This year’s Atlas staff crews did an outstanding job filling in coverage gaps throughout the province. Three crews of four people each worked across the southern Shield in the Algonquin, North Bay, Sudbury, Algoma, Rainy River, Kenora, and Thunder Bay regions. All together, the staff completed an incredible 1,561.6 peak hours of coverage and 2,109 point counts.
Scroll down to read each crew’s story from the summer!
Birds and Beyond: The Northwest Crew’s Atlassing Adventures ~ by Claire Atherton
Northwest Crew: Claire Atherton, Shaun Rath, Mark Duchene, and Abbey Lewis
This season, the Northwest crew did a large tour of northwestern Ontario (within the 5% coverage area). We spent the first couple of weeks Atlassing along Lake Huron’s north shore before heading west to Thunder Bay. From there, we travelled all throughout the northwest to Quetico Provincial Park, Sioux Lookout, Pickle Lake, Red Lake, and Kenora.
Over the course of the season, our crew found 111 nests of 33 species! Highlights were finding Nashville and Tennessee Warbler nests, which are notoriously well-hidden. It’s always a treat to stumble upon one of these nests. As the season progressed, we started finding nests with young like the curious Pileated Woodpecker nestling seen in the photo below.
The most abundant species we encountered was Nashville Warbler, which reminded us of how important the boreal forest is for supporting breeding warblers. Other abundant species were Red-eyed Vireo, White-throated Sparrow, and Ovenbird. Exploring the north meant having lots of encounters with typical boreal species like both Red and White-winged Crossbills, many different warblers, and even a Great Gray Owl! In addition to birds, we encountered lots of other wildlife including bears, moose, wolves, and lynx!
Each field season presents its challenges, and this one was no different. It was a particularly rainy year in the northwest, which limited our ability to conduct point counts. Despite all the rain, we still managed to complete many squares and find lots of breeding evidence!
We made sure to take time to explore the local sights during our travels. While in Thunder Bay, we took a day trip out to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park to hike the Top of the Giant Trail. Although challenging, the views were definitely rewarding! We also managed to take a few weekend trips throughout the season to explore the region, including the Rainy River and Winnipeg areas.
We’d like to extend a big thank you to Ontario Parks for letting us camp at 11 different parks throughout the season: Windy Lake, Chutes, Pancake Bay, Kakabeka Falls, Quetico, Sandbar Lake, Ojibway, Blue Lake, Pakwash, Rushing River, and Rainbow Falls. The staff were helpful with any questions we had and very accommodating when we had to make last-minute changes.
Rocky Roads and Breeding Codes: Atlas-3 Central Crew 2024 ~ by Karl Heide
With coverage beginning to fill up in southern Ontario, this year’s central crew was tasked primarily with completing some of the harder-to-reach parts of regions 31, 32, and 34 (Sudbury and Blind River) along the northern fringe of the 100% coverage zone. We also completed some squares within region 28 (Parry Sound). The crew consisted of Karl Heide, Baylana Hiebert, Vanessa Wormwell, and Erik Van Den Kieboom. Each of us played a pivotal role in completing point counts and gathering breeding evidence in the 83 squares that we covered this season. All told, the central crew completed an astounding 814 point counts, 596.3 peak hours, 1,886 checklists, and 23,314 records, obtaining confirmed breeding evidence for 64 of the 146 species that we reported.
Many of the central crew’s major highlights this season involved warblers. Near Mikisew Provincial Park, Erik and Baylana found two Palm Warblers on territory, well south of their known range, and even saw one carrying food. The whole crew got the chance to monitor a territorial male Kirtland’s Warbler west of Sudbury throughout the season (originally found by Abbey Lewis of the Northwest crew in late May, it stuck around until at least June 20). And on the second-last day of the season, Vanessa confirmed breeding of Prairie Warbler in a new square on Georgian Bay in Region 28. In the non-passerine department, notable highlights were the confirmed breeding of Gadwall and Northern Shoveler (and presence of American Wigeon and Blue-winged Teal) in a new square for Region 31, two encounters with Spruce Grouse families, a young American Goshawk being defended by its mother, and many nights spent serenaded by Barred Owls and Eastern Whip-poor-wills. There were also an encouraging number of Chimney Swifts foraging low over the canopy of remote forested areas, suggesting that perhaps the use of natural cavities by this species may be on the rise in central Ontario.
