Algonquin Visitor Centre!

The Visitor's Centre on highway 60, can be a great place to view winter finches. The mild winter unfortunately brought Black Bears out of hibernation earlier than normal so the bird feeders were taken down prior to our arrival. Luckily many birds were still nearby despite the reduced food sources.

The Evening Grosbeak is one of my favourite winter finch species that can usually be found in abundance in Algonquin Park.

Evening Grosbeaks can crush seeds that are too large for Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins to open. These smaller birds often seek out the grosbeaks and eat the food scraps that are left behind.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Evening_Grosbeak/overview

Common Redpolls will sometimes tunnel into the snow to stay warm during the night! Tunnels may be more than a foot long and 4 inches under the insulating snow!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Redpoll/overview#

Snow Buntings are larger than Dark-eyed Juncos and smaller than American Robins.

Red Crossbills have specialized "crossed" bills that allow them to break into unopened cones to extract seeds.  Even nestling birds will be fed seeds so adults will nest wherever and whenever they find abundant food sources, sometimes nesting even in winter!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red_Crossbill/overview

Adult Red Crossbills are known to perch on the top of evergreen trees to watch for predators.

Many Pine Siskins gathered grit from the parking area, which aids in digestion.

Canada Jay!

The Canada Jay was declared Canada's "official bird" by the Royal Canadian Geographic Society in 2016 following an online poll. It is slightly smaller than a Blue Jay, but larger than an American Robin. Opeongo Road in Algonquin Park is a location where this species can usually be found.

Even Canada Jay's need a drink of water once in awhile.

We were impressed by the number of Craisins this Canada Jay was able to grab in one visit! Check out that full beak! Also notice the coloured leg bands which help researches monitor breeding success and allow them to follow individuals throughout their lifetime.

https://www.ontarioparks.ca/parksblog/canada-jay-research/

A different Canada Jay found us on our second trip down Opeongo Road. The leg band colour combination differs from from the bird in the previous photo. This individual did a quick, 2 footed sideways hop along the railing of the bridge, in his quest to see if we had any food. The behaviour is characteristic of Crows and other Corvids.

And yes, we were prepared with food!

 

The Canada Jay stores large quantities of food for later use. It uses sticky saliva to glue small food items to tree branches above the height of the eventual snow line. It may be this food storage bahaviour that allows the jay to live so far north throughout the winter. Surprisingly, it nests during late winter, incubating its eggs in temperatures that may drop below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Jay/overview

 Wild Algonquin!

Our mammal highlight during a 2 day visit to the Algonquin Provincial Park region was finding a healthy Red Fox. We were able to view it from the car. Red foxes mainly dine on small mammals, including voles, mice, lemmings, squirrels, hares and rabbits. They will also eat plants and bird eggs.

https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/animal-facts-red-fox/

We saw several Red Squirrels during our hiking adventures. Red squirrels are omnivores and their diet includes flowers, berries, mushrooms, bugs, mice, eggs, and even small birds!

https://www.aiwc.ca/blog/six-things-to-know-about-red-squirrels/

We watched the water for signs of River Otters and Beaver but only found tracks. The wide trail was made by a Beaver's tail that dragged behind in the deep snow, covering up the foot tracks.

A water hole on a lake was an entry and exit point for some beavers. Again, we didn't get to see Canada's largest rodent, but we found the tracks going to and from the hole.

An American Mink swam through the river as we watched from a bridge in Arrowhead Provincial Park, north of Huntsville.

After the swim, he looked back at us, then caught a fish and ran away.

Tiny critters were in abundance on Bat Lake Trail. Although I didn't count them, I would estimate we saw hundreds of thousands of Snow Fleas. They look like black specks sprinkled on the snow. The lower picture is cropped to show detail. They aren't fleas, and although they have 6 legs, they are more closely related to crustaceans than to insects. They produce their own type of antifreeze, allowing them to be active on warmer winter days. They help to decompose organic material and are a good indicator of healthy soil.

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/snow-fleas

One more Red Fox pic!

 Canatara Finds!

Pine Siskins were hard to find in Sarnia this year, but we managed to find a few.

On the warm days with good thermals, Turkey Vultures have been soaring through in large numbers. One day, 23 were spotted in a 30 minute period.

Robins and Starlings continue to use Staghorn Sumac as a food source while they wait for spring food to become available.

A quiet Carolina Wren.

Eastern Chickmunk, Peek-a-boo!

Eastern Comma, wings open.

2 Eastern Comma's are hiding in plain site with their wings closed, on the forest floor! Can you see them?

Lake Huron Shoreline

Bluebirds & Other Insect Eaters: 

Eastern Bluebirds have returned to NW Lambton County. They are known as "partial migrants". Some birds move south while others stay near the nesting grounds, if weather and food availability allow. We rarely see them in NW Lambton during the winter months, but it is possible to find them in SW Lambton.

https://abcbirds.org/bird/eastern-bluebird/

Canatara's first Eastern Phoebe of the year was found this week. The use of buildings and bridges for nest sites has allowed the Eastern Phoebe to tolerate landscape changes made by humans and even expand its range. However, it still uses natural nest sites when they are available.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Phoebe/overview

An American Robin found a juicy caterpillar on a cold day. (It could be a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar.) Many forms of life survive cold winters by hiding under a blanket of leaves on the forest floor. 30 Robins were spread around the area looking for food.

Robins flipping leaves and finding food.

Brown Creepers have been searching under bark for tiny tidbits of food. The Creeper in the photo has it's beak open after swallowing a tiny invertebrate.

 Spring???

Although March 20th is the first full day of spring in 2024, we had more spring-like conditions during the winter than we're having now!

Birds such as this Red-bellied Woodpecker have been staking claims on nesting territories. 

Pussy Willows started emerging from the buds back in January.

In recent years, Canada Geese have successfully nested on some of the roof tops in the Canatara Animal Farm. The family may be safe from ground predators, but the goslings have a long drop to the ground to find food after hatching.

A pair of Coopers Hawks have been visiting a few different nesting sites, placing twigs on potential nests. It will be interesting to see which location they finally select.

Flowers are blooming on some maple trees.

Painted Turtles have enjoyed "sun basking" on some of the warmer days.

Squirrels are preparing their nests for the arrival of young.

One day soon, the weather will match our spring expectations!

 March Birds in Canatara:

Mild winter weather has kept the little lake in Canatara open for much of the season. A good variety of ducks have used it for food and shelter, especially when seeking protection from windy Lake Huron. We managed to get photos of some of the species found recently.

It is unusual to see Northern Pintail ducks in Canatara Park for an extended visit. They typically fly over as they pass through the area. 2 males and a female stayed for a few days and the males were not getting along.

One of several Ring-necked Ducks. 

American Wigeon

Canvasback Ducks: Up to 13 have regularly been seen on Lake Chipican over the past few few weeks.

Green-winged Teal - he made a very brief stop.

Mallard Hen who thinks she's a song bird. I watched her eating bird seed that had been left on a stump for the Cardinals and other song birds.

Canada Geese were tall enough to reach up and gobble the seed from ground level.

Mallard pair in flight

Watchful Red-winged Blackbird.