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Bright sunshine and
warmer than usual temperatures made for some nice birding
weather in the forest around New Liskeard. (Photo by guide
Jay VanderGaast)
Planning a trip to see northern birds has many challenges. We have to forecast the likely presence of highlight species by what we know of historical patterns of the birds and their preferred food sources. As the crystal ball became clearer this past fall, the stage appeared to be set for a good flight year for many of the northern specialties that we birders love to see. And while the flight did materialize for most species, the big show stoppers, the northern owls, were slow to make an appearance. Complicating matters a bit more, the regional magnets for wintering raptors -- those islands in eastern Lake Ontario such as Amherst and Wolfe -- appeared to be experiencing lows in their rodent population cycle and failed to attract many birds.
However, birder and bander Bruce Murphy reported that the agricultural area of Timiskaming, closer to the breeding grounds of many of our target birds, was attracting a number of birds that would fill the gaps that the south seemed to have this year. So as a last minute choice we decided to make a run north and see what we could find in a brand new Field Guides destination.
What followed was a trip that was definitely about quality over quantity! For our long hours of driving and searching we were rewarded with a trip to a true Canadian winter destination, complete with donuts, coffee, snow squalls, and few pretty nifty birds! We hope you look back at the trip with some fond memories of beautiful pure winter colors, a warm coffee making it all feel better, the soft calls of an overhead Pine Grosbeak looking down upon you from its perch, and the feeling of relief when at last a Great Gray made an appearance.
We hope to see you all again some time, and all the best in birding!
--Peter and Jay
KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for
individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I =
introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b =
boreal migrant
BIRDS
A cooperative
Northern Hawk Owl gave us long, lingering views as it
surveyed the wintry landscape for something to eat. (Photo
by guide Peter Burke)
It took until the
final morning to find a cooperative Great Gray Owl, but it
sure made for a great grand finale to the tour! (Photo by
guide Jay VanderGaast)
One of a quartet
of Gray Jays that just wouldn't be wooed by Peter's
offering of bread. (Photo by guide Jay VanderGaast)
A number of
delightful Pine Grosbeaks popped into the feeders at the
banding station. (Photo by guide Jay VanderGaast)
Among the many
Common Redpolls caught and banded during our visit was
this bird of the Greenland race rostrata, which is larger
and darker than the regularly-occurring nominate form.
(Photo by guide Jay VanderGaast)
MAMMALS
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Totals for the tour: 33 bird taxa and 6 mammal taxa