Hi Gord

Our group did the Christmas Bird Count on Sunday and the results are as follows:

PENOKEAN HILLS FIELD NATURALISTS
ELLIOT LAKE, ONTARIO
3RD ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
SUNDAY, DEC. 27, 1998

Weather: cloudy with snow flurries, temp. 0C to -5C

• 1 Ruffed Grouse
• 4 Mourning Dove
• 13 Herring Gull
• 1 Glaucous Gull
• 27 Rock Dove
• 13 Downy Woodpecker
• 10 Hairy Woodpecker
• 1 Pileated Woodpecker
• 6 Gray Jay
• 25 Blue Jay
• 7 American Crow
• 698 Common Raven
• 46 Black-capped Chickadee.
• 6 Red-breasted Nuthatch
• 3 White-breasted Nuthatch
• 62 Bohemian Waxwing
• 161 European Starling
• 8 Dark-eyed Junco
• 73 Snow Bunting
• 95 Purple Finch
• 30 Common Redpoll
• 1 Pine Siskin
• 33 American Goldfinch
• 16 Evening Grosbeak
• 58 Amer. Tree Sparrow
• 1 Red-tailed Hawk

Summary of data

Total Species: 26.....Total individuals:1399

Party hours on foot: 36.5.....Party hours by car: 33

Hours by feeder watchers: 3

Kilometres on foot: 17.....Kilometres by car: 129.....Total Kilometres: 146

23 observers in 4 parties took part.

10 feeder watchers contributed during the count.

Compiler: Erwin Meissner

We all enjoyed our day and despite the very poor conditions did fairly well. We were only 2 species under last years count and about 300 individuals higher in number.

Good birding,

Hi Gord

Erwin and Annie Meissner had another one of their highly successful birding trips to the Sault Ste Marie area and reported back the following observations:

December 12, 1998

Pumpkin Point on Lake Huron:

• 70 Tundra Swans....a very late sighting!

Echo Bay area:

• Eastern Mockingbird

Soo Canal Area:

• 3 Bald Eagles (feeding on the abundant dead Salmon in the St. Mary's Rapids)
• Northern Shrike
• 2 male Harlequins

In the Elliot lake area over the past three days there has been a Northern Shrike at the old Quirk mine site, a Glaucous Gull (our first winter gull) at the Elliot Lake Land Fill site and a recent flock of 50 or 60 Tree Sparrows mixed with a few Purple Finches at the Sherriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary. We also have a flock of a dozen Canada Geese, which gives us some concern....they are very late leaving and now are at risk of starvation if we have some "normal" winter temperatures in the next few days.

Gord, we wish you a very Merry Christmas from the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists who, like many other clubs are looking forward to the Christmas Bird Count.

Best wishes and good birding!

Greetings Gord

We have had a number of interesting Sightings reported in the Elliot Lake area. This report covers the period from November 18th to November 26th.

Sherriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary:

Evening Grosbeaks, Canada Geese (up to 24 at a time), Bohemian Waxwings (30+), Black-backed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker along with Downy and Hairy, Hooded Merganser, Black and Mallard Ducks

As late as November 21st we still had the Belted Kingfisher and Greater Yellowlegs with us at Sherriff Creek. Also a Northern Shrike sighted on that same day.

We saw our first flocks of Evening Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls yesterday (25th) and today (26th) we still had a Great Blue Heron hanging about. No snow on the ground yet....a late arriving winter has meant very little activity at our feeders so far.

Elliot Lake Area:

We have had a good number of Bald Eagles reported in our area along with two sightings of Golden Eagles all of these in the last three weeks.

That's all for this report.

Good Birding,

Greetings Gord

Since my last report quite a number of significant sightings have been reported. They are as follows:

Blind River
Immature Red-headed Woodpecker reported by Andy Penikett at his home feeders (Oct. 25th)

North of Mississagi Provincial Park
2 Sharp-tailed Grouse reported again by Andy, the former Park Superintendent. Andy tells us this is the first time - ever - that this species of grouse has been seen in this area.

• Sherriff Creek Nature Sanctuary (between October 25th & November 15)
• Great Blue Heron (as recently as Nov. 14th)
• American Goldfinch
• Pied Billed Grebe (last spotted Oct. 25th)
• Canada Geese (Nov. 13th)
• Pine Siskins
• Blue and Gray Jays
• Bohemian Waxwings (20 - 30 on Nov. 15th)
• Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• Raven
• Greater Yellowlegs (Nov. 13th.....a very late migrant!)

....9 River Otters seen at one time....a mammal sighting of importance, on Nov. 9th in the open water of the Sherriff Creek Pond.....in a group of five and another group of 4 observed fishing and playing

Algoma Mills, North Shore of Lake Huron
Iceland Gull (race - Kumlieni) reported by Erwin Meissner on Nov. 11th)

Spanish
Bufflehead Ducks (100+ ) Goldeneyes and Hooded Mergansers, seen in the Spanish Sewage Lagoons on Nov. 9th
Bohemian Waxwings (39 on Hwy. 108 into Elliot Lake, on Nov. 9th)

That's all for now Gord.

