallard - 2

Wild Turkey - 3

Double-crested Cormorant - 12

Great Blue Heron - 1

Sandhill Crane - 2

Killdeer - 10

Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs - 1

Ring-billed Gull - 8

Herring Gull - 1

Belted Kingfisher - 1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2

Northern Flicker - 4

Downy Woodpecker - 2

Eastern Phoebe - 2

Horned Lark - 1

Black-capped Chickadee - 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2

American Robin - 4

Gray Catbird - 1

Brown Thrasher - 1

Cedar Waxwing - 17

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3

Song Sparrow - 1

White-throated Sparrow - 1

Dark-eyed Junco - 11

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1

iScoped Instagram of an Eastern Phoebe perched on a dead tree in the fields just south of the Delaurier parking lot.

Someday I'd like to do a Big Sit right at the end of Point Pelee and see what the day brings.

Later in the afternoon, we headed back to Marianne's place for lunch where we found a lifer for me, an "Eastern" or "Yellow" Palm Warbler. It had a bright yellow wash down its front, especially around its belly. Its throat was yellow and the supercilium was yellow as well. We found it w/ 2 other "Western" Palms so had a good comparison of the extent of yellow. This was my favourite bird of the day and one of many new lifers for my year. 

300

On September 23th, I hit a milestone in my birding career when I saw a Red Phalarope at the tip of Point Pelee. This species took my year list for Ontario to 300, my personal goal I set out to do in February of this year.

I hate to sound pretentious but this, of course, means that I will now be a complete superstar, a celebrity birder joining the ranks of the ornithological A-list, and yes, let's be honest here...become world renowned. I have no doubt that I will be signing a contract later this week for a new hit reality series on birding and polishing an Emmy by next year.

**crickets chirping**....

In all seriousness though, It's been an exciting year and hitting 300 was a great accomplishment for me, something I thought I'd be struggling to do in December. So to hit my target in September and still have a few months to add additional species feels pretty good and makes all the traveling and expenses worthwhile.

I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my 300th bird. Steve Pike, Marianne Reid, Blake Mann, Michael Agueci, myself, and a group of other birders all arrived at the tip to see a group of Sanderlings running along the beach at the end of the tip trail. Steve called out that there was a phalarope with them and while eyes were getting on the bird, he called it Red. The consensus was quick. My heart was pounding and after observing the bird long enough to identify it to species myself, I turned to the group and said, "Guys, I just hit 300."

In the time it took for my eyelids to complete half of a blink, Steve had glomped* me 10 feet into the ground, making me wish I hit 300 more often. Marianne and I then screamed incoherencies at each other and embraced, surprisingly not scaring the phalarope away. Though I didn't see their faces, I imagine the rest of the birders at the Tip looked on with expressions of horror and incredulity.

* v, to glomp

- A glomp is often preadatory and lies somewhere in the grey area between a caring embrace, and a flying leap to tackle someone (sic) - Urban Dictionary

We didn't have to worry about being loud since this had to have been the tamest Red Phalarope on the planet. It was on the sand, which was already surprising (my last Red Phalarope was a distant bird on the lake disappearing behind waves), but as we watched it, the darn thing walked within about 15 feet of us! Later, when Steve was photographing the bird while sitting in the sand, it was within not much more than a meter of his camera. I can't wait to see those shots.

Every new bird from now to the end of the year will be icing on the cake. I would like to try for 305 if I had to set a realistic goal but some optimistic folks think I should push for 310. The birder in me says, "Come on! Go for it! Go for 310, YOLO!" but my bank account says, "Get a job, you idiot." Time will tell.

Blenheim Sewage Lagoons / Laughing Gull / and bird #294

Although I had a breeding Laughing Gull earlier this year near Rock Point Provincial Park, a good bird is a good bird, and I wanted to check out the nonbreeding Laughing Gull that was reported from Leamington Harbour by Alan Wormington (thanks for getting me on this one!). So, on the 11th, I went down to the boat ramp in the afternoon when gulls are loafing on the docks nearby, or looking for handouts from children with bread crumbs.

