Rainy River trip

Ken has already posted a summary of our trip to Ontbirds here, but this is a more detailed account of where we went and what we saw.

It was a really fun, last-minute trip that Ken, Alvan and I did.  We left on May 20 and returned to the deep south on May 28.  In all we logged a little over 4000 km on my 2002 Toyota Corolla - which is now sitting at 485,000km! Hopefully I can make it to 500k!

Anyways, be sure to check out Ken and Alvan's blogs for other photo highlights, but here is a quick day-by-day:

Monday May 20: met Ken and Alvan in Orillia at about 10am.  We pretty much drove non-stop to Wawa.  It was hot and humid in southern Ontario but it cooled down and started raining as we rounded Lake Huron.  The rain was very heavy at times and was actually the 3rd or 4th straight day of rain for much of the north shore of Huron and Superior.  That resulted in a few wash-outs and at one spot almost in Wawa we had to drive in the wrong lane as part of the west-bound lanes were falling away! In fact, they closed Hwy 17 here just after we passed and it didn't reopen until the afternoon the next day.  We stopped at a few spots on the drive:
-Thessalon
-Bruce Mines Sewage Lagoons

I think I only took two pictures this day, one of some Evening Grosbeaks in Thessalon and one of our best bird of the day, our only Bohemian Waxwing of the trip.

Evening Grosbeak in Thessalon

Bohemian Waxwing near Mamainse Harbour

The next day (May 21) we woke up and it was very grey, lightly raining and cool - perfect weather to find something interesting....we started off with a flyover Lapland Longspur, which we thought was really good, but we would see many more on the trip. Then we headed to the Wawa Sewage Lagoons before heading further west. In addition to plentiful waterfowl, there were lots of migrant passerines hopping around.

After connecting back up with the shore of Lake Superior we started stopping at most of the small communities.  The miserable weather was forcing lots of birds in to bird feeders, making for great drive-by birding. We stopped at:
Pic River Mouth
Marathon, where we also walked part of the railway bed
Terrace Bay
Schreiber
Rossport
Nipigon
Red Rock
Hurkett Cove Conservation Area

This strategy proved very successful as we found lots of common birds (sparrows were EVERYWHERE in towns) and some rarer things, like Clay-colored Sparrows in Marathon and Nipigon, Great Black-Backed Gull in Heron Bay and our first two OBRC review species for the north - Field Sparrow in Marathon and 15 Mute Swans in Terrace Bay (would be biggest flock ever accepted for the north)! Be sure to check the checklists out for pics of some of those birds.

The next day (May 22) we b-lined it straight down the Sibley Peninsula to the community of Silver Islet.  We almost didn't make it since the road was closed due to flooding, but after a test walk-through we decided the good 'ol Corolla could make it. The town was pretty quiet but we found a couple feeders again that were quite active, including one with a Clay-colored Sparrow and a nearby Northern Mockingbird:

Not quite my worst pic of a mockingbird...on beach in Silver Islet

Really bright Pine Siskin in Silver Islet

Clay-colored Sparrow in Silver Islet

After Silver Islet we made two stops in Thunder Bay, at Mission Island and then the Chippewa Lagoons.  The lagoons had some ducks and our third OBRC bird of the trip - an Eared Grebe!

Distant Eared Grebe at Chippewa Lagoons, Thunder Bay

From there we were headed for Rainy River.  Everyone settled in for the 4 hour drive and just after we passed the Hwy 11/17 split I noticed a bird perched on a post....a quick U-turn and we were all looking at a Townsend's Solitaire!!! At the end of the trip we all agreed this was our best bird, and certainly least expected.

Townsend's Solitaire in middle of nowhere

 

We arrived in Rainy River and made a quick check of the Emo Sewage Lagoons and then the Rainy River Sewage Lagoons.  The highlight were the huge flock of Wilson's Phalaropes at RR; although we would top that number later in the trip. We also picked up our only American Golden-Plover of the trip at Emo:

American Golden-Plover at Emo Sewage Lagoons

Continuing on, we decided to camp while in RR at Harris Hill Resort, since it is a great migrant spot and they have good feeders.  Before we even got to the resort we stopped to check a flooded field at the corner of Hwy 600 and the road into the resort and Ken picked out a beauty Hudsonian Godwit!