Good Birding,

Hi Gord

Some interesting sightings have occurred at our Sherriff Creek Sanctuary. On an outing there yesterday, with about 6 of our club members, we observed the following:

• Pine Siskins (12-14)...these are the first we have seen this fall
• Flocks of Blackbirds which included Red-wings, Common Grackles, Cowbirds, and at least 4 or 5 Rusty Blackbirds were spotted by the group
• Mallards...several migratory flocks of 20 to 30 birds each
• Great Blue Heron....an immature that came within 10 metres of the observers
• Wood Ducks (12)
• Canada Geese (7)
• Ravens

We were also lucky enough to see 3 River Otters in the marshland and an inquisitive mink that appeared along with the young Great Blue Heron.

Earlier in the week we had a report from some early morning birders that a mature Bald Eagle coasted over the open water and flew off toward the forested area.

Temperatures are dropping and it won't be long before snow will be flying ....along with our late fall migrants here in Elliot Lake.

Good birding,

Hi Gord,
I just received a call from a farmer 1.5 miles southwest of Iron Bridge. Will Samis @ 705 843-5567 at 2:00 pm, today, Oct. 12th, saw 2 groups of 3 and 2groups of 2 Whooping Cranes fly overhead, from west to east, heading towards Blind River. His description was fairly accurate and I do believe he may have seen Whooping Cranes. He has seen many Sandhills before and said that he saw the black wing tips as well as the legs out the back end.

It is possible that if they were whooping they will head to the sandhill staging areas on Manitoulin Island. These areas I do not know. I will try to contact others on the island. Who knows, they may be headed for southern Ontario eventually. The storm in the prairies may be responsible for their detour.

Hi Gord

Fall Migration is on its way...no doubt about it! Jim Trottier, MNR biologist reported seeing an adult Bald Eagle on Oct. 5 feeding on dead salmon along the Mississagi River, near Iron Bridge. Jim also added that this should be a good Area to see Eagles for the next few month now that the spawn is over and the dead salmon will be plentiful.

Sherriff Creek Sanctuary Sightings:
Wood Ducks a flock of 30+
Kingfishers 2
Pied-billed Grebe

Spanish River Delta
Erwin Meissner reported seeing:
American Coots 6 in this area
Scaup our first "Bay Ducks" to come in

Activity will pick up over the next few weeks and we'll keep you in touch.

Good birding,

Hi Gord

Well here I am back in the birding business with the advantage of two brand new knees and the prospect of a long and active life ahead of me.

Erwin Meissner, president of the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists, here in Elliot Lake has provided me with an update, for you, of what is currently going on around us here in this part of Northern Ontario.

Sept. 19

- on a walk conducted by Steve Van Duin, a member of our club, on the Cobra Trail, north of Elliot Lake, the group saw Evening Grosbeaks and White-winged Crossbills (30 to 40) ....Erwin pointed out that this is a great cone year and that will probably mean a good winter for our observing all the finches...they were very scarce last year with hardly any cones on the trees.

They also had a great look at 5 Spruce Grouse (2 males and 3 females), a mixed flock of Kinglets, Chickadees and a Black-throated Green Warbler. 10 little brown bats were spotted in the entrance of an old mine shaft.

Sept. 22

Blind River Area and along the North Shore....Water Pipits, Horned Lark, 2 Lapland Longspurs, Rusty Blackbirds, Erwin reported that the Sandhill Cranes and large flocks of Canada Geese are coming in. He observed N. Harriers, Turkey Vultures, and Kestrels are still with us along with 8 Blue Birds. At Dean Lake, near Ironbridge, there were 100's of Water Pipits

Sept. 27

05:30 AM a Barred Owl and 2 Spring Peepers were a sign that today was going to be a good birding day. At Gros Cap, Sault Ste Marie Erwin and Annie saw 4 Red-necked Grebes, Loons, Cormorants, Turkey Vultures and Red Breasted Mergs along with some early White-winged Scoters

In the Elliot Lake - Sherriff Creek area we have large flocks of ducks, geese, crows and cranes everywhere. Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers have been observed. We have Juncos and White-crowned Sparrows starting to come in. Two Double Crested Cormorants and our "first ever" American Coot were spotted by Erwin at the Sherriff Creek Sanctuary.

It is great to be back with you Gord!

Good birding,

Hi Gord

Here I am again after a long gap. I have had the opportunity to visit Elliot Lake for a few days (to have access to my computer) and Erwin Meissner, President of the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists, has given me his birding highlights for the past couple of months.

In July, Annie and Erwin marvelled at Marbled Godwits, Franklin Gulls and White Pelicans on their car trip through the Rainy River district.

They observed, as they travelled further west, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Swainson's Hawks, Avocets, Whimbrels, Dunlins and several "peeps" mixed with White-rumped Sandpipers and Yellowlegs at the Oak-hammock Conservation Area north of Winnipeg. (Headquarters of the Ducks Unlimited.....a birder's paradise)

Eared and Western Grebes and thousands of swallows were sighted congregating at the Delta Beach area on Manitoba Lake. . Coming east....Eagles and Ospreys on Lake Nipigon, Western Sandpipers, Bluebirds and Blackpoll Warblers...at the Beardmore Sewage Lagoon, Hwy 11.

Several Black-backed Woodpeckers were spotted in the large burnt areas east of Longlac....where the large forest fires occurred earlier this spring.

Bonaparte Gulls in breeding plumage at the Rene Brunelle Prov. Park and at that location the Meissners were solicited by a female Black Duck with young looking for handouts.