It didn't take me long as I scanned a large group of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls to pick out the darker mantle of the Laughing Gull. It had its head tucked but the dark gray feathers behind the eye were also obvious. Eventually the bird stood up and gave me decent enough views to iScope it for a record shot.

For some reason, I thought this species was OBRC-reportable but I see only records from pre-1994 require documentation. I just filled out a report for the Little Blue Heron at Holiday Beach Conservation Area Mark Field and I drove down from Toronto to see earlier in the summer and was in Rare Bird Report mode but I guess I don't have to do one. Oh, and yes, I have tampered w/ the photo a bit. This is post-Instagram to bring out the mantle colour a bit more.

Yesterday evening (August 12th), I had great luck at the Blenheim Sewage Lagoons. There were fewer shorebirds than the last time I visited but the variety was decent. The Red-necked Phalarope hanging out there that had many, including me, confuzzled (man, I wish it had been a Red!) was absent.

Tangent: I went for that bird the day after it had been reported and when I found it, something just didn't feel right. Its bill was just a bit too long and thin for me to feel comfortable. I went back and forth with my opinion, but ultimately decided to send my iScoped photos around to see what people thought (I was able to snap one that showed a long, pointed bill). After more discussion on the bird and better subsequent photos, the conclusion was made: Red-necked Phalarope. A good bird, but not a year bird.

Back to yesterday evening: Amongst the shorebirds present included a White-rumped Sandpiper (I think I've seen more of these this year than any other year), a couple Short-billed Dowitchers, and a dowitcher that had me quite interested (black barring in the tail feathers thicker than the white bars, completely reddish underbelly, and some barring that didn't fit Short-billed. It also had a different structure when foraging: rounded, hunched back, and looked plumper than the nearby Short-billeds). I studied the darn thing for some time and wanting to make sure I was making the correct identification (just to be safe), sent off my iScoped photos to confirm my ID. I was right and the Long-billed Dowitcher took me to #294 for my Big Year. Just 6 away from my 300 goal!

On this photo, you can see that the black barring in the tail is wider than the white barring. Short-billed Dowitchers have white bars that are, on average, as wide or wider than the black bars. On the upper photo, you can see the extent of red on the bird.
Some other birds of interest included a juvenile or female Ring-necked Duck, one of the long-staying Greater Scaups, a few Redhead, and a good number of Blue-winged Teal. I love these lagoons.

My next target species is the Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I imagine one will be showing up in the Onion Fields pretty soon. Other shorebirds on my radar include the aforementioned Red Phalarope, Red Knot (this one is a guarantee in James Bay), Hudsonian Godwit, and Willet (a boy can dream...since I ain't driving all the way to Presqu'ile).

Pelee Area August 10

With the poor weather conditions, I decided against a trip to Blenheim Sewage Lagoons today even though I really wanted to look for Long-billed Dowitcher there. On a nicer day, I'll head over and see if I can find one amongst the many shorebirds that have been there in the last week.

Instead, I decided to birdwatch around the Pelee area including the Onion Fields, Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, Leamington Marina, and Pelee Days Inn/Sturgeon Creek.

I didn't have a lot of luck today, but a few interesting birds nonetheless. The Onion Fields produced a few shorebirds but still no Buff-breasted (later in the month I expect to get one before I head up to James Bay for the shorebird surveys). I ended up seeing 4 Semipalmated Plovers, a single Semipalmated Sandpiper, 9 Leasts, and a total of 31 Killdeer. Tons of blackbirds and starlings are present now and along Mersea Rd. 19, it sounds like gun-fire noises are being made periodically to keep them away from the crops.

At Pelee Days Inn, I unfortunately couldn't get a good view of any mudflats so I only had a quick view of a flyovers including peeps and yellowlegs; however, I did see a Green Heron in the harbour area, a nice addition to the day list.

