Young Peregrine

Many thanks to Bobby Lowndes for sharing these shots of a young Peregrine on the rocks at Cummings Beach, taken on October 7, 2010. The nearest Peregrine aerie is about 7 km to the west, at the Red Sucker Cove Provincial Nature Reserve.

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American Golden Plover at Cummings Beach

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Goose notes

My heart knows what the wild goose knows,
I must go where the wild goose goes.
Wild goose, brother goose, which is best?
A wanderin' fool or a heart at rest?*

For a few days last week a Canada Goose stopped over at Cummings Beach. Mostly it kept to itself, resting and foraging upon the grasses, sedges and pondweeds growing along on the shore of Lake Superior. When either our resident or high-flying migrating Canada Geese passed over, it cocked an eye in their direction but was otherwise unmoved. The goose bore an aluminum band on its leg and with a 20x spotting scope I was easily able to read the number.

Shortly after reporting the band on-line, I learned that the this goose had been banded as a flightless gosling on July 17, 2010 near Winisk, on the Hudson Bay coast, 750 km due north of Marathon. Thus, it was likely of the interior subspecies, smaller and duskier than the Giant Canada Goose (Branta canadensis maxima) most familiar to residents of southern Ontario.

The bander was Dr. Ken Abraham of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Each summer, Ken and his team band approximately 8000 Canada Geese (3000 adults, 5000 goslings) along the coast of northern Ontario (from the Quebec border to the Manitoba Border) and on the north shore of Akimiski Island, Nunavut.

Sarah Hagey, a member of Dr. Abraham's crew, graciously provided some photos of the habitat at the mouth of the Winisk River, an area that has been designated an Important Bird Area.

Estuarine habitat at Peawanuck, near Winisk. Photo from Sarah Hagey.

Placing a band on an adult Canada Goose at Peawanuck. Photo from Sarah Hagey.

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Background

• From Bird Studies Canada, a profile of the Winisk River Estuary, Peawanuck, Ontario, Important Bird Area.

• From Jean Iron, some photos of some members of Dr. Abraham's crew (who appear to enjoy they work).

• *Lyrics from The Cry of the Wild Goose, written by Terry Gilkyson.

Cackling Goose

Yesterday I came upon a nice assemblage of waterfowl at the Prairie River Mouth Provincial Nature Reserve, a half hour drive west of Marathon. In addition to Green-winged Teal, Mallards and Canada Geese, there was lone Cackling Goose that very obligingly walked in front of a family of (local?) Giant Canada Geese, allowing an opportunity to contrast the sizes of two extreme members of the white-cheeked goose clade. Giant Canada Geese weigh close to five kg whereas Cackling Geese weigh less than two.

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More on the Cackling Goose

Distinguishing Cackling and Canada Goose from Sibley Guides.

Cackling Goose, not new to Ontario by Ken Abraham [Published first in OFO News 23(1):2-6. February 2005.]

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher at Thunder Cape!

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Photo courtesy of John Woodcock, TCBO

This hatch-year bird was mist-netted, banded and released at the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory on September 30, 2010.

Alan Wormington informed me that this is only the fourth Canadian record for this species, whose breeding and wintering ranges extend throughout much of the Neotropics, as far north as southernmost Arizona and New Mexico. The first occurrence, also in Ontario, was on September 28, 1986 at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Since then, one fatally struck a window in Oakville (Nov. 6, 2009) and another turned up in Newfoundland.

Other interesting vagrants have turned up at Thunder Cape in past Septembers and Octobers, among them: Yellow-billed Loon, Violet-green Swallow (Ontario's first) and Bell's Vireo.


View Thunder Cape in a larger map

An odd bird in the yard

For some time I've wanted to write something about our encounters with Wilson's Snipe. We see them regularly in migration and, more interestingly, in the middle of winter. Indeed one or two individuals have been tallied on six of the last eight Christmas bird counts. Evidently these birds find sufficient food and shelter along a small, densely vegetated creek in Peninsula Harbour, not far from the mill. The phenomenon of snipe overwintering in northern Ontario is so unusual that the regional compiler of the CBC simply didn't believe the first report back in 2002.

The Snipe Seep in Autumn

Until today I had put off profiling our ice snipe as I had yet to get a decent photo of one. Just about all of our snipe sightings involve brief views of fast-flying birds we've flushed.

The Snipe Seep in Winter

This morning, I looked out our kitchen window expecting to see the usual Rusty Blackbirds, Common Grackles and White-crowned Sparrows, and I did...in the company of a Wilson's Snipe! The bird was fairly active, foraging over a patch of turf where I had been scattering mixed seed - not acceptable snipe fare, evidently.

Certainly an unusual bird to observe from one's kitchen window.

Grousing in Pukaskwa

I came upon both grouse species - a pair of each - in the front country campground of Pukaskwa this weekend. The two male Spruce Grouse were involved in a very lengthy border dispute that involved much strutting and clucking.

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Harris's Sparrows passing through (updated Sept 23)

The Harris's Sparrow is something of a novelty to birders in southern Ontario where the species is very rarely seen. According to Alan Wormington, the species is a regular autumn migrant from Marathon westwards.

Yesterday, two were found in Marathon. One was (and remains) in our yard in the company of a loose flock of 100+ sparrows (White-crowned, White-throated, Chipping, Clay-colored & Lincoln's). Our friend Nolan also found one in his yard. Gary Emms reported another, a beautifully marked adult, at his feeder in Longlac.




Adult in Longlac, Sept 20. Photo courtesy of Gary Emms.

Juvenile in our yard in Marathon, Sept. 20.

Update: Sept 23

The juvenile, present at our feeder since September 19, was joined today by a more boldly marked adult. 

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Adult and juvenile in our yard, Sept 23.

Some autumn colour

This is Viburnum edule (Michx.), also known as squashberry, mooseberry, lowbush cranberry or pimbina. It occurs at higher latitudes than its congeners and is said to be tastier than the other viburnums - sweeter after the first frost.

Learn more about this plant from Natural Resources Canada.

Migration continues

A tailless Clay-colored Sparrow joined the throng of White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows in our yard yesterday. Also present are single Lincoln's, Song and Savannah Sparrows.

From the post office parking lot this morning I heard/saw three Sandhill Cranes flying south, out over the big lake.

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Clay-coloured Sparrow

American Golden Plover and Sanderling in Peninsula Harbour