Back home in Algoma East.... August.....Nighthawks (8) on August 4th flying through the evening sky over Elliot Lake feeding on a hatch of flying insects. Tree Swallows and most of the Robins have now departed. Warblers and mixed flocks moving through (Aug. 19th) also Swainson's Thrush, Northern Waterthrush moving through in the night skies.

There was a Northern Mockingbird at the Blind River Marina and one at the Calibogie Road near Pumpkin Point. Also first evidence of Sandhill cranes congregating for the fall migration, Erwin saw 40 in a field near Pumpkin Point.

That's our report to date from Algoma East....I probably won't get back to you again until the end of September because of some surgery I'm having done in Toronto. Have a good couple of months and...

...good birding!

Hi Gord:

First I would like to say how great it was to get back into bird banding today after about a year away from it. We worked on nestling Tree swallows and put a total of twelve bands on 8-10 day olds in 4 separate nest boxes. They all looked healthy and eager to start into their new lives.

Well...I was able to make it back to Elliot Lake for a few days from Pte au Baril and would like to pass on an update from the folks here. Erwin Meissner, and his wife Annie have had a busy birding time in the last few weeks and here are some of the highlights.

May 31....a rainy Sunday, Annie and Erwin took a trip down the north shore

and stopped at Blind River...had the surprise of their lives in the

harbor...where they observed:

1 semi-palmated Plover

9 Dunlins

13 Ruddy Turnstones in full breeding plumage at the school yard

2 semi-palmated Sandpipers and then 18 more Dunlins, all in full breeding

plumage



From there they went north across Hwy 17 and encountered 4 more

semi-palmated plovers and two spotted sandpipers.  An Indigo Bunting was

singing overhead.  A yellow-bellied Flycatcher on High Road, Blind River.



Turning right on Robb Road, Blind River, they spotted birds in a freshly

ploughed field.  Among the Herring and Ring-billed gulls to their great

surprise they counted 108 Black-bellied Plovers with outstanding breeding

plumage.  Among some Kildeer there were semi-palmated plovers and horned

larks.  Annie spotted a yellowish-brown bird along the fence row beside

some large rolls of hay.... it turned out to be a Western Kingbird.




June 10/98

Gordon Lake Area (Hwy 638 towards Sault St. Marie) 

Highlights of this trip:

Black Terns on Ottertail Lake

Red-shouldered Hawk, sitting on a dead tree in a swampy area east of

Diamond Lake




July 18/98

A little excursion toward Fairbank Provincial Park, Sudbury District west

of 144 Highway on interesting roads along the Spanish River.....diverse

habitat from River Lowland to Upland Forest.

Highlights:

Rusty and Brewer's Blackbird

Warbling Vireo

Bobolink

Grasshopper Sparrow

Alder and Least Flycatcher

Winter Wren and Eastern Pewee

On the way home a short stop at Mooney Road SE of Massey, they encountered 14 Sandhill Cranes, some in small non-breeding groups.

Spending 10 days "animal-sitting" 2 goats, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 6 chickens with a very dominant rooster, Annie and Erwin have taken out time from the chores to see the following:

from the deck at their friends home overlooking the tranquil Serpent River.... ...By June 19 they had tallied 39 species. The Mourning Warbler was of special interest...his territorial song starts out behind the chicken coop onto the backyard...then he goes across the river loudly announcing himself then coming back to the starting point behind the coop. A territory of at least an acre. A very large territory for such a tiny bird!

A real thrill are the many Goldfinches at the niger feeder nicely sprinkled with Purple Finches..

Another special treat of this house-sitting holiday are the quiet evenings on the deck with a resounding chorus of Hermit, Veery and Swainson's Thrushes....at times outnumbered by Catbird calls and song.

Three Woodcocks took flight and Nighhawks were overhead. This, says Erwin is birding and tranquillity at its best!

Good Birding

While fishing at Kirkpatrick Lake-{blue fox lodge) June 5-9
Common Loon, Common/Red breasted Mergs,Black Duck, 2 Amer. Bitterns, gbh, Coopers and Bw hawks, Chimney Swifts, Olive-sided/Least/ Flycatchers-ew pewee, RE vireo, Mourning, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Y Rumps, Black thr green, Blackburnian Warblers, N. waterthrush, American Redstart,

Hi Gord

Sherriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary is now officially open! We had excellent attendance on Saturday, May 16th, with approximately 200 guests plus officials. The short ceremony, with yours truly as the MC, was followed by tours of the reserve. A very special day for all who have worked so hard and contributed so much to the development of this beautiful 500 hectare area. This day was especially rewarding to our president, Erwin Meissner whose idea this was and who has worked strenuously or over two years to have Sherriff Creek become a reality. Congratulations Erwin!

Today I had an early walk, in our Sanctuary from 6:00 A.M. to 7:30 A.M. with Steve VanDuin, one of our Penokean Hills Field Naturalists' directors. There is no doubt that we are now into "full- fledged" nesting season.

This report, resulting from our morning hike, includes an excellent variety of species, all of whom are now in various stages of starting to produce the new generation of their kind for this spring within the Sherriff Creek Santuary.

