Muskoka Musings

This past weekend I got away from my home area, but obviously not from the weather!  Just like clockwork, the weather went for a crap yet again for the weekend.  This must be some sort of record since we have had a weather event every single weekend this year, and the year is half over!!  Will it ever end?

I planned a trip to Muskoka over a month ago to visit Browning Island on Lake Muskoka.  In retrospect, it should have been for a weekday. I had plans to check out some of the interior of the island during the breeding season, but due to the weather and other factors, I spent little time exploring the interior.
I usually manage to get there every two years to visit our friend Shirley McIntyre who owns a cottage at the north end of the island.
Two years ago I spent a few hours on the interior, as described in this blogpost:
https://burgbirder.blogspot.com/2016/08/muskoka-trip-browning-island.html

I headed up early Saturday morning and arrived at Bracebridge about 10:20.  First stop to wind down, was the lagoons adjacent to Kerr Park.  It is a decent birding spot and popular to the locals and conveniently located on the same road to the marina where I was headed.
I happened to meet up with David Goodyear at the lagoons, a local birder.  I had never met David before, but he knew who I was before I even said anything!  Turns out he is a faithful reader of this blog.
Just before the meeting, I walked by the woods and listed some birds.  Some butterflies were out under gloomy skies, including Common Roadside Skipper and White Admiral.  The local butterfly count was cancelled on this day due to the weather. (Never plan an outdoor event on a weekend!).

I spent an hour there, and then headed down to Allport Marina where Shirley picked me up for the ride over to the cottage.
At least the drizzle held off while I was at Bracebridge and for the boat ride.  However, drizzle came down the rest of the day which was decidedly depressing.
I spent some time exploring the property though.  It has a point of land and a cozy  cove.

Next morning, the sun was actually out!  It stayed out most of the day, but there were clouds off and on and even a brief rain shower.

View towards Monte Cristo Island

In the morning, I explored Eilean Gowan Island nearby.  The interior is a nature reserve and a 5 km trail goes around the island. It is obviously heavily-browsed by deer.

I encountered some basic birds, including a pair of Common Ravens.
At one point, a Red Fox made an appearance.

After my walk, we visited with some friends of Shirley's at an adjacent cottage, then headed back for lunch.

After lunch, we managed to find the public access to the nature reserve on the west side of the island.  There is a marked trail, but one has to land in a very small boat, and bushwack to find it.

Not knowing where I would end up, I eventually came to a clearing (or meadow) which looked familiar from my visit two years ago.

There were lots of butterflies present, including numerous Long Dash and some Eyed-Brown.

There were also many European Skippers which goes to show how widespread they are.

A few dragonflies were around, including Black-shouldered Spinyleg.  This one must be fresh, as it is very yellow.

The adjacent cottage to the public access is owned by friends of Shirley's, so luckily we were able to use their dock.

Lake Muskoka on west side of Browning Island

Back at the McIntyre property, I once again walked around.  Pileated Woodpecker makes an occasional visit, but I only heard it.  I found evidence to recent activity.

Pine, Blackburnian, and Yellow-rumped Warblers are resident.  A family of Eastern Phoebes just fledged from the nest on the cottage last Thursday.

Just like clockwork, Monday morning dawned with out a cloud in the sky.  At least it made for a nice drive home.
I did stop by West Perth Wetlands as I always do, but nothing noteworthy was present.  Water levels are rather high, as we near fall migration of shorebirds.

Near home, I decided to stop at Reid CA to look for hairstreaks.  In the first 15 minutes I found five Oak Hairstreaks, which seem to be most common there.

It is prime time for this rare resident of Ontario, which can only be seen for a period of two weeks each year.

If this coming weekend is nice without rain, I will be completely lost......

Koilos (900 kg statue) on Lake Muskoka

Muskoka: Bala to Bracebridge

Last Thursday on my trip up to Muskoka, I first stopped at Bala to visit a friend.  A year ago a bunch of us stayed at Bill and Janet's summer place and had a good time.  Since I was passing through the area, I stopped in for lunch.

Lake in front of the house

We walked around a bit after lunch, but of course the resident Massasauga Rattlesnake remained elusive!
The CPR mainline passes nearby, and trains are quite regular.

It was a scorcher of a day, but I headed over to Torrence Barrens which was not far away.  It was probably the worst time of day to be there, but it was the only chance I had to check out the place.  I only walked the main trail and was done-in by the time I finished it.  It was unbearably hot and dry. Many plants were almost burnt to a crisp!

Bird life was minimal, but I noted several Eastern Towhees.  A couple of Yellow-throated Vireos were near where the trail crosses the road.  They are somewhat uncommon in the general area, but nice to see.

Last year we had Common Nighthawks flying around, but none were out during my visit this year.

Butterflies included Coral Hairstreak, Common Wood-Nymph, Cabbage White. Not surprising this year due to the extreme hot and dry weather.

Before checking in to the motel, I toured the Grace and Speed museum at the Gravenhurst waterfront. (That was just to get out of the heat!)

