new spring arrivals

was in the park yeaterday a wonderful sunny day had the chance to see the new bird arrivals,
great blue heron, up on costello lake , as well an american robin we should be seeing a lot more of these as the ground cover clears,
crowds of common crackle and red wing blackbirds, and the first song sparrows !!!!
other New arrivals this week included: Sharp-shinned Hawk,
and Killdeer.

this weeks bird report for algonquin park

Subject: Algonquin Park birding update: 26 March 2009
From: Ron Tozer
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:50:44 -0400

Snow in many off-trail areas is still knee-deep.
On cold days you can walk anywhere on top of
the crust, but you will break through during
milder weather without snowshoes.

Here are some sightings from the past week:

Wild Turkey: same two still in the Two Rivers
Store area on March 25 and 26.

Red-tailed Hawk: 1 near Peck Lake on March 21.

Spruce Grouse: Male and female on Spruce Bog
Boardwalk on March 20; a male northeast of
the gate on Opeongo Road on March 21; and one
north of the culvert (on the east side) on March 22.

American Three-toed Woodpecker: No reports
received this week.

Black-backed Woodpecker: One on north side of Highway
60 across from West Gate parking lot on March 20, and
a pair on utility poles at km 8 on March 21.

Gray Jay: Opeongo Road, and Spruce Bog.

Boreal Chickadee: Three along Opeongo Road, and two
at Spruce Bog parking lot during the week.

Pine Grosbeak: Single female at Vistitor Centre to March
21, and a small flock flying over Spruce Bog on March 22.
They may be all gone by now.

Purple Finch: Single males at West Gate and Visitor Centre
feeders on March 21. First of the winter.

Red Crossbill: Two at Spruce Bog parking lot, and 2 or 3
near Kearney Lake on March 20; and two in Visitor Centre
parking lot on March 22.

White-winged Crossbill: Five along straight northern stretch
of Opeongo Road on March 22. Virtually all gone, it appears.

Common Redpoll: Still 1 at Visitor Centre feeder on March 25.

Pine Siskin: 30+ at Visitor Centre feeders.

Evening Grosbeak: 15+ at Visitor Centre feeders all week.
Three at Spruce Bog parking lot on March 22.


Notes:
Pine Marten: Being seen at Mew Lake Campground refuse
containers, Visitor Centre feeders, Spruce Bog parking lot,
and eating sunflower seed at gate area on Opeongo Road.

New arrivals this week included: Sharp-shinned Hawk,
and Killdeer.

Arowhon Road and Rock Lake Road are now closed
to public travel due to muddy spring melt conditions.

Cross-country ski trails will be closed for the season,
as of March 27.


Please report your Algonquin sightings to me (including
date, number and location) for our park records. Thanks.

Good birding.

Ron Tozer
Algonquin Park Naturalist (retired)

the beavers are out

with the ice starting to brake up, the beavers have found an open spot, the first chance this spring to sit out in the sun, i know how it feels....

pine martin

went out today into the park looking for new bird arrivals and came across this very friendly pine martin the location was at the gate on opeongo rd, enjoying all of the bird seed left on the ground.

Three-toed Woodpeckers

Subject: Algonquin Park: American Three-toed Woodpeckers
From: Ron Tozer
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:46:02 -0400

It appears that a late winter irruption of American
Three-toed Woodpeckers, of yet to be determined
magnitude, is occurring in Algonquin Park.

A female was observed near the top end of the
straight stretch of Opeongo Road, in the black
spruce-dominated section, on March 14.

Now, I have received photos of a male American
Three-toed Woodpecker taken on Spruce Bog
Boardwalk trail on March 15.

During some previous southward irruptions by this
boreal woodpecker, birds were present in Algonquin
until mid-May.


Ron Tozer
Algonquin Park Naturalist (retired)

FISH IN OXTONGUE LAKE

we get asked a lot at the algonquin inn are there any fish in the lake ?, which is called oxtongue lake,well the fact is YES here is a picture of the first prize catch of the day,this was from the annual ice fishing derby held on the lake this past weekend, the winner was a 9lbs 6oz lake trout cought by Darrell Lupton,

Rick Mercer visits Algonquin Park

Rick Mercer from CBC television recently visited Algonquin Park to take part in the Black Bear tagging program,the park monitors all of the over 2,000 black Bears in the park mostly with radio transmitters.
Guests have asked us about the black bears and what are the chances of seeing them, which is rare but they are there in the bush.
so enjoy this video clip report in which Rick gets up close and personal with a bear and her cubs.....

LATEST BIRD REPORT FOR ALGONQUIN PARK

From time to time i will post the latest bird observations for Algonquin park,that
have been posted to the net.you can also check the algonquin inns Algonquin birding
web page here this will give you more posts as well as the xmas counts etc and what to find as well as specials that the algonquin inn offers to birders..

Subject: Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, etc Algonquin Park Saturday
From: "Andrew Don"
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2009 23:31:56 -0500


Hello, went to Algonquin Park and we had a super day seeing almost all the
northern specialties.

Highlights include: Black-backed Woodpecker(male) on Opeongo Road past the
culvert about halfway between the gate and the store.

Also in this same general area saw 2 Boreal chickadees, Spruce Grouse and 3
Gray Jays

At Spruce Bog was another Spruce grouse and we had 2 Ruffed Grouse in Mew Lake
Campgrounds

2 small flocks of White-winged Crossbills seen and/or heard at Opeongo and
Spruce Bog

4 Red Crossbills (2f,2m) outside front of Visitor Center
1 Hoary Redpoll in with flock of Common Redpolls at Visitor Center feeders,
also Pine and Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins and other usual birds at the
feeders

2 Pine Martens were at the Visitor Center feeders when we got there
West Gate had Pileated Woodpecker and Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls

Thanks Benito and Ian for the great day of birding

Andrew Don
Http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew-don/

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds

 

At the Algonquin Inn we have always had a soft spot for these tiny and beautiful birds. From May onwards we have many feeders at our dining room windows.
From this link you can follow their migration back to Canada from the south where they winter.
We hope you find it as interesting as we do.