Common Loon
Canada Goose
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Duck, Mallard
Common Snipe, Woodcock
Spotted Sandpiper, Killdeer
Great Blue Heron, American Bittern, Sandhill Crane
Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird, Grackle
Flycatchers: Eastern Kingbird, Great-crested, Willow, Least, & Olive-sided
Veery, Hermit Thrush
Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow
White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Northern Harrier
Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker
Warblers: Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, and Chestnut-sided
Catbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-eyed Vireo and Warbling Vireo
Winter Wren
Rose-breasted Grosbeak

There are no doubt many that we didn't hear or see this morning but this gives a pretty fine sample of our nesting population.

I will be spending the next few weeks at our summer cottage on an island at Pte au Baril and you will notice a distinct lack of reports.
Unfortunately, or maybe not, we are not able to have a local server and I get cut off my internet contact and my email. My wife is not unhappy about this form of "isolation". I might suffer computer withdrawal but the Georgian Bay birding and marsh monitoring will keep me happy. I'll be in touch on return to Elliot Lake.

Good summer birding Gord and thank you for all you do for "us birders"!

Hi Gord

In the last few days we have had an influx of spring migrants. Strange how, despite the early season, as far as the weather goes, the birds have not been coming back until they "know" it's the right time.

A successful Bailley Birdathon was conducted on Thursday, May 14 by a team of 4 from the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists. We went wonderful Manitoulin Island .... that place that Doreen Bailey writes so eloquently about in her reports. There were four of us and we spent approximately 12 hours driving and walking to record 100 species. A few highlights were the Black-bellied Plover, Peregrine Falcon, Clay-coloured Sparrow and Upland Sandpiper.

Yesterday a small group walked our Sherriff Creek Sanctuary, which, by the way, has its official opening at noon today, and in about 2 hours had the following:

Red-winged Blackbird, Kingbird, Brewer's Black-bird, Rusty Black-bird, Paid-billed Grebe, Herring Gull, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Savannah Sparrow, Broad-winged Hawk, Raven, Spotted Sandpiper, Northern Flicker, White-crowned Sparrow, Robin and American Redstart.

So "spring had sprung" as far as the migrants are concerned. I woke this morning to the wonderful sound of the Veery "singing down the rain barrel" and that confirmed it!

Good Birding

Greetings Gord

On this absolutely beautiful spring day in Algoma I felt that I must send you a report of a trip that I had last Saturday with Ray Cormier along the North Shore from Cutler to Blind River.

We started our sightings just south of Elliot Lake at Depot Lake and finished up back at our own Sherriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary late in the afternoon.

Here's the tally, kindly done by Ray :

Bootlegger Bay, Algoma Mills Area
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2)
Northern Flicker (2)
Turkey Vultures (8) observed in groups over the highway and Lake Huron
Mallard Duck (4)
Blue Jay (2)
Brown-headed Cowbird (4)
Eastern Phoebe
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle (6)
Song Sparrow (3)
Wood Duck (2)

Mouth of the Lauzon Creek, Algoma Mills
Red-breasted Merganser (30) feeding on Smelt in the River
Common Merganser (12)
Cormorants (10)

Blind River Marina
Greater Scaup (5)
Ring-necked Ducks (6)
Bufflehead (10)
Tree Swallow (3)
Cormorants (6)
Common Merganser (2)
Hooded Merganser (2)

Spanish Marina
Tundra Swans (18) this group started with just 4 Swans about a week ago and is growing
Osprey (2) we watched one of these make 8 "dives" before coming up with a catch
Northern Harrier
Diving Ducks (Scaup, Mergansers, Bufflehead, in very large numbers, in the hundreds and quite far away from our viewing point)

Sherriff Creek Sanctuary
Sandhill Crane (2)
Juncos (many)
Pied-billed Grebe
Grackles (many)
Red-winged Blackbirds (many)

And yet another rewarding day in Algoma East!

Good Birding,

In late August of 1997, near Blind River, Ontario, I saw a large black bird from about 50 feet, large wingspan - completely black, except for white wingtips. After researching, I can only conclude that it was a black vulture, but it would have been quite north of it's usual habitat. Have there been any other sitings of black vultures in this area of Ontario?

Is it possible that you may have seen an immature Golden Eagle? They look similar to the Black Vulture.

Has anyone else discovered a Black Vulture that far north?

Gord Gallant
gord@web-nat.com

Hi Gord

Our first Common Loon has been reported. It was seen in Semiwite Lake in the Mississagi Provincial Park on Wednesday, April 15th. Interesting to note that 20% of the lake was still frozen.

In the last two days we have had the following birds reported in the Elliot Lake Area:

Sherriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary
Eastern Phoebe
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-winged Blackbirds (many nesting pairs)
Song Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Fox Sparrow, and still no sign of white-crowned or white-throated sparrows

We have, over the winter and lately, just-in-time, finished erecting a number of nesting boxes for Tree Swallows, Wood Ducks and Kestrel. In the works is a loon nesting platform and a number of "Gander-landers" for the Canada Geese now looking for nest sites. All of this at Sherriff Creek. We have also erected around 5 dozen Bluebird/Tree Swallow boxes on rehabilitated mine sites north and south of the city. We will be monitoring these carefully and contributing to the Ontario Nest Record scheme if the boxes are occupied. The Penokean Hills Field Naturalists would like to thank John Foran's Woodworking students at the Elliot Lake Secondary School for the excellent job they did on the construction of the nest boxes. Their help has been very much appreciated.

We'll keep our fingers crossed that our spring arrivals will discover all this new "housing" available in the Elliot Lake area and will take up permanent residence with us. I'll keep you in touch with what birds take up our offer.

