Team Hawksauce in Canada - Day 4: Niagara Falls - Jan. 11, 2015

     Our fourth and final day in the Niagara Falls area began in the frigid, pre-dawn darkness. We were determined to make the most of the few short hours we had left before we had to head back to Pennsylvania. The first order of business was to drive back to St. Catharines to look for the consistently reported Short-eared Owls and Snowy Owls. Although we spent over an hour and a half after sunrise creeping along the roads where the Short-eared Owls were "supposed" to be, we unfortunately did not see a single owl. We did get to talk to one very nice, helpful local birder who was surprised that we came all the way from Pennsylvania to go birding in Ontario. However, we also had the unfortunate experience of accidentally interacting with a very pushy, clingy "photographer" who thought that baiting owls for photos was completely okay, and who didn't believe that Short-eared Owls were a species that were ever seen in this area. He proceeded to show us photos of Red-tailed Hawks, but insisted on calling them "Harriers". He told us that they behaved and flew like a Red-tailed Hawk but were DEFINITELY Harriers. Facepalm. The kicker was that these were adult Red-tailed Hawks he was photographing so they had the diagnostic red tail. We tried to get away from him by driving down the road, but he came running after us because he had more photos to show us. He then showed me a photo of an immature Red-tailed Hawk (no red in the tail on this one) and actually correctly identified it as a Red-tailed Hawk. Go figure.

     After we finally ripped ourselves away from the "photographer" we did find some Snow Buntings and an American Kestrel which made us happy. Finally ready to give up on the two species of owls we had come to see, I did one more sweep of the fields, and made a left turn onto the main road. I noticed a flock of Canada Geese to my right after I made the turn, and some lumps of snow in the corn stubble. Since there were signs that said no parking along the road, and there was nobody behind me, I slowed down to almost a stop and had Libby check out one of the lumps of snow to see if it might have eyeballs. No luck. I then saw another very suspicious lump of snow which I had Libby check out as well. She passed it off as snow. My mind was convinced otherwise. I quickly pulled off the road, put binoculars to my face, examined the lump of snow with scrutiny, and eventually the lump turned its head around and squinted in our direction!!!! The conversation then went like this:

Me: "SNOWY OWL! IT'S A SNOWY OWL LIBBY! GET ON THIS BIRD!"

Libby: "Really?"

Me: "Yes! IT JUST LOOKED AT ME! IT HAS EYEBALLS!"

*owl turns its face away from us*

Libby: "I don't know, it looks like a lump of snow to me"

Me: "KEEP WATCHING!"

*owl turns head back around toward us*

Libby: "Oh My God...it is a Snowy!!!!!"

Snowy Owl - the lump of snow with eyes

This darned Snowy Owl that we had been searching for along with numerous other birders had been hanging out with the Canada Geese the whole time in an adjacent field, camouflaged by the lumps of snow in the corn stubble! I immediately found a better place to pull off and we spent some time taking photos and enjoying the magic of the Snowy Owl sighting.


     After all the Snowy Owl excitement we headed back to Niagara Falls to look for ducks and gulls. We discovered that there aren't many places to pull over along the river, but we only got chased off by the police once. By the time we got down to the whirlpool area it was getting late, but we did see some Bonaparte's Gulls which were new for the trip. Just after pulling out of the whirlpool parking area I spotted a Merlin perched right above the road! What a treat!

Horseshoe Falls in the winter

American Falls in the winter

Niagara River whirlpool

Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and we found out the next day via birding reports that we should have took some time to go a little further downriver because Little Gull and some other gulls were seen down there at almost the exact time that we were leaving the whirlpool. Oh well, that just means we will have to come back next winter!

     On our trek back to Pennsylvania the roads were great and we even had a few minutes to stop at the duty free shop and pick up some delicious maple syrup products. The border guard who eventually allowed us back into the U.S. was a real grouch, very opposite from the guy who welcomed us to Canada. This guard asked me all kinds of questions like I was some sort of criminal and didn't want to believe that I owned my own vehicle. When he asked if we were bringing anything back to the U.S. from Canada I started telling him about our duty free shopping trip and he rudely cut me off! I badly wanted to inform him that I wasn't done telling my story about the delicious maple syrup I bought and that he was being rude. It was at this moment that he decided to let us go. I guess he had enough of my storytelling.


That is all for this trip! Stay tuned for stories about future birding trips and experiences!

Team Hawksauce in Canada - Day 3: Algonquin Provincial Park - Jan. 10, 2015

     Our 3rd day in Canada was devoted to exploring Algonquin Provincial Park, and then making our way back to Niagara Falls for our final night. We originally were going to use an entire day to thoroughly explore Algonquin, but due to some last minute obligations we ended up cutting the trip a day short. Next time we do this trip we are definitely going to take a full day in this area and maybe even two days to fully enjoy everything this boreal habitat has to offer.
     Waking up pre-dawn, we packed the vehicle and once again woke up the poor innkeeper to inquire about where we should leave our key. We then headed off for the Algonquin Provincial Park Visitor's Center. This drive from Huntsville to the visitor's center was supposed to take 45 minutes, but with snow packed roads it ended up taking 1.5 hours. We arrived at our destination at 9am, which was when the center officially opened. Our first order of business was to purchase a day pass to the park which would allow us unlimited access to all the trails. While waiting to purchase the pass I learned from another visitor who had also driven through the heavy snow the night before that the total amount of snow dropped by that system was 2.5 feet!

We made it! (Photo credit: L. Errickson)

The road through Algonquin Provincial Park - the tan coloration is from sand which is put down for traction.

     Before hitting the trails we quickly checked the bird feeders that are set up behind the center and saw our first Red-breasted Nuthatch of the trip! There were also many Hairy Woodpeckers, a hoard of Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, and a handful of White-breasted Nuthatches. The Red Squirrels were also very active at the feeders in their usual high-energy fashion. We noticed that these squirrels had actually dug tunnels into the snow around the feeding area that they would dive into if danger was sensed. A few squirrels were even stashing food somewhere in their intricate tunnel system.

Red Squirrel being cute!

View from Algonquin Provincial Park Visitor's Center 

One of the many Black-capped Chickadees

     We had heard that the Spruce Bog Boardwalk trail would be our best bet for seeing many of our target species, so we headed there for a short hike (1.5 km) through the spruce bog habitat in shin deep, powdery snow. As soon as we arrived in the parking lot we heard one of our target species - Boreal Chickadee - calling from the treetops!!! It took us a few minutes to see the little buggers, but we finally saw a few of them bouncing around the trees with their Black-capped Chickadee cousins. The rest of our hike was fairly quiet with mostly nuthatches and chickadees hanging around looking for handouts (they will come sit on you if you have sunflower seeds), and Hairy Woodpeckers hammering away on trees. We did manage to hear the call of a Black-backed Woodpecker, but did not see it. Even though the sun was bright and it was nearly cloudless, it seemed to snow the entire time we were in the park. 

Libby walking down the boardwalk in Spruce Bog

Spruce Bog

     Next on our agenda was to drive down Opeongo Road, but we first zipped back to the visitor's center to check the feeders and were rewarded with great views of two Common Redpolls! We also added Downy Woodpecker to our Algonquin list.  Getting back on track, we headed down the snowpacked Opeongo Road looking for a few more target species. The hoards of Black-capped Chickadees surrounded our vehicle looking for handouts anytime we stopped for an extended period. In fact, we got to the end of the road without seeing anything but chickadees and nuthatches. Thinking that we had dipped on almost all our target species, and running out of time, we turned around and headed back to the main road. Suddenly, I saw a few birds sitting in the middle of the road, and came to a stop to get my binoculars on them....from this point things happened so fast! All of a sudden we had Gray Jays landing on us looking for food, and Pine Grosbeaks moving around in the vegetation and landing in the road! Two life birds within seconds that we thought we had dipped on! Whew!

Gray Jay

Gray Jay

Gray Jay 

     By the time we were finished with our birding adventures we were famished and headed back to the Visitor's Center to see what they had to offer in their cafe. To my surprise, even in the winter months, they had an entire gluten-free menu available, which even included dessert! Of course, the beef patty that was put on my cheeseburger had obviously been frozen for awhile longer then normally recommended, but other than the texture being a little dry, the taste was fine, and it was exciting to actually be able to eat the bun because it was gluten free! Kudos to Algonquin Provincial Park for offering such a diverse menu even in the dead of winter. 

    We reluctantly left Algonquin at around 1:30 pm. On the way out of the park I spotted a Black-backed Woodpecker flying over the road! I was unable to stop quickly on the snowpacked roads, but did a u-turn when it was safe to do so and went back to the approximate place where I saw it.  We pulled off the side of the road and went wading in the hip deep snow in an attempt to relocate the bird since Libby hadn't seen it, but luck was not on our side.

     The trip back to Niagara Falls was fairly easy, but took a little longer than I had anticipated. The road conditions were snowpacked until somewhere between Opilla and Barrie, ON where they magically transitioned into clear, dry roads. We ended up rolling into Niagara Falls around 7:45pm and checked into the Comfort Inn Fallsview. The room was clean, and we were lucky enough to get a room with a balcony, but the fact that they charge for parking in their own lot was ridiculous. Our sink also didn't drain well and the wi-fi didn't work on any of our devices. It did work on Libby's laptop, but was very slow and kept disconnecting itself. As someone who likes to catch up on eBirding and emails before bed each night, this wi-fi situation was just unacceptable. 

Our room

Sometimes you just have to go out on the balcony in January to see how cold it is up here. 

Stay tuned for my last post on our trip to Canada where we explore the Niagara River before heading home.

Team Hawksauce in Canada - Day 2: The battle from Niagara to Huntsville - Jan. 9, 2015

     Libby and I started out our day with a snowy trek to the B & B's dining room followed by an absolutely delicious breakfast made-to-order by the in-house chef at Niagara Grandview Manor!  I had a cheese, mushroom and pepperoni omelet (whites only) and Libby had a fruit crepe with a side of real maple syrup. From my seat at the breakfast table I could watch the gulls flying up and down the Niagara River gorge. The food and atmosphere was so perfect that we ended up dawdling over breakfast a little longer then anticipated and thus got a late start to our birding.  After we packed up the vehicle and I removed around 4-5 inches of snow from it, we were on our way to our first stop!

Niagara Grandview Manor in the snow! Our room was the one in the bottom right of the photo.

Our trek to breakfast.

The view of the gorge from the breakfast table.

My omelet

Fruit crepe

     We headed straight to an area that was said to have pretty reliable sightings of Snowy Owl and Short-eared Owls, but the only birds we saw were hundreds of American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and of course an American Kestrel watching over them all. Our next stop was at Bayfront Park in Hamilton, Ontario where we spent almost an hour and a half enjoying the waterfowl. Although the wind was gusting pretty strongly and temperatures were in the low teens, the birds were active and beautiful! Seeing over 100 Common Goldeneyes was a real treat, along with a Cackling Goose, Greater Scaup, Common Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers, and four species of gull. My favorite was our lifer Glaucous Gull that swooped by at close range giving us great looks! In fact, we enjoyed this gull so much that both of us failed to get a photo of it.

Panorama of the Bayfront Park tundra situation. (Photo credit: E. Errickson)

     Our third stop of the day was at Lasalle Park and Marina in Burlington, Ontario. Here there were even more waterfowl, including Buffleheads, American Black Ducks, Northern Pintails, Mallards, Canvasbacks, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers and American Coots. Best of all, there were many trumpeting Trumpeter Swans, all of which were wing-tagged for research! Although there are many signs around the marina saying not to feed the waterfowl, it was obvious that people still do it because the Mallards and Trumpeter Swans had no fear of us. I was literally able to walk past my lifer Trumpeter Swans (within two feet) without them even so much as flinching! There were also very cooperative black phase Gray Squirrels in this park which made me very happy.

