Sparrow Spotting

 On Saturday, I ventured up to Forest Lagoons to check the birding scene.  The previous day, James Holdsworth found a LeConte's Sparrow, so that was a good reason for me to be there. I had not been to Forest in some weeks!

I arrived soon after first light, but a Sarnia birder had already gotten ahead of me.  I soon joined Deryl Nethercott and we carefully scrutinized the sparrows.  There were lots of them!

After about an hour, I spotted an orange-coloured sparrow and thought it was a Nelson's.  Could have been, but I never had a thorough look.  A few minutes later, Deryl spotted a bright LeConte's Sparrow!  We followed it a bit, but then lost it.  Meanwhile  I put out an alert for other birders. Soon, many arrived in search of the furtive sparrow.

We found it again and followed it around.  My photo is highly cropped.

It was obvious there were at least two LeConte's, as the one I did not photograph was not as colourful.  A furtive as they are, there could be more out there.  Who knows if we saw the same one James did the previous day.  They are out there, you just have to dig them out!

The Ammospiza sparrows are my favourite.  I have seen quite a few LeConte's over the years, both in spring and fall.  They are attractive indeed.

spring bird at Rondeau

The similar Nelson's shows more gray.  As you know, Keith McLean C. L. is the premier place to find them in recent years.  Multiple birds there are fairly easy to find in the fall.

We also have the Henslow's Sparrow.  I have seen a number of them in spring migration at either Point Pelee or Rondeau.  True to their nature, they are difficult to find, as they can crawl through grasses like a mouse.

They have almost been wiped off the map in Ontario, especially as breeding birds.  However, their secretive nature may be a factor.  This past summer, a couple were found in Chatham-Kent, perhaps due to the extra effort during the first year of the Breeding Bird Atlas Project.  One pair was actually successful in nesting!  I never got a photo of any of the ones in C-K, but did see the birds at both sites.

The Grasshopper Sparrow is another declining species, obviously due to habitat loss.  There are still quite a few in Lambton and Middlesex, but try and find one in Chatham-Kent in the breeding season!  We always see them in spring migration at Rondeau to some degree, but there is no nesting habitat nearby.

Lastly, Baird's Sparrow, a severely declining species, has been recorded only once in Ontario.  That is a story in itself, as Steve Charbonneau and myself happened to be in the right place at the right time to get in on this sighting.  (See the post on our epic trip to Rainy River!) Rainy River Trip .  

It was early July 1996 in Rainy River district and our trip coincided with John Lamey being there.  John found the bird on July 2, the day after our arrival.  We saw it for four days before we left.  I never had a proper camera at the time, so I drew a quick sketch for my OBRC report.  I remember on one of the days seeing it perched on a wire fence.

Old Post: Rainy River Trip

For lack of material this week, here is a post from about a year ago.  Something to read on this frigid day!

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, Minnesota 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 laker 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? 

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 locations along the way and several spots revealed White-winged Crossbills.







Lunch was at Thunder Bay, and we briefly stopped at the Terry Fox lookout.

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 noticed 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.

Miscellaneous Observations and Notes

Today is a rather slow day. It was snowing again early this morning making roads treacherous. I went out anyway, but did not see much. There were not a lot of ducks on the St. Clair River to look at and pulling off to look would have been difficult due to the snow. Very little was on the back roads in the way of birds. I wonder where they are today?
Duck Addendum: I took a ride out to Walpole Island this afternoon going via the Snye Rd. I found the raft of ducks with Gadwall from yesterday at the bend where the Johnston Channel starts. On the St. Clair R. off Walpole I found a small but interesting raft of mostly Canvasback/Redhead. There were two Gadwall and a male American Wigeon with them. Also a female Redhead with a "frosty" head. The wigeon was quite feisty trying to compete for food with the divers.

Yesterday at least four Gadwall ducks were on the Chenel Ecarte (Snye River) near where I work. I had not seen them yet this winter in the area, but they may have been around. We should be seeing more of these and other waterfowl soon, as signs of spring.

Gadwall at Rondeau spring 2006

I updated my last blog post with a photo of the Spring Birds of Point Pelee booklet. I also corrected the spelling of Wressell's name--it should have two "l's". The article in the Kent Historical Society booklet only showed one "l" so I was going by that.
The Bachman's Sparrow was last reported in Ontario in 1966 according to Ross D. James in his ROM publication Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ontario (1991).

Another old booklet I picked up at the same used bookstore was a publication from the Royal Ontario Museum from 1937. It is: No. 11: BAIRD'S SPARROW, by B. W. Cartwright, T. M. Shortt and R. D. Harris.
On the inside front cover is scribed "From the library of the late W. E. Saunders through the kindness of A. A. Wood". I already mentioned Saunders in my last post as a well-known ornithologist. Albert Andrew Wood (1885-1963) was a well known naturalist in the London and Chatham area and was noted for his preparations of bird skins. Many of his are now in the ROM. A. A. Wood was also mentioned in Wressell's article. He was instrumental in the formation of the Kent Nature Club, and contributed new bird records for the county.


Back to the Baird's Sparrow paper, I know T. M. Shortt as a famous artist who did the illustrations in Bodsworth's Last of the Curlews.
The Baird's Sparrow is a western bird breeding in the prairies of Canada as far east as eastern Manitoba. And, you guessed it, it is another severely declining species. Certainly loss of habitat has lots to do with it. This species was first discovered by J. J. Audubon in 1843 in North Dakota.
The paper was a result of studies made from 1929-1931 by the authors. The study is quite detailed, so I will not go into it here. The Baird's Sparrow nests in similar situations as the Savannah Sparrow, quite often in tufts of grass on the ground. Obviously it is vulnerable to predators, and with the disappearance of grasslands, it further is at risk.
There has only been one Baird's Sparrow officially recorded in Ontario, and I was lucky enough to see it! In early July 1996, a friend and I planned a week long trip to Rainy River. It turned out to be one of the greatest trips I ever took because the weather was perfect and we saw lots of birds. Ten life birds were added to my list!



Anyway, the day after our arrival, we got word from John Lamey (who was vacationing there as well) that he had discovered a Baird's Sparrow in a field near our camp. "Ya, right!", was what we thought. We eventually checked up on it, and sure enough a Baird's Sparrow was singing in the field. We did not see it at first (typical of Baird's Sparrows), but the song was distinctive. An unexpected bonus lifer!
For the next four days we saw this bird and heard it constantly singing. It was probably singing for a mate that never came. That song is etched in my mind, and it is my dream to find one in Chatham-Kent or southern Lambton County some day. As it is a declining species, those hopes are somewhat slim.