Hello Birders, As an "end-of-school" gift to myself, I decided to visit the famed Rainy River District for a day this weekend. I flew up from Toronto to Thunder Bay on Friday and drove to Rainy River. I got there at about 6:30 AM and stayed until about 10:00 PM, drove back to Thunder Bay and flew back home on the Sunday, just in time to quickly drive to Carden to hear the Chuck-will's-widow, which was still going strongly at about 10:30 PM. In total I had about six hours of sleep through the whole ordeal, but it was worth it!
A warning - Heaps of mosquitoes, blackflies, wood ticks, and deer flies all had a fair share of my internal fluids. Come prepared!!! I did, but the folks at the airport took my bug dope away (It was more than 100mL) and now I somewhat resemble a hardwood that was attacked by Sapsuckers (though I was wearing long sleeves). Some highlights of Rainy River - AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN - Lots everywhere. PIPING PLOVER - Excellent, close looks at the pair on Windy Point, ansd also a third single bird on Windy Point. YELLOW RAIL - Following in the footsteps of Glenn Coady and his group (literally!), I heard three ticking close by off Fred's Road, perhaps 1.5 kilometers in the Big Marsh. MARBLED GODWIT - One of the first birds of the day on Worthington Road 3, it flew circles above my head, defecated on my camera bag (perhaps why I was so lucky this day..) and flew off to feed in a nearby field. FRANKLIN'S GULL - Almost 300 birds on Windy Point. NORTHERN HAWK OWL - Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip. I watched the male hunt, capture, and pass food to the female several times, and deeper into the night (it was still very bright out!) their three well-developed fledglings emerged, and were fed by both birds (mostly the female). I watched for more than an hour as this amazing scene unfolded, and the owls vocalized to one another frequently, using very odd, almost swift-like twittering. SEDGE WREN - Over 50 birds were heard, many seen. The Big Marsh was brimming with them! GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER - One male singing nicely off Highway 600 just past Wilson's Creek Road. CONNECTICUT WARBLER - Stunning, arm's-length views of a vigorously singing male off Highway 600 south of Kreger's Road, where Glenn Coady and his group had theirs. LE CONTE'S SPARROW - A few singing in a few places. Closest were on Worthington Road 3. WESTERN MEADOWLARK - Several along Worthington Road 3. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD - Good looks at the colony in Windy Point. BREWER'S BLACKBIRD - Everywhere! BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE - Noisy and widespread. Many other more common but great northern/western breeding birds were seen as well, incl. COMMON GOLDENEYE broods, lots of PURPLE FINCHES, lots of SANDHILL CRANES, BALD EAGLES, and a dozen WARBLER sp. I would like to greatly thank Glenn Coady for his help in terms of locating species, Cheryl & Gary Gauthier for their great hospitality and for the access to Windy Point, the Mr. Sub in Baudette, MN for being open at an ungodly hour, and all the other great people I met along the way. Thanks Everyone! Some pictures (incl. baby owls!) are available here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/levfrid/ A great site guide, including maps for the Rainy River District is available here - http://www.ofo.ca/hotspots/includes/RainyRiverUpdate.pdf The Chuck-will's Widow is on Doyle Road, just before the sharp left turn if you're coming from Victoria road. Good Birding! Lev Frid Maple, ON _______________________________________________ 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/
