Still MORE Ontario Birds

Day four in Lake Superior Provincial Park dawned bright and sunny. I hopped in my kayak hoping to find more birds--and maybe a wolf prowling around, but no such luck on the wolf. I did find the mergansers, just risen from their night on the shore, preening and fluffing. I think they look an awful lot like penguins.


Once again there were bunches of Canada warblers, but I did get a few shots of an immature Yellow-rumpled warbler...


...searching the branches for breakfast.



I saw quite a few American redstarts, but they stayed tucked in the canopy.


Earlier in the trip I had missed a golden opportunity to get some shots of a Black-throated blue warbler, a new bird for me. We had been walking the campground road when one appeared directly in front of us on an outer branch. But when I tried to shoot, the shutter wouldn't release. Set on auto-focus, the camera couldn't seem to figure out where to focus, and since it didn't think it was focused on anything, it wouldn't let the shutter release. Ugh. So it became a challenge of sorts to get a shot of this bird.

We were eating breakfast later in the morning when Lori said casually, "There's your bird." I looked and sure enough there was a Black-throated blue in the trees right next to the campsite. I grabbed my camera and went into stealth mode. I got a few shots of the male, then noticed his female companion. I was able to get a few quick, blurry shots before she flew off.


But the male stayed around, moving out towards the road, so I followed, and finally managed to get a good, clear shot. What a hansom fellow!



Of course by the time I got back to camp my eggs were cold, but it was worth it!

Next: A four lake portage