Finches on the move!

I went for an excellent hike this morning along the Lake Superior coast south from Pebble Beach in Marathon to the mill effluent treatment ponds and then back along the CPR tracks and saw a tonne of birds. As Alan Wormington discovered back in the day, NE winds along the north shore can trigger large migratory movements of passerines in the late fall. Among the rarities Alan turned up on this stretch have been Cassin's and Field Sparrows, Townsend's Solitaire and White-eyed Vireo.

 I didn't cross paths with any megas but I was awed by the tide of Common Redpoll - one super flock had more than 300 birds. I estimated more than 1,300 COREs in 2.5 hours. Last year in late October I saw similar movements of redpolls moving NW along the coast. Then, as in most years, the migrating flock passed high over head, stopping periodically to feed in the tops of white birches. This year our drought-stressed birch failed to set seed so now most of the migrating redpolls are sweeping through at eye level, pausing to feed on abundant Green Alder cones.

Smaller flocks of White-winged Crossbill, Pine Siskin and Pine Grosbeak were also conspicuous this morning. The flock of nine Bohemian Waxwings and two Northern Shrikes added some contrast. I was surprised not to see a single Rough-legged Hawk passing by Hawks Ridge.

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An Indigo Bunting continues to visit our backyard feeders.

Indigo Bunting in Marathon & rarities around Lake Superior

We had a very drab looking Indigo Bunting show up in our Marathon yard today - late-ish but not the latest autumn record in the Thunder Bay District for this neotropical migrant.

Also in our yard were all of the regular winter finches: Pine and Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, Common and Hoary Redpoll, White-winged Crossbill and Purple Finch.

Indigo Bunting in Marathon, Oct. 27, 2012.

Of late some true rarities have been reported from the Lake Superior basin. At Grand Marais (MN), only 128 km from Thunder Bay, a Cassin's Kingbird was photographed today.

Photo here:

http://moumn.org/cgi-bin/recent.pl?op=rare.

In Alger Co., Michigan, only a few hundred open water kms south of Terrace Bay, a Vermilion Flycatcher was seen today.

Report here:

http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Mail/Michigan_Listers/1280467?

photo here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guitarmom/8129162469/

On October 25, a Cave Swallow was photographed at the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory in MI.

Photo here:

http://www.wpbo.org/node/26807

East of Minneapolis, in Eau Claire, Minnesota, a Bewick's Wren showed up at a feeder today.

Photos here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/ageraghty83/BackyardWrenOctober272012?authkey=Gv1sRgCPeQ1Zz7gqWReA

So...it's that time of year when just about anything can show up in the western Great Lakes. Keep your eyes peeled!

Cold autumn colour palette

I don't share enough photos of the local landscape.

Martha took these shots yesterday as snow squalls and high winds swept across across Lake Superior.

 [click on images to enlarge]

Autumn geese and some other miscellany

In late September and early October high-flying southbound V's of Canada Geese can be seen and heard on most days. Anyone who takes a little extra time to scrutinize a superficially familiar gaggle of grazing Canada Geese has a good chance of being rewarded with something less usual.

It all got rolling on September 10th with the report by Jennifer Chikoski and Jeff Robinson of a Greater White-fronted Goose at Lake Tamblyn, in Thunder Bay.

Lake Tamblyn. Sept. 10, 2012. Photo by Jeff Robinson.

Closer to my home, a Snow Goose stopped over briefly at the mouth of the Pic River (a premier spot for viewing waterbirds in the Marathon area).

Pic River. Sept 25, 2012.

Greg Stroud turned up a Ross's Goose on the lawn near the George O'Neil School in Nipigon.

Ross's Goose at Nipigon. Sept 28, 2012. Photo courtesy of Greg Stroud.

Cackling Geese have been especially common this fall.

Cacklers in Marathon. Oct 5, 2012

High up on my wish list is Brant - I've yet to see one in NW Ontario and it's considered accidental in the T-Bay District. A pair was found on the Pic River in October 2008.

Brant, CACG and CANGs at the Pic River. Oct 7, 2008.  Martha Allen.

One more goose note. Exactly two years ago a cooperative Canada Goose allowed me to approach closely enough to read the number on its leg band. I soon learned that the bird had been banded as a flightless gosling that summer near Winisk, on the Hudson Bay coast.

Two days ago another lone, banded Canada Goose obligingly pirouetted at ten metres distance, revealing the nine digit band sequence. This individual was banded as a flightless gosling in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2011 so it was almost certainly a southbound molt migrant whose only interest in Canada was to gorge on the lush grasses and sedges of the Hudson Bay lowlands while undergoing its summer molt.