Next stop was Leamington Harbour, where there was a Laughing Gull reported from the boat launch, but I didn't see it. I was birding from the Pelee Island ferry terminal so I wasn't at the right side of the Marina to get this one. I'll be trying for it tomorrow though. A long-staying Pied-billed Grebe was still in the area and I had a group of 4 Ruddy Turnstones at Seacliff Beach among the Bonaparte's, Ring-billed, and Herring Gulls.

I made a brief stop at Hillman Marsh before heading home and got another Pied-billed Grebe for the day as well as a 2nd Green Heron and a Black-crowned Night-Heron juvenile. I viewed all 3 from the bridge at the northwest end of the conservation area (Mersea Rd 2 and Mersea Rd 19).

Good numbers of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons are in the vicinity. I had 34 Great Blue Herons: 1 in the Onion Fields, 7 at Sturgeon Creek, 1 at Leamington Marina, and 30 at Hillman Marsh, and 17 Great Egrets: 6 at Sturgeon Creek and 11 at Hillman Marsh. I didn't check Muddy Creek this evening but I'm sure there were a number of both of these species present.

Hillman, Onion Fields, and Leamington Marina

A hot day of birding and butterflying today around the Point Pelee area. I started at Hillman Marsh Conservation Area w/ a walk over to the Shorebird Cell. The Cell is planted w/ crops right now so nothing in the way of birds there but the lane around the Cell was good for butterflies. One of the first ones I saw was a Dainty Sulphur, a lifer for me as I continue to learn my butterfly identification and put more effort into finding uncommon species.

Dainty Sulphur at Hillman Marsh - I ended up seeing 4 in total.

Next up was a calling Willow Flycatcher where you would expect at the Shorebird Cell corner w/ the bench. Ridiculously, I completely forgot to keep an eye and ear out for Dickcissel so I didn't even end up getting this species today despite them being reported there recently. 

I was also able to take a photo of what I believe to be a Pearl Crescent (if anyone disagrees w/ this ID, please let me know. I had about 12 Northern Crescents in Hillman as well, all of which lacked the full black line across the above hindwing. This individual does have orange on its antenna clubs but my understanding is that female Pearl Crescents may have orange here as well). 

Pearl Crescent? - Hillman Marsh

Many Painted Ladies about and 1 Common Checkered Skipper were other highlights.

Butterfly list from Hillman:

Cabbage White

Silver-spotted Skipper-1

Painted Lady

Dainty Sulphur-4

Viceroy-3

Monarch-4

Red-spotted Purple-1

Common Checkered Skipper-1

Eastern Comma-1

Orange Sulphur

Buckeye-1

unidentified skipper-1

At the south end of Hillman near the lake I also found 12 Northern Crescent just at the parking lot and many more Cabbage Whites.

Next stop were the Onion Fields. As of today, there are some mudflats in the north end of the Pelee Marsh on the gravel turnoff at the end of Concession E. Shorebirds present here included 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 1 Least Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Sandpiper and Killdeer. I was hoping for more shorebirds today and Pelee Days Inn did not disappoint. 

In Sturgeon Creek, there are some mudflats visible from the boardwalk at the back end of the Days Inn. Here I had a good number of Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, a single Wilson's Snipe that I flushed near the boardwalk, 4 Pectoral Sandpipers, and single Lesser Yellowlegs. 

I finished my day at the Leamington Marina where I added my first juvenile Bonaparte's Gull for the year, found both Common and Forster's Tern (juveniles of each species present), and added Northern Mockingbird and Pied-billed Grebe to my day list. 

Not a terrible morning but still hoping to run into a surprise year bird one of these days around the area!

Photos from Rainy River - Part 1

I rarely post photos on my blog and a big part of this comes from the fact that I don't own a proper camera. I've absolutely given thought to purchasing a good camera as I'm learning how important they are for identification and documenting your experiences in the field. However, the first major purchase on my radar is a new pair of binoculars. Dragging around an old pair of Bushnells has made me a bit self-conscious but they do get the job done. I own a spotting scope I'm happy with now but it's time I upgrade my bins.

