A Fall Trip-Provincial Park Visits

This past week I took my annual fall week off to head in a northerly direction.  I chose to check out a few provincial parks, all of which I have camped at before.
Sunday I pointed my car in the direction of Penetanguishene.  Awenda Provincial Park, established in 1975, is always one of my favourite stops.

The weather was pleasant on Sunday, so walking the trails was enjoyable.  However, I found there were fewer birds compared to previous visits.

Hermit Thrush

There was a stiff wind coming off the lake, so there was not much in the way of birds along the shoreline.

Giant's Tomb Island, Awenda P.P.

Around supper time, a Barred Owl starting calling.  It was earlier than usual, but I always see/hear them at this park.
At dusk, several birds were moving through the woods, such as thrushes and sparrows.

Monday was another pleasant day as I headed north towards Parry Sound.  After a short rest stop in Bobby Orr's hometown, I headed north to Killbear Provincial Park. It is sort of "out-of-the-way", but I have been here several times before.

View from Lookout Trail

Although it was a nice clear day, the wind was till blowing stiffly from the west.  Birding was rather slow again, but the scenery is always nice.

My campsite was near the shoreline, so I could not hear anything during the night due to the wind.  Just at sunset, the predicted clouds moved in for rain overnight and the next day.

There was a brief reprieve in the rain/drizzle the next morning that allowed me to walk Two Peaks Trail before I headed north on highway 400/69.

Scene along Two Peaks Trail (Monday)

It was drizzle all the way to the historic French River where I wanted to walk the trail to Recollet Falls.  I walked the trail anyway as most of the drizzle held off.  There were lots of birds along the trail to observe, at least.

My next stop was Grundy Lake Provincial Park, just a bit south of the French River.  The weather was drizzly all day, but stopped enough to allow me to walk the trails and look for birds.

Gut Lake

By late afternoon it was raining and it poured all night for one of the most miserable nights I have ever spent in a tent!  I did have a tarp, but it was so damp with condensation, everything was wet by morning.  I could not hear a thing due to the rain pounding on the tent.

Rock Scene showing glacial action, along Gut Lake Trail

By dawn Wednesday, the wind had switched, rain stopped and it was cooler much to my relief.  I was going to stay here two nights and spend part of a day up at Killarney, but due to the weather I got of out Dodge Grundy!

I decided to head back towards home, but spend the next night at Pinery Provincial Park.  It was actually quite enjoyable (especially after the previous night).  The weather was again nice and lots of birds were around.
Upon arrival, I went to the lake for a watch. The wind was pretty good, and there was some activity over the lake.  Things were distant, but I did spot a couple of jaegers.

After an hour, I walked a trail or two and found lots of warblers.

Bay-breasted Warbler

It was very windy overnight....again!  I could not hear a thing with the roar of the waves on the shoreline and the wind through the trees.

It was quite cool the next morning, but the wind was shifting.  I did watch the lake for an hour before hitting the trails.
The night was clear and it was obvious many birds had left overnight since I did not see that many.

On the way home, I stopped by Forest Lagoons, which had a good number of shorebirds. Highlight was a Willet, which I did not see at first, until it took a brief flight.

During the trip I saw other things such as wildflowers and insects.  This time of year the asters are out and there are many kinds which I can only guess at identifying.

Large-leaved Aster at Awenda

Swamp Aster at Killbear

Tri-colored (?) Bumble Bee at Killbear

Despite the Tuesday weather (which was bad all over--Wallaceburg came close to a tornado!), it was a decent trip for getting away.

Georgian Bay Getaway Part Three

Tuesday afternoon while hiking the trails at Grundy Lake, I came across quite a few dragonflies. There were lots of darners, but without a net, they were difficult to ID.  The odd one landed for a photo, but most just kept cruising!  There were probably Canada Darners for the most part, but many remained unidentified.
Some photos:

This one stood out as a browner one, but I never got a good look at it to ID.

Then there were lots of ruby and white-faced meadowhawks.

Wednesday morning was quite calm.  It had been rather windy for the trip until then.  While packing things up at the campsite, a couple of birds flew over, sounding very much like Evening Grosbeaks!
I decided to walk Swan Lake Trail again, where I found lots of passerines.

There were several Blue-headed Vireos, where I had not seen many previously on the trip.

I came across a couple of Ruffed Grouse.  Surprisingly, I had only heard one so far on the trip.

After that, I headed south on highway 69.  North of Parry Sound is Pointe au Baril.  I stopped briefly to look in the marina as this is where the Lyman boat I restored several years ago is kept.  Unfortunately it was not present--most likely still over at the island.

