Week 3 - Algonquin and Ottawa did not Disappoint!

 We started the week going after a few common winter birds that can be tougher to find and had been reported locally.  Snow buntings are pretty prolific in the fields during the winter months and can be in flocks of hundreds but their may only be 1-2 Lapland Longspurs around at the same time.  Luckily they had both been reported 30 mins from home and we got both species fairly quickly. We stopped at a spot known for nesting Great Horned Owls and did not see them but added a couple more common species. Next was mopping up on Duck species so we hit a few spots around Lake Ontario on Tuesday and saw Black Scoter, Lesser Scaup and Ruddy Duck. I walked away down the path and Jerry found a Green-wing Teal which I could not re-find later as the evening sun turned all the ducks to black so Jerry was once again ahead by 1 bird.

On Thursday we took our first trip north and drove through snow squalls at Bracebridge that turned to light fluffy flurries in Algonquin. The temperature was -9 when we arrived at noon and it made for a magical winter wonderland walking through Spruce Bog Trail. There were a few species of birds around but not as many as we had anticipated, I think the snow kept some birds tucked away. We both added our 100th birds in Algonquin - for Jerry it was Common Redpoll and for me it was Evening Grosbeak! 

I had hoped to be at 100 by the end of February so I'm super happy to have hit that milestone in only week 3.  I know there are still many potential birds out there to find in the next weeks.  On Friday we woke up to a temperature of -24 with a windchill of -31 and warnings of frostbite. We put on extra layers and covered up as much as possible.  Steamed glasses made looking through binoculars difficult and thick mitts made operating cameras a bit of a challenge.

A short distance in the park we noticed a few cars pulled over with people on the side of the road which, in Algonquin, means a moose and sure enough a large male without antlers was munching on evergreens off the side of the road. 

We added 6 of the Boreal species but sadly did not see a Canada Jay or Pine Grosbeak. The Pine Grosbeak have stayed further north because of plentiful food so we will have to travel to Sudbury for them and we plan to be back in Algonquin in the spring and fall so will hopefully get Canada Jay then.

Red Crossbills were plentiful on the roads and at the Visitor Center and we also managed to see a couple of the rarer White-winged Crossbill. Our one boreal rarity, a Hoary Redpoll was seen at the feeders too.

We then headed to Ottawa for another crack at the Western Tanager. Our grandson had a hockey tournament for the weekend so we decided to spend a combo weekend of birding during the day and hockey games at night.  We dropped in at the Tanager site late Friday afternoon, stood in -10 for 2 and 1/2 hrs just like the last time and did not see the bird! 

Early Saturday morning we headed out to the area where Gray Partridge have been seen and spent 1 1/2 hours driving slowly, sitting watching before deciding to give up and as we headed away I decided to pull over just around the corner thinking we could still see the area and Jerry quickly spotted a covey of 11 sitting out in the field!. We quickly posted to Discord so other drivers that had been looking would know where to find the birds.  We spent a few minutes admiring and taking some pics and headed to the Tanager stakeout with renewed optimism. There were many birders gathered at the spot when we arrived at 10 but the bird had not been seen at all.  We walked around a bit, kept our eyes on numerous feeders, chatted with other birders and waited and waited.  When we were just starting to feel like it might never show the bird flew in at 11:45! 

The level of excitement at finally seeing this bird was over the top LOL. I couldn't believe it had actually happened. It took 3 trips and 7 hours standing in -10 temperatures to get that bird.  We enjoyed the moment, took some pics and videos, then the bird was startled from the feeder into the shrubs.

We left to head for our next destination - a Barred Owl.  One of the birders from the Tanager site graciously offered to show us the owl location and true to his word found us the Barred Owl munching on a freshly caught Red Squirrel. Thanks Bob! It was an epic moment for us having never seen an owl with prey. It was wonderful to watch as the Owl went about his meal with no worries of the people standing below him.

As a bonus we also got a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that was wintering there. The last bird for Ottawa was Bohemian Waxwing. Large flocks were reported in a neighborhood east of Ottawa and after driving around for a few minutes we saw 20 in a tree in a backyard but quite a distance away.  We continued driving and finally found a flock of over 100 where Jerry got better pics.  FIVE birds added to our list in one day!  An epic birding day, where all the stars aligned. We wish they could all be like that.

Sunday morning we left at 7 so we could be at the Lark Sparrow location in Kingston at 9. We walked up the driveway and the bird was sitting in a shrub feet away from us.  We were there a total of 7 minutes. We would have loved to enjoy the bird a bit longer but when these birds are on private property and the owner's have given permission to view we do not overstay our welcome.

We got back in our car and headed to see a Harris's Sparrow that was coming to feeders 10 minutes from home and again got out of our car went up the driveway and the bird was out at the feeder for about 1 minute before flying back into the shrubs when a Merlin appeared. We stayed and chatted with other birders hoping the sparrow would reappear for better pics but it did not so we left after 30 minutes.  A two rare sparrow day! 

And the icing on the cake was on the way home a birder neighbor had an Eastern Screech Owl in his bird box so we stopped for a quick few minutes to enjoy the Owl snoozing and sunning while Black-capped Chickadees harassed it from branches inches from its face.

A truly great 3rd week with rarities still popping up around the province.  A Slaty-backed Gull was reported in Mississauga at 4:35, a bit late for us to make it there before dark but maybe it will stick around.

Week 3 - 3 rarities added for a total of 7,  2 more Owl species, 22 species added 

113(E) 114(J) species seen