Back yard feeder update

Although we've been enjoying visits by Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches and newly fledged, stubby-tailed White-throated Sparrows, we decided about half an hour ago that the 2010-2011 winter bird feeding season is over.

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Black Bears at Heron Bay

Many thanks to Tyler Kydd for sharing this awesome photo of a family of Black Bears along Heron Bay Road (Hwy 627) taken last week.

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Along the Highwat 627 corridor

We spent a few minutes observing a magnificent Black Bear that was munching on grasses beside the highway. He seems to have emerged from his winter den site in excellent shape.

The mouth of the Pic River and - a few km to the east - Hattie Cove are two of the better places to view migrating waterfowl. At the mouth of the Pic this morning were Canada Goose, Common Goldeneye, Mallard, American Black Duck, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal. Through the fog hanging over Hattie Cove we watched several passing "V's" of Canada Geese. After the fog had burned off, we saw many of the same ducks we'd seen on the Pic as well as Bufflehead and Common Merganser. It was also good to see a Bald Eagle sitting on a nest from which two healthy eaglets fledged last summer.
Boardwalk in Hattie Cove, Pukaskwa N.P.

Birds Seen:

Canada Goose 229 Eurasian Wigeon 1 American Black Duck 13 Mallard 33 Northern Pintail 2 Green-winged Teal 8 Bufflehead 1 Common Goldeneye 6 Common Merganser 4 Ruffed Grouse 1 Bald Eagle 1 Ring-billed Gull 4 Herring Gull 14 Mourning Dove 2 Belted Kingfisher 2 Downy Woodpecker 3 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 1

Gray Jay 3 American Crow 6 Common Raven 7 Black-capped Chickadee 9 Boreal Chickadee 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 2 Winter Wren 8 Golden-crowned Kinglet 8 American Robin 7 European Starling 10 American Tree Sparrow 4 Fox Sparrow 1 Song Sparrow 2 Dark-eyed Junco 17 Rusty Blackbird 5 Common Grackle 15 Purple Finch 4 Pine Siskin 3 Evening Grosbeak 6