A little of the north

 Over the last couple of weeks, we have made two trips to North Bay. It wasn't really a birding trip, but I managed to get in a bit, and see some of the more northern landscapes anyway.

One of my go to places while in the area is the La Vase River, at the very south end of the North Bay area, at a place called Champlain Park. 

It includes the mouth of this river, as it empties into Lake Nipissing. It is of historic significance to European settlement, as it was an important link for explorers and members of the courier de bois in their quest for fur trade related travels. Some of the earliest European explorers traveled along this river, including Etienne Brule and Samuel de Champlain, although it was used for many centuries before by Indigenous people, and it was they who introduced it to the European explorers.

It was a fairly good spot for a few birds while I was there, but nothing out of the ordinary. Some of the birds must have been quite used to people, as several Black-capped Chickadees followed us...

...and decided to check out the outstretched hand of Kristin, our daughter, to see if we had any handouts.

Even a White-breasted Nuthatch decided to follow the example of the chickadee.

There were a few Rusty Blackbirds lingering, although I expect most of this clan had already moved further south.

There was even a lingering Red-winged Blackbird.

Mallards, of course, show up almost anywhere there is open water, and there was at least a dozen that came to investigate us as we stood along the edge of the river. Presumably they had been fed by the locals from time to time as well.

 This next view is of the river looking upstream, towards Trout Lake about 14 kilometres away. Along the edge of the cattail marsh off in the distance, was a Great Blue Heron.

I'm sure it was extending its stay this far north due to the unseasonably warm temperatures. While we were watching this heron, a Ruffed Grouse was busily drumming in the forest across the river.

Laurier Woods Trail, a complex of several kilometres of woodland trail at the edge of the city is always on my list of places to go when I am there. Woodland birds, in fact any birds, were almost non-existent on this trip at the time of day we were there. But it has some nice views amongst the rocks, hills, trees and wetlands. If it wasn't for the some general industrial noise from time to time, one would think you were really out in the wilds, and not within the city limits of an urban area of more than 50,000 people and related industry to be expected at this Gateway to the North.

There are a couple of places we often like to stop at along the route, and on this second trip, we checked them out. The first place is Brooks Falls, a few kilometres east of Hwy 11. I have photographed it at all seasons, and each time it is different. The light was a little too bright and contrasty for my photographic preference, as I like to do some slow shutter speed photography to get the silky smooth look to the water. It is a little tricky getting down to the bottom of this river, where the best angles can be had. With the less than ideal lighting conditions, I didn't risk it and had to be satisfied with the upper view.

Here are a few from previous visits, with the first one being one of my favourites, taken in October of 2012, and from the lowest level one could get to.

On one occasion we went north in winter. This shows what it was like in March, 2012.

Another typical stop we make is at this lake, right along Hwy 11, a bit north of Huntsville. Obviously the peak of the colours is past, but the golden Tamaracks are a nice view towards the end of the autumn season, especially when intertwined with the dark green spruce trees.

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The Beckoning North

Once or twice a year we take a trip to North Bay to visit our daughter and her hubby. Our most recent trip was this past weekend. For those of us living in the very flat and largely denuded landscape of southwestern Ontario, it is a delight to travel to parts of this province where forests, hills, rocks, and lakes predominate! Not that we are contemplating moving to that more northern landscape any time soon. The biological diversity of our extreme southwestern landscape, as limited as it is, is far greater. So here we stay, at least for now.

We really feel that once we get north of Barrie, and better yet, north of Orillia, we can start to enjoy the north, getting farther and farther away from the hustle and bustle of the south and especially the GTA. We usually make a stop at a little place called Novar, where there is a spring that provides delicious, cold water, and we fill up several jugs. These first two photos are taken at the point where we exit off of Hwy 11 to get to the Novar spring.

While the main purpose of our trip is to visit family, there are a few quite accessible spots that I try and make a point of exploring. For example right within the city limits of North Bay is a 97 hectare (240 acre) conservation area known as Laurier Woods. There are several kilometres of trails that go through forest, across rocky outcrops and across or adjacent to wetlands. Most of the trails are quite easy going, as shown in the next two photos, but there are steeper and rockier sections.

There are quite a few multi-stemmed trees, such as the White Birch in the next photo, an indication of the historical timber cutting that went on here many decades ago.

 Some parts of the forested section are relatively open at ground level, as the previous two photos show. Other sections are covered with ferns or other vegetation.

Bracken Fern

Cinnamon Fern

 There were a lot of Bunchberry plants...

...and we noticed a single Pink Lady's-slipper, a.k.a. Moccasin Flower.

 We were serenaded by territorial Chestnut-sided Warblers.....

 ....and Veerys, as well as various other species.

Some sections were quite open with lots of stunted trees on the bare or moss-covered rock.

 It was in these more open areas where we saw Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, shown below, as well as a few skippers. From what I could tell, all of the skippers were Hobomoks.

There are many wetland areas.

 Of course the presence of Beavers are frequently noted, although the Beavers themselves are seldom seen in daylight hours.

 To control the water levels behind one of the beaver dams, a large pipe was put in place well behind the dam, and going through the top to allow an escape of high water so as to not take out the bridge I am standing on to take this photo.

 One of the most attractive wetland flowers on this excursion was Wild Calla.

The Laurier Woods Conservation Area, as wonderful an asset it is to the community of North Bay, is not pristine. There is a scrap metal recycling depot visible across one wetland area. Another section of the trail system shows a car dealership across the way.

Nevertheless some of the wildlife don't seem to mind, as this log in the middle of the previous photo is being well used by more than a dozen Painted Turtles.

Another section of the trail system has the Trans Canada highway in the background, although it often is not very busy and is far enough away that the traffic noise is not all that bothersome.

Another very accessible location I typically check out is Champlain Park, at the extreme southern extent of North Bay and along the waterfront of Lake Nipissing. There aren't many accessible trails, but a fair bit of water front to explore. This park has historical significance, as the La Vase River empties into Lake Nipissing here. This river connects Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing and was an important part of the route for the voyageurs travelling from Montreal through the various rivers such as the St. Lawrence and Ottawa on their way to points farther west. It was used by First Nations of the area for many years, and it was those First Nations guides that brought it to the attention of early European explorers such as Samuel de Champlain and Etienne Brule. This next photo, which I took on a previous trip in April of 2016, shows the river as it empties into Lake Nipissing.

The water was much higher this year, as is the case for many lakes and rivers in Ontario. The boat launch and adjacent dock were under water, and the shoreline of the river was flooded. Of course that meant a more extensive feeding ground for water birds, such as this Great Blue Heron.

 I didn't see exactly what the heron captured, but this next photo shows it being swallowed.

There is always something to explore and enjoy in the greater North Bay area.

The Snowy North...a hint of things to come

We recently went on a little trip up to North Bay, something we do once or twice a year to visit 'the kids'. The photo in the header is of Brooks Falls, showing the Magnetawan River in some of its autumn splendor, just a few kilometres east of Hwy 11. This is a photo of a couple of years ago, since at the time we went this year, the colours were well past their best. In fact it was one of the snowiest trips we have made to North Bay, but more of that later.

We did see the Magnetawan River, but from Hwy 124 rather than the location of the header photo. Here Marie gazes at the tumbling water.

The weather was rather dreary, with mostly cloudy conditions that produced either a bit of rain or snow. While we always enjoy visiting our daughter Kristin and her husband Alex--the kids--I also enjoy getting out and exploring some of the landscape that consists of rocks, hills, lakes and trees, which is quite a bit different than that of the extreme southwestern part of Ontario.

Our daughter had noted that a falconry demonstration was going to be held in nearby Callandar, and so we took it in. The demonstrators had 4 species of raptors to show, including a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine Falcon hybrid, a Harris's Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk and a Peregrine Falcon. This first one is the Gyr/Per hybrid. Raptors don't normally hybridize in the wild, but for captive birds, it does happen.

 Harris's Hawks are normally a bird of the southwestern US, but are favoured by raptor specialists for their demeanour and ease of handling.

Laurier Woods is a conservation area at the edge of the city. It encompasses about 97 hectares (240 acres) and has more than 10 km of trails through the aforementioned rocks, hills, lakes and tree landscape.

Beaver lodge

There had been a bit of wet snow falling during my hike, but it was just warm enough that it didn't stick. However by the next day, with the slightly falling temperatures, it was a different story. We woke up to this:

Here are the same two spots along Laurier Woods Trail, shown above, but 24 hours later.

 And a couple of more photos of the same area.

As one might expect, birds were not terribly abundant at this time of year, and under these conditions. However I did see a few, including

American Robin

Black-capped Chickadee

 Common Redpolls were in fact fairly common. I saw several groups in various places I visited.

 And I saw my first Snow Buntings of the season.

I also saw a lingering Hermit Thrush and Winter Wren among about 30 species overall, but without getting any photos. The Winter Wren was close by this beaver dam.

 As mentioned, Common Redpolls and Black-capped Chickadees were quite regularly found.

When we left North Bay, it was still pretty white, and the landscape along Hwy 11 was a reminder of what the southwest might be experiencing before too many more weeks go by.

Quite often we stop in at Brooks Falls either on the way up or back, but with the snow, I didn't relish climbing up and down over slippery rocks and leaves, so we passed it by this time. This next photo is from several years ago when I did venture close, but refrained from climbing. It wouldn't have had this much snow this time, but gives an idea of what it can look like in late winter.

By the time we got close to Huntsville, the temperatures had warmed to a balmy 4C, and with the brilliant blue skies, the snow had all but disappeared. I stopped briefly at a lake along the highway. If you look closely you can see a bit of snow on the shadier side of the spruce trees. This is one time of the year when the Larch trees really stand out with their golden needles just about to drop. I didn't have to enhance the colours at all!