The central crew was lucky enough to find 157 nests, arguably the most satisfying form of confirmed breeding evidence. Among the most interesting finds were nests of Canada Warbler (just hatched), Blue-headed Vireo (fledge day), Common Nighthawk (NE), Sedge Wren (N), Black-throated Green Warbler (AE), Ruffed Grouse (just hatched), all five thrushes (NE and NY), Belted Kingfisher (AE), Nashville Warbler (NE), and Eastern Kingbird (NB).
Alongside the birds that we studied this summer, the Central crew also got the opportunity to see many bears, moose, porcupines, and other mammals, as well as a rich diversity of plant, insect, and reptile/amphibian diversity. Five-lined Skinks were abundant in the Parry Sound area, and the crew (especially Erik) found a variety of elusive snakes throughout the season (Ring-necked, Redbelly, Smooth Green, Dekay’s Brown, Eastern Milksnake, and Eastern Massasauga). The dedicated use of iNaturalist allowed the crew to identify 114 insect species (largely moths) to species level.
Our season was made possible by reliable rental vehicles. Without them, we would have been unable to access a good number of our target squares. The “roads”, especially those in the Algoma District, could better be described as bouldering courses, but our vehicles persevered without so much as a leaky tire. We are extremely thankful to the four provincial parks that hosted us free of charge as well as the three private campgrounds that were able to accommodate us on short notice. The weather, though fairly wet and a bit windy, was in our favour most mornings and allowed us to complete the majority of our target squares. Overall, we couldn’t be happier about the outcome of this season!
From Rivers to Forests and Everything In Between: 2024 Algonquin Crew Fieldwork Summary ~ by Scott Da Rocha
Algonquin Crew: Scott Da Rocha, Dana Latour, Adam Holder, Shannon Neville
The Atlas’ Algonquin Crew covered a lot of ground in 2024, visiting nine Atlas regions and 53 different squares. Despite the name of our crew, we spent little time inside of Algonquin Park, with the majority of our surveys taking place in the surrounding area. We stayed in provincial parks from Marten River to Bon Echo, and experienced beautiful landscapes including the Ottawa and Sturgeon Rivers.
The summer was an absolute blast! It was filled with tons of wildlife, laughter, and appreciation for the natural world. We discovered not just birds but mammals, reptiles, insects, and even sedges. We were treated to many sightings of moose and bear, and even got glimpses of a Five-lined Skink and an American Elk. Of course, I can’t talk about wildlife without mentioning the bird species we encountered! With the 1,700+ checklists we submitted, we observed 155 different species, with the most notable being Black-backed Woodpecker, Canada Jay, Eastern Whip-poor-will, American Goshawk, Prairie Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, and high counts of Wood Thrush (64 observations). The summer also included a few memorable marshbird observations. Although we only saw one Least Bittern, we submitted 33 different American Bittern observations, and even had multiple Virginia Rails, one of which emerged from a marsh and pecked at our playback speaker during a marshbird survey!
Breeding evidence was plentiful throughout the season, as we confirmed 59 different species and found fledglings of American Woodcock, Spruce Grouse, Sandhill Crane, and Black-backed Woodpecker. The most memorable breeding evidence found had to be one of our crew members observing a Blue Jay take a nestling Red-eyed Vireo and cache it in between some tree bark for later, which she described as both fascinating and disturbing! We also discovered 87 nests of species like American Woodcock, Belted Kingfisher, and Eastern Wood-Pewee, with Yellow-bellied Sapsucker nests being the most encountered (13 nests).
Although we had many fantastic experiences throughout the field season, there were some challenging moments, particularly at a crown land camp spot along the Sturgeon River. Despite this being a beautiful river-side campsite, the week we spent here involved injuries, sickness, an extreme heatwave, and many rough roads, some of which had been completely washed out. Unfortunately, the heat was a recurring challenge throughout the field season bringing with it frequent storms and tornado warnings that made fieldwork quite precarious at times. Nevertheless, we truly enjoyed our time around the Algonquin area and are grateful that we had the opportunity to perform fieldwork like this!
2023 Moose River Atlassing Trip Log
On June 8, 2023, six keen volunteers arrived in Cochrane, Ontario where they would begin their 12-day atlassing adventure on the Moose River from Moose Crossing to the James Bay. The crew was known as “Have a Hoot” and consisted of Angela Brooks, Catherine Killen, Alex Stone, Sheila Craig, Barb O’Neill, and Amy Brunning. Over the course of their 75-km journey, the team documented 117 species, about a third of which were Atlas-3 “significant species”. The team conducted 25 Point Counts in each of 3 priority squares (17UMS83, 17UMS94 and 17UNS17). Due to difficulty accessing some previous point counts, the team created some new point counts conducted 100 – 1200 m inland from the river. General atlassing was conducted while paddling on the river, at or near camp sites, as well as in and around the town of Moosonee.
Day 1 (June 9): Cochrane to Moose River Crossing to “The Eagle Bar”
On the night of June 8 we stayed at the Thriftlodge budget motel in Cochrane, and on the morning of June 9 headed to the train station, where we loaded the canoes and gear into a freight car, paid for the freight, and then boarded the train to Moose River Crossing, a “whistle stop”. We had arranged with the Thriftlodge to park the cars for the duration of our trip, a 10 minute walk from the train station.
Moose River Crossing has a couple of small buildings, and there were two people there when we unloaded. The drop off point is on the south/east side of the river. There is a trail from the drop-off about 500m to the put in. See map.
We encountered our first confirmed breeding evidence on the portage: a pair of Killdeer, one of which did its very best to get us away from its nest every time we came past with a load of gear.
At the river, we had another interesting wildlife experience: a five foot long Lake Sturgeon, feeding in the shallows. This magnificent creature seemed to us to be the spirit of the Moose River welcoming us!
Day 2 (June 10): Windbound on “The Eagle Bar”
Overnight, the temperature plummeted from hot and humid to 3° C as a strong cold front blew in. A north wind was blowing at least 30km/hr all day so we couldn’t conduct point counts. It was very cold, no warmer than 7° C, and felt colder with the strong wind. Stuck for the day, we explored our small island (about 500m long, comprised of sand and gravel and covered with small willows and a few large snags), discovering nesting Common Terns, and watched sandpipers (3 Least Sandpipers and many Semipalmated Sandpipers) and ducks (including one Long-tailed Duck) migrating downstream. When we got too cold, we huddled in our tents and sleeping bags to warm up.
We made a foray off the island mid-afternoon to retrieve and redeploy the Autonomous Recording Units (ARU)s on the mainland. We observed that the wind was almost imperceptible once we were 200m from the river in the forest, so possibly we could have done point counts. One party went to the north shore, another party to the south shore. The south shore (where the point counts are) consisted of mixed forest for about 100m, then dry spruce bog. The party who visited the north shore (where there were no point counts) reported different terrain: a meadow with a stream running through it. The north shore team were hoping to find a Sandhill Crane nest, since we had heard them bugling. They did see two fly over, but didn’t find a nest.
The water rose about 15 cm through the day. Before bed, we packed all the gear we could, and moved the canoes higher on the gravel bar in case we had to bug out (the downside of our gravel bar campsite).