Good Birding,

Hi Gord

There has been a considerable influx of early spring migrants, over the past few days, here in the Elliot Lake and North Shore Area. It had slowed down considerably, probably due to the strong NE winds we have had over the past week......but new arrivals have picked up again.

In the village of Spanish, at the marina marsh, mouth of the Spanish River
Tundra Swans (6)
Canada Geese (40 -50)
Bufflehead (4)
Common Merganser (10-12)
Hooded Merganser (6)
Black Duck (6 -8)
Mallard Duck (4 pairs)
Bald Eagle (1 immature)

Sherriff Creek Wildlife Sanctuary - Elliot Lk.
Canada Geese (30 - 40)
SC Junco, returning in waves from S. Ontario...bursting with song
RW Blackbirds...the females have arrived!
Tree Sparrows
Song Sparrows, also singing "their heads off"
Fox Sparrow
(no sign of White-throated or white-crowned yet?)
Northern Flicker
Tree Swallow (first sighting was this morning)
Pied-billed Grebe

Other welcome sounds of spring...our first wood frogs and spring peepers have started to "sing" yesterday and today (hope you don't mind a few frogs thrown in with the birds)

Happy birding and frogging, Gord :)

Hi Gord

My wife, Audrey, and I made a trip East on Hwy. 17 to Espanola today and we had some good birding to report. It was a bright and beautiful spring day here in Algoma with the temperature soaring to the 14 degree C mark, there was no doubt about Spring being with us. We made the following sightings:

Serpent River Road near Cutler
Bufflehead (4)
Hooded Merganser (8 - 10)
Hooded Merganser (4) two mated pair

Spanish River - on the River Road south of Hwy 17
Hooded and Common Mergansers (many)
Ring-necked Duck, 2 male and 2 female
Wood Duck, 1, very attractive, male
Porcupine, lumbering along the side of the road minding its own business
Killdeer (several calling from the gravel pits)
Tree Sparrows (many) and Song Sparrows, singing at the top of their voices
Kestrel (4) all "loners" hunting from the hydro lines along the road

Lee Valley Road, east of Massey
Snow Buntings (40)
Sandhill Crane, 40 adults and 9 immature birds
(this was a great sight with some of the adult Cranes birds doing their "courting dance")
Turkey Vulture (15) soaring in small groups of 3 or 4
Canada Geese (100 +) feeding in the fields

Another rewarding day!

Greetings Gord...

I had the opportunity to travel the North Shore west to Sault Ste Marie and back yesterday with my wife Audrey and a friend, Ray Cormier. We had the following sightings:

Hwy 17 - observed at highway speed (I wasn't driving!)
Bald Eagle, immature
300 to 400 Canada Geese observed in a number of migration flights along the Shore
Mourning Doves
Robins (many)
Turkey Vultures (4) gliding above the highway...1 single and 3 together in flight
Kestrel (2) sitting on hydro wires
Merlin (2)

In the Soo (not much time to spend in the city)
2000+ Herring and Ring-billed gulls at the foot of St. Mary's Rapids a few diving ducks in the river and power canal (very quiet....looks like they have all gone north)
Northern Flicker
Canada Geese (many)
Mallard Ducks (many)

And on the return journey.....traveling east to Elliot Lake and using Ed Czerwinski's excellent "Birder's Guide to the Sault Ste. Marie Border Area"

Echo Bay - Lake St. Marsh
Tundra Swan (8)
Ring-necked Duck (30 to 40)
Golden-eye Ducks (20-30)
Greater Scaup, (4)
Hooded and Common Mergansers (200-300)
Bald Eagle (1 immature)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Song Sparrow (4)

Pumpkin Point Viewing Platform
American Widgeon (mated pair)
Ring-necked Duck (30)
Canada Geese (8)
Bufflehead (2)
Hooded Mergs (10)

Lauzon River, at the mouth
Canada Geese 60-80
Common and Hooded Mergansers (30)
Golden-eye Duck (4-8)
Gulls (many Herring and Ring-billed)
Snow Bunting (solitary and apparently exhausted)

And finally, a single Great Blue Heron as we traveled the last leg of our journey up Hwy 17 to Elliot Lake.

A great day with the highlight definitely the Echo Bay area with the its Tundra Swans and hundreds of Ducks!

Good Birding and Happy Spring!

Greetings Gord

Well, I have the ultimate (some might say) in birding comfort. Right from my computer keyboard I can look out of my office window and watch the nesting habits of a pair of Ravens. And not just your ordinary, "run-of-the-mill" mated couple. One of these is a partial albino...I haven't decided yet which sex they each are but I'll let you know if I can figure it out. They are both carrying nesting material and are working on the arrangement of the nest cavity. The nest is about two meters from the tip of a 12 meter high, Eastern Hemlock and in full view. It will be one of my contributions to the Ontario Nest Record Scheme. It will be fascinating to see how the offspring look. We could get a total albino in the hatch!! I'll keep you in touch with developments. By the way, this whole adventure in nesting is right in the middle of the city of Elliot Lake.

