My wife and I spent a very enjoyable weekend canoeing and camping at Achray on the east side of Algonquin Park. The most unusual observation came last night (October 4), at about 8:00 am as we sat around our campfire in the Achray Campground, with the temperature somewhere around 5 degrees and a stiff breeze out of the northwest, a Whip-poor-will began singing somewhere to the east in the campground. It sang for about 30 seconds, then stopped, then sang again for another 30 seconds about 5 minutes later. Certainly not a bird I expected to encounter in Algonquin in October. Hope he starts heading south soon! This morning (October 5) I spent a couple of hours poking around the large sedge marsh at Lake Travers. With some effort, I had good looks at two Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows. The birds were in the far southwest corner of the marsh in fairly dry habitat consisting of shoulder-high sedges and asters. Although the area where the sparrows were found was dry, waders or tall rubber boots are definitely required to explore the wetter areas of the marsh and several deep beaver runs had to be crossed (dams serve as useful crossing points) Other interesting birds in the vicinity included Merlin, 2 American Bitterns flushed out of the marsh, American Pipit, Lincoln's Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler and numerous Pine Siskins. David Britton Ottawa DIRECTIONS Directions: Lake Travers in Algonquin Provincial Park can be reached via the Sand Lake Gate access point, located on Barron Canyon Road. This road is reached by turningsouth off the Highway 17 bypass onto County Road 26, at a point 3.5 km west of the Forest Lea Road (approximately 9 km west of Pembroke),travelling 300 metres, and then turning right at Barron Canyon Road. The kilometres are marked by roadside signs. The turnoff to the Achray campground is at km 38. The Lake Travers parking lot is at km 72. Follow a trail 200m north from the parking lot to the Turtle Club historical site, and then proceed eastward along the shoreline of Lake Travers about 300m until it turns abruptly southwards into a large marshy bay. The sparrow's were located in the southwestern part of this bay.Use an Ontario road map to locate Pembroke. AlgonquinPark is three hours north of Toronto via Highways 400,11 and 60._______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
