Hi All, Just wanted to provide you with a summary of 3-1/2 days spent in the Rainy River area, and thank Dave Elder, Lyndon Kivi & Nick Escott for providing great assistance in specific areas and species to be expected. Although the timing was a little late, there was still a fair number of species singing. Mosquitoes were bad & Wood Ticks were worse than usual (based on speaking with locals) but nothing that DEET couldn't keep away. Weather during the 4 days was excellent.
Having never birded Northwestern Ontario, it was quite a treat. In all I had 120 species during my trip, included in this were the following: Area Specialties: Dozens of Black-billed Magpies Dozens of Le Conte's Sparrows over 100 Clay-colored Sparrows many Grasshopper Sparrows 4 Western Meadowlarks (& only 1 Eastern Meadowlark) 100's of Brewer's Blackbirds 100's of American White Pelicans (flying over & on Lake of the Woods) 1,000's of Franklin's Gulls (mostly on Windy Pt but also hawking insects over fields) 1,000+ nesting Common Terns, with many chicks (Windy Pt) 100+ Sedge Wrens 30-40 Sandhill Cranes 1 Connecticut Warbler (not for a lack of trying, just most seem to have stopped singing) 4 Bald Eagles 8 Whip-poor-will (on the roads at night) etc. etc. Missed: Yellow Rail (tried "The Big Marsh" twice, even going over my rubber boots and getting soaked, but no luck) Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow (same story as Yellow Rail) Sharp-tailed Grouse (grass too long in most fields where they should be) Yellow-headed Blackbird (not one!) Eared Grebe (checked both Rainy River & Emo SL's twice) Rarities (for the area): Golden-winged Warbler - male singing along Hwy 600 Yellow-throated Vireo - River Rd, south of Wilson Creek Rd As mentioned in other ONTBIRDS messages, shorebird migration is beginning, with 40+ Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper, 2 Least Sandpipers (on the last day there). Lots of breeding evidence (which I'll put into the Atlas webpage), in 2 trees right above my cabin I had nests of the following: Least Flycatcher Baltimore Oriole Eastern Kingbird Purple Finch Ruby-throated Hummingbird I can provide better directions (and a more complete list) to anyone requiring them. Basically, the birding was all around the town of Rainy River (to the North & East of town), which is about 450km straight west on Hwy 11, from Thunder Bay, Ontario. A worthwhile trip to anyone contemplating it! Regards & good birding, Frank Pinilla Thornhill, ON