A trip to the North Shore from Elliot Lake to Blind River yielded the following sightings:

Green-winged Teal, a mated pair at Depot Lake, Hwy 108
River Otter on the shore ice, eating a fish at Depot Lake

At Algo Mills...
Sandhill Crane, Song Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Wood Ducks (mated pair)
Common Mergansers, Buffleheads, Canada Geese, Double-crested Cormorants,
Goldeneyes, and Black Ducks

And in the Blind River area...
Brewers Blackbirds (a pair), a flock of 80 to 100 Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls, Grackles, male Redwings, Cowbirds, many male Robins and a male Kestrel.

The Penokean Hills Field Naturalists will be having an outing to the same area this coming Saturday, April 4th....it will be interesting to see what else has arrived by that time.

Isn't spring great---especially this far north these many migrants herald the start of another wonderful season when our birding gets all the more rewarding!

Good Birding,

Hi Gord

I can imagine how busy you are going to get as this warm spell brings in a host of early spring migrants. We have a few highlights from this area that might be "earliest ever" for some species.

Here in Elliot Lake at our Sherriff Creek Sanctuary we had the following reports for Saturday, March 28 and Sunday March 30:

2 male Northern Harrier, Tree Sparrows, Redpolls, Northern Shrike, Red-winged Blackbirds, and a yellow-rumped Warbler. We also had a Ruby-crowned Kinglet sighted here in my own back yard.

A trip to Manitoulin Island on Sunday, March 30 by Erwin and Annie Meissner brought back the following results:

Hooded Mergansers at Depot Lake on Hwy 108
Raven nest with sitting Raven at Fox Creek on 108
Kestrel, the first of the season at the junction of Hwy 17 and 108

On the beautiful Manitoulin, the highlights were:
Killdeer, 3 Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Tree Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Grackles, Widgeon, Ring-necked Duck, Bald Eagles, Great Blue Heron, 7 Rough-legged Hawks, 1 of them dark phase, 3 Eastern Bluebirds being chased by a Northern Shrike, Sandhill Cranes and 2 male Harriers.

Jim Trottier, our regional biologist from Blind River reports the following: Saturday, March 28th...a female cardinal, two boreal chickadees, mourning doves, and a pileated woodpecker, while Canada geese were flying overhead. Sunday brought two song sparrows, a tree sparrow, grackles, juncos, and starlings.

Andy Penikett (Mississagi Park Superintendent) reports that he had juncos, killdeer and sandhill cranes arriving on Saturday, and red-winged blackbirds yesterday.

Thanks to all contributors for the interesting sightings. Spring has definitely sprung in Algoma East and Manitoulin.

Good Birding,

Hi Gord

I have another interesting trip by Erwin and Annie Meissner to report on. They headed out from Elliot Lake for a bit a "vacation" from all the pressures and stresses of life and had some very worthwhile results.

Their journey began at 6 AM on March 25 when they headed north from here on what is known as the Deer Trail. It is an attractive route north on Hwys. 108 and 639 and then it swings south again towards the town of Iron Bridge on Hwy. 546 where it joins up with the Trans-Canada. On this remote northern highway, early in the morning they drove slowly up to a deer that was standing, exhausted, on the road. It was both dripping and forming icicles as it stood there panting. It had crossed the Little White River and was acting a little strange. After the deer departed up an embankment to the east, and not very far down the road, there sat a very large Gray Wolf....also soaked and forming icicles in the cold morning air. Their coming along had spoiled its hunt for the deer and as they passed, Erwin said it had the most disgusted look on its face. Quite an exciting start to their travels. Oh yes, they did see some Gray Jays and Ravens as they circled the Deer Trail.

From there they traveled towards Sault Ste Marie on Hwy 17 and a few choice side roads. They encountered the following as they headed west:

-a flock of about 30 Redpolls with 2 Hoary clearly identified
-Northern Shrike
-5 Robins
-some pairs of Canada Geese feeding in the open fields
-at Pumpkin Point, just before Echo Bay they observed a group of 14 Canada's and 2 Black Ducks
- out on the ice, fighting over the remains of a gull, were 6 Bald Eagles, 3 mature and 3 immature
-at the Soo locks they saw another Northern Shrike, many Ring-billed and Herring Gulls along with a number of Goldeneyes.

They stayed overnight in Sault Ste Marie and headed back this morning. On the return journey they spotted a Pied-billed Grebe in the St. Mary's River....an early sighting!

They traveled into a slightly different Pumpkin Point area on their way back and got a wonderful look at 6 Sharp-tailed Grouse displaying "like mad". They ended up the bird watching with a drive onto St. Joseph Island and there they saw another half-dozen Sharp-tailed Grouse...just feeding this time as it was later in the morning.

From St. Joseph, due to the fog conditions, they headed straight back to Elliot Lake. A great two-day break with some fine wildlife highlights and some very definite signs of spring!

Thanks, Erwin and Annie, for sharing it with us!

Good Birding, Gord,

Hi Gord

We have an exciting report to make. Erwin Meissner, President of the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists, is back in town after a short visit to the Kitchener/Waterloo area. Not long after arriving back he had, first one, then three Red Crossbills visit his home feeder. On the second attempt I was able to observe the threesome....one male and two females. The males were both feeding the female....each trying desperately to outdo the other and be chosen by her as the best provider. A fascinating glimpse into the mate selection process by these attractive visitors.