Segwun and Wenonah II

After supper, I headed back to Hardy Lake Provincial Park for an evening walk on the short trail.  There, a couple of nighthawks were flying around!

 A few of the birds included Yellow-rumped Warblers.

old highway pavement

I always take a photo of this scene each time I walk this trail!

Next morning I took a walk at the waterfront, then headed up to Bracebridge sewage ponds.  Here is an eBird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30978697

Birders are welcome and can access the ponds through Kerr Park off Beaumont Drive.  There are also some woods alongside where passerines can be observed.

American Copper at Bracebridge Lagoons

Mid-morning I went to Allport Marina which is farther out Beaumont Drive, and arranged to get transported over to Browning Island. Shirley, the owner, had not yet arrived from Toronto, but allowed me to get into the cottage.

boathouse

I walked around a bit including going out to the point.  There is a private little bay at the property which is nice.

McIntyre Point

After the Saturday morning walk into the interior of the island (see previous post), we relaxed at the cottage.  Shirley contacted a fellow to come over from Gravenhurst.  He owns a special boat--a gentleman's racer, converted from a Mac-Craft runabout. (Mac's were built in Wallaceburg in the late 1930's and early 1940's.)

He had not owned the boat for long, but did not know the history of the boat.  I am the only one who does!  This boat was used around Toronto Island when new, but later sat in a garage in London for many years.  We looked at it back in 1984 and I thought it was not worth restoring.

September 1984!! (Gravenhurst)

However, the family went ahead, but later gave up after much cost.   The boat sat in limbo for many years, but was later built into a gentleman's racer at Gravenhurst.

I got to ride in this sleek boat on Saturday afternoon!  It give a steady, smooth ride.  And fast!

We also went out in Shirley's Mac-Craft.

Sunday, on the trip home, I stopped at West Perth Wetlands in Mitchell.  It thought it was great with all the shorebirds--the best I have seen in years anywhere.  I saw no rarities, but it was nice to sort through all the birds to end the trip.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31007515

Muskoka Trip: Browning Island

I spent the last three days in Muskoka visiting friends and exploring nature.  One of the highlights was getting to the interior of Browning Island, Lake Muskoka's largest island.  Although it was not the best time of year and my time was quite limited, it was interesting.
I was lucky enough to stay at Shirley McIntyre's--a very good friend of ours.  She has a cottage at the north end of the island, originally built by her parents back in 1941.  I have been there a few times before, but never ventured to the interior of the island which is uninhabited.

Browning Island has a long history with occupation going back to perhaps the 1870's.  The Archer family set up a large farm on the interior in the early days, and remnants of the fields are evident today with large open areas of the interior.  However, they have been growing in due to natural succession.

Shirley arranged for me to meet Kathy Ristic, who's family has a cottage on the west side of the island. Kathy has been heavily-involved with the Muskoka Conservancy.
http://muskokaconservancy.org/

The conservancy has acquired land for nature reserves throughout Muskoka including a large portion of the interior of Browning Island.  The reserve on the island has come about over several years, starting in 2004 with the co-operation of various landowners on the island.  The reserve currently occupies about 338 acres which includes upland forest, small wetlands, streams, and some of the former farm fields.

On Saturday morning, Kathy met me at Shirley's property and we ventured up the slope to the interior of the island.  Some of the high points of the island show bare rock.

There have been surveys done to see what wildlife and plants species are present, but it is certainly far from complete.
There has been a list of plants and mammals done, as well as insects, but is far from complete.

Needless to say, I  would think there is more out there to be found.

Kathy and I walked for over 3 hours going through a variety of habitats.  Some of it was along the power line corridor, which circles the island to feed the cottages.  Hydro came to Browning Island in the mid 1940's, so these corridors have been around since then.  I found the most variety of insects along these.

However, during the course of the walk, the only lep I saw was a single Cabbage White!  Obviously it was not the best time of year, and surprisingly the open areas had no butterflies, despite ample nectaring sources.

Dragonflies were most common along the corridors.  This one was the most common, which may be a Black-shouldered Spinyleg.  I hate trying to ID dragons, and with no net, it was tough. LOL!

A few White-faced Meadowhawks were around.

This one was a bit different in the clubtail family near the end of the walk. Dragonhunter?  Dragonhunters are found on the island in any case.

There were lots of these darners, probably Lance-tipped.

Back in July 2012, while visiting his friend Linda Hughes, Bob Curry checked out the island and made quite a list of leps and odes.  He wrote an article in a September 2012 issue of The Muskokan.  I do have a copy of that article.

The old field areas were getting quite overgrown, and it wore me out trying to get through!  Red dogwood was quite thick.
Most of the birds I saw were around the edge of the old field.  Nothing unusual.
Here is an eBird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30992377

Our morning walk was enough for one day.  Perhaps something in the nature of a bioblitz would increase the list of species within the nature reserve an give us a good idea what is present.

Koilos (900 kg statue near Browning Island!)