7 degrees at the start (4:48 AM). 11 degrees at the conclusion (8:57 AM)
(We saw 2 Great Gray Owls on the road en route to the starting point.)
Bird Highlight: Red Crossbill
Red Crossbill (photo: Wikimedia)
Botany Highlight: Tall Cottonsedge
Tall Cottonsedge (Eriophorum angustifolium)
Species list: common loon, Wilson’s snipe, hairy woodpecker, belted kingfisher, yellow-bellied flycatcher, alder flycatcher, least flycatcher, Philadelphia vireo, red-eyed vireo, gray jay, blue jay, American crow, common raven, tree swallow, black-capped chickadee, boreal chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, ruby-crowned kinglet, veery, Swainson’s thrush, hermit thrush, American robin, cedar waxwing, European starling, ovenbird, black and white warbler, Tennessee warbler, nashville warbler, mourning warbler, common yellowthroat, American redstart, northern parula warbler, magnolia warbler, bay-breasted warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, Wilson’s warbler, chipping sparrow, Lincoln’s sparrow, white-throated sparrow, common grackle, purple finch, red crossbill, American goldfinch. (45 species)
At Stop 34, we counted 12 species!
Oak Fern
Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Bebb’s Willow (Salix bebbiana)
Northern Bluebells (Mertensia paniculata)
Cow Moose
Goldthread (Coptis trifolia)
Boreal Oakmoss (Evernia mesomorpha)
ABANDONED CHURCH AT LONGLAC
Every time I drive through Longlac, I notice this huge edifice on a lonely point of land.
This year, we stopped and walked out to have a close look at it.
In fact, it is not abandoned as a little resident was demanding food from its parents. A baby Grackle.
Tomorrow we do the Geraldton survey which begins at 5:08 AM. Our next stop is Nipigon.
Miles Hearn