LOONS AND CHICKS

Went out on the kayak again in search of loons and their chicks,
after a short while i came across a pair of loons out with their young.

nice to see the chicks are out, these are the first ones i have seen this year .

this was at the south end of the lake,i have heard of chicks out on lake of bays as well in Muskoka,along hwy # 60.
www.algonquininn.com

e-mail stay@algonquininn.com

BULL MOOSE ALGONQUIN PARK

We currently have some guests in from Australia first time to Algonquin Park and to the Algonquin inn,keen photographers and of course at the top of the list for a picture to take home would be a Moose,well as luck would have it they went out early this morning at around 7am they came across a group of cars parked by the highway in the Park at two rivers and sure enough there was a bull Moose standing in water, this is the shot i have been trying to take of a Moose in the water with an early morning mist, and every time the Moose is standing in mud......this is a great shot and thanks to David for sharing.

www.algonquininn.com
e-mail stay@algonquininn.com

oxtongue lake, sunset kayaking

had the chance to do some late evening kayaking on Oxtongue lake, which is where the Algonquin inn is located,we are getting close to that time when we can expect to start to see Loon out with their young.
so i headed out with my camera hand held with the 100-400mm lens, just offshore from the inn i came across this solo Loon i guess the female must still be at the nest.

and then just around the corner on the northern end of the lake i came across this pair of baby Common Merganser's with their mom.

here is mom close by.

as soon as i got to close then the young jumped onto the back of mum for safety, but after a while they got off again but kept close to her.

http://www.algonquininn.com/

email stay@algonquininn.com

ALGONQUIN PARK BIRD REPORT

Hi ONTBirders:

I spent the day at Algonquin, concentrating on the Arowhon Road areas. At the end of Arowhon Road, on the Orange Trail at Arowhon Pines, I located 10 species of warbler, including 4 NORTHERN PARULAS, 4 MAGNOLIA WARBLERS, 2 BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLERS, and 1 CANADA WARBLER. Two WINTER WRENS could be heard singing in the forest, as well as a WOOD THRUSH and a VEERY. As I was leaving, I heard three YELLOW-THROATED VIREOS singing near the restaurant and tennis court area.

I spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon along the Old Railway, where I observed 11 warbler species, including 4 NASHVILLE WARBLERS, 2 CAPE MAY WARBLERS, 2 BLACKBURNIAN WARBLERS, and singles of BLACK-THROATED BLUE, BLACK-AND-WHITE, MAGNOLIA, and MOURNING WARBLERS. Five BOREAL CHICKADEES were singing and actively foraging, as well as 5 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS. A family of three BROAD-WINGED HAWKS flew lazy circles above the trail, frequently calling out.

Good birding!

Pat

DIRECTIONS
from Huntsville Muskoka take hwy # 60 which will after 20 mins pass the Algonquin Inn
then on into Algonquin Park, Arowhan rd is located at the 15km marker and at the entarnce to the Mizzy Lake trail.....also a great location for Moose spotting....

Algonquin Park Birds and Moose report

Algonquin Park June 15th - Birds and Moose
Posted on June 17, 2009 at 09:50:59 AM by Ontbirds

*This report was originally posted by Norm Murr on ONTBIRDS (June 17, 2009) and is provided here with the kind permission of the Ontario Field Ornithologists.


Good Day Eh !

Yesterday Ian and I birded the Opeongo and Arowhon Roads ( to and at Wolf Howl Pond and West Rose Lake ) with a couple of stops in between and along with us was a 14 year old son of a friend of Ian and his wife Carol. The teenager wanted to see animals and we hopefully made that wish came true for him.

On the way along Hwy 60 east of Huntsville Muskoka was a juvenile Bald Eagle flying past just east of Hidden Valley.

Here are some of the birds we did find in Algonquin - Common Loons, Ring-necked Ducks, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker ( Visitor Centre ), Olive-sided Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Gray Jay, Common Raven, Boreal Chickadee, Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, Philadelphia Vireo, many Red-eyed Vireos, 16 Warbler species including Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian, Pine, Blackpoll ( male at West Rose Lake ), Wilson's and Canada, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Marsh and White-throated Sparrows ( many ) Pine Siskin ( Visitor Centre ), and Purple Finch plus lots of the usual birds.

