Hello Ontbirders. Sorry for the tardy posting, I should have gotten to this
yesterday night.
A long day was spent looking mostly at redpolls at Algonquin Prov. Park
yesterday (Wed. April 30th) from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Josh Vandermuelen was
also birding with me.
Spruce Bog Boardwalk (9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.) - approx. 15 flammea Common
Redpolls (parking lot/trailhead), 1 prob. exilipes Hoary Redpoll (parking
lot/trailhead), 1 Boreal Chickadee (feeding station).
Visitor Centre (10:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.) - approx. 150 Common Redpolls (mostly
flammea with at least 2 rostrata identified), 3 very well seen (scope views)
exilipes Hoary Redpolls. Returning in the afternoon to the Visitor Centre
(1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.) we saw ONLY flammea Common Redpolls at the feeder with a
slight decrease in overall redpoll numbers.
Opeongo Road (12:30 p.m to 1 p.m.) - 8 Common Redpolls at the small parking
area along with 2 Gray Jays. Another flock of 30 redpolls flew by overhead. A
single Black-backed Woodpecker.
***Notes on the Hoary Redpolls: While the main purpose of this trip was to
look for Hornemann's (hornemanni) Hoary Redpolls it was nevertheless nice to
see some Southern (exilipes) Hoary Redpolls. These redpolls were relatively
easy to pick out amongst the many commons by their stubby, shorter,
higher-angled bills and their thick-necked bodies. They also all showed
"puffy" bodies... clearly caused by the way they would hold their body feathers
out. There were NO redpolls seen that came close to the features of
Hornemann's. Of note was the apparent larger size of the 3 Hoary's below the
feeders. They also appeared to all be female birds with no very white/frosty
individuals. They did have very clean white or virtually unstreaked undertail
coverts too. It was interesting to see the rediculous variation in flammea
Common Redpolls - some displayed a very frosty looking background plumage to
their body feathers while others were more heavily streaked. All of the Common
Redpolls showed the more elongated, shorter-angled bill profiles. One has to
remember that all of these field marks are minute and were sometimes only
visible at close range, viewed with a spotting scope or very good binoculars.
The Visitor Centre feeders will cease to be filled as of tomorrow which could
make the local redpoll flock diminish rather quickly.
*** If anyone knows where there is a HORNEMANN'S HOARY REDPOLL coming to a
feeder at the moment I would GREATLY appreciate the information. I have been
unsuccessful at twitching this bird anywhere in Ontario this winter...
Also, I am sure the the OBRC would very much appreciate records (including
photos alongside other redpolls) of this very rare subspecies that has appeared
at several feeders in Ontario this winter.
We also checked out the long-staying Harris' Sparrow in Bracebridge. The bird
is now singing and I even spent a good 10 min. whistling back and forth to it -
a very neat experience!
Directions (as per Ron tozer):
Algonquin Park is three hours north of Toronto, via Highways 400,
11 and 60. Follow the signs, which start in Toronto on Highway 400.
>From Ottawa, take Highway 17 to Renfrew, then follow Highway 60 to the park.
Kilometre markers along Highway 60 in the Park go from the West Gate (km 0)
to near the East Gate (km 56). Get your park permit and the park tabloid
(with a map of birding locations mentioned
here) at the gates.
The Visitor Centre at km 43 has recent bird sightings, feeders, and
information. The centre and restaurant are open on weekends from 10 am to 5
pm.
Harris' Sparrow:
South Monk Drive is west of Bracebridge off Hwy 118W.
Search for "1150 South Monck Drive, Bracebridge, ON" on google maps
Andrew Keaveney
Field Biologist/Ornithologist, Bird and Wildlife Guide
647-383-8894 (cell)
"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of
the world"
~ John Muir
"Live, eat, breathe birds"
~ Twitcher
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Send bird reports to [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