Day 3 (June 11): Point Counts and Move Downriver to “Mourning Warbler Beach”
We awoke at 4:45 to a very cold morning (2° C), but fortunately the water had not risen any more in the night. The wind was still blowing strongly from the north, but as we observed the previous day, once we were in the woods, we could hardly hear the wind. Therefore, we did conduct the local point counts in 17UMS83. This required a scramble up the bank of the river (due to very low water levels), then bushwhacking through 100-200m of mixed forest, then slogging through dry spruce bog. Most of the actual point counts were in the dry spruce bog. In the bog, it is easy to navigate between the sparse black spruce, but tough going for the thighs wading through sphagnum moss. It is similar to walking through 30 cm of fresh snow. The highlight for several of us was Connecticut Warblers, so rarely seen in the south and so ubiquitous in the spruce bog!
Having completed the point counts, we had brunch, packed and headed downstream. We kept to the right (south/east) side of the river as much as possible, in accordance with the local knowledge. We had to walk / line the boats through shallow rapids several times. We crossed the river to the north/west shore above Louise Island to make camp near one set of point counts. Mourning Warblers sang us to sleep. It didn’t take much as we were all exhausted from a very long, tough, but rewarding day.
Day 4 (June 12): Point counts and travel to “Merganser Meadow”
It was our second day in a row of rising at 4:45 to a cold morning for the purpose of conducting point counts (still in 17UMS83), and then eating brunch, packing and travelling down river to the next location. There were designated point counts on both sides of the river here, but it was impossible to get to the ones on the opposite south shore as they are in the middle of a set of rapids, so we focused on the ones accessible from near the campsite. Like yesterday, our three teams of two each conducted four point counts.
Again, we had to walk / line the canoes through gravel beds and rapids. There was one fun CI-II rapid we were able to run. We had a stiff headwind (~30 km/hr) for the last hour. We were very glad to finally reach our planned destination at 5:00 pm, which we nick-named “Merganser Meadow” for the Common Mergansers we saw there. While the day started cold, it rose to about 22° C, which was very welcome since we spent much of it wading in the river. We were exhausted after our second very demanding day in a row, but all in good humor.
Day 5 (June 13): Point Counts and travel to “Fox Sparrow Beach” on Wikikanishi Island
Today we graduated to a new priority square (17UMS84). We got up even earlier this morning (4:30) to cover more territory. We made the decision to conduct 25 point counts in the vicinity of our camp, rather than try to cover the two sets of point counts established during Atlas-2 as we just didn’t have time to travel that distance. This meant that each team of two would need to do eight or nine point counts this morning. It took each team about 5.5 hours to cover the territory needed for the points. Each team covered 7-9 km, of which the majority was in the dry spruce bog and very tough going.
The paddle this afternoon was delightful as there was actually WATER in the river and we didn’t have to walk the canoes. We covered about 20 km in three hours. We camped on the north/west end of Wikikanishi Island at a spot we named “Fox Sparrow Beach” due to the lovely serenades we received here. En route we discovered the prints of a Canada Lynx!
Day 6 (June 14): Downriver to the top of the Kwetabohigan Rapids
Having left our priority squares, we had no point counts today (WOO HOO!) so we slept in (until 5:30 – 7:00, depending on the individual), and enjoyed a leisurely tour of the island before breakfast. Unlike with point counts, we were able to take the time to actually LOOK for the birds we heard. It was nice to get views of the warblers and sparrows. The big “find” was a Spotted Sandpiper’s nest. We also found plenty of bear and moose tracks. Sadly, we never saw either a bear or a moose on our trip.
After brunch, we broke camp and were on the river before noon. Again we had to deal with walking the canoes through a number of shallow gravel bars. We made camp just above the Kwetabohigan Rapids on the south/east shore, which allowed us to scout the rapids and be prepared to descend them early the next day. This was the least comfortable campsite of our trip. Here there was no beach or gravel bar. Rather we scrambled up the bank and camped on large rocks, or on top of alders, or for two of us, hacked our way through the alders into the woods and carved out enough space for a tent there. This is the night we learned the value of a good camping mattress!