This was a great day ( not only the perfect weather ) but for Mammal and Herp sightings. WE got to see 5 moose ( 2 bulls, 2 cows and a calf ), 2 Bears, 3 Deer, Beavers, Painted and Snapping Turtles, Bull, Green and Mink Frogs.

Ian decided to head for home going south along Hwy 35 and on the way down just north of Minden we spotted a Black-backed Woodpecker A nice sighting as we missed it in Algonquin.

MOOSE LOOSE IN ALGONQUIN PARK

Got up early this morning determined to see if I could locate any new Moose Calves,
as one our our guests at the Algonquin inn had spotted one yesterday.
As you can see in this shot of a Beaver lodge the lakes this morning were steaming in the early morning light, along highway # 60



It didn't take me long before I came upon a female Moose with this springs new calf in tow, only two and half kms into the Algonquin Park.



Here is Mom keeping an eye out, as the young at this age are vulnerable to bears and wolves.



Just a little further down the road, I came across these two Moose enjoying a quiet morning stroll down highway 60





A little further on I came across two Bull Moose near the highway, and as you can see now that their racks are fully developing and they are beginning to gain some serious weight and develop their summer coats. In total, I spotted 11 Moose today




wwww.algonquninn.com
email : stay@algonquininn.com

SNAPPING TURTLE

Every year we have at this time Snapping turtles that come out of the lake crossing our yard looking for a nice sandy area to lay their eggs. For some reason, every year we end up with one obstinate turtle that insists on laying her eggs next to the driveway and highway, so today we again, had a determined turtle with cars getting dangerously close. We had to park one of our cars next to the turtle to protect it. The whole process took about an hour, so that once finished I was able to pick up the turtle and return it to the lake.





www.algonquininn.com
e-mail stay@algonquin.com

WILD TURKEY@ ALGONQUIN INN

I just could not figure what had been happening to the flower beds,especially right under the bird feeders,i thought it was the chipmunks or the raccoons that kept digging them up and scattering the wood chips everywhere.
and then today i noticed some guests in the restaurant pointing and taking photos mystery solved a female wild Turkey.......


female wild Turkey

WWW.ALGONQUININN.COM

E-MAIL STAY@ALGONQUININN.COM

FALL PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP @ ALGONQUIN INN

Algonquin Provincial Park Workshop

Please fill in the form on this link to attend our Workshop from Sep 25-27, 2009.$899.00pp based on double occupancy, $949.00pp based on single occupancy.

Once submitted you will be directed to our payment options page.

If you prefer to mail your payment, please print and enclose this completed form with your cheque or money order and mail to:SunLight Media Inc.34A Avondale Blvd.PO Box 83026Brampton, ON, Canada L6T 5N3

WWW.ALGONQUININN.COM
E-MAIL STAY@ALGONQUININN.COM

CEDAR WAXWINGS, EASTERN BLUE BIRDS

Had the chance this weekend to pop over to Bondi Resort which is located just a few minutes from us on hwy # 35 on lake of bays Muskoka, the resort is operated by the Tapley family which has done so for over 100 years.....i noticed that Nancy had posted in her blog that they had a new deer fawn on the property as well as the return of the eastern bluebirds hence my visit.

well no luck on the fawn but i did locate 6 cedar waxwings and yes blue birds everywhere as well as nesting tree swallows and barn swallows. a great location for natural beauty across their 600 acres, you can visit Nancy's blog http://http//bondi-resort-algonquin.blogspot.com/


cedar waxwing


eastern blue bird (i was always at the wrong end of the field)


tree swallow


WWW.ALGONQUININN.COM
E-MAIL STAY@ALGONQUININN.COM

Hot Fox @ algonquin inn

Was down on the Lakefront this afternoon, and was surprised by this rather good looking fox that came out along the beach and had a drink. This was the same fox that I had seen in the neighborhood over the winter, luckily I had my camera with me this time.

.

www.algonquininn.com