Hudsonian Godwit (and Blue-winged Teal) near Harris Hill

Brewer's Blackbird displaying near Harris Hill

We continued into the resort where we weren't disappointed as before we had even left the office we had picked up Yellow-headed Blackbird and Harris's Sparrow at the feeders!! We set up camp and made a few observations before calling it a day, but here's our complete list.

The next day (May 23) was kind of a blur...we spent the first couple hours of the day checking some migrant hotspots along Lake of the Woods (we were very impressed with the numbers of migrants) then driving some of the fields looking for Rainy River specialties.  One of the most interesting birds was this male finch coming to the feeders at Harris Hill.  I'll do a separate blog post about this bird in the future, but for now have a look yourself:

And of course we saw lots of other stuff!

Sharp-tailed Grouse

Cape May Warbler

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Evening Grosbeak

Wilson's Phalaropes

Wilson's Phalarope

Merlin with prey (Common Yellowthroat)

Franklin's Ground Squirrel, a Rainy River specialty

The next day (May 24) was similar, except we did the fields east of Rainy River first thing (picking up a Great Gray Owl near Harris Hill on our way), scoring a bunch of Marbled Godwits and singing Western Meadowlarks.

Western Meadowlark

Marbled Godwit

Black-billed Magpie

LeConte's Sparrow

Clay-colored Sparrow

Sandhill Crane

Olive-sided Flycatcher

We checked some migrant spots in late morning and then at lunch got boated out to Windy Point by Gary from Harris Hill Resort.  At the very tip we found a Piping Plover and our only Ruddy Turnstone of the trip. Also had our best photo op of American White Pelican:

American White Pelican at Windy Point

Ruddy Turnstone at Windy Point

Piping Plover at Windy Point

After Windy Point we decided to pack up and starting heading home.  We made it as far as Atikokan but just before turning off the highway Ken spotted 2 Lynx at a public works yard.  We turned around and it turned out it was just 1 Lynx - the other animal was a female Red Fox that was barking like crazy apparently trying to drive the Lynx away...pretty cool!

The next morning (May 25) we were up and ready to head further east. After a bit of driving we crossed back into the Atlantic Watershed:

Proof that the Corolla made it!

We had originally planned to skip over Thunder Bay and go straight for Silver Islet again.  However, the Poison Ivy that Ken had contracted at Pelee Island earlier this spring was getting pretty bad so we made a detour and dropped him off at a Walk-in Clinic...Alvan and I made a stop at Mission Island before getting some provisions (AKA candy).  We picked up Ken and headed for Silver Islet but this time the road was impassable as a work crew was replacing a culvert that had been washed away in the previous weeks' storm. With that we headed further east to stop at Hurkett Cove Conservation Area.  It just so happened that Dorion's Canyon Country Birding Festival was taking place with lunch at the picnic area.  We got a chance to chat with some of the people there and even ran into Alan Wormington who was doing a similar trip as us (he's one of the few southerners who recognizes the great birding to be had on the north shore of Superior).  The best bird here was a flyover Hudsonian Godwit (second of our trip) and our first Semipalmated Sandpiper. 

We said goodbye to the group and continued east, stopping at Red Rock and Nipigon before stopping for dinner (hot dogs roasted on a camp fire) and a couple unsuccessful fishing casts in Pays Plat.  We spent the night outside of Terrace Bay.

The next morning (May 26) we were up first thing again and heading east. We made several stops along the way but the theme of the day was quiet; it was just so nice out that migrants didn't seem to have any reason to stop and many of the local breeders weren't back yet.  We stopped at Terrace Bay, Neys Provincial Park (saw a Least Chipmunk), Marathon (and walked part of the railway again), and the Pic River Mouth before the highway veered away from Lake Superior.  The next stop was Wawa Sewage Lagoons but they were pretty quiet too - we did have our first flock of moult migrant Canada Geese go over here though. 

After Wawa we entered Lake Superior Provincial Park where we stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery and the re-appearance of Sugar Maple - definitely some pretty mind-blowing scenery here.

 

We spent the night on Batchawana Bay and tried a couple spots for owling just west/north of here.  The traffic noise was a bit loud but we did get a couple Northern Saw-whet Owls to respond and even heard Long-tailed Duck and Canada Goose flying over.