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A few other nice birds - both casual visitors to the District - have shown up recently. An Upland Sandpiper stopped over on the grassy embankment beside the mill treatment pond below Hawks Ridge in Marathon on Sept. 15-16. On September 30, while en route to a wild dove chase (oy...) near Rossport, I was delayed by a few minutes when a Yellow-billed Cuckoo swooped low in front of my car and perched beside the road in a colourful aspen. Sweet!

Yellow-billed Cuckoo near Rossport. Sept 30, 2012.

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The gull watching is getting interesting. In the Soo, the persistent Kirk Zufelt turned up two(!!!) Mew Gulls on consecutive days (Sept 27-28). Check out Kirk's great photos and account of the Mew Gull Miracle.

Yesterday, I checked out our local gull assemblage and turned up four species - no rarities but a good tally for here.

Thayer's Gull in Marathon. Oct. 5, 2012.

A pair of Bonies in Marathon. Oct. 5, 2012.

Three northern darners

The mosaic darners, genus Aeshna, are of course the large, conspicuous dragonflies that fly, sometimes in impressive swarms, throughout the Ontario summer. Of the one dozen species found in Ontario, eight are known from the Thunder Bay District. Of these, three - the Sedge, Zigzag and Subarctic - have distinctly northern affinities and are among the less commonly seen species in our region.

All three seem to be flying right now in the Marathon area. During the last half of July I crossed paths with Sedge and Zigzag Darners at sites where I'd found them previously. The Subarctic Darner, a lifer for me a few weeks ago, has been observed only a handful of times in NW Ontario and it wasn't one I expected to find so close to home.

Here's a quick overview of the trio with some habitat and locality notes.

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Sedge Darner (Aeshna juncea)
Date: July 15, 2012.
Habitat: Breeds in rock/splash pools along the rocky Lake Superior shore. It's also commonly found in shore fens and sedge-fringed beach swales along the coast where, I suspect, it breeds as well.

Sedge Darner locality and habitat.

Locality: Rock pools at Ypres Point, Peninsula Harbour, Lake Superior (48.73619, -86.43059). I netted and released males and females at this site and observed mature nymphs foraging in the deeper pools.

Male Sedge Darner, July 15, 2012

Female Sedge Darner, July 15, 2012

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Zigzag Darner (Aeshna sitchensis)
Date: July 27, 2012.
Habitat: Nutrient poor, often open fens and bogs.

Zigzag Darner locality and habitat.

Locality: Open fen at low-lying centre of peatland west of the Prairie River at Hyw 17 (48.80185, -86.78627). Last September at the end of the flight season, I blogged about my first encounter with the species at this site. I returned this month and found many patrolling males, copulating pairs and a few ovipositing females.

Male Zigzag Darner, July 27, 2012.

Mating Zigzags, July 27, 2012.

Female Zigzag Darner, July 27, 2012.

Male Zigzag Darner, September 17, 2011.

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Subarctic Darner (Aeshna subarctica)
Date: July 23, 2012.
Habitat: Nutrient poor, often open fens and bogs.

Subarctic Darner locality and habitat.

Locality: In the Town of Marathon, along the dirt road leading to Shack Lake (48.74482, -86.35753). The female in these photos is my first and only Subarctic Darner to date. I assume that she emerged from the nearby bog-fringed shore of Shack Lake. On July 29th, Sue Bryan netted a male from a bog mat on Harvais Lake, near Dorion.

Female Subarctic Darner, July 23, 2012.

Male Subarctic Darner. July 29, 2012. Courtesy of Michael Bryan.

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A really great source of information about these and other boreal odes is Dragonflies and Damselflies in the hand: An identification guide to boreal forest odonates in Saskatchewan and adjacent regions. This slim, attractive volume is available from Saskatchewan Nature.

Full citation: Hutchings, G. and D. Halstead. 2011. Dragonflies and Damselflies in the hand: An identification guide to boreal forest odonates in Saskatchewan and adjacent Regions. Special Publication #29. Nature Saskatchewan, Regina.

Marvelous moths from the north (mostly)

Moths are fantastic and with the recent publication of some excellent print and on-line guides, the identification of adults and caterpillars is within reach of amateur naturalists. We've crossed paths with some very nice larvae in recent weeks and 'though we guessed the families of each, we needed help to pin down the specific IDs.

The most impressive was this bruiser found by Martha's great uncle beside the Bay of Quinte, near Napanee. It was about huge - close to 110 mm in length - likely a final instar.

Eacles imperialis - Imperial Moth (Saturniidae)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/4757/bgimage
Aug 9, 2012. Adolphustown, Lennox and Addington Co..

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The next was one of the "hummingbird moths" whose day-flying adults are conspicuous visitors to wild and cultivated flowers in the north. Note the 'horn', a characteristic of sphingid larvae.

Hemaris diffinis - Snowberry Clearwing (Sphingidae)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/2639
July 17, 2012. Steel River, Thunder Bay District.

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A few days ago this fuzzy character revealed itself atop a birch leaf in our back yard. I can't tell the bow from the stern.

