Ancient History: A Trip to Rainy River

One of the best birding trips in Ontario from my distant past, was an epic adventure to Rainy River in western Ontario in July of 1996.  The plan was hatched between myself and one of my best birding friends, Steve Charbonneau.  It was a trip where everything went right; there was good weather, good birds and some unexpected pleasant surprises.  I did not have a decent camera at the time so photos are less than ideal (these scanned from slides).

July 1:  We left Wallaceburg in the wee hours of July 1 sometime after 3 a.m.  The plan was to drive straight through to Rainy River via Michigan, Wisconsin and crossing into Ontario at Baudette, Minnesota.  All told, it was about an 18 hour drive plus lunch, gas and washroom breaks.  A minor glitch was encountered just after we entered Michigan at Port Huron when we inadvertently got on I-94 heading to Utica (lol!).  After finally realizing the direction was not right, we were soon on track to Flint, Michigan and I-75 north.

Crossing the Mackinac Bridge

 Weather was good on the trip north, except for a brief rain shower just after getting into Minnesota.  At Superior, I took note of the idle lake John Sherwin and before that, the museum ship Meteor.

Before arriving in Rainy River, Steve made contact with Roger Simms, a good birding friend who used to live in Sarnia.  He was currently a bank manager in Fort Frances, Ontario.  We planned to meet him the next day to do some serious birding.

Our accommodations for the trip were at the well-known Oak Grove Camp along Rainy River—a popular spot for birders to stay at the time.  There was still much daylight when we arrived at our cabin.  Soon, there was a knock at the door and John Lamey made his presence known.  We did not know he was there!  After some discussion, we agreed to keep in touch through the next few days.

July 2:  We hit the roads in search of birds early the first morning.

For those not familiar with the Rainy River district, there are some key spots to visit, while the rest of the birding consists of driving the various roads looking for whatever may be around.  It is a unique area where west meets east and north meets south, so you can get quite a variety of birds.  There are specialties including Western Meadowlark, Black-billed Magpie, Marbled Godwit, Sharp-tailed Grouse etc.

I took detailed notes during the trip, with my notepad always on hand.  In our travels, we encountered many Le Conte’s Sparrows, Clay-colored Sparrows, Black-billed Magpies, Western Meadowlarks, etc.

Sharp-tailed Grouse were around including the ones we found at the end of Atwood Road #2 that day.

One of the key spots to look was Windy Point on Lake of the Woods. We noted several hundred American White Pelicans, and Franklin’s Gulls.  I was impressed by the number of Franklin’s Gulls which can vary at that time of year.  We saw hundreds!

Flurry of Franklin's

We stopped by the cabin sometime around mid-day and found a note from John Lamey on our door.  In big letters it said BAIRD’S SPARROW and the location.  Huh? Really? (I think Steve still may have this note).

We figured we might as well check it out, but it took us some time before we got there.

Meantime, early afternoon, we met up with Roger Simms at the Rainy River waterfront.

  Early on we found a Western Kingbird on Jensson Road, perched on a fence wire.

We eventually arrived at the Baird’s Sparrow location and….. by golly…… there it was singing away in the pasture!!

Over the next few days, we always stopped by this location to see the bird.  The song is permanently etched in my mind if I ever come across one again!  During these days, we met up with many intrepid birders from southern Ontario including Jerry Guild and Don Perks who looked quite beat from the long drive!  All made the trip to list this first and only record for Ontario.

Anyway, other birds that day included Olive-sided on Road #600, Yellow-headed Blackbird near Windy Point and some others.

A good spot at sunset was along Wilson Creek Road where it is quite open.  Here we listened to Yellow Rails ticking the marsh roadside, Long-eared Owls carrying food to young, as well as Great-Horned Owls hooting in the distance.

July 3:  We got good views of the Baird’s Sparrow at roadside.  Marbled Godwits were on territory on Worthington Road near Byrnes Road.

We ventured farther east and north of Pinewood on Road #619 we encountered Lincoln’s Sparrows, Sharp-tailed Grouse, various warblers, several White-winged Crossbills and even a Great Gray Owl atop a spruce.

Great Gray silhouette

In the afternoon we rented a boat from the lodge near Windy Point. John Lamey came along to share expenses, and we checked out the Piping Plover at Windy Point.  Around this time, it was the only place in Ontario that this plover nested.

In the evening we noted 6 Gray Jays and some Boreal Chickadees along Government Road.  While looking at these, a Black Bear made its presence known.

White Pelicans

We again went to Wilson Creek Road and listened to Yellow Rails.  A Northern Goshawk flying with food also went by.  On the way back to camp, we heard a couple of Eastern Whip-poor-wills.

Sunset 

July 4:  We again went farther east checking Road 619 north of Pinewood.  We found some White-winged Crossbills dead on the road, as well as a Hermit Thrush and Long-eared Owl. 

Crossbills on the Road

Even farther east, we stopped by Emo Sewage Lagoons where there was a previously-found nesting Eared Grebe.  It was the first known nesting record for Ontario!  This was a nice addition to our trip.

Another of the daily stops was Rainy River Sewage Lagoons where one can find various ducks.

There were several passes at the Baird’s Sparrow spot.  This day we met Al MacTavish and John Keenleyside among others.

July 5:  This was our day of departure so we left early.  Of course, one last look at the Baird’s Sparrow was in order.

It was a long day as our destination was somewhere north of Sault Ste. Marie.  We stopped a various spots along the way and several spots revealed White-winged Crossbills.

One longer stop was at Obatanga Provincial Park, a nice park to walk a trail and look for birds.

By late evening we were in Lake Superior Provincial Park.  At one point, Steve hit the brakes hard as he notice something in the distance.  After I picked up the pieces so-to-speak, we were looking at a lynx in the distance!

By 22:30h it was time to find a motel.  We found a fleabag motel north of the Soo and hit the sack after a quick beer.

July 6:  Early this morning we checked the Soo Locks area.  We eventually made it to Manitoulin Island and checked out some trails there, including Cup and Saucer Trail.  We stayed in South Baymouth overnight in order to get the Chi-Cheemaun early the next morning.

July 7:  After crossing to Tobermory, I mentioned to Steve that we should check out a favourite spot of mine at Dorcas Bay and Singing Sands.  Here we walked a trail, and early on, right beside us was a Great Gray Owl!  This was July 7 in southern Ontario, so who would have thought?  As luck would have it, we left cameras in the car, so we ran back to get them.  By the time we got back to the sighting location, the owl had moved back in.

We continued on, and took another trail (which no longer exists) into a more rocky and open area.  Here we encountered a Massasauga Rattlesnake!  We were alerted to its presence by the characteristic rattle.

Our trip was coming to an end here, and what a way to end it.

This trip will always be well-remembered for the special things encountered.  It was earlier in my birding days, and I recorded ten lifers on this trip.

Two years later, we made another trip to Rainy River along with Peter Chapman, which was interesting in itself.