Last year's birding report for Wakami Lake was well received and so we
offer this one for 2009. These notes are based on a camping outing
between July 9th and July 19th. The water level was up about 30 cm
over last year and the flow over the outlet dam was impressive to say
the least!
Wakami Lake is a good place to see Bald Eagles, especially in the
southern, quieter sections of the lake. We did have three sightings in
the northern section, but suspect that it was a single mature bird. In
the south on the other hand, we had fifteen sightings on one day
including both mature and immature birds. We suspect that at least
eight individual birds were involved. This count is lower than last
year (which exceeded 36 sightings), but we did not cover the
southernmost narrow section of the lake where there are likely another
4 to 6 territories. Also the weather was so bad that we did not spend
as much time kayaking as usual - only 4 outings total.
A single 30 km outing to southern part of the lake also netted 26 Loon
sightings. These were sufficiently spread out that we think they
correspond to individual birds. Another three mature birds inhabit the
section of the lake near our campsite and we found two families in the
northern section of the lake with a total of three very young chicks.
So the total adult population of Loons appears to be at least 34
adults and 3 babies.
One lonely Osprey patrolled the boreal, northern section of the lake
and was spotted on three occasions.
The duck count seemed to be down as well. Fewer Mallards, Golden-eye
and Mergansers were seen. With the exception of one group of a dozen
Mallard babies, no large family groups were observed. This is probably
due to the high water and potentially fewer nesting sites.
The small Gull/Tern population seemed about the same as other years.
The usual assortment of warblers was active including Black and White,
Blackburnian, and Magnolia. Wood Thrushes were heard, but not with the
continuous day-long serenades that we were used to in previous years.
A Pileated Woodpecker visited a dead tree next to our campsite a
couple of times during our stay. Cedar Waxwings, Song Sparrows, Downey
Woodpeckers, groups of Blue Jays and the usual variety of other small
birds was evident. A juvenile Swainson's Thrush kept company with us
while we sat at the 'beach'.
The last notable point is the Crow population. They seemed to be
everywhere and often in groups of six or more. There seemed to be at
least two nesting pairs about 100 metres down the shore from our
campsite and there was a constant stream of parent birds bringing
meals home to the young. Oh and there was no mistaking the sounds of
the young birds receiving a meal. It must be very hard to caw and
swallow at the same time! There were a few Ravens also. When these
were harried by Crows it made for a good size comparison.
For the second year in a row, no Great Blue Herons were observed.
Something has changed to dissuade these birds who used to be a common
sight on the lake.
Finally Sandhill Cranes were heard on several occasions, but not seen
this year.
Best regards,
Eric Harrison, P.Eng.
Creative Trade-Offs
555 Wedgewood Drive
Burlington ON L7L 4J1
905 637 6560
[email protected]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativetrade-offs/
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
