Late Winter/Early Spring Algonquin Provincial Park
24 February – 2 March 2018
American Marten
After two successful trips to Algonquin Provincial Park in the
winter of 2016-2017, I decided to return to do some more winter camping at Mew
Lake campground in early 2018. Work kept me from going until the end of
February, by which time, spring was definitely beginning to make its way into
south-central Ontario. I arrived at Algonquin at the beginning of the spring
thaw, probably two months earlier than would have been experienced in the late
20th Century. The ice was already starting to disappear on the lakes
and streams, and virtually no snow fell during the week I was there. Instead we
got rain and freezing rain, as the day time temperature typically rose above
freezing.
Blue Jay
When I arrived at my campsite it was raining and the site
itself was entirely covered-over in about an inch of ice. I thus had to set up
my tent and large tarp atop an expanse of shiny ice. Getting the stakes into the
ice was a challenge, and throughout my stay, the stakes kept slipping out of
their stake holes because of the melting ice. After a couple of days, my tent
stood in a pool of meltwater atop the base of ice, and I was forced to move the
tent over under some pines where there was some crusty snow I could set the
tent upon. This was an improvement and my tent stayed dry inside.
Common Raven
I spent my days looking for birds and mammals in the
transitional weather. I walked the boreal conifer woods of the Spruce Bog
Trail, visited the Visitor Center, walked other trails near Mew Lake, and also
walked the Opeongo Road. Days varied from very dark and dreary with low cloud
and temperatures hovering around freezing, to bright cloudless sunny days with
temperatures well above freezing.
Evening Grosbeak
The most predictable place for photography was the back deck
of the Visitor Center, that looked down on several feeders and a suet cage.
This attracted flocks of various winter finches: Evening Grosbeaks, Purple
Finches, Pine Siskins, and American Goldfinches. Red Crossbills came in to
collect grit from the bare ground under the deck, and they also perched in
adjacent spruces.
North American River Otter
At kilometer 53 along the main highway 60 that cuts through
the Park, the stream there was losing its ice cover and on several occasions I
found an otter hunting fish or crustaceans in the stream and consuming the prey
out on the ice.
Black-backed Woodpecker male
The Spruce Bog trail was productive during this visit. On two
occasions I came upon a pair of Black-backed Woodpeckers in the Black Spruces.
It was apparent that this pair was planning to set up a nesting territory here,
as they carried on various interactive displays in a favored stand of spruces.
Spruce Grouse male
On my first two visits to Algonquin, I searched for Spruce
Grouse in vain. This year, I finally located an adult male foraging on the
needles of a Balsam Fir. These birds are
very tame, but also silent and usually difficult to locate when up in the
branches of conifers. They are best looked for later in the spring, when the
males are doing their courtship displays, which includes a noisy display
flight. Over the six days of visits to the Spruce Bog, I encountered the grouse
only a single time.
Gray Jay
Gray Jays were present in decent numbers but were always and
everywhere outnumbered by the more aggressive Blue Jays. The Blue Jays spend
the winter in the Park in big numbers. The Gray Jays are a bit like the Spruce
Grouse—unwary but rather quiet and easily overlooked. Still, I managed to run
into this species virtually every day.
Pine Siskin bathing
Pine Siskins were in the park in big numbers and were noisy.
It appeared they were starting to think of spring and I regularly heard songs
of this species from treetops and as birds were flying about over the forest
canopy. This was the most common winter finch during my visit.
Pine Siskin male
Purple Finches were common and I regularly heard males giving
their song, something I typically expect in late spring. It seems many of the
winter finches were either actively breeding (e.g., White-winged Crossbill) are
preparing to breed in the near future.
Purple Finch male
On one occasion, when I return to the stream at kilometer 53
to photograph the otter, I instead found beavers out of their stick house and
feeding up on the ice on branches that had been stored under the water the
preceding fall. At one point, three individuals of the beaver family were
futzing about in a small opening in the ice. The otter was nowhere to be seen.
American Beavers
Perhaps the stars of the show in Algonquin in February were
the crossbills. The Red Crossbill was particularly common and the White-winged
was widespread in small numbers. I found both species every day I was out. Both
were visiting the roads to collect the rock salt and grit deposited by the snow
trucks. The Red Crossbills were usually in small flocks, whereas the
White-winged Crossbills were in male-female pairs. I had heard from the
assistant superintendent that this latter species had been found to be nesting
in the week prior to my arrival. This record was a first for the Park, I
believe. Along the Opeongo Road I heard male White-wings singing from spruce
treetops and it was pretty clear this species was in high breeding mode in the
area.
Red Crossbill male
It was a joy to come upon small groups of Red Crossbills—either
at the back deck of the Visitor Center or out on parking lots and along the
highway. They allowed close approach on occasion. On a typical day I would
encounter 15-20 flocks, which is out of the ordinary.
Red Crossbill young male
The three plumages of the Red Crossbill made for some nice
photographs.
Red Crossbills on ice
White-winged Crossbill male
Wild Turkeys have colonized the Park in recent decades. They
spend the winter here. I found small parties both at Mew Lake campground and at
the Spruce Bog. The birds I came upon at Mew Lake were surprisingly unwary,
allowing close approach.
Wild Turkeys
Both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers spend the winter in the
Park. The Hairy is common at the Spruce Bog and shares this forest with the
Black-backed Woodpeckers.
Hairy Woodpecker male
The Red Fox is a year-round resident in the Park. I came upon
a single individual on this visit. In January 2017, I was surprised to find
that a road-killed Moose had been dragged into the open bog below the Visitor
Center, allowing a long-distance view of various predators feasting on the
carcass (Eastern Wolf, Fisher, American Marten, and Red Fox). Under normal
conditions, seeing predators is a rare event.
Red Fox
This year, on my last day, I found an American Marten coming
in to the feeders at the Visitor Center. This close encounter with the marten
was perhaps the high point of this year’s visit to Algonquin.
American Marten
My six days spent in the park netted me 25 species of birds
and 6 mammal species—not bad for late winter! For those who want to make a
winter visit to Algonquin Park, the Mew Lake campground is open through the
winter and for those not interested in tent-camping, there are yurts available
for rent, which include electricity and various amenities.
