OFO Northern Edition 2026 - North Bay Ontario

Day 4 - Cranberry Trail with Greg Jaski

The breakfast room was hectic this morning, There was a hockey team (age about 8) quite enjoying their breakfast, like we could not hear ourselves think. Ann said the kids on her floor were having lots of fun running up and down the hall and off course it was not quiet. The weather did not look good, rain in the forecast and a very dark sky overhead. We loaded up the vehicle and were off at 8:00, the walk was scheduled to go at 8:30. We got there around 8ish. We checked the golf course for Snow Geese, we just saw Canada geese and gulls. We continued to the meet up place, we were the first to get there after our guide Greg Jaski.

Ann. decided not to join us, she needed to have a quiet time with a good book. A dozen people signed up for the walk, off we went. Maybe a 100 meters up the trail, a male was displaying for a female. And we watched while others photographed, but that grouse was not disturbed by our presence. It was cool to see the display, the tail was always at a fan shaped, but not symmetrical and every now and again it head and neck feathers (rung on its neck) stuck straight-out. What a welcome. The forest floor was so colourful, mixed forest. Greg explained it was a 2 K walk to the lake, with a side trail to the lookout. It did not feel all that long. Just a glorious walk.

Next stop along the way we saw lots of White-crowned Sparrows, with 1 White-throated, many Black-capped Chickadees and many Golden-crowned Kinglets and 1 Ruby crowned Kinglet. was well Blue Jay.

We got to the 2 story tower, it was chilly up there. Two ladies found where the cranberries were growing, Grey told us there was a cranberry festival just yesterday and buckets of cranberries were taken out, We headed back to the main trail, walking to Lake Nipissing, where a Hermit thrush was spotted. We reached the lake and Greg pointed to a small island and told us he used to camp there as a boy but sadly it was sold and has a cottage on it. One lady spotted a Pileated Woodpecker flying from one island to another -- the woodpecker was maybe 300 metres over the water, she was expecting to see a crow, but was surprised to see a Pileated Woodpecker. Carol thought she saw ducks but they were decoys. A Common Loon was spotted on the lake, but just before that Bill saw another Hermit Thrush fly in front of everyone, but they were fixated on the Loon no one but Bill saw it.

Greg pointed out a Porcupine high up in a tree, he put his scope on it. The animal was watching us, because I saw his eye open. At the head of the trail, the lady from Cochran reported to the rest of us that there were actually 2 porcupines. Two people from the conference met us and told us there was a Ross's Goose on the golf course, we chatted a bit and headed not too far up the road. Carol was thoughtful found it for us and we just looked where she indicated. While we were there a murmuration of Starlings (110+) flew by.

We thank Greg for being a great leader. Time to head home.

Greg highly recommended the Valois restaurant in Mattawa. We headed there. The restaurant food was good, I must say I could not believe the size of poutine Barb C had for lunch ( she did bring about 1/2 home to her husband).

We stopped a couple of times, and got another loon eating a fish at the Cobden Boat Launch.

Sun 4 Oct 2026
8:39 AM
Location
Callandar Bay Wetland Conservation Reserve--Cranberry Trail
View with Google Maps
Region Nipissing County
Ontario Canada

Species Observed 20 +1 other taxa, 150 individuals
Observations
Canada Goose Number observed: 45
Ruffed Grouse Number observed: 2
American Herring Gull Number observed: 1
gull sp. Number observed: 20
Common Loon Number observed: 1
Pileated Woodpecker Number observed: 1
Blue Jay Number observed: 12
American Crow Number observed: 1
Common Raven Number observed: 4
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 18
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Number observed: 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet Number observed: 4
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 2
Swainson's Thrush Number observed: 1
Hermit Thrush Number observed: 2
American Robin Number observed: 6
American Goldfinch Number observed: 3
White-crowned Sparrow Number observed: 12
Yellow-rumped Warbler: Number observed: 5

Although the birding was slow at times, we all agreed that it was a fine time at Ontario's Near North OFO Convention.

Species Seen

House Finch
Canada Goose
Northern Cardinal
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
American Crow
Ring-billed Gull
Turkey Vulture
Great Blue Heron
Blue Jay
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard
Herring Gull
Common Loon
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
House Sparrow
Red-tailed Hawk
Common Gallinule
Yellow-rumped Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Eastern Wood Pewee
Sandhill Crane
Marsh Wren
Common Merganser
Black-caped Chickadee
Rusty Blackbird
Hooded Merganser
Red-wing Blackbird
Downy Woodpecker
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Common Raven
Swamp Sparrow
Belted Kingfisher
Merlin
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Purple Finch
American Wigeon
Common Goldeneye
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Hairy Woodpecker
Lesser Scaup
Pileated Woodpecker
Hermit Thrush
Ruffed Grouse
Ross's Goose
European Starling
American Robin

Critters

Porcupine