LaSalle Park madness!

Pretty swan face.

Just chillin'.

This one has been digging in the mud.

These squirrels are the best!

Comparison of the normal versus the black phase of the Gray Squirrel

The cuteness is just overwhelming!

A clip of the LaSalle Park birding bonanza.

     We had inadvertently spent way too much time at our first two stops, so we were now pretty far behind schedule. However, it was impossible to not try for the male Painted Bunting that had been hanging out at a feeder in a residential area in Oakville - a suburb of Toronto. Besides, it was on our way. When we arrived at the Painted Bunting stakeout, there were a few birders and at least two photographers waiting for the bird to appear. Sadly, even after waiting for over 30 minutes the bird failed to appear for us. We learned from one of the bystanders that the bird had appeared at around 11am but hadn't been seen since. This was the 4th time in my life that I have failed to see a Painted Bunting. Thus, they remain a frustrating nemesis bird for me. At least we hadn't been standing in the cold since the late morning like some of the those guys!
     It was almost 4pm by the time we left the Painted Bunting stakeout and starting heading for our motel in Huntsville, Ontario. This was supposed to be an easy 2.5 hour drive...except today. We ended up in the middle of Toronto in Friday night rush hour traffic. Travel plans came to a crawl as we inched our way through the city. My on-board navigation system (aka Libby) was doing everything she could to see if we could reroute ourselves onto less busy roads, but there is not much you can do during rush hour. At least we weren't at a standstill. It took us 3 hours to just get through Toronto. To fight the boredom we spent the time trying to find real bird alpha codes in license plates and making up fake bird names for any combination of 4 letters that we spotted. The craziness was just starting to surface.
     Once we made it out of the greater Toronto metropolitan area we were able to make good time and the roads were in great condition. When it became dark enough to have to use the headlights I discovered that they looked very dim. Turns out that they were so crusted over with road salt that it was necessary to use some water from Libby's water bottle to wash them off. In fact, we ended up stopping at least twice to wipe them off. Once we reached Barrie we decided to make a quick stop for some dinner, which turned out to be the best decision of the night. If we hadn't taken the time to get some food the next few hours would have been absolutely grueling. Just north of Barrie we exited off Route 400 onto Route 11 to head towards Huntsville. Somewhere between Barrie and the next town (Orillia), it started snowing. The roads were still okay, and had obviously been plowed recently, but the snow intensified. By the time we realized just how intense this lake-effect snow was, the only way out of it was forward. We were forced to go no more than 25-30 mph, and visibility quickly decreased to 20-30ft in front of us. I flipped on my 4WD, turned on my 4-way flashers, and turned on my fog lights for the second time since I obtained this vehicle in 2010. The fog lights helped considerably, and showed me that pulling off onto the shoulder to wait it out was not an option. The shoulders (where I could see them) were either sheets of ice or covered with 5+ inches of snow. The exit ramps that I could see were not even touched by the plows. At least the road in front of me was plowed down the middle and sanded so I could have one front and one back tire on semi-cleared pavement. The only real problems occurred when large trucks or tractor trailers would zoom by me at 60+ mph and create snownados in their wake that decreased visibility to 5-10ft. Things could have been worse, it could have been a blizzard. At least I could still see the flashers of the person in front of me and the snow was a dry, powdery type that did not stick to the windshield at all. In fact, I didn't have to use the wipers at all during this whole ordeal. I thought I was home free when we finally got behind a snowplow, but it was going much faster than I and I eventually lost it.  When Libby wasn't gripping onto her seat for dear life she was checking her radar apps and keeping my spirits up by telling me how much further it was until we were out from under this lake-effect snow. She also called the inn a few times to advise them of our situation and anticipated time of arrival. It was nice to hear the hostess at the inn tell us that it was clear in Huntsville.
     We finally arrived at the Rainbow Inn in Huntsville at around 11:30 pm, and had to wake the innkeeper to check-in. Although she could have been very grumpy, she was super nice about everything and even had the gas fireplace started in our room when we walked in! The free wifi even worked great! I was very lucky to have a heavy 4WD vehicle since the area had gotten a fresh 6 inches of snow that day, and the parking lot was not only located off a steep hill, but it was also not plowed. We were just happy to have made it to Huntsville and to have a nice warm place to sleep.

