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The vast majority of Ontarians have never heard of Fraserdale. This is not surprising, as Fraserdale is nothing more than a train stop along the Cochrane to Moosonee route, about 45 minutes north of Smooth Rock Falls along a pot-holed road. But Fraserdale is well-known among a very small subset of people, those being birders, moth-ers, and other naturalist types who love exploring northeastern Ontario. Fraserdale is one of easiest places to access high quality peatlands in northeast Ontario, and it is home to a high diversity of species that are difficult or impossible to find further south. Indeed, it is only about an eight hour drive from where I live (Hamilton) to Fraserdale!  Fraserdale, Cochrane District I've been to Fraserdale on many occasions, with my first visit in 2012. These early visits were bird-finding missions on my way to Moosonee, as the nearby Abititi Dam is a rare bird magnet and Fraserdale a convenient stop to take the train to Moosonee. Though I never found any mega-rarities during these early Fraserdale expeditions, it was always a good place to find specialty birds like Spruce Grouse, LeConte's Sparrow, American Three-toed Woodpecker and much more.
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Bogs and fens are some of my favourite haunts to explore as a naturalist