Day 10 (17 May)

After a long overnight drive we pulled into the West gate at Algonquin just after 6 am. Pulling into the virtually empty car park, Phil spotted several Evening Grosbeaks. We found at least 7 of these beauties around the parking lot. After sorting out our day permit we made our way to the Peck Lake trail.

It was a short and pleasant walk round the lake, and with a Great Northern Diver singing it was very atmospheric. Several Hermit Thrushes could be heard but none showed, and Pileated Woodpeckers were just as unco-operative. 3 Black Ducks were found and a ring-tailed Northern Harrier flew past with a large snake in its talons.

We returned to the West Gate to seek directions to the old railroad trail that bisects the Mizzy Lake trail, which wasn’t marked on the parks maps. This was reputed to be an excellent site for Grey Jay and Boreal Chickadee. Whilst a pleasant walks, we failed to score with either target species.

A walk round the Spruce Bog boardwalk failed to provide anything new – though Rob did manage to upset one of the local Red Squirrels! We’re not sure how, but he did require the rest of us to act as bodyguards / a screen to get past it. It was over to the Visitor Centre for lunch where a pair of Evening Grosbeaks were found as we pulled into the car park. 

We then drove over to Whitney to find accommodation for the night. Michael had recommended the Mad Musher, where we were able to get a dorm for 4.

Back into the Park, we birded the Opeongo Road, with no luck before revisiting the Spruce Board Walk. The trail was much quieter than early and we stopped to watch a pair of Beaver, one of which swam quite close.  It was one of those magical moments, a clear blue sky, no wind, pleasant temperature, the sky reflected in the slow moving stream, and two Beavers going about their daily business, quite unconcerned by our presence.  

Carrying on, we came across a bit of avian activity. Both Martins got onto a pair of Golden Crowned Kinglets, whilst Phil and Rob were working through a small party of chickadees. Unfortunately they were all Black-capped. Nice, but not the hoped for Boreal.  As we approached the end of the trial MJB and Rob (sticking close to Martin’s side in case he was mugged by a passing squirrel) found a Pileated Woodpecker feeding at the base of a tree. The pecker saw them and flew of, directly over Phil and MB’s heads.

Day 11 (18 May)

Up and out very early, scrapping the frost of the car, we headed back into the park just after first light, again heading for the Spruce Board Walk. 

Although no one was around, the bird life was as quiet as it had been the previous day. The two Martin’s were in front searching for Spruce Grouse. Suddenly, there one was, sat at eye level, in a tree next to the boardwalk, no more than 3m from them. MJB quietly made his way back to collect Rob and Phil whilst MB just stood and watched, almost to scared to move in case he flushed it. As Phil and Rob joined the two Martins, the grouse flew down onto the boardwalk where it stated to display for a couple of minutes before flying back into the trees. As we approached the area were it flew into, it, and a second, was seen briefly before they both disappeared further into the wood.

Boyed by this success, we crossed the open area and as we were going back into the wooded area MB spotted a distant Grey Jay. 

From there we crossed to the Visitor Centre for some breakfast. Unlike the previous day, there were a number of raptors seen soaring from the balcony. A pair of Broad-winged Hawks, several Red-tailed Hawks, a Northern Harrier and a female Merlin that flew almost over our heads. 

After our refuel we made our way to the Big Pines trail.  As we drove down to the trail MB noticed a Ruffed Grouse by the road side. On stopping it flew up into the trees but, fortunately, it could still be seen, before it slunk away. Further along, an impromptu gathering of cars at the road side heralded the presence of a Moose. Pulling in, we wandered over to see, what turned out to be a rather moth-eaten looking Moose.

The Big Pine trail provided a very pleasant couple of hours. The highlights being excellent views of a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, good views of Hermit Thrush and a confiding Grey Jay. From there we tried the Opeongo trail again were a pair of American Bitterns were seen well, as well as was a very confiding Grey Jay.  It was then time to head south towards the Carden Plains, but not before stopping to admire a second Moose. This time it was an adult male, with its antlers just starting to grow. Much bigger, and in much better condition, this was altogether a more impressive beast than the female we’d seen earlier.

Arriving in the Carden Alvars area mid afternoon we drove straight to Wylie Road were our first stop pulled in a distant Loggerhead Shrike, and several Bobolinks whilst a couple of Wilson’s Snipes were flushed from a boggy area. The next stop found an American Kestrel, before we stopped just up from the marsh bridge.

We had been informed that a Golden-winged Warbler was around the pull in area but we couldn’t locate it.  Our only new bird was a Sedge Wren that sang from the top of a clump of reeds. The highlight, however, was the Beaver that swam under the bridge in the crystal clear water. 

Rather than carry up along Wylie Road – the potholes were deep and the clearance not that great – we turned round and headed for the Prospect Road area. Even before we exited the car, we could hear the drumming of Wilson’s Snipes. It took a while until we managed to locate one of the two birds drumming overhead. A distant booming Bittern and a displaying Ruffed Grouse (both heard only’s) were the highlight, though a sparrow that gave only the briefest of views was thought to be most probably a Grasshopper Sparrow, but not enough to clinch it.

It was then off to try to find accommodation for the night, eventually finding a motel in Orillia.

Day 12 (19 May)

Our last day, and a bit of a lie in before heading South then East to visit Niagara Falls. Whilst the falls were quite spectacular, both Martins were soon itching to get back to birding.  A stop at Beamer Falls, after we found our way there, produced nothing new, but a call in to the (former) Grimsby Sewerage Works site produced out 200^th species of the trip – Long-tailed Duck on Lake Ontario.  Heading back along the freeway MB noticed he’d picked up a hitchhiker in the form of a tick. A further two ticks were found, fortunately none of which had yet started to feed, before we could pull into a service station were a visit to the rest room ensured that no more were hitching a lift back to the UK.

Overview

A really enjoyable trip, meeting some really nice people. The warblers were always going to be a highlight of any spring visit to Point Pelee, and did not disappoint. Excluding feral pigeons we managed to record 200 species between us. As with all trips we missed a few species we thought we’d get but picked up other we had no expectation of seeing. On hindsight we should have given ourselves an extra day in the Carden Alvars area which would have given us the chance to boost our list by 10+ species – a bird race on the 20^th recorded over 100 sp in the area including Yellow and Clapper Rails, Sora, plus both Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers.