It's always nice to have a change of scenery, especially in the winter. Recently I headed north to Algonquin Provincial Park to take in the spectacular winter scenery and wildlife. Birds are a great reason to visit Algonquin in the winter as many finches, including Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and crossbills both overwinter and pass through the park. In addition to the wintering species, there are the "Algonquin specialties" (boreal species) including Spruce Grouse, Boreal Chickadee and Black-backed Woodpecker which can be observed in the park year round. Lots of birders flock (pun intended) to the park during the winter months in search of the spectacular bird life. Mammals are also cause to visit the park, American Pine Martens, moose, fox, otters and wolves call Algonquin home and can be observed year round.
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| Male Spruce Grouse |
The weather during our visit was ideal, it was cold (-11⁰C with the windchill) but sunny most of the time. Our first stop yielded two of the three birds we were really hoping to see, Spruce Grouse and Boreal Chickadee. Yay!
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| Male Spruce Grouse |
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| Male Spruce Grouse |
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| Boreal Chickadee |
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| Boreal Chickadee |
In addition to these outstanding birds we had close encounters with Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches and lots of Red Squirrels. The Red Squirrels put whole show of their own. They live very busy lives chasing each other, caching food and chattering to the neighbours. Hilarious!
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| Male Red-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Female Red-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Squirrel Cache |
We made it to the Visitors Center just after lunch and had a bite to eat while enjoying the spectacular views. The Visitors Center has an awesome bird feeding setup- with three stations, plus a few other feeders. Shout out to
WBU Toronto for the donation of the pole systems, feeders and bird food. :) Thanks to Jim, Lynda and the WBU Toronto staff, visitors to Algonquin can enjoy lots of spectacular birds up close during the winter months:
wbu.com/toronto At the bird feeders we spotted several Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, one lonely female Pine Grosbeak, a lady Ruffed Grouse and one American Tree Sparrow. There were also many Ravens and Blue Jays flying about.
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| Male Evening Grosbeak |
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| Male Evening Grosbeak |
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| Green Morph Pine Siskin |
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| Green and Regular Pine Siskins |
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| Female Ruffed Grouse |
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| WBU Feeding Station and Female Ruffed Grouse |
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| Snow Buntings |
Day 1 in Algonquin Park treated us to lots of great birds and great weather. The snow came in the late afternoon and we called it a day. The weather for the following day was sunny and cold. Stay tuned to see what Day 2 had in store on our next blog post!
Good birding!
~Kristen Martyn
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