bird feeder chaos

Yesterday was a very ugly day in that it snowed most of the day low temps and freezing rain,net result the feeders were mobed.
everything turned up, we went throgh 25lbs of seed !!!!

check out the first picture for Fox Sparrows, White-Throated, Chipping, Song, Junco's, Redpolls, Purple Finch, etc,

looking forward to Spring.....




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OPEN WATER ON TWO RIVERS

Went into the Park today ,yes in the middle of a snow storm !!!!! looking for Spruce Grouse (note no picture !)
for the first time this spring some open water or the start of , the island from highway 60 on Two Rivers Algonquin Park......
Spring is coming just taking it's time...



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Vesper Sparrow O.F.O. field trip

A lifer for me a Vesper Sparrow one of those Birds i am sure to have seen but not......it was not until it was pointed out to me that i was able to see the details and record my first, this was taken yesterday on the annual O.F.O. field trip to Algonquin Park,not the best of days in that all of the Lakes are STILL frozen and the wind had gusts of up to 50kms....more details to follow.

Vesper Sparrow


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Algonquin Park Birding report

Major melting of snow this week resulted in rivers rising to flood level.
However, there is still relatively little open water. Ice-free areas in
lakes where rivers and creeks enter are only slowly expanding in size.

An Owl Survey during the evening of April 12 from the West Gate to
km 18 along Highway 60 produced single Barred Owls at the West
Gate and km 2, but no Northern Saw-whet Owls. This was not entirely
unexpected since small mammal populations are low following very
poor tree seed crops last year.


Boreal species reported this week included:

Spruce Grouse: Two were seen on Spruce Bog Boardwalk on
April 9.

Black-backed Woodpecker: A male was on a utility pole
at km 8 on Highway 60 on April 8.

Boreal Chickadee: One was reported at Spruce
Bog Boardwalk on April 9.

New arrivals (with the average date in brackets) are shown below.
Most are later than normal, as expected in this late spring.

April 8: Rough-legged Hawk (March 25)
April 9: Winter Wren (April 7)
April 10: Belted Kingfisher (April 9)
April 10: Northern Flicker (April 8)
April 10: Winter Wren (April 7)
April 10: Golden-crowned Kinglet (April 3)
April 11: Green-winged Teal (April 12)
April 11: Eastern Phoebe (April 6)
April 11: Purple Finch (April 4)
April 13: Common Goldeneye (April 7)
April 13: Pied-billed Grebe (April 13)
April 14: Northern Pintail (Rare)
April 14: Ring-necked Duck (April 8)
April 14: Common Loon (April 14)
April 14: Belted Kingfisher (April 9)


Moose are being seen regularly now at wet areas along Highway60.

Please report your sightings for our records.

Ron Tozer
Algonquin Park Naturalist (retired)
Dwight, ON

EASTERN PHOEBE

Today a big surprise the first of the flycatchers of spring to arrive here at the Inn an Eastern Phoebe, as i understand it they are the first arrive and the last to leave in the Fall.



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MINK IN ALGONQUIN PARK

On the way back to the Inn through Algonquin Park i saw an Otter jump into a small area of open water at the side of the road , so i jumped out camera at the ready the open water was in in fact a culvert. there was a lot ice in there so the Otter was swimming under ice from one side of the highway to the other, i sat there for an hour trying to out wait him, no luck... however i was reward when a Martin walked out from under the ice on it's snow path into the open and we where both surprised yet managed to get a few quick frames off.


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THERE BACK !!!!

THERE BACK !!!! guests of the Inn have been reporting seeing Moose along highway 60 through Algonquin Park. so Anna not having seen a Moose this season set off for the park , and took the picture above to share and provide a clue as to where she saw it.....a young Bull Moose,

great start to the new season.

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pine martin and boreal chickadees

Had the opportunity to spend this weekend in the Algonquin Park as the Boreal Chickadees continue to feed at the suet feeder on the Spruce Bog Trail, and I wanted to see if I could improve on the photos from my last visit, also hoping to catch a moose out in the open in the snow. On the way in I was able to meet up with Ethan Meleg for the day. Ethan was also after the Boreal Chickadee. As an avid bird photographer he had yet to obtain a quality picture of the bird in twenty years of trying. Well, that all changed as of today.
Once we got to the Spruce Bog and set up, in a fairly short period of time we were visited by a lot of bird activity with four Boreal Chickadees, Red and White-breasted Nut Hatches, as well as Blue Jays and Chickadees. To top it all off we were visited by a pine Martin that has taken up residence close to the bird feeder taking advantage of the free bird suet and bird seed.

Boreal Chickadee


pine martin



Red-Breasted Nuthatch


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Boreal Chickadee

It has been way to long time since my last post on this blog....but things have been very quiet for birding this Winter in Algonquin Park, in fact from what i hear all over southern Ontario.

However for landscape photogrhhpy its a Winter wonderland with picture postcard images everywhere,

One of my Nemesis Birds has been the Boreal Chickadee, being small and dark, with a tendancy to hang back in the shadows of trees i have never been able to get a good clean shot. This Winter the Park staff have placed a suet feeder on the Spruce bog trail which is opposite the park visitors center (handy for warm drinks and food on weekends) located only hundred feet into the trail from the parking lot just before the sign book post on the left high in a tree.

The suet feeder this year has attracted a single Boreal Chickadee along with some Blue Jays and Black capped Chickadees, i have to wait about two hours to finally get the shot that i wanted . happy at last.....

The feeders at Algonquin Inn have been very disappointing this winter so far, but everyday we have a about a dozen wild Turkeys that make the rounds, hopefully we will see the return of the Evening Grosbeaks again soon.

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