Other reports by our members at our last meeting on Tuesday, March 10 were as follows:

Slate-coloured Juncos (20+)
Mourning Doves (8)
Herring Gull "harassing" a Bald Eagle right here in E.Lk.
Greater Scaup - on some open water just south of town
Redpolls, in ever increasing numbers
Barred Owl still "hooting" out its territory near Limberlost Lodge north of Thessalon
Red-tailed Hawk at the Blind River Land Fill
Ruffed Grouse, a male courting two females on St. Joseph's Island
Snow Buntings (100+) just west of Massey in the Lee Valley

Our weather has now become much more like February after having gone through some decidedly March weather last month. The last snowfall has provided about 30 cm total on the ground and our feeder birds are back in large numbers. Winter is giving us a final blast!

We're all looking forward to the early spring arrivals.

Good birding,

Greetings Gord

The beautiful day yesterday was spent in a dry run of my Owl Route on Hwy 546, north of Iron Bridge. I look forward to doing my first monitoring one evening between the 6th and 16th of March...as will many other Owl monitors on their own Routes all over Ontario.

The Barred Owl has started to call as reported by our sponsors, Larry and Ute Kissau at Limberlost Lodge. Larry called and left a message last night that he had heard a Barred at the Lodge. A great place for birding! By the way....to all our visitors at this Algoma East site, please check out the terrific home page, constructed by Gord, for the Limberlost Lodge. It is a "site to behold"!

One of our best spoters is Andy Penikett, Superintendent, Ministry of Natural Resources. Talking to Andy a few days ago he reported a Purple Finch at his home feeders in Blind river along with quite a number of Mourning Doves. That's the first Purple Finch seen by anyone this winter! It was at Andy's home, you might recall, that we had the chance to see the Rufous-sided Towhee earlier in the season. He also mentioned that at Depot Lake, just south of Elliot Lake, in a small stretch of open water, there were two ducks. He was pretty sure that there were a couple of Scaup.

All of us here in Elliot Lake are looking forward to the Spring....signs in the bird world are "a-plenty". The Ravens have paired up, the Gray Jays are showing signs of nest building, gulls have started to return inland to the dumps, crows are calling again all around town and we are checking out our Owl Routes. It won't be long now before we will be spotting some of the early migrants coming into the north.

Good birding,

Hi Gord
On Wednesday, February 18, 1998 the Penokean Hills Field Naturalists held their annual February Bird Blitz, the leader was Erwin Meissner. This outing was attended by a small number of keen birders who braved the drizzle.

In Elliot Lake area we observed:
Blue Jays
Ravens
Crows....several heard calling but not seen
Starlings
Chickadees
Redpolls
Pine Grosbeaks
Hairy Woodpeckers
Downy Woodpeckers

In the Blind River Area:
Bald Eagles...one Mature and one Immature together, both while perching and flying this sighting was at the Blind River Landfill Site
Mourning Dove
Pileated Woodpecker
plus all of the Elliot Lake species mentioned above-except the crows

We also spotted a very large Porcupine munching on tender buds at the top of a small Poplar, right in town. An extremely interesting and reliable report came to us on Feb. 19th. Two Common Loons, 1 mature and 1 immature were seen by Oscar Mahlman on the open water of the Mississagi River just under the Dean Lake Road bridge. The earliest report for Loons we have ever had in this area..perhaps they have been here all winter??

And finally, an American Robin was reported on Hwy 108 right here in Elliot Lake at the Boat Launch. Probably the same bird reported a few weeks ago in the centre of town.

With this very mild and "snowless" winter we are experiencing sparse bird populations at the feeders.

That about it for now

Good birding,

Hi Gord

I just received and interesting report with a bit of speculation enclosed and thought I would pass it on to our site visitors to see if they could offer any suggestions.

The following message came from Jim Trottier, biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Blind River:

"With the mild weather the past two weeks, there hasn't been much birding activity to report lately from Blind River. However, I thought you might be interested to know that our barred owl made a return appearance yesterday. (Feb. 10) If its past visits are any indication, I expect it will stay for 4 or 5 days before moving on. The first period we saw it was Dec. 11 to 16, and the second period was Jan. 16 to 21. I'm beginning to wonder if its visits are tied in to the phases of the moon, since each visit has been around the full moon." (Jim Trottier trottij@gov.on.ca)

Could there be a connection between the full moon and the owl visits? This is the third time now that it has happened!

Good Birding,

Hi Gord,

It's been awhile but birding has been a bit slow over the past week or two. We still have the Boreal Chickadee and the Lincoln's Sparrow at the Sherriff Creek Sanctuary and we have reports of (a reduced number of) Bohemian Waxwings still finding fruit on trees around town.

Irwin and Annie Meissner had a trip to St. Joseph island and found even that, usually active site, a bit disappointing but did manage to sight a Northern Shrike, 3 Pileated Woodpeckers, a number of both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers and a few Ruffed Grouse. Annie spotted a mature Bald Eagle on Hwy 638.

A rather bizarre account of birding came from the Hot Line in Sault Ste Marie. A report of a Song Sparrow seen flitting amongst the African Violets. It turned out that there are two Song Sparrows that have wintered in the White Rose Garden Centre's hot house.

Good birding,

Hi Gord

I thought it was about time to check in with you and the rest of our birder friends. We had a mild spell hit Elliot Lake today, the temperature went up above freezing for the first time in several weeks. The result was interesting with two definite signs of reaction from the bird world at our Sherriff Creek Sanctuary. The Chickadees were doing their spring call...that high two and three tone whistle that sometimes puzzles the new birder. The second "sign of spring" was the courting couples.....the ravens have started to pair off and to show off to each other. Some amazing areal displays from those wonderful creatures. Spring is a long way off but there was a touch of it in the air today.