Anyway, right now I'm restricted to using my iPhone for wildlife photography, which is surprisingly efficient if you're not looking to get stellar shots but rather are using the photos for identification or submission to the OBRC. iPhone-scoping and iPhone-binoscoping have allowed me to get records photos that were never possible before. Supporting photo evidence always makes writing a report easier.

For all of my iPhone photos, you can visit my Flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyhatt/
A warning to be prepared for some silly friends photos on my Flickr page. I have my photos broken into sets.

Some of these photos have been altered with Instagram as well. More to come!

  

This Cattle Egret was our first stop in Keswick. My second of the year. First was at the Hillman Marsh Shorebird Cell in May. 

  We saw this gorgeous double rainbow over the Trans-Canada Highway. I loved how the highway actually went to the end of the rainbow. 

Sunset over Pumpkin Point Marsh, Sault Ste. Marie. This is where we photographed the region's first-recorded Common Gallinule, a sighting we were quite proud of.

 

In the north, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is replaced with the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, abundant along the Trans-Canada and along Everard Road, Thunder Bay County, pictured here. These butterflies were getting nutrients from dung on the road.

 We rescued this Painted Turtle off the highway. There are 4 subspecies of Painted Turtle in North America: Western, Eastern, Midland, and Southern. In Ontario, any Painted Turtle seen south of Lake Superior is the Midland subspecies. In Northwestern Ontario, we get the Western subspecies, pictured here. The darkly-marked plastron and range identify this subspecies.

Emo Sewage Lagoons. One of many locations we checked multiple times for Eared Grebe. 

Rainy River Lists

A'ight, everyone.

I'm finally getting around to sharing my complete lists for the trip to Rainy River that Mark Field and I took.

We left on June 6th from Toronto and returned on the 11th.

Here is our rough itinerary:

We first drove to Keswick to get a Cattle Egret, which Mark needed for his year list. Success. We then drove the 400 north, which eventually turns into 69, the Trans-Canada-Highway. This we followed through Sudbury and eventually ended the day at Pumpkin Point Marsh, Sault Ste. Marie. We camped over night in the Sault and then got back on the Trans-Canada (here the 17). We drove to Thunder Bay, that night camping once again on Everard Road. The following day we finished the drive to Rainy River along the Trans-Canada (here it's 11). We stayed in Rainy River until the 11th. During our stay, we visited most hotspots in the area, camped at Harris Hill Resort, and on one night, visited Baudette, Minnesota, to have dinner. This wasn't our only travel into the U.S. We decided to drive back through Michigan to get back to Southern Ontario. We stayed a night in Wawa before this drive. We took the 75 to the breeding grounds of the Kirtland's Warbler near Gaylord, Michigan, then continued driving down to Highway 69, taking this east to Sarnia. We stayed at Walpole Island that night and on our last day, traveled south to visit my family in Leamington, visited the Onion Fields and Hillman Marsh for Dickcissel, and then drove north on the 401 to get back to Toronto. An amazing cross-province trip.

Birding hotspots visited (from start of trip to finish):

Pumpkin Point Marsh, Sault Ste. Marie
- highlight included the first record of a Common Gallinule for the Sault Ste. Marie birding area, which Mark iPhone-scoped a photo of. We were very proud of this record. Here we ran into Tyler Hoar who gave us many helpful tips for the area as well as what we could expect in our visit to Rainy River.

Echo Bay, Sault Ste. Marie
- highlight was 43 Black Terns.

Lake Superior Provincial Park
- a short visit only. Did not enter the gates. 

Wawa Sewage Lagoons, Wawa
- We visited this location twice, once at the beginning of the trip and once more at the end of the trip (and camped nearby). Highlights were a hunting Bald Eagle over the ponds, our first Northern River Otters for the trip (2nd visit), our first-of-year Eared Grebe (OBRC-report submitted, 2nd visit), Lesser Scaup in numbers, and our first Common Goldeneye chicks, which are adorable. Tyler had warned us we would be sick of them by the end of the trip.

