Recent Encounters with Local Wildlife - Part 1 (Our Feathered Friends)

Recent Encounters with Local Wildlife - Part 1 

(Our Feathered Friends)

 

During this challenging time of social/physical distancing, we're feeling really fortunate to be living where we do, in Northern Ontario. We live on the top floor of our apartment building, and are using the nine flights of stairs to take us straight to the parking lot, avoiding the elevator as much as possible.

Once in the car, we can travel just five minutes north of the town, and be in the surrounding wilderness and designated crown land, where we can drive or hike without meeting anyone, and we can still be following the protocols. 

Although all public parks and trails have been closed, we still have access to all the natural trails and so can get out in the fresh air without compromising ourselves or others. Instead of just being 2 metres away from others, we’re often 20 km distant – and that has sometimes stretched to 200 km!

Like most people, we miss meeting up with friends to share a meal, or do something together with them; and we REALLY miss our normal traveling and house/pet sitting adventures. However, we've been using this free time to explore our area in more detail, following trails that we have not yet traveled, and venturing out at all times of the day in the hope of seeing some of the abundant wildlife we have on our doorstep. 

So, we decided to share some of the photos and video clips of wildlife that we have been lucky enough to capture during our recent local excursions. This blog will focus upon the various birds we have seen. Part 2 will share our shots of larger wildlife.

Between our Nikon Coolpix P900 camera, and our Samsung S9 Cellphone, we have been very happy with some of our results. Hope you enjoy them, too!

BIRDS OF FLIGHT

For the first time in years, we've sighted several kestrels, just north of Iron Bridge. 

Turkey vultures may not be the prettiest of birds, but they are fun to watch

A first, for us, we were delighted when we came across this chestnut-sided warbler...

...and his cousin, a black and white warbler

We've also been lucky to have spotted several other species that we hadn't noticed before. 

Northern Flicker

Redpoll

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

We managed to capture the sweet song of the Rose Crested Grosbeak. 

Snow Bunting

Tree Swallow

Then, there are species that are more familiar to us.

Robin (the ones I grew up with, in the U.K., were much smaller that their North Amercian cousins)

Common Gull

Red-Wing Blackbird

Thrush

Killdeer 

Song Sparrow

                                   

Broad Wing Hawk

                                   

I'm reminded of a funny story. Just one year after my arrival in Canada, a friend from the U.K. came over for a visit. We were on Toronto Island, not far from the airport, when we noticed a man taking a photo of some birds. We said to him, 'Excuse me, but we've noticed a lot of birds that look like blackbirds, but have red wings. What are they called?' He answered, 'They are red-wing blackbirds!'  We both laughed at ourselves, which masked our embarrassment! 

One of our favourite birds is the woodpecker. We have seen several Downy and Hairy varieties, but the one we always look out for is the Pileated Woodpecker, with its distinctive call and low-pitched tapping. 

Here's a video clip of him tapping for grubs. (The first part is a little shaky!)

...and in the following clip, you can barely see him, but you can hear his tapping - and his call...

WADING BIRDS AND WATER FOWL  

Living in a town that is surrounded by over 4000 lakes within a 100 km radius, we are well situated to see a variety of water fowl.

Loon - the cry of which epitomizes the North for us

This duck was escorting her clan across the road and into the bush

Mallards

Ring-Necked Duck

Spotted Sandpiper

 

Solitary Sandpiper

We had seen a Bittern in Algonquin Park, but this one, which was standing on the side of the road, was our first sighting in this area

Various mergansers adorn our surrounding lakes

Sandhill Cranes are often to be seen during the summer months.

These cranes were intermingling with Canada geese in a local field

We managed to capture this one, as it was taking off...

...and these two took off on the read ahead!

We were fortunate to capture all these different birds over the last few weeks. 

Before finishing, I just have to share this video of some Sandhill Cranes taking off when we were visiting Manitoulin Island during our first year, in Elliot Lake. It will always leave me in awe - and appreciation of being in the right place, at the right time.