A fellow birder/photographer decided to go to Algonquin on Jan 1st. Weather forecast called for a sunny day. So I decided to tag along - all I had to do was to listen to his complaints about world politicians for slightly less than three hours and pay for gas. Not a bad deal at all. Well, forecast was all wrong - it was cloudy the entire day we were there. But I got to see my two lifers: newly selected Canada's National Bird, a Gray Jay and a Red Crossbill. There were hundreds of Evening Grosbeak at the visitor center feeders, they were very aggressive and kept the other birds at bay. Not a bad start for 2017, I am already 2 up in life list. Elias, in case you are wondering, no we weren't as lucky as you were - we didn't see any pine marten, or a red fox or hear a boreal chickadee.
1. Here's the photo of a Gray Jay with a radio transmitter attached to his rear. I understand that this is one of six birds that were fitted with the transmitters and the objective is to study their territorial dispersion and mortality rate. It was shocking to read that Gray Jay population in Algonquin Park has declined by 50% since 1980. I hope the new research finds the root cause and a corrective action is taken soon.
2. Red Crossbill. It came down to the road probably for a drink or grit. I had no luck with white winged.