Everard Road/Black Bay Fen, Thunder Bay County
- highlight was a good selection of breeding warblers, including many Mourning Warblers singing, and our only Gray Jay on the trip (a juvenile, which neither of us had seen before...lifer plumage!). It was here that we encountered the worst of the mosquitoes on the trip at the end of Everard Road where the Black Bay Fen begins. We could not stay in the area long. We tried for owls here but to no avail. Earlier in the year, however, we did get Sharp-tailed Grouse at this location on our first trip to Thunder Bay with Andrew Keaveney.

Rainy River Sewage Lagoons
- highlights included 3 Wilson's Phalarope, many American White Pelicans, and Marbled Godwit. We tried this hotspot many times for Eared Grebe but the individual in Wawa was our only sighting.

Emo Sewage Lagoons, Rainy River
- highlights included a Sora collecting nesting material giving excellent views, Ruddy Duck, 1 Yellow-headed Blackbird male, and a wide selection of waterfowl.

Fred's Road Marsh, Rainy River
- the best spot to listen for Yellow Rail, which we did not hear anywhere we visited during the trip. This was by far our biggest miss and the species we put in the most effort for. However, we did hear Le Conte's Sparrow here and it was quite a journey to throw on boots and wade out into the middle of the marsh. A tough but worthwhile experience as it was quite dramatic with a thunder storm rolling in and seeing lightning in the distance.

Harris Hill Resort/Windy Point
- a wonderful place to camp and very helpful staff. Highlights here were many but the best was my lifer Franklin's Gull, some of the first individuals to return in 2012. We had planned to take a boat out to get a closer look but weather and time did not permit.

Wilson Creek Road, Rainy River
- we tried here a few times for Eared Grebe but highlights ended up being Yellow-throated Vireo and Red-bellied Woodpecker, our only occurrences of each species on the trip. 

Hurkett Cove Conservation Area
- not too much around but we did get a single Tundra Swan at this location, our only one for the trip.  

Pukaskwa National Park, Thunder Bay County
- a beautiful national park that we spent a decent amount of time in, taking in the incredible scenery while searching for Black-backed or Three-toed Woodpeckers, and Spruce Grouse. We didn't get any of those species but we did luck out with a Lesser Black-backed Gull (OBRC report being written), as well as our first Black Bear. Just outside the park we had our only Moose on the trip, a huge male. 


Aguasabon Gorge, Thunder Bay County
- an absolutely gorgeous waterfall off the Trans-Canada. Well worth the visit. Not too much in the way of birds but some of the most dramatic landscape we saw on the trip.

Guide's Rest, Michigan, United States
- it was an absolute wonder to be able to visit the last remaining stronghold of the Kirtland's Warbler on their breeding grounds. To see a male singing was unbelievably special and although these birds didn't count for my big year, it was a pleasure to see and hear them. 

Walpole Island
- we tried Walpole for King Rail but did not have any luck. We did, however, get Least Bittern here, our only one for the trip. 

Our final hotspots we visited were the Onion Fields, Leamington, Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, and Blenheim Sewage Lagoons.

The Trip List:

Thanks to Mark for putting this together.

Species in italics were not seen within Rainy River County.
Bolded species were lifers

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ruffed Grouse
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
American Bittern
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Marbled Godwit
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe
American Woodcock
Wilson's Phalarope
Bonaparte's Gull
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Common Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Black-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Gray Jay
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
House Wren
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Ovenbird
Golden-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Kirtland's Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Pine Warbler 
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow 
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Le Conte's Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total Species in Rainy River County: 121 (from 3,181 individual birds counted)
Total Species on Trip: 157 (5,165 individual birds counted)

We submitted 35 checklists from Rainy River to eBird and 75 lists from the overall trip.

