Breeding Bird Surveys (2013) – Day 5 – June 7, 2013
Today’s survey route is pretty straightforward with a start point at the junction of Hwy #17 and the road to Dubreuilville. Although there is traffic to contend with, there are generally places with sufficient space to pull off the highway with good visibility in both directions. The day started with a nice sunrise over misty waters and clear skies continued for most of the day. Unlike the two previous days there were no clouds on the horizon, so the sunrise, although still pleasant, lacked the brilliance of the previous two days.
Around every twist in the road there is apt to be some surprise when we are conducting these surveys. Sometimes it is a black bear or two or a large moose. On previous days, it was a half dozen bears at various locations. Today’s excitement was a medium-sized moose enjoying breakfast in a roadside marsh. The previous evening, a large bull moose had turned around and headed back into the woods as we approached. Moose are big animals and a constant hazard to drivers especially when one is driving at night or in the early morning hours as we often are.
This was the last of our four survey routes in this area for 2013 and for all four days the weather had been perfect in all directions. Only the black flies were a bit of a nuisance in some locations on some of the routes.
When I speak of black flies as being a bit of a nuisance in some locations, this short video which I posted on my Flickr account provides some idea of what I’m talking about ! 🙂
Black flies attack car mirrors
Our only disappointment today was the lack of Bald Eagles at the Dubreuilville dump. This year, when we arrived, the dump still had plenty of Starlings and Herring Gulls in the area but fewer Ravens than on previous visits and no Bald Eagles were in sight. Probably just bad timing on our part. Oh well, time to be homeward bound.
– – – – – – – – – Northern Ontario BBS 2013 posts completed – – – – – – – – –
The following links relate to this June 2013 Breeding Bird Survey:
Day 1 – Ottawa to Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park