We decided our last full day (May 27) would be spent birding the Sault Ste. Marie area.  David Bell was kind enough to prepare  a list of hotspots for us to check out.  Based on his advice we focused on the area east of the city, stopping at places like Point Charles, Echo Bay, Bruce Mines Sewage Lagoons, and Pumpkin Point. We also birded along Hwy 638 between Echo Bay and Bruce Mines (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5). Birding was great, with most birds seemingly back on territory; much different than further north.  We picked up a bunch of new species for the trip like Alder Flycatcher, Mourning Warbler and Canada Warbler that just weren't back yet in Rainy River or Thunder Bay.


We also spent some time in the afternoon driving around St. Joseph's Island but the birds had really died down by then.  There was some pretty nice rich deciduous forest here though and we found some Nodding Trilliums:

Nice deciduous forest...

Patch of Nodding Trilliums

Close-up of Nodding Trillium flower

After St. Joseph's Island we decided it was time to leave Algoma District, but not before one last stop, the Spanish Sewage Lagoons.  We didn't know about these on our way west so it was a new spot but unfortunately there wasn't a mega waiting for us.  We got as far as Sudbury before calling it a night.

On our last day (May 28) we were on a schedule - Alvan had to catch a flight in Toronto and I had to be in Orillia for the annual Ontario Parks Natural Heritage Education workshop to try to get some new eBird recruits. So, that meant we only had a couple hours to bird around Sudbury before heading out.  We headed for Fielding Memorial Park at the west end of Kelly Lake - we picked up Trumpeter Swans here and a Bay-breasted Warbler.  The highlight though was a leucistic Yellow-rumped Warbler that looked like a ghost.  Unfortunately, none of us had our cameras with us....From there we checked Chelmsford Sewage Lagoons (the north cell looks amazing for marsh birds!) and did a quick drive further up the road checking a field that had held some shorebirds earlier in the week - they were gone but lots of warblers were singing.

After that we were on our way but Ken managed to talk us into a detour to Noelville Sewage Lagoons - these lagoons were easy to check and looked decent for shorebirds but they were pretty quiet.

It was a pretty fun trip, with lots of birds! We saw 128 species in Thunder Bay District, 138 in Algoma District and 158 in Rainy River...for the whole trip we saw16,481 individuals of 198 species and submitted 315 eBird checklists. Here's our complete list:

Species/number of individuals/percentage of checklists/notes

Canada Goose	-	726	-	19.05%
Mute Swan	-	15	-	0.32%
Trumpeter Swan	-	4	-	0.32%
Tundra Swan	-	5	-	0.63%
Wood Duck	-	86	-	3.49%
Gadwall	-	57	-	3.17%
American Wigeon	-	59	-	4.13%
American Black Duck	-	9	-	1.59%
Mallard	-	346	-	19.68%
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid)	-	2	-	0.32%
Blue-winged Teal	-	51	-	5.08%
Northern Shoveler	-	51	-	3.17%
Northern Pintail	-	5	-	0.63%
Green-winged Teal	-	39	-	2.86%
Redhead	-	34	-	2.22%
Ring-necked Duck	-	64	-	5.71%
Greater Scaup	-	238	-	3.17%
Lesser Scaup	-	550	-	5.08%
Greater/Lesser Scaup	-	40	-	0.32%
Surf Scoter	-	31	-	0.63%
White-winged Scoter	-	159	-	0.63%
Long-tailed Duck	-	13	-	1.27%
Bufflehead	-	68	-	4.44%
Common Goldeneye	-	451	-	11.75%
Hooded Merganser	-	20	-	3.17%
Common Merganser	-	124	-	8.57%
Red-breasted Merganser	-	29	-	2.86%
Ruddy Duck	-	2	-	0.32%
duck sp.	-	23	-	1.27%
Ruffed Grouse	-	19	-	4.76%
Sharp-tailed Grouse	-	18	-	1.90%
Common Loon	-	56	-	11.11%
Pied-billed Grebe	-	8	-	1.59%
Horned Grebe	-	2	-	0.63%
Red-necked Grebe	-	4	-	1.27%
Eared Grebe	-	1	-	0.32%
Double-crested Cormorant	-	264	-	7.94%
American White Pelican	-	265	-	4.13%
American Bittern	-	4	-	1.27%
Great Blue Heron	-	25	-	5.40%
Turkey Vulture	-	123	-	19.37%
Osprey	-	7	-	1.59%
Northern Harrier	-	24	-	5.71%
Sharp-shinned Hawk	-	2	-	0.63%
Bald Eagle	-	44	-	10.48%
Broad-winged Hawk	-	47	-	12.06%
Red-tailed Hawk	-	12	-	3.81%
Buteo sp.	-	2	-	0.63%
Virginia Rail	-	1	-	0.32%
Sora	-	10	-	1.59%
American Coot	-	19	-	1.27%
Sandhill Crane	-	78	-	6.35%
Black-bellied Plover	-	11	-	0.95%
American Golden-Plover	-	1	-	0.32%
Semipalmated Plover	-	13	-	0.63%
Piping Plover	-	1	-	0.32%
Killdeer	-	40	-	6.03%
Spotted Sandpiper	-	27	-	5.40%
Solitary Sandpiper	-	1	-	0.32%
Greater Yellowlegs	-	2	-	0.63%
Lesser Yellowlegs	-	6	-	1.59%
Hudsonian Godwit	-	2	-	0.63%
Marbled Godwit	-	7	-	1.27%
Ruddy Turnstone	-	1	-	0.32%
Sanderling	-	1	-	0.32%
Semipalmated Sandpiper	-	2	-	0.63%
Least Sandpiper	-	14	-	2.22%
Dunlin	-	595	-	2.86%
Short-billed Dowitcher	-	3	-	0.63%
Wilson's Snipe	-	12	-	2.86%
American Woodcock	-	3	-	0.95%
Wilson's Phalarope	-	370	-	1.27%
Bonaparte's Gull	-	28	-	0.63%
Ring-billed Gull	-	3340	-	25.40%
Herring Gull	-	421	-	11.43%
Great Black-backed Gull	-	1	-	0.32%
Caspian Tern	-	2	-	0.63%
Black Tern	-	7	-	0.95%
Common Tern	-	79	-	4.13%
Rock Pigeon	-	55	-	4.44%
Mourning Dove	-	15	-	3.49%
Great Horned Owl	-	2	-	0.32%
Great Gray Owl	-	1	-	0.32%
Northern Saw-Whet Owl	-	2	-	0.32%
Eastern Whip-poor-will	-	3	-	0.32%
Chimney Swift	-	6	-	0.63%
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird	-	15	-	3.49%
Belted Kingfisher	-	15	-	3.81%
Red-bellied Woodpecker	-	1	-	0.32%
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	24	-	6.35%
Downy Woodpecker	-	18	-	4.76%
Hairy Woodpecker	-	14	-	4.13%
American Three-toed/Black-backed Woodpecker	-	1	-	0.32%
Northern Flicker	-	42	-	10.48%
Pileated Woodpecker	-	6	-	1.59%
American Kestrel	-	75	-	18.73%
Merlin	-	26	-	6.67%
Peregrine Falcon	-	2	-	0.63%
Olive-sided Flycatcher	-	7	-	1.90%
Eastern Wood-Pewee	-	3	-	0.95%
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher	-	2	-	0.63%
Alder Flycatcher	-	36	-	5.40%
Least Flycatcher	-	102	-	11.75%
Eastern Phoebe	-	41	-	6.67%