Day 7 (June 15): Running the rapids and downriver to Little Gull Island
According to local knowledge, the Kwetabohigan Rapids are the one set of significant rapids on the Moose River between Moose Crossing and Moosonee, CII-III, and running about 2km long. The advice is to run it at high tide and keep right. Below the rapids, the tide influences the river. At low tide, there can be large haystacks at the bottom of the rapids. In our case, because of the extreme low water, this was not an issue. The entire right (south/east) side of the rapids was completely out of water. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much water anywhere in the rapids.
Having scouted the day previously, we were ready to go early and started our descent about 10:00, three hours before high tide. We hugged the right shore from eddy to eddy. We had to line/walk the boats through some of the drops, but were actually able to run enough to actually enjoy the experience. It took us over an hour to get clear of the rapids. We enjoyed a long break on the north/west shore on a beach at the mouth of the Kwetabohigan River, where the highlight was watching adult dragonflies emerge from their nymphs. Of course we named it “Dragonfly Beach”.
We continued downriver for another few hours, again against a strong north wind. This stretch of the Moose is near to and navigable from Moosonee and we saw cabins along the river. Despite the wind, we made steady progress. It was the most pleasant paddle of the whole week.
We camped on another sandbar on this last night of our river trip. From our campsite, we did see a couple of people in freighter canoes at the Moose Cree First Nation camp one km downriver from us – the first humans we had seen in a week! As we approached what would be our campsite, we saw a flock of terns and gulls. Among the ubiquitous Common Terns and Bonaparte Gulls, were THREE Little Gulls! Our camp was therefore christened “Little Gull Island”.
Day 8 (June 16): Final paddle to Moosonee
After a cold night, we awoke to sunshine, and for the first time in days, NO WIND! We broke camp early this morning and were on the river by 8:40, our earliest start of the trip. We had a long but lovely paddle in mostly deep water all the way to Moosonee. A highlight was seeing the third Bank Swallow colony of the trip, a large one, with at least 200 nest cavities.
En route to Moosonee, we passed by the west end of the island of Moose Factory. There was quite a lot of boat traffic here, mainly water taxis. Be aware and stay out of the main channel when possible.
In Moosonee, we beached beside the water taxi dock (note that the dock is for water taxis ONLY!), and a pickup-truck taxi showed up almost immediately. The locals can see you coming from quite a distance, and news travels fast.
Be sure to negotiate a fare with the taxi driver. The standard when we were there was to charge $10 / person. Although only 2 people (and all our gear) rode in the taxi to the motel, the driver charged us $60 (having counted us). On subsequent trips, we negotiated for $25.
We used the pickup to carry our gear to the motel, and three of our team portaged the canoes the 600m from the river. We had booked to stay at the Super 8 Motel, the only accommodation in Moosonee. The motel was suitable for our needs, although there was no secure location to store the canoes. We stayed two to a room. It was very nice to have a shower and get cleaned up. Note that there are no real restaurants in town. Take-out was available from KFC and Pizza Hut. There is a good grocery store (Northern) which had some prepared food. The motel includes a kitchen and lounge where residents can cook and eat.
In the late afternoon, a few of our group took a taxi to the sewage lagoons accessed from Quarry Road where they enjoyed a large selection of waterfowl, including ducks we didn’t see anywhere else on the river, even rare Redheads. We highly recommend this “side trip”.
Day 9 (June 17): Atlassing along Quarry Road to “Waxwing Bluff”
The final day of official atlassing was conducting point counts in priority square 17UNS17 which required access by road. The fact that this square could not be accessed from the river was discovered only three weeks before the trip by the participants. However, this square is accessible from Quarry Road, which runs south-west from Moosonee. Some of the previous point counts were very difficult to access as the road doesn’t extend that far. Our three teams covered as many existing point counts as we could, and created new ones where necessary. It is possible to arrange for a taxi to and from the point count area. In our case, we prearranged for a driver to pick us up at the Motel at 4:30 a.m. and drop our teams off at three locations along the road, and pick us up again at 11:15 a.m. The terrain was similar to that which we had experienced to date: mixed forest, dry spruce bog and stream crossings. We also encountered a maintained ATV trail, hydro cut, rail line and open marshes.