Ray Cormier, another member of the Penokean Hills Naturalists, and myself worked our way to the far end of our sanctuary and we had another very good look at the Boreal Chickadee. It has now been with us for over four weeks. This one seems to concentrate on the suet....we have never seen it go after the sunflower like its close relative, the Black-capped variety. We also had the pleasure of watching a pair of Gray Jays as they picked at the suet feeders. They are not as "tame" as they are in Algonquin Park but one of them let me get within about 2 meters before it flew off.

Two pair of Pine Grosbeaks, 3 Downy Woodpeckers, 7 Common Redpolls and a Blue Jay were also sighted at the Sanctuary today. Erwin Meissner reported our Lincoln Sparrow was there this morning. It has managed to survive the very cold weather of a few days ago and is quite active at its regular feeder location.

A Pileated Woodpecker called in the distance just as we were heading out....the close of a very pleasant experience at our much appreciated Sherriff Creek for Ray and me.

So long 'till next time and good birding,

Greetings Gord,

A short report from the Elliot Lake Dump. We have 2 Glaucous Gulls, 1 is a first winter immature and the other is second winter. Erwin Meissner spotted an immature Iceland Gull at the same location yesterday and we also had a Thayer's there today. These Land Fill sites in our area have really proven to be valuable spots to visit. Mind you...some of our friends look at us a little strangely when we tell them how often we make our way to the dump.

At the Sherriff Creek reserve we still have the Boreal Chickadee and we have had a number of our visitors see the Lincoln Sparrow which seems to be doing very well and sticking by one particular feeder.

And finally, from north and west of us on Hwy. 554, a resident, Mr. Reinhardt, reported a Boreal Owl.

Good birding,

Hi Gord

An exciting day today! We traveled to Blind River to visit with our Parks Superintendent, Andy Penikett, and his wife, at their home. While there, we had a great opportunity to have a look at the male Rufous-sided Towhee that has returned to his feeders (it was there for awhile before Christmas). The bright red eyes indicated a mature bird. It really was a wonderful sight against the background of fresh snow and conifers.

We also saw two Tree Sparrows....not an easily seen bird this far north in mid-winter.

There were lots of Pine Grosbeaks, Chickadees and Redpolls attending the feeders. Andy told us that the Northern Shrike is still terrorizing the other birds ......they found some feathers on their deck very recently...all that was left of a Redpoll. The Shrike has been there, on and off, for a number of weeks.

We really appreciated the Penikett's hospitality and the chance to have an hour or so viewing these beautiful birds on their backyard feeders.

On the way back to Elliot Lake we stopped at the Blind River Landfill site and it turned out to be a very worthwhile detour. 2 Glaucous Gull, a Thayer's Gull and a Red-tailed Hawk were among the many Herring Gulls and Ravens on the site.

A good collection of not-so-common species for today, wouldn't you say!

Cheers and good birding,

Gord, greetings from the Penokean Hills, winter has finally arrived...we got approximately 25 cm of snow the night before last and the temperature, this morning, is -22 C.

Our feeders around Elliot Lake are becoming more active with the snow and we have had some interesting reports as a result.

Feeder sightings include:

-Snow Buntings - approx. 24 at one location
-Shrike taking a chickadee, as it used a feeder at Andy Penikett's home in Blind River
-Northern flying squirrel doing its crepuscular thing at about 8 P.M.
-The Boreal Chickadee is still attending the Sheriff Creek feeders, particularly interested in the bits of suet that falls to the ground after the woodpeckers have fed

We are still seeing fairly large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings, always on trees which have persistent fruit....like the numerous Crab Apples we have around town.

Other local observations have included a Bald Eagle, reported by Larry Kissau, north of Thessalon, near his Limberlost Lodge. We have an American Robin surviving here in Elliot Lake, one of our members reports several recent sightings of the Robin in the last week. We still have several Glaucous Gulls showing up at the City Dump....regular visitors along with a few Ring-billed Gulls, both species mixed in with the usual large numbers of Herring Gulls.

Good birding,

Gord, greetings from the Penokean Hills, winter has finally arrived...we got approximately 25 cm of snow the night before last and the temperature, this morning, is -22 C.

Our feeders around Elliot Lake are becoming more active with the snow and we have had some interesting reports as a result.

Feeder sightings include:

-Snow Buntings - approx. 24 at one location
-Shrike taking a chickadee, as it used a feeder at Andy Penikett's home in Blind River
-Northern flying squirrel doing its crepuscular thing at about 8 P.M.
-The Boreal Chickadee is still attending the Sheriff Creek feeders, particularly interested in the bits of suet that falls to the ground after the woodpeckers have fed

We are still seeing fairly large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings, always on trees which have persistent fruit....like the numerous Crab Apples we have around town.

Other local observations have included a Bald Eagle, reported by Larry Kissau, north of Thessalon, near his Limberlost Lodge. We have an American Robin surviving here in Elliot Lake, one of our members reports several recent sightings of the Robin in the last week. We still have several Glaucous Gulls showing up at the City Dump....regular visitors along with a few Ring-billed Gulls, both species mixed in with the usual large numbers of Herring Gulls.

Good birding,