Lophocampa maculata - Spotted Tussock Moth (Arctiidae)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/5241
Aug 16, 2012. Town of Marathon, Thunder Bay District.

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And finally, here's a large (length ~60 mm) adult moth that was new to us (both the species and the family) when we found it washed up on the rocks after a windy night while we were camped on Nipigon Bay, near Red Rock.

Sthenopis purpurascens - Purplish Ghost Moth (Hepialidae)
July 24, 2011. Red Rock, Thunder Bay District.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/64575/bgimage

This is of one of many boreal species whose accounts can be found in the very nice, entry-level Moths and Caterpillars of the North Woods.

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Previously blogged moths:

• Triton Dagger (September 2009). 
• Chain-dotted Geometer (September 2011).

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Related:

• Ontario Moths - some brilliant photos from David Beadle.
• Requiem for a Moth - a 28 minute documentary from BBC radio profiling the knowledgeable, passionate and poetic souls who seek to appreciate and demystify the moth fauna of the UK.
• Moths and Butterflies of Britain and Ireland - a new app that hopefully presages the development of a similar ID tool covering New World species.

A nice end to a difficult day

Here's how Martha saw it:

Well my day started badly when i saw our wheelbarrow was stolen, then i was horrified to hear of a puppy abandoned in a box, then our dog ate our BACON-wrapped steaks!! ... But the day just turned around when a good kid returned our wheelbarrow! And I realized just how lucky that puppy was to end up with a loving "foster" family in Marathon. But we're still not sure what to do with this really really bad black dog! ;)

Carolina Wren in Marathon!

After nearly two weeks away in southern Ontario, we awoke this morning to the songs and calls of a Carolina Wren in our back yard. I recorded some of the vocalizations.

So far I've watched the bird fly back and forth among our trees and shrubs but I haven't been able to grab any stills. I'll post photos if I can get any.

The species has been seen before here in Marathon - on October 8, 1988 - by our friend Stan Phippen. I know of only one other report from the Thunder Bay District, interestingly, also in early August - [6 Aug 1957] by Paul Harrington, 25 km east of Longlac.

[update] Alan Wormington adds the following (thanks Alan):

We all saw that Carolina Wren in 1988, since it was found during a scheduled OFO trip to Lake Superior. 

There are two additional records of Carolina Wren for Thunder Bay District, but apparently both were not documented and submitted to OBRC. They were at Mackenzie Beach (December 2005) and Thunder Bay (December 2006/January 2007). A bit surprising that Thunder Cape has apparently never had one!

A few sights from Hurkett Cove

En route to Thunder Bay this morning, I stopped in at Hurkett Cove Conservation Area hoping to see some early southbound shorebirds. I wasn't disappointed. Nearby were two Caspian Terns, four Bonaparte's Gulls. And baby turtles are always nice...

[click on images to enlarge]

Red Saddlebags update - breeding near Lake Superior.

Another quick note....on the Google Discussion Group Ont-Odes there is an evolving discussion about an unprecedented movement of Saddlebags (Tramea spp.) into Ontario this year. The appearance of the Red Saddlebags (T. onusta) on the north shore - a first - attests to the geographic breadth of the event.

This morning while walking our dog near a beaver pond in Marathon, I observed and subsequently netted a male Red Saddlebags. I photographed and released the individual and spent a few minutes watching the other odes present - Common Green Darner (2); Four-spotted Skimmer (20+); Twelve-spotted Skimmer (2); Chalk-fronted Corporal (9); Belted Whiteface (50+).

[click on images to enlarge]

Male Red Saddlebags. Marathon. July 5, 2012.

Five "red" saddlebags, two tandem pairs and single male, then appeared in the middle of the pond and the two females began ovipositing, both in tandem and while a male hover guarded. Wow!

Tramea, Marathon, July 5, 2012

The photos are admittedly poor but through binoculars I discerned the larger clear window in the hind wings of the three males, a characteristic of Red Saddlebags (T. onusta) and not the lookalike Carolina Saddlebags (T. carolina) which we haven't yet seen here in northern Ontario.

The beaver pond (48.73231, -86.38441) is about 200 m. at its widest and is no more than 2 m deep. The bottom is covered in a thick mat of Chara. This is the same site where I observed Common Green Darners laying eggs - a District first - in May of 2010. Its close proximity to the Lake Superior shore may contribute to its attractiveness to migrant skimmers and darners.

Update photo:

July 10, 2012. Marathon, ON.

July 18 addendum: Our sharp-eyed neighbours in nearby Michigan have taken note of the influx of these and several other libellulid species. Those with an interest in this phenomenon will enjoy Mark O'Brien's and Julie Craves' overview, Rare and uncommon saddlebags, wandering meadowhawks, and gliders galore and its significance to the Michigan Odonata Atlas project.