After a long, grueling morning in the bush, we returned to the motel for a shower and lunch. We then packed up and taxied and portaged our gear back to the river. From here, it was a short paddle to our home for the next two nights: Tidewater Provincial Park on Charles Island. The park has very nice campsites with privies and picnic tables. It was luxury! We named our particular campsite “Waxwing Bluff” after the resident Cedar Waxwings.
Day 10 (June 18): Leisure and James Bay
Today was our day off! We were officially DONE with atlassing (although we did submit several further “general atlassing” checklists)! In the morning, we walked around Charles Island, alone and in small groups, to see what birds we could find there. Warblers were plentiful, including a rare Black-throated Green Warbler. Another highlight was a Boreal Chickadee that visited our campsite both mornings. It was delightful to be able to spend the time to actually look for the birds we heard, now that we didn’t have to race to finish point counts, or paddle to our next camp site.
We had arranged with a local guide, Randy Kota, to take us down river to James Bay in a James Bay Freighter (no paddling = luxury!). Our outing took place in the afternoon to take advantage of high tide. This allowed Randy to take us through the (sometimes very) narrow channels of the estuary on the way downstream. While we did not see a huge variety of birds, the outing was thoroughly enjoyable.
Day 11 (June 19): Moose Factory and the train south
The train departs Moosonee for Cochrane at 5:00 p.m. We took advantage of our last day to see Moose Factory. Randy Kota arranged for us to visit the Cree Cultural Interpretive Center. Our guide there, Kim, showed us the centre and then took us to visit the Hudson Bay Staff House, a relic from the hey-day of the Hudson Bay Company in the north. The building, built in 1850, now houses an interesting museum and is also used by the community for meetings and events. We all found our visit to Moose Factory well worth the time.
Back at Tidewater Provincial Park, we packed up one last time and paddled back to Moosonee. Three of our team portaged the canoes about one km to the train station, while our gear travelled by pickup taxi. The train trip back to Cochrane was on schedule, arriving at 10:00 p.m. It took quite a while to retrieve the gear from the freight car, retrieve the cars from the Thriftlodge, secure the canoes very well on their trailer, pack the cars, return to the Thriftlodge and unload our gear. It was midnight before we were in bed. What a change from our habit of 8:30 bedtime for the past 10 nights!
Day 12 (June 20): Cochrane and Home
Our team had breakfast at the delightful Railway Café before splitting up to head for home. The Southern Ontario group decided to take one more detour and visited the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat which they declared was definitely worth the time. The Eastern Ontario group hopes to have another opportunity to visit it!
Over the course of the 2023 breeding season, atlas staff completed an astonishing amount of work over a vast area of land. Read on to hear each crew’s story!
By Scott Da Rocha, Karl Heide and Claire Atherton
Northwestern Crew (Scott Da Rocha, Evan Sinclair, Erik Van Den Kieboom, Mark Duchene)
For the Atlas’ North Crew, the 2023 field season was filled with many interesting bird (and other wildlife) encounters, a ton of breeding evidence, many kilometres of hiking, smoke from forest fires, and lots of bugs! We experienced everything from the more populated areas of northern Ontario to the most remote areas. Some of the places we stayed included Ontario Provincial Parks such as Macleod and White River, as well as more remote areas like the Okogi and Kopka rivers.
Among the 93 species for which we confirmed breeding evidence, we found fledged young for notable species like Sharp-tailed Grouse, Black-billed Magpie, and Barred Owl, with an interesting find of Trumpeter Swan cygnets at the northwest side of Lake Nipigon. We also found many species carrying food to young, including Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Brewer’s Blackbird, with an interesting observation of a Common Grackle carrying a Red-eyed Vireo nestling (two species confirmed in this case, COGR Carrying Food and REVI Nest with Young!).
