Algonquin Park in November

We haven’t been too diligent documenting birds around town lately.

We were, however, up at Algonquin this past week and managed to see a few birds.

Son Ross leads us to a number of regular stops in what has become a regular mid-November routine for him.

At the west park gate a few minutes after having caught a glimpse of a skittish moose we observed eight evening grosbeaks at quite a distance. We struggled to capture them on camera. 

The Gray Jays weren’t terribly interested in us at the Spruce Bog Trail.  Yes, I thought it was our warm personalities and chipped sunflower seed.  But the only two seen were busy on a large suet feeder and barely looked at us as we passed.



Opeongo Lake Visit November 2012

Purple finches were seen at the Visitor Centre, Ross got a couple of Black Backed Woodpeckers on the Opeongo Lake Road and two common loons were about all that could be found at the Outfitting Station. 

The south end of the lake was nearly all
frozen over unlike our visit in 2012.



 

The Gray Jays off the Mizzy Lake Road behaved in more characteristic Gray Jay style as we hiked along the old railroad bed.

As the sun was about to set we caught sight of a Ruffed Grouse flying in front of our car on the Mizzy Lake Road.

Algonquin Park postings can be found weekly at http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/news/algonquin_park_birding_report.php
 

Cattle Egret

We finally got out of the house to see the Cattle Egret.

It was located, without much effort, with the cows at 8^th Concession and Hazen just before sundown.  That is north and west of the village of Walsingham, which is on Highway #59.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/cattle_egret/id), the Cattle Egret is originally from Africa and found its way to North America in 1953 and quickly spread across the continent.

You’ll find it in fields, not streams, where it eats insects and small animals.

Most spend their winters in the southern United States where the temperature rarely falls below 5 degrees Celsius. Some find their way to more northern coastal areas where winters are mild. Their North American range is still expanding.

On the way home, we headed west along Lakeshore where we picked up fifty or so Sandhill Cranes on the north side before Port Royal, another 30 on the south side just west of Port Royal.   One individual was grazing at Lee  Browns.

Tundra Swans are moving around town and Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding continues at the Long Point  Bird Observatory Old Cut Banding. Station. (See www.birdscanada.org/lpbo)
    
Banding closes for the season on November 15th


Northern Saw-whet being banded October 30th at Old Cut.