Hi Birders,
Sorry for the late posting, my brother Mike, dad Jim and Mom Carol spent the last few days birding in the Rainy River area. It was our first time in the area, but definitely not the last. We flew into Thunder Bay on the 12th and drove to Rainy River on the 13th and came back today. The following are the highlights from each day we were in the area. Many thanks to Dave Elder for giving some local insight into the area. August 13th: Red-necked Phalarope -1 juv. at the Emo Sewage Lagoons Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 on Hwy. 602 ~10 km west of Fort Frances Am. White Pelican - 2 Stilt Sandpiper - 1 Emo S.L. Western Meadowlark - 8 Worthington Rd. #3 Black-billed Magpie - ~75 in one flock going to roost Sharp-tailed Grouse - 14 flushed from side of road August 14th: Western Kingbird - 1 bird found on River Road about 2km east of the McInnes Creek Chapel Franklin's Gull - ~500 seen in the fields around Rainy River Sharp-tailed Grouse - 22 in groups of: 9, 2, 7, and 4 Western Meadowlark - 20 seen in one flock Black-billed Magpie - 31 in groups of 25 and 6 Le Conte's Sparrow - 1 flushed from the Big Marsh off Fred's Road Red-headed Woodpecker - 3 on Oak Grove Road Am. White Pelican - 250+ August 15th: WESTERN TANAGER - 1 female seen on Budreau's Road about 1 km from Lake of the Woods, seen with a lot of migrants, interestingly enough we had a female Scarlet Tanager at a very close location a day earlier. Sharp-tailed Grouse - 1 Black-billed Magpie - 20 Am. White Pelican - ~500 Franklin's Gull - ~2,000 mainly adults August 16th: Yellow-headed Blackbird - 1 young male at the Emo S.L. Stilt Sandpiper - 4 at Emo S.L. Overall we had most of the target species and saw 139 species. I was quite amazed at the high numbers of Clay-coloured Sparrows, literally everywhere (several hundred!). For directions see A Birding Guide to Rainy River in Ontario Birds or please email me privately. Good Birding, Kenny Burrell Heidelberg, Ont