United States List (includes Minnesota and Michigan)

Common Goldeneye
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull

Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Northern Flicker
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Nashville Warbler
Kirtland's Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

Total: 38


Mammal List 

Black Bear
Moose
White-tailed Deer
North American Porcupine
Red Fox
American Beaver
Common Muskrat
Snowshoe Hare
Eastern Chipmunk
Red Squirrel
Striped Skunk
Northern Raccoon
Northern River Otter


bat sp.
rabbit sp.


Butterfly list to come.

Rainy River

Until this year, Rainy River has only been a place of stories for me. Birders telling me how much I'd love it, how some of their best time birding has been spent there, the great birds you see and the great looks you get. It's always intrigued me, but until this year, I didn't really know when I would have a chance to get up there.

Well, then my big year started and I knew this was a trip I had to do...and thank Quetzalcoatl, I managed to fit it into my year.

For reasons not blogged, my work and I parted ways so I was free to roam the North for the third time this year. Thankfully, I limited my H&M spring shopping sprees, so I had just enough money to eek by one more trip (and ruined a few H&M shirts on the trip as well).

Mark Field and I had discussed it a bit but it was always in a "yeah, maybe" approach so as to not get our hopes up too high that it would actually work. As June approached, however, and with our respective year lists ballooning after spring migration in Point Pelee, we made a final decision. We were going to Rainy River. And we were driving. And camping. And we were going to get Yellow Rail.

Let me tell you, I loved the area. Loved it. Loved it loved it loved it. It's an experience every Ontario birder has to have at least once. The area is beautiful, the weather unpredictable, the people helpful, the birds spectacular, and the chance for something truly special to show up always on your mind.

Thanks to Mark for a spectacular time. In total from leaving Toronto to return, we had 157 species, I tallied 8 Ontario year birds and 2 lifers, and Mark got a number of lifers (including Kirtland's Warbler in Michigan).

I'm going to break up this post in the order of new year birds on the trip and then cover our misses.

Red-shouldered Hawk - surprisingly, I missed this species in the spring despite making a number of trips to Norfolk County and sharing days of birding with Matt Timpf who has the best set of eyes and ears a birder can have. So it was to my delight (and endangerment) when a Red-shouldered Hawk flew over our car along Highway 401 near Perry Sound. I squealed in delight along with the tires of our car as I careened around on the highway. An ashy-faced Mark congratulated me on my first year bird of the trip (we were tied now...he got Cattle Egret in Keswick earlier that day on a detour before our long-distance travel. I remarked to him that this bird was garbage to me since I saw one at Hillman earlier in the spring. I'm getting used to Mark's unimpressed face).

Black-billed Magpie - our second year bird on the trip was also along a highway but this time, it wasn't the 401 so we were actually able to stop and look at the bird. A pair of magpies were hanging out on a front lawn next to a garage. A bit anti-climatic for our first Rainy River bird since it was so easy but we weren't complaining. The trip was starting off grand.

Wilson's Phalarope - even though seemingly hundreds of phalaropes were appearing in every sewage lagoon in southern Ontario except when I was visiting them, it took traveling all the way to Rainy River to see this species. It was one of the first birds I spotted and it was in flight. I followed it in my binoculars w/ relief as it flew with a flock of unidentified peeps. Another visit to the lagoons produced a much better look at a bird in the water. We ended up getting 3 total at the Rainy River Sewage Lagoons.

Western Meadowlark - we had (literally) breathtaking views of our first Western Meadowlark. I gasped and held my breath when one perched on a fence-post next to our car, its black-banded, sunburst yellow throat bubbling as it belted out its beautiful song. Up to this point, it was one of the highlights of my year and I had to lie to Mark that I had got some dust in my eyes.

Le Conte's Sparrow - After hearing a few in the preceding days, we finally got a stunning look at a Le Conte's that flew to roadside and landed on a fence near our car. Before this individual, I had only seen a fleeting glimpses of this species at Point Pelee, which, let's be honest, could have been a Chipping Sparrow with the looks that I got, so it was an absolute pleasure to have one close, in the open, and vocalizing. Another highlight of the trip.