Continuing south, I thought of checking out Parry Island, but did not.  The railway that used to go through Algonquin Park, built by J. R. Booth, had its terminus at Depot Harbour on the island.  The bridge is now used for car traffic to the island.  I have passed under this bridge several times in a canoe!  The railway through Algonquin and its terminus at Depot Harbour is a very interesting piece of history.

I just kept driving as nothing south of here interested me, so I ended up at Pinery Provincial Park later in the day.
I found lots of birds along Cedar Trail late in the afternoon.

At sunset, I checked out the beach.  Several Sanderlings were working the surfline.  One individual had only a single leg!

Lake levels are much higher this year and the Pinery beach is very narrow. There is even some erosion as well, as the waves have been cutting into the dunes.

There are no Barred Owls at Pinery, so the night was rather quiet.

Evening along the Ausable River

Next morning, the wind was blowing out of the north, so I first checked the lake.  There was some activity, and I managed to pick out a Sabine's Gull (!).  A few Horned Grebes were on the lake as well a loon or two.

I found this scene a good photographic opportunity.

Sanderling with an itch

I walked a couple of trails, including Riverside.  This is one of the better birding trails in Pinery for a variety species.  There were hardly any warblers, but I did see a Mourning (it was morning!).
A family of Pileated Woodpeckers (4 in total) was making some noise.

I also noticed an Olive-sided Flycatcher sitting atop a snag.  This trail is quite reliable for seeing Olive-sided in migration, though especially in May.

I walked Cedar Trail again, which turned out to be rather productive.

Northern Parula

Pinery probably has the highest population of Tufted Titmice in Ontario.  They are found all over the park!

I was happy with this short getaway.  One can never spend enough time up that way!

Sunset at Pinery

Georgian Bay Getaway Part Two

After finding a campsite in Killarney Park, it was time for another walk.  The only trail accessible from the campground is Cranberry Bog trail, unless you want to do the backpacking trail!  The La Cloche trail is a famous trail into the back country where you can spend 7-10 days.  Not for me!
The Cranberry bog trail is about 4 km long and goes to a scenic spot on A. Y. Jackson Lake.

You cross a beaver dam here!

Here the artist Jackson spent much time.

The trail ends at the north end of the campground on George Lake.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and just before sunset, along George Lake.

Once again, I heard Barred Owls during the night!  "Who cooks for you?"

Early to rise the next morning, I checked out Chikanishing Trail which you access at the end of Chikanishing Road about 2 km west of the park.  It is here many launch their canoes.  I think this trail was the nicest, once you get up on the ridges.

Outlet of the river

You have a panoramic view of Georgian Bay from the ridges.

While on this trail, a couple of Pine Siskins flew over--the first I had this year!  Also I heard American Pipits.
I encountered some nice groups of warblers, mostly Yellow-rumped and Palm.

A couple of Porcupines were noted along the trail.

Not yet awake!

One unique scene was a vein of quartz within the red granite.  This is also depicted in a book I purchased.

After walking this trail, I headed west to the quaint village of Killarney.  Everything was closed up though and I could not sample the famous Herbert's Fish and Chips!  (Only open on weekends this time of year).

that yacht looks interesting!

By mid-day, I had a change of plans and decided to travel to Grundy Lake Provincial Park.  (I like to keep moving around!).  I briefly visited Grundy back in 1997 as well.  There are three nice trails within that park.  I walked Swan Lake and Gut Lake Trails.  The longer Beaver Dams trail did not interest me...perhaps if I took more time!

Scene on Swan Lake Trail

In Grundy Lake park, I encountered quite a few dragonflies, most being darners.  I know I had Shadow Darners, and perhaps a couple other species.  There were also meadowhawks, including White-faced.  I will show these in a later post.

These two must be lichen it!

Gut Lake trail was a nice walk and I found lots of birds. One large pocket of birds contained several Pine Warblers, Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped and a few other types.  They were quite curious of my presence (after pishing of course!).

Pine in a Pine

At the end of Gut Lake, I saw this interesting rock formation.

One part of the trail goes along a rock face where you can see lichens and ferns.  Uncommon to rare ferns can be found in places like this.  The Bruce Peninsula is famous for rare ferns, for example.

As I was drifting off to sleep that evening, a Barred Owl came close and started calling.  Third park, and third time I got Barred Owls!  I think the Barred has the most fascinating call and is a thrill to hear each time.

More later...

George Lake at sunrise