Great Crested Flycatcher	-	13	-	3.49%
Eastern Kingbird	-	66	-	8.25%
flycatcher sp.	-	1	-	0.32%
Yellow-throated Vireo	-	6	-	1.27%
Blue-headed Vireo	-	10	-	2.54%
Warbling Vireo	-	9	-	1.90%
Philadelphia Vireo	-	2	-	0.32%
Red-eyed Vireo	-	80	-	8.57%
Gray Jay	-	5	-	0.95%
Blue Jay	-	97	-	10.79%
Black-billed Magpie	-	46	-	5.71%
American Crow	-	405	-	44.13%
Common Raven	-	187	-	31.11%
Horned Lark	-	138	-	1.27%
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow	-	1	-	0.32%
Purple Martin	-	15	-	0.63%
Tree Swallow	-	221	-	11.43%
Bank Swallow	-	222	-	1.59%
Barn Swallow	-	122	-	11.75%
Cliff Swallow	-	61	-	2.22%
Black-capped Chickadee	-	39	-	8.57%
Red-breasted Nuthatch	-	18	-	5.08%
White-breasted Nuthatch	-	1	-	0.32%
Brown Creeper	-	7	-	1.90%
House Wren	-	18	-	4.13%
Winter Wren	-	17	-	4.44%
Sedge Wren	-	14	-	2.86%
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	24	-	3.17%
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	33	-	6.67%
Eastern Bluebird	-	23	-	3.81%
Townsend's Solitaire	-	1	-	0.32%
Veery	-	30	-	5.71%
Swainson's Thrush	-	21	-	2.54%
Hermit Thrush	-	14	-	2.86%
Wood Thrush	-	3	-	0.95%
American Robin	-	223	-	26.67%
Gray Catbird	-	13	-	4.13%
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	-	0.32%
Brown Thrasher	-	7	-	2.22%
European Starling	-	247	-	17.78%
American Pipit	-	91	-	2.54%
Bohemian Waxwing	-	1	-	0.32%
Cedar Waxwing	-	8	-	0.95%
Bohemian/Cedar Waxwing	-	3	-	0.32%
Lapland Longspur	-	53	-	1.59%
Ovenbird	-	118	-	13.02%
Northern Waterthrush	-	13	-	3.17%
Golden-winged Warbler	-	7	-	1.59%
Black-and-white Warbler	-	62	-	9.21%
Tennessee Warbler	-	11	-	1.90%
Nashville Warbler	-	84	-	11.11%
Mourning Warbler	-	14	-	1.90%
Common Yellowthroat	-	87	-	10.79%
American Redstart	-	151	-	15.24%
Cape May Warbler	-	14	-	2.86%
Northern Parula	-	16	-	3.17%
Magnolia Warbler	-	54	-	6.98%
Bay-breasted Warbler	-	1	-	0.32%
Blackburnian Warbler	-	35	-	4.76%
Yellow Warbler	-	127	-	15.87%
Chestnut-sided Warbler	-	43	-	5.40%
Blackpoll Warbler	-	4	-	1.27%
Palm Warbler	-	30	-	4.13%
Pine Warbler	-	3	-	0.95%
Yellow-rumped Warbler	-	228	-	15.87%
Black-throated Green Warbler	-	55	-	7.30%
Canada Warbler	-	9	-	1.59%
Wilson's Warbler	-	6	-	1.27%
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	0.32%
American Tree Sparrow	-	2	-	0.63%
Chipping Sparrow	-	182	-	15.56%
Clay-colored Sparrow	-	106	-	10.79%
Field Sparrow	-	1	-	0.32%
Savannah Sparrow	-	314	-	17.14%
Le Conte's Sparrow	-	3	-	0.95%
Song Sparrow	-	172	-	20.95%
Lincoln's Sparrow	-	14	-	3.49%
Swamp Sparrow	-	51	-	7.62%
White-throated Sparrow	-	182	-	19.68%
Harris's Sparrow	-	2	-	0.63%
White-crowned Sparrow	-	165	-	5.08%
Dark-eyed Junco	-	11	-	1.59%
Scarlet Tanager	-	1	-	0.32%
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	0.32%
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	-	48	-	9.21%
Indigo Bunting	-	10	-	2.22%
Bobolink	-	86	-	7.30%
Red-winged Blackbird	-	400	-	23.49%
Eastern Meadowlark	-	4	-	0.95%
Western Meadowlark	-	5	-	1.27%
Yellow-headed Blackbird	-	21	-	1.90%
Brewer's Blackbird	-	96	-	5.40%
Common Grackle	-	198	-	17.46%
Brown-headed Cowbird	-	90	-	8.57%
Baltimore Oriole	-	45	-	6.98%
Purple Finch	-	128	-	6.98%
House Finch	-	2	-	0.63%
Pine Siskin	-	373	-	7.62%
American Goldfinch	-	101	-	13.02%
Evening Grosbeak	-	16	-	1.90%
House Sparrow	-	19	-	1.90%