Franklin's Gull - a relief that we saw this bird at a time that is considered too early for them to arrive but at Harris Hill Resort where we camped, we scoped the distant shores in Windy Bay, and by golly, we got 1 Franklin's Gull. The field marks we needed: black hood, dark mantle, and white spots on the wingtips were all visible. One of the owners of the campground offered to go out on a boat one of the following days to see them closer but weather and time did not permit unfortunately. We did look the following morning after the day we saw the first individual gull and had 2 together. Wish I could have had closer looks seeing as this was a lifer for me, but it was just a relief to get the bird. There was no way I was going to get to Rainy River again this year to try again.

Dickcissel - fortune was on my side w/ this one. We were driving a road names Wilson Creek, which I was starting to get a bit bored of since we drove it so many times in our effort to get Eared Grebe along River Road (which it connects to). The road finally delivered when I glanced over and saw a Dickcissel sitting right on a fencepost next to the road singing its heart out. I jammed on the breaks and sent Mark through the windshield but he was able to get some pictures of the bird during his aerial maneuvering. Heart-stopping looks at one of Ontario's most beautiful species.

Eared Grebe - we drove hours looking for this bird. We tried every sewage lagoon multiple times until we knew every bird we'd see at the lagoon and how many of each species we'd count. We were frustrated and disappointed and finally gave up on this species altogether. So it was to our complete surprise that we were rewarded for bad birding behaviour on one of our last days of the trip. We didn't drive as far as we should have. We camped near a sewage lagoon (H&M shirt ruined). Our alarm went off in the morning and we went back to sleep for two more hours. When we woke up, I strolled over to the nearby pond and lo and behold, it held a grebe. I screamed to the car with my arms flailing like Macaulay Culkin through the hallway in Home Alone and got my scope. Next thing we knew, we were getting excellent looks and horrible iPhone photos of an Eared Grebe in breeding plumage. Phew. On our drive home from Rainy River, we probably said about 500 times that we couldn't believe we got this bird. Another highlight of the trip.

The misses.

Yellow Rail - we didn't spend more time on any other species than we did w/ Yellow Rail. We traipsed through Fred's Marsh until it was pitch black smacking rocks together, crying, and pleading to the skies, but we didn't hear anything. We emailed Tyler Hoar, who had them the week previous, about a million times and he graciously responded to every question w/ another location to try. We kept hearing single ticks but they would turn out to be a Sedge Wren or some mystery sound that was never heard again. This species remains elusive to me and although I'm sure I won't get it this year, it is my number 1 target species for Ontario in the years to come.

Connecticut Warbler - although these are a guarantee in the area, we put the effort in and never even heard a single Connecticut. We heard a single bird singing on Woodland Nature Trail, Pelee, in the spring but I wanted to see one on their breeding grounds! No such luck.

Western Kingbird - although we did try a few locations the species had been found in previous years, while we were in Rainy River, we had no knowledge of a resident W. Kingbird. We only found out once we got home that there was a reliable spot for one! A crushing blow, but I felt good that we at least tried for the species.

Sharp-tailed Grouse - everyone who visits Rainy River has at least one encounter w/ this species. Whether it be in the middle of a short-grass field, or nearly picking one off w/ your car, it's a reliable Rainy River bird. Oh how we tried. I still have yet to see this darn species. I've only heard them on Everard Road near Thunder Bay earlier in the year. We thought we got lucky when we saw a grouse on the road ahead in a pouring rainstorm. We jumped out into the rain and soaked ourselves silly setting up the scope on it, only for Mark to point out that this bird had a black tail. And a high crest...and it was a Ruffed Grouse. He slapped the suicide pill from my hand and convinced me to enjoy the bird in front of us even though it was the wrong grouse. In the end, he got spectacular pictures of the bird despite the rain since it was tame as can be (there's a reason people are not allowed to hunt from cars). After batting my hands away from the steering wheel enough times, Mark said we'd stayed long enough and that it went against birding ethics to run over a bird. We drove on, Sharp-tailed Grouse-less.