Many nests were encountered during the field season, with highlights including a Black-backed Woodpecker nest with young and a Northern Goshawk sitting on a nest. Of all our records, the most memorable were our encounters with Connecticut Warblers. Although we were never able to confirm breeding, it was spectacular to experience this hard-to-find bird singing in its breeding habitat on multiple occasions throughout the season.
Central Crew (Karl Heide, Dana Latour, Arnaud Valade, Abbey Lewis)
From the rock barrens of the Georgian Bay to the old-growth pine forests of Marten River Provincial Park, this year’s Central Ontario atlas crew got to experience some of the most beautiful, remote and under-birded parts of the southern shield region. We targeted squares that had received little to no attention thus far in the current atlas, making a significant contribution to the coverage of regions 28-32 and improving the atlas’s ability to draw spatial comparisons in bird abundance with Atlas-1 and Atlas-2.
Our field season was highlighted by large numbers of Crossbills (both White-winged and Red), a surprising abundance of Canada Warblers, many excellent sightings of boreal species like Canada Jay and Black-backed Woodpecker, a close encounter with a Northern Goshawk, and a used copy of Yahtzee that someone picked up at a thrift store in Sudbury. Some of the most significant finds from the season included the confirmed breeding of Sedge Wren in a fen north of Sturgeon Falls, the discovery of an extralimital population of Marsh Wrens at the Burwash Farm southwest of Sudbury, and Ontario’s second and third known records of Wiegand’s Sedge (Carex wiegandii).
We found a total of 179 active nests of 44 species, a truly impressive number for a crew of atlassers whose primary goal was not nest-searching. Among the most notable nests found were those of Northern Harrier, Brown Thrasher, Canada Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Brown Creeper, and Merlin.
The season was not without its challenges, most notably a week-long period of heavy wildfire smoke which eventually became so thick visibility dropped to less than 100 metres. Coincidentally this occurred at the same time we were on crown land and dealing with a disabled field vehicle. More expected were the swarms of biting insects that relentlessly plagued us throughout the summer, many days of extreme heat and periods of drought, which probably exacerbated the wildfires burning to the north of us.
We are grateful to Ontario Parks for letting us stay free of charge at 5 provincial parks (Sturgeon Bay, Grundy Lake, Restoule, Marten River, Windy Lake). The hot showers and electricity were much appreciated! For our final three weeks, we camped on crown land in two locations; McNish Lake north of Sturgeon Falls, and the Wanapitei River along route 637. Each location we stayed at graced us with a unique experience and its own assortment of vegetation communities and bird assemblages. I think all 4 of us would do the season again in an instant (and some of us probably will, next year!).
Algonquin Crew (Claire Atherton and Marie-Ève Gagné)
The Algonquin Crew got the privilege of spending a large part of the spring and summer within beautiful Algonquin Provincial Park. We spent our days in the heart of Algonquin witnessing first-hand the sheer volume of songbirds that this Park produces each year. We had the unique opportunity of accessing Algonquin through a network of roads interspersed throughout the Park, which are normally closed to the public. This gave us an opportunity to explore areas not normally accessible to other Atlassers and volunteers.
We were able to locate 17 different nests throughout the peak season, including those of Song Sparrow, Nashville Warbler, and plenty of woodpeckers. We even had a Blue-headed Vireo nesting across from our campsite at Bonnechere Provincial Park! We encountered plenty of courageous Ruffed Grouse who challenged us (or our vehicle!) if we accidentally got too close for comfort. Towards the end of the season, we watched as fledgling Black-capped Chickadees, Mallards, and American Redstarts learned to navigate the world, while still under the watchful eye of their parents.
