OFO Northern Edition 2026 - North Bay Ontario
Day 2, am - Laurier Woods with Gary Wallham and Fred Pinto
We met at 7:30 and on the way we saw Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls. We met at Laurier Woods, our leaders were Gary Wallham and Fred Pinto. We were surprised to see Ottawa birding friends Gary & Sue along with two of their friends from their condo.
Laurier Woods is a mixed forest with swamp area with lots of
rocks. On our walk we saw Mallards, Rusty Blackbird, Hooded
Merganser, Downy Woodpecker, Golden and Ruby Crowned Kinglets and
many many White throated Sparrows. At the last pond, we discussed
the Common Raven nest and the best bird of the outing was the
Belted Kingfisher who was very cooperative, gave us a long
profile view of her.
Initially the weather was a bit cool, but when the outing was
over we all took off a layer. Birding was quite slow.
Day 2, pm - Powasson Lagoons with Fred Pinto and Dick Tafel
We left at 1:00 for Powassan Lagoons, outing
was for 1:30 we got there at 2:20. It was close but yet so far,
we did not know how to get there, so we improvised incorrectly.
We went down a road, down a hill, around many corners and we
finally thought we got the place, but no access to the lagoons.
Someone suggested we ask for help, so Ann went to a school and
tried all the doors--locked. Then we went to Krauss Feed Store,
Ann and Carol went in for directions, Bill asked a man at the
back of the store. They could not help us. Bill found a route,
asked me to hold the phone and tell him when to turn. I could not
see anything, glasses always help. We finally got to a gravel
road and a gated lagoon. We did see nice hills, and Barb kept
saying these things happen for a reason. Not sure what that
reason was, we were simply lost. We were maybe 5 minutes away
from where we asked for help!
Finally we got there and saw White-crowned Sparrow, Merlin,
American Pipit, Wigeon, Blue-wing Teal, Mallard --- that is it.
Then we went to find my granddaughter's residence. Well I screwed
up on that, turned left at the wrong time and ended up at the
hospital. Barbara Bowman suggested they drop me off, they did
not. Kathryn had given good directions, I just skipped parts. We
wanted to know exactly where she lived because she was joining us
tomorrow and getting lost in the morning was simply not an
option.
Friday Birds & Beers
Birds and Beers was at the West Ferris Legion, south of town.
For most people they got pork loin, mashed potatoes and mixed
veggies, for 2 of us it was frozen baked Chicken nuggets etc.
Dessert was so good - strawberry rhubarb pie, I went back for
seconds and chose pumpkin, I should not have gone back. Before
dinner we had a mixer game where we had to get as many squares
completed by talking to others, asking the questions like did you
participate in Canada lakes loon count, what brought you to
birding, just a bunch of trivia.
After dinner we listened to the live feed from Leamington, the
first part was giving out awards. But the big 'thing' was Sarah
Rupert's bird quiz. Out of 100 we got a big 26, not the worst but
next to the worst. I think the highest was 46. One part of the
quiz was to identify the bird and what was outlined was a red
part of it. That was tough.That was the 'easiest part of the
quiz'. Not. It was fun.
But the most important part in my estimation was voting for the
bird of the year. We all voted, Leamington and North Bay voting
mirrored each other. Canada Jay, -- our choices were Canada Jay,
Spruce Grouse and Boreal Chickadee. OFO asks artists to do a
sketch or picture of the Canada Jay, which will appear on crests
and OFO merchandise. When they announced Canada Jay, the speaker
gave some disturbing facts about the Canada Jays in Algonquin
Park -- only 13 pairs and last year no fledging because the
winter weather was too warm and the food the Canada Jays had
stored away rotted leaving nothing for the chicks. Sad.
North Bay--Laurier Woods CA, Nipissing, Ontario, CA Oct 2, 2026 7:52 AM - 10:47 AM Protocol: Traveling 2.237 kilometer(s) Checklist Comments: Leading group for OFO event 25 species Canada Goose 8 Mallard 7 Hooded Merganser 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 5 Black-capped Chickadee 15 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet 5 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 3 Brown Creeper 1 American Robin 5 Purple Finch 1 American Goldfinch 2 Dark-eyed Junco 1 White-throated Sparrow 20 Song Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 2 Red-winged Blackbird 29 Rusty Blackbird 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 6 View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S399293164
Powassan sewage lagoons, Parry Sound, Ontario, CA Oct 2, 2026 1:30 PM - 3:14 PM Protocol: Traveling 0.7 kilometer(s) 15 species Canada Goose 19 Wood Duck 1 American Wigeon 2 Mallard 5 Northern Pintail 4 Green-winged Teal 23 Turkey Vulture 1 Merlin 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 1 American Pipit 2 Lapland Longspur 4 Counted White-crowned Sparrow 8 Savannah Sparrow 30 Reasonable estimate Song Sparrow 2 View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S399297724