Rainbow Inn from the main parking area. 

Stay tuned for our adventures in Algonquin Provincial Park!

Team Hawksauce in Canada - Day 1: Getting there - Jan. 8, 2015

     Sometime around the beginning of December I hatched an idea to take a birding trip to Ontario, Canada over a long weekend in January. Starting off 2015 with a few lifers in a country for which I had never submitted an eBird list sounded like the perfect adventure! I knew that the Niagara Falls area would be great for gulls and waterfowl, and had heard of some great birding spots along Lake Ontario in the Toronto area, including a continuing male Painted Bunting. I also knew that Algonquin Provincial Park, located about 3.5 hours north from Toronto would be a fantastic place to explore for winter finches, owls, and boreal specialties such as Boreal Chickadees and Gray Jays. However, I was not willing to do a trip like this alone, so I convinced the other half of Team Hawksauce (Libby) to come with me on this adventure. I told her in the very beginning of the trip - "I can't promise you birds, but I can promise adventure".

     Our drive from central Pennsylvania to Buffalo, NY was sunny with blue skies most of the way. It wasn't until we were about 25 miles away from Buffalo that the lake effect snow began to threaten our travel plans. Libby was tracking the snow on her many radar apps (birders always have more than one of these apps) as I was driving, and we were discussing whether to reroute ourselves and go around the "storm" or if we would be okay with our plan of crossing the border at the Peace Bridge. Since the snow was moving northwards, away from us, we decided to continue on our original path. The clouds looked ominous but we didn't actually see any snowfall until we were within a few miles of the border, and the only slippery roads were the ones between the border checkpoint and the entrance to the highway on the Canadian side. 

    Our border guard was a friendly chap who ultimately determined that two girls crazy enough to go look at birds in the winter in Canada were no harm to national security. When I handed him the passports he barely looked at them, but wanted to know what we were doing in Canada, where we were going, etc. etc. All normal questions. I told him that we were bird watchers and informed him of our plans to bird along the Niagara River, along the shores of Lake Ontario, and in Algonquin Provincial Park. He looked at me like I was telling him a wildly unbelievable story. Understandably, since it is winter, he had the misconception that there were no birds worth seeing. Thus, I had to explain to him that we were primarily looking for gulls and ducks in the Niagara area, rarities along the lake, and birds that do indeed spend the winter in Algonquin.  He accepted the notion of looking at ducks, he had seen those around; however, he didn't know what gulls were, and I refused to say the dreaded word "seagulls" (shiver). Luckily, Libby is slightly less adverse to this word and leaned across me to inform him that we were looking for seagulls. Now that he understood what kind of birds we were intending on looking at, he gave me yet another very confused, doubting look, and asked - "Why on earth would you be looking for seagulls? They are everywhere!" So now our conversation turned into a teaching moment where I explained a few things to him about bird movements and migration during winter months. He finally asked us what we do for a living. For simplicity's sake I told him we were both wildlife biologists. His response: "OH! THAT makes more sense! Ok, have a good time!" Apparently only people who do this for a living would be looking at birds in Canada in the winter. I hope he at least learned something from us and will spare the next vehicle of birders the look of ARE YOU HIGH?!?!

     We had begun our journey at 8:39 am, and were finally officially in Canada at 1:15 pm. Our first task was to scout out the Niagara River and get the touristy photos out of the way. We also managed to see a few birds, but the wind was howling, making using a scope nearly impossible, and we weren't dressed for single digit temperatures with negative windchills (F). Thus, we gave up on serious birding for the time being and decided to go find our lodging for the night. 

     I had gotten a great off-season deal for the Niagara Grandview Manor which is an adorable bed and breakfast with great views of the Niagara River gorge. To my delight, as soon as I pulled into the parking lot, a fat, fluffy black squirrel appeared on the tree in front of my vehicle! At that moment I knew that I had picked the right place to stay. Things just got better and better from then on. We were allowed to check in 2 hours early, and the lady who checked us in was very friendly and helpful. She even gave us many recommendations for places to eat that were out of the tourist area, and thus much, much cheaper. 

We had a the purple themed room at Niagara Grandview Manor!

 
      It was now almost 3 pm, and we probably should have used what little daylight was left to do some birding, but we hadn't eaten solid food since breakfast and really needed some lunch. We decided to try a place that our B & B girl had suggested, called Taps on Queen - Brewhouse and Grill. It was difficult to find at first because it doesn't face the main road and thus is easy to miss if you are driving down the road a certain direction. There was one girl running both the bar area and the sit-down area, but she was super nice and helped us choose menu items that would suit our tastes and dietary restrictions. My only complaint is that she erroneously told me that one of their breaded items was gluten free because it was coated with Panko breading. Luckily, I know what Panko breading is, and knew that she was wrong. Our waitress was also SHOCKED when she learned that we were going to Algonquin in the WINTER. Her words went something like this: "I hope you have really warm sleeping bags and bear proof containers! I know people who are no longer here because they went to Algonquin!". We assured her that we had a motel room reserved and would not be sleeping outdoors. She was very relieved and finally gave us her blessing to continue on our adventure. On the positive side, Libby and I both had our first plate of poutine here, which is basically loaded french fries with gravy. We also managed to have a delicious meal for under $20 CAD. 

Pizza Poutine with BBQ sandwich in the background. 

    There was still a bit of daylight left when we left Taps, so we decided to try and track down the Eurasian Tree Sparrow that had been hanging out at a private residence in Niagara-on-the-lake. Unfortunately we dipped hard on this bird (didn't see it), although the owner of the house was super nice and informed us that he had seen it the day before. By the time we got back to our B & B the sun had set so we took the time to unload the vehicle. We then gassed up my vehicle which was now encased in a thick crust of road salt, and drove around the tourist area a few times looking for cheap parking near Casino Niagara. 

The road salt was out of control!

    

Super crusty.

     The cheapest lot we could find cost $5/hour or $10 for the night, so we decided to make a night of it and went for the $10 rate. As soon as we got into Casino Niagara I headed straight for the cashier to exchange some of my USD for CAD since the rate of exchange is always best at a casino. Then we wandered around the slot machines looking for all the ones with birds on them, identifying them to species. After all, what else do two birders on a budget do at a casino? We also checked out the comedy club called Yuk Yuk's and decided to attend the show that night. With at least an hour to kill before the show started we bundled up, braved the frigid temperatures, and took a walk down to the falls to see them lit up at night. Once our hands and faces were numb we headed back to the casino to warm up. Going to the comedy show turned out to be a fantastic decision, and one that still has us laughing! 

American Falls

American Falls (left) and Horseshoe Falls (right)

     By the time we got out of the comedy club some serious snowfall was happening, with a couple of inches already on the ground. Driving back to the B & B proved to be slightly challenging, but thanks to the 4WD capabilities of my SUV we were able to make it without too many problems. We even stopped at a 24 hr doughnut shop that sold other random items such as soups, pepperoni rolls, cold sandwiches, etc., so Libby could pick up a late dinner. That place sure was busy for 11 pm on a weeknight! Perhaps it just seemed busy because there was one woman doing everything from taking money and orders to preparing food. It was definitely one of those places only the locals go. Looks like I already made good on the promise of adventure!

Niagara Falls, Canada 

Stay tuned for the story of our first full day in Canada!