Algonquin Provincial Park, Winter 2016-2017

Algonquin Provincial Park, Winter 2016-2017

I live in Bethesda, Maryland. In order for me to experience the old-fashioned snowy winter, it is now necessary to head north. Twice this winter I drove up across our northern border into Ontario, Canada. A great place to camp out and spend some time in the snow is Algonquin Provincial Park, about thirteen hours by car from my home in Bethesda. The great thing about Algonquin is that the park staff keeps the Mew Lake Campground open all winter, and provides access to electricity and a heated bathroom. In December 2016 and January 2017 I took week-long camping trips based out of Mew Lake, and the time in the snow was well worth the effort. I was interested in seeing boreal birds and mammals and I was not disappointed.

Much of the drive up to the border is on Interstate 81 through Pennsylvania and New York State. Because of the long drive and short day length, it is best to spend the night in a motel somewhere south of the Park (such as Bancroft, ON). One wants to arrive in the Park in the morning, so there is adequate time to set up one’s camp before dark comes. On the other hand, when I drove home from the Park, I was able to do the whole drive in one long day, getting home around 7 or 8 PM.

Here is how to have a successful winter camping trip at Algonquin. First, plan your time there based on the weather forecast. One should visit when there is moderate snow cover (say 5-8 inches), daytime highs of just around freezing, and night-time lows no lower than 20 degrees F. Avoid periods with heavy wind. Under the conditions I recommend above it is possible to sleep in a tent and dine at a picnic table al fresco. If it is very cold and very windy the chill will make outdoor dining and the long walks through the forest too unpleasant. Any warmer and it will be rainy and soggy.

The key to winter camping in a tent, I found, was having a small space heater, attached to an outdoor power point with a long outdoor power cord. After a difficult and sleepless first night in the Park, I drove to Lake Saint Peter and bought a $25 heater. This kept the tent wonderfully warm all through the night. Also it is important to have a substantial sleeping pad if the tent is set upon ice or snow. Finally, I set up a large nylon tarp over the picnic table to keep off any precipitation.

Note also that there is a happy alternative to tent-camping—a Yurt! Mew Lake has some ten Yurts for winter camping. The Yurts include interior lighting, heating and simple furniture, including bunks (cooking must be  done outside under a small lean-to). If the weather is supposed to be really cold, then choose to stay in a Yurt.

During my two winter visits to Algonquin I virtually never saw the sun. The sky was heavily overcast and the day never escaped from gloom. Snow fell on and off. Night began to threaten by around 3:30 PM. One could feel the weight of winter bearing down on everything. Be prepared for the lack of sunshine! For photographers, it is necessary to rely on a high ISO setting.

For the naturalist, time in the Park is spent doing two things: walking the trails and spending time at the Visitor Center. The best walks are at Spruce Bog, Mizzy Lake, Track and Tower, the Highlands Trail, and the Opeongo Road. These give maximal access to conifer forests and boreal bogs—the habitats that are most beautiful when the snow cloaks the landscape. The Visitor Center in winter features well-stocked bird feeders, clean and warm bathrooms, WiFi, and daily records of visitors’ sightings of birds and mammals. It is worth visiting there twice a day to learn what wildlife is out and about. The naturalists based there are friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.

Algonquin in winter is starkly beautiful, but wildlife is not abundant. That said, it is the best time to see many of the larger mammals. During my 5 full days spent in the Park in January 2017 I observed 17 species of birds and 5 species of mammals.

For bird-lovers, there is a special treat to a winter visit. One can hand-feed Gray Jays, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Black-capped Chickadees. These three greet the visitor in the parking lots of most well-used winter trails. It is not uncommon to have a brassy chickadee land on one’s woolen watch cap, in search of bird seed. Even the hardened ornithologist has difficulty resisting the charms of these three adorable species at close range.

Boreal Birds. The common permanent residents found in winter include Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Common Raven, Blue and Gray Jays, and Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches. Less common permanent residents include Boreal Chickadee, Spruce and Ruffed Grouse, and Wild Turkey. Gray Jays are always curious and entertaining, family parties arriving out of thin air. Common Ravens are wonderful aerial acrobats, and their voices break the wintery stillness from time to time.

Most birders visiting in winter are hunting for the irruptive “winter finches.” These cone-feeding species move about in roving flocks, common some years and rare or absent other years. This particular winter a large flock of Evening Grosbeaks had taken up residence at the Visitor Center because of the unlimited supply of sunflower seeds there. This grosbeak is one of the glories of the boreal forest. Both the males and females are handsomely patterned and they are very active and noisy. I got to know this species when it used to show up in winter in the Baltimore area in the early 1960s. These days, the species has retreated to the boreal heartland and is rarely seen in the Mid-Atlantic any more. Red and White-winged Crossbills have been fairly common in Algonquin this winter. They are found collecting the salt deposited by the plow trucks on the roads, and also can be seen perched in flocks atop the spires of the fir trees and spruces. Both are vocal in flight. Pine Grosbeaks have been present but rare, feeding in small flocks on the seeds of ash trees. Common Redpolls and Snow Buntings and Pine Siskins have been sighted in small numbers. I saw more Red Crossbills in December, but more White-winged Crossbills in January.

The Red Squirrel was out and about on the snow and high in the conifers all winter long. This is the most common mammal in the Park in winter. Red Squirrels have a ton of personality.

The Red Fox was the most common large mammal during my time in the Park. I saw the species daily. It is  particular glamorous in winter when its coat is thick and lustrous. Its amber eyes seem to glow.

The American Marten, after the Red Fox, is the second most common of the mammal predators in Algonquin in winter. Several martens haunted the Mew Lake campground, and at least one marten visited the suet feeder on the Spruce Bog Trail. I encountered these gorgeous hunters several times, and they were often curious and allowed close approach.

Algonquin Wolf. In December I heard wolves howl and saw the tracks of wolf packs in the fresh snow. They were clearly all around. In January, because of the presence of a Moose carcass in the open spruce bog valley below the Visitor Center, I had a chance to watch wolves on two consecutive days. Standing out on the observation deck, high above the open snow-filled valley, I could scope for wolves moving to and from the carcass. Although I had seen Gray Wolves a few times, I never tire of watching a wolf in the wild. During my January visit, the assembled group of naturalists and birders who stood vigil out in the cold on the deck were filled with excitement each time a wolf appeared in the valley below. We never saw more than two at any one time.

I had been longing to see a Fisher in the wild for more than five decades. This was the holy grail of boreal mammals to me. In January, on two different days I was able to watch a big male Fisher lope through the snow to the Moose carcass to feed. No doubt, this was the high point of my winter Algonquin experience. The dark-furred predator stood out against the snow as it moved in and out of our field of view.

Snow Fleas. The most surprising creature I came upon in the Park was the Snow Flea. An arthropod known as a springtail (Collembola), Snow Fleas live in the leaf litter and when the temperature is not so low they burrow up to the surface of the snow to feed on algae that grow there. A Snow Flea is tiny—like a small dark grain of sand. Snow Fleas cluster by the thousands on the lee side of boot prints in the snow—actually darkening the snow like a coating of black pepper. Each is so small that it does not look like a living thing, but individuals move about if one touches the snow where a group have collected. Who would have thought there would be millions of invertebrates out and about in the snow in mid-winter in Canada?