Nelson's Sparrow - though one was reported singing earlier in the month, we were not fortunate enough to get this species. It's one I can still get in the year but boy, it would have been nice to get out of the way in June! I think sometimes we were so focused on hearing Yellow Rail that we forgot we should be listening for Nelson's Sparrow as well. 

To see my photos from the trip, you can visit my new Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyhatt/, which includes captions on many of the photos. I took all of them with my iPhone.

My Big Ontario Year

Yes, it took me a while to come around this year and decide to do an official big year but somewhere just before spring migration I came out and admitted I was trying to see 300 species in Ontario in the 2012 calendar year. This is, of course, unless I only reach 299 and if by including December of 2011 instead of December of 2012 I can get to 300...then I will cheat. That Essex County Great Gray Owl is my fail-safe. I kid.

It hit me after my first trip to Thunder Bay in February that maybe I could try this. Andrew Keaveney, Mark Field, and I headed up north to go for a number of northern species, including some reliable rarities in the area. On the trip, we ended up getting Harris's Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, as well as the expected guys: Pine and Evening Grosbeak, Hoary and Common Redpoll, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and American White Pelican. Andrew, bless him, had me convinced that 300 would now be easy since I've already got rarities in the bag.

Maybe it was the extensive driving on these trips, or something about the clean northern air, that I hummed and I hawed a lot until something clicked and I was like, "oh what the heck, let's go for 300 this year!!"

That's when my year changed completely.

I've had an amazing time of it. So far, I've birded more than I ever had during any year as a birdwatcher, I've learned a TON in the process, especially in regards to Ontario species' ranges and abundance, I've looked at eBird 10-100 times a day to keep myself posted on sightings around the province, and I've witnessed the craziness that surrounds being a big year-er. Now, I'm no competitor, so don't mistake my big year as an aim for first place. There are other young bucks who will get some obscene number by year end. I'm happy w/ getting to 300 and commend them for taking on such a bigger challenge than I! It's been a pleasure to watch their progress.

I feel pretty good about my standings right now. It's nearing the end of June and I currently sit at 288 species, my latest being Eared Grebe. I have only a few common guys left to see like Sanderling and Snow Bunting. I'm behind on shorebirds: Curlew Sandpiper (uh oh), Purple Sandpiper, Red Knot, Western Sandpiper and Baird's Sandpiper, Red Phalarope, and Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I have owls to see or hear: Great-Gray, Boreal, Northern Hawk-...but I'm not sure how many more times I can go north! Then there are the gulls: Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed, Sabine's, Ross's, Ivory...ok those last two are just dreaming but why not? There are the 3 jaegers. I've got two birds of prey that are remotely possible: Swainson's Hawk and Mississippi Kite. I'm behind a couple sparrows: Nelson's and Lark. So I've got some birds to work w/. And rarities will show up. Glossy Ibis, Northern Wheatear, Black-throated Sparrow...sure, Jeremy. With a bit of help from Marianne in the Pelee area in the fall, I should be on my way to glory.

Although fortune has been on my side many times this year (Western Tanager, Laughing Gull, California Gull, Ross's Goose to name a few), I've also had some savage misses. The aforementioned Great Gray, which I would have seen January 1st had I decided on a big year from the start, White-winged Dove, Band-tailed Pigeon, Varied Thrush, Smew, Western Grebe (my nemesis again!), Bell's Vireo, Kirtland's Warbler, Little Blue Heron, Curlew Sandpiper.

The list goes on and on, but that's birding for you. If we got every single bird we ever chased, we'd be too blessed. It's the dip, the crushing disappointment, that puts us in our place, that makes us charge into the field even harder the next trip. But boy those dips do sting...