Since Algonquin Park is mainly dominated by deciduous or mixed forests, we encountered large numbers of forest songbirds. Some of the most abundant species were Ovenbird, Red-eyed Vireo, White-throated Sparrow, and Nashville Warbler. We also encountered some unexpected species for the area, including Field Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Sandhill Crane, and Cape May Warbler.
As with any field work, we had our fair share of challenges. We ran into the usual hiccups such as minor vehicle troubles, illness, and unrelenting mosquitos. Unique to this season was the intensity of the smoke from wildfires in northern Quebec. There were times when our visibility was limited to only a couple hundred metres ahead of us! However, these challenges made us appreciate our work and made each cool bird and wildlife sighting all the more rewarding.
We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Algonquin, Bonnechere, and Samuel de Champlain Provincial Parks for allowing us to camp for free this season. The staff were helpful with any questions we had, and very accommodating when we had to make last-minute changes.
Common Ravens in Eastern Ontario
Langis Sirois
March 31, 2023
I started monitoring Common Raven nesting during the 2nd Ontario Breeding Birds Atlas (2001-2005). Ravens were uncommon in our region at the time, so I was not expecting to find nests in the squares I was covering. The first nest I found was on a pylon in a power line corridor, the second was on a silo on farm land, the third on the back boom of a tower crane. All were found the same way: I heard a Raven, looked up and saw it fly to a nest on a structure that I would not have checked if I had not heard the Raven.
Year after year, most of the active nests I have found were on silos – 72% of 116 active nests in 2016 and 75% of 124 in 2018, in Eastern Ontario. The silos they use are the concrete staves type, with a dome roof. They build their nest on a small platform at the top of a ladder on the side of the silo, just below the roof; they might also build a nest lower in the ladder or in an opened roof.
In addition to pylons of power line corridors, towers, mini pylons and cross-beams in transformer stations are frequently used. All types of communication towers can host nests as well though the nest is often only partially visible from the ground.
Ospreys also use towers as well as pylons, utility posts and specially-erected platforms. Their nests are similar to those of Ravens and if no bird is present, it might be difficult to determine the species. However, if the nest in on the very top of the structure it is unlikely to be a Raven nest; I have never seen a Raven nest at the very top of such a structure.
Photo: Langis Sirois
Most quarries I visited had a Raven nest. Many quarries have become huge operations with limited or no access. I always seek permission to enter. Ravens also nest on a variety of other structures: railroad and highway bridges; ledges on various types of buildings; and in open buildings such as old barns, stadia, and warehouses.
A pair may have two or three nesting sites in the same vicinity, alternating from one nest to another. They can be different types of structure: e.g., a silo and a barn; a cavity in a quarry or a pylon, tower or silo, etc. Ravens usually don’t tolerate another pair nesting close to their site; the literature says “in a radius of about two kilometres” In fact, I have only seen a few cases of nests closer to each other than two kilometres, the closest I have seen were about 1.3 kilometres from each other.
Ravens are early nesters. I usually start checking possible and known sites in late-February or early-March. Mid-April is the best time to check for young; April 20 is the earliest I have seen fledged young.
Ravens apparently know how to surprise us though: very early breeding was documented by other observers in Ottawa with young in a nest in early February, 2021. The young did not survive a snow storm, but a late nesting in the same general area was probably by the same pair. After a failed attempt, a pair might try again; they either build a new nest or refurbish an existing one.
Checking maps on-line for a specific area is a good way to find possible nesting sites. Sometimes street-view will show a previous year nest on a silo, pylon or tower.
If I am asked why I like to monitor Raven nesting, I am tempted to respond “Because it is easy.” But there is another reason: some human structures on which Ravens nest might not exist in a few decades. I have noted that silos on which they nest are not used much anymore and are sometimes removed, and changes in pylon and tower construction may not be favourable for nesting. I believe it might be useful to document what we observe now, before those changes occur.
Photo: Aaron Hywarren
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), les tutoriels suivants démontrent les aspects variés des points d’écoute: