Canada and USA Camping Trip Report

[Dave]

Hello again. My wife and I had an awesome trip out east. We saw 259 species of birds! We were blessed with awesome weather the entire trip, and did not experience any breakdowns. We also put just under 20,000 kilometres on the truck. (We replaced the trailer tires half-way!). It would be impossible to write out all the experiences we have had. We did do many tourist activites, with time spent in key cities, such as Winnipeg, Ottawa, Quebec City, New York City, and Washington D.C. It was often very, very hot. Birding was done by constantly keeping my eyes open and having my binos next to me for the entire drive. Camping, instead of being in hotels, also helps to see birds, as many were seen in and around our campsites. Some special birding trips were made, such as the boat to Machias Seal Island, where only 26 people a day are allowed on the island. (13 at a time). I have lots of pictures that I can show when I have more time to upload them.

Let me try to pick just 10 Trip Highlights:

1. Finding Bicknell’s Thrush at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
2. Finding Black-backed Woodpecker in Upper Peninsula, Michigan.
3. Finding Northern Hawk Owl at Kouchibouquac National Park, New Brunswick.
4. Being a few feet from Atlantic Puffin and Razorbill on Machias Seal Island.
5. Eastern Screech-Owl at Long Point Provincial Park, Ontario.
6. Finding Ferruginous Hawk in Eastern Wyoming.
7. Manx Shearwater off Atlantic pelagic trip.
8. Nesting Hooded Warbler’s in southern Ontario.
9. Standing at Scarbourgh Marsh in southern Maine, and seeing life birds in every direction. In one spot I had Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrows, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows, Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Heron, and a Least Tern flying over head.
10. Sharp-tailed Grouse in Custer State Park, South Dakota.

Here is the list:

Common Loon
Pied-Billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-Necked Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Greater Shearwater – Abundant on both Pelagic Trips
Sooty Shearwater – Uncommon on Pelagic Trips (A dozen)
Manx Shearwater – Rare, but excellent views onPelagic Trip out of Glousester, Massachusetts
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel – Abundant on Pelagic Trip out of Glousester, Massachusetts
Northern Gannet – Awesome bird seen all over north Atlantic Coast. I love the way it pencil dives….striking adult.
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Cormorant – nests on north banks of Prince Edward Island
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron – Bombay Hook, Delaware
Green Heron
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Glossy Ibis – Here and there along coast
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-Necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider – common duck along north Atlantic Coast
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Red-Breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Northern Goshawk – in woods at Acadia National Park, Maine
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk – No-mans-land in Northeast Wyoming
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon – Alberta, Devil’s Tower, and Yellowstone
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sharp-tailed Grouse – Awesome views in Custer State Park, South Dakota
Wild Turkey
California Quail
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Upland Sandpiper – Neat Bird, found on fence post in mid Saskatchewan
Whimbrel
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Common Snipe
Wilson’s Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Franklin’s Gull
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull – huge, beautiful gull.
Black-legged Kittiwake – off ferry to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern – Machias Seal Island
Forster’s Tern
Least Tern
Common Murre
Razorbill – special trip to Machias Seal Island
Black Guillemot
Atlantic Puffin – awesome experience being a few feet from these cute fellows on Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick.
Rock Dove
Eurasion Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Black-billed Cuckoo – Point Pelee
Yellow-billed Cuckoo – Point Pelee and Michigan
Eastern Screech-Owl – Highlight bird flew right into our campsite in Long Point, Ontario and sat right above our picnic table while we were finishing our meal. 15 feet away!
Northern Hawk Owl –Highlight bird on nesting grounds over a bog in Kouchibouquac National Park, New Brunswick
Burrowing Owl – Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Short-eared Owl - Alberta
Common Nighthawk
Black Swift – Manning area
Chimney Swift
White-throated Swift – Vaseux and Devil’s Tower
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird – Creston Wildlife Area
Belted Kingfisher
Lewis’s Woodpecker - Vaseux
Red-headed Woodpecker – Michigan, Ontario, and Black Hills, SD
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Michigan
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Black-backed Woodpecker – Highlight bird in Upper Pennisula, Michigan. 2 on the same tree 20 feet from truck window.
Northern Flicker – both Yellow and Red shafted
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher – beautiful flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatcher – Black Hill’s, South Dakota
Eastern Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike – Badland’s National Park
Plumbeus Vireo – Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
Blue-headed Vireo – Custer State Park, South Dakota
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Gray Jay
Steller’s Jay
Blue Jay
Clark’s Nutcracker
Black-billed Magpie
American Crow
Northwestern Crow
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Rock Wren
Carolina Wren – Point Pelee, Ontario
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Michigan
Eastern Bluebird
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Townsend’s Solitaire
Veery
Bicknell’s Thrush – Highlight Bird – highly staked out at Cape Breton National Park. The bird was exactly where I was told it would be. (They had the whole parking lot closed because the bird was nesting in the bushes next to the parking lot.)
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler – Common nester at Bird’s Hill, Manitoba
Magnolia Warbler – Common in northeast
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Mourning Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler – Highlight nester around Long Point Provincial Park, Ontario
Wilson’s Warbler
Scarlet Tanager – Michigan – beautiful male singing.
Western Tanager
Spotted Towhee
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-coloured Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
Field Sparrow – I love their song. Ping-pong ball.
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow – had fun sorting these 2 species out along the east coast with my birding buddy Tom.
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Chestnut-collared Longspur – I need Thor with me to find a McCown’s. I tried for some time around Tilley, Alberta.
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – Michigan. Beautiful males.
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak – Bombay Hook, Delaware
Lazuli Bunting
Indigo Bunting - everywhere
Dickcissel - Michigan
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer’s Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole – Point Pelee, Michigan
Baltimore Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Purple Finch
Cassin’s Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow


Please ask questions about found birds or missed birds. I would love to tell stories about any of these.

[josterhold]

hello dave
a real nice list of birds!! more than a few are birds that i need. must have been an awesome trip and i hope the binos worked well for you.
look forward to seeing you out in the field.
cheers,
jason

[Dave]

Being with birding buddies today, I was encouraged to put some of my trip pictures on the website. I will start with one of the trip highlights. My wife and I went on a pelagic boat to Machias Seal Island were the Atlantic Puffins are nesting. Only 13 people from Canada are allowed on this island a day, so you need to book early! The day was socked in with fog and the boat trip was with swells, so if there was ever a time to get sea sick, it was now on this small boat. Well, I sure felt sick. But regardless, once at the island, all sick feelings were forgotten. There is a light house, four birding blinds, and birds on the island. That is it! We were escorted (quite firmly - I might add) to our assigned bird blind and the fun began. What awesome birds. Puffins at your finger tips....Razorbills....Common Murres....Terns.....wow.

Here are a few of the many pictures from the island.













The Puffins are designed with hooks in their bills, so that when they catch a fish they can hook it on their bill and go catch more. They have been recorded with over 10 fish before flying back to their waiting youngsters.







Here is a picture of the nearest bird blind. People are in there looking out the opposite side. It gives you an idea how I got my pictures.

[Gord]

You even got the classic 'puffin with beak full of small fish' picture!

Nice work and awesome birds you saw. Look forward to seeing more pictures!

Glad to hear they are very strict on the island too. Seems they've had a few experiences with over-eager photographers and the likes. My list of "Places to Go" has grown.

[tmanson]

Dave: Thanks for posting your list, and showing us some of your pictures. I love the one of the Puffins on the building.
You got some great birds, especially since the trip had other purposes as well.
Cheers. Thor

Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.

[Dave]

Here are more pictures from the trip in no particular order.

Have fun identifying!