In the Ditch at Algonquin

Todd and I headed northwest to Algonquin Park in Ontario in search of winter birds and mammals. Once we entered the park's East Gate, we saw a big sign for Moose crossing. Of course, Todd wanted to get a photo for his sign collection. An easy task except that the side of the road was icy and sloped. Yup. We went into the ditch. Barely but that is all it took to get us hopelessly stuck. Todd isn't happy.

In the ditch

The ironic part is that Todd just finished telling me about how he got stuck in a ditch on his last trip to Algonquin when they spotted a moose on the side of the road. (a real moose, not just a sign)

Lucky for us this happened in Canada where everyone is sickeningly nice. A lady stopped right away and offered to go to the gas station outside the park and ask for a tow. About a dozen other cars stopped too. By the time the lady got back, another good samaritan with a big pickup truck was already pulling our car out of the ditch.

Getting a tow

Success! I was really happy not to have to wait for a tow truck. (or pay for one)

Here I am with both of the nice people who helped. The lady turned out to be a wildlife photographer too. The man was on his way to his daughter's house to celebrate early Christmas. Thanks to all who helped.

Heroes of the Day

And off we went to explore Algonquin park. Only one road is open in winter which stretches east to west about 40 miles. We stopped in at the Visitor Center to ask about any wildlife sightings. We were rewarded with a few good birds like Purple Finch.

Purple Finch

And this Evening Grosbeak. Such rich colors.

Evening Grosbeak

There are 2 types of crossills in the park - Red and White-winged. We heard and saw many of both species. Here is a shot of White-winged Crossbill that shows how the bill actually crosses. These birds use their bills to unlock seeds from pine cones.  

White-winged Crossbill

Our hotel was on the west side of the park so we headed out after a long day. Oh, in case you were wondering, Todd did take a photo of the sign . . .

Seeing Red

I wonder why so many birds have red in them. Most of the small birds that we have seen on the trip have some red in them like this Common Redpoll. ("poll" is an Olde English word for "cap")

Common Redpoll

Common Redpoll

Another red, well purple bird that is common up north is Purple Finch. We visited a few other bird feeders in the area which attracted these birds too.

Purple Finch

Even the squirrels are red. How cute is this little guy.

Red Squirrel

OK, there were yellow birds too like this Pine Siskin which has a hint of yellow. This one was picking seeds from the snow.

Pine Siskin

Of course, the Siskin doesn't hold a candle to the yellow of the Evening Grosbeak. This guy hung out on the bird bath to get a drink. Talk about eyebrows.

Evening Grosbeak

Sunrise was colorful too.

Sunrise over the north woods

Getting anxious now about seeing a Great Gray Owl. So far, we have struck out 3 times. . .

From Desert to Mountains

I have to tell you that the mountains outside of Los Angeles are way nicer than the desert. The air is cooler and clear since you are above the smog. I drove up early on Sunday morning. The day started out on a down note. I had to stop for gas. Got off of the freeway and had to go to 2 gas stations before finding one that was open at 5:30 AM. Tried to use my credit card and had it denied because the credit card company saw that I was trying to use it at 5:30 AM in LA. Then couldn't get back on the freeway due to road closure. Finally got up to the mountains which requires a harrowing drive up a winding road with motorcyclists whizzing past me at high speed. The scenery is breath taking.

Got to my desired location. Found my target bird. Pulled out the camera and . . . nothing. The battery was completely dead! AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

I got to the Visitor's Center and saw a few birders heading out of the parking lot. I hailed them down for some info and found out that they were part of Pasadena Audubon doing their monthly filed trip. The leader has the same camera as I do so I boldly asked if he had a spare battery that I could borrow while I was birding with the group. What a great guy! I still have the battery. He is a trusting sole and kept my battery in return for the charged one. Yay. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten these photos including this excellent shot of White-headed Woodpecker taking a drink at the Visitor Center.

White-headed Woodpecker

Or this shot of Pygmy Nuthatch.

Pygmy Nuthatch

 Or Oak Titmouse.

Oak Titmouse

Or any of the other birds that I saw like this Black-headed Grosbeak.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Or these GIANT pine cones.

Coulter's Pine Cone

Giant pine cone

Or this Black Bear that rambled past me at Mt. Wilson Observatory!

Black Bear

Thanks Hill - where ever you are!

Starting to Gain Momentum

I started the day with the normal dog walk around Lemon Hill. I brought the camera along just in case a bird or two posed for me which they did.  The first was a Goldfinch - a very common bird but this one was lit up by the morning sun so I had to take a photo.Notice how gold he is now. Some of the Goldfinches at my house are still dull and mottled, not quite gold like this guy.

Goldfinch

The next bird that posed was a Pine Warbler - in a pine tree, how convenient for identification.

Pine Warbler

As I was headed back to the car, I ran into this Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - almost literally. This bird was bouncing around in the bushes pretty low and right next to the path.  I shot about 100 photos and none came out very good. These tiny birds never stop moving which makes them difficult to get in focus (no excuse, a good photographer can get great shots of a bird that comes this close).

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

I headed down to the shore after work to chase after a Swallow-tailed Kite which I didn't see but I did get to see a few First of Year birds including Blue Grosbeak and Blue-headed Vireo which was nice.  Here is Blue Grosbeak showing his, well, big beak.

Blue Grosbeak

This is one of 4 Blue-headed Vireos that I saw feeding in the trees at Cox Hall Creek. I have never seen this kind of bird in a flock before.  I love the spectacles on these birds.

Blue-headed Vireo

Headed down to Higbee at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning to see if the wind blows anything else in.