I should have said the location of Wakami Lake Provincial Park. It is
located about 66 km south-east of Chapleau Ontario. The short way to
get there from the Toronto area is to take Hwy 144 from Hwy 17 near
Sudbury. About 150 km north on 144, near Gogoma, turn left onto the
"Sultan Industrial Road", which is a logging road although in
reasonable condition for a gravel road. Proceed 80 km to Sultan and
then about 15 km west on 667 to the entrance for Wakami Lake
Provincial Park.
Here is the Park Website: http://www.ontarioparks.com/ENGLISH/waka.html#
It is about 600 km from Toronto.
Thanks,
Eric
On Jul 22, 2009, at 8:02 AM, Eric Harrison wrote:
Last year's birding report for Wakami Lake was well received and so
we offer this one for 2009. These notes are based on a camping
outing between July 9th and July 19th. The water level was up about
30 cm over last year and the flow over the outlet dam was impressive
to say the least!
Wakami Lake is a good place to see Bald Eagles, especially in the
southern, quieter sections of the lake. We did have three sightings
in the northern section, but suspect that it was a single mature
bird. In the south on the other hand, we had fifteen sightings on
one day including both mature and immature birds. We suspect that at
least eight individual birds were involved. This count is lower than
last year (which exceeded 36 sightings), but we did not cover the
southernmost narrow section of the lake where there are likely
another 4 to 6 territories. Also the weather was so bad that we did
not spend as much time kayaking as usual - only 4 outings total.
A single 30 km outing to southern part of the lake also netted 26
Loon sightings. These were sufficiently spread out that we think
they correspond to individual birds. Another three mature birds
inhabit the section of the lake near our campsite and we found two
families in the northern section of the lake with a total of three
very young chicks. So the total adult population of Loons appears to
be at least 34 adults and 3 babies.
One lonely Osprey patrolled the boreal, northern section of the lake
and was spotted on three occasions.
The duck count seemed to be down as well. Fewer Mallards, Golden-eye
and Mergansers were seen. With the exception of one group of a dozen
Mallard babies, no large family groups were observed. This is
probably due to the high water and potentially fewer nesting sites.
The small Gull/Tern population seemed about the same as other years.
The usual assortment of warblers was active including Black and
White, Blackburnian, and Magnolia. Wood Thrushes were heard, but not
with the continuous day-long serenades that we were used to in
previous years. A Pileated Woodpecker visited a dead tree next to
our campsite a couple of times during our stay. Cedar Waxwings, Song
Sparrows, Downey Woodpeckers, groups of Blue Jays and the usual
variety of other small birds was evident. A juvenile Swainson's
Thrush kept company with us while we sat at the 'beach'.
The last notable point is the Crow population. They seemed to be
everywhere and often in groups of six or more. There seemed to be at
least two nesting pairs about 100 metres down the shore from our
campsite and there was a constant stream of parent birds bringing
meals home to the young. Oh and there was no mistaking the sounds of
the young birds receiving a meal. It must be very hard to caw and
swallow at the same time! There were a few Ravens also. When these
were harried by Crows it made for a good size comparison.
For the second year in a row, no Great Blue Herons were observed.
Something has changed to dissuade these birds who used to be a
common sight on the lake.
Finally Sandhill Cranes were heard on several occasions, but not
seen this year.
Best regards,
Eric Harrison, P.Eng.
Creative Trade-Offs
555 Wedgewood Drive
Burlington ON L7L 4J1
905 637 6560
[email protected]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativetrade-offs/
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the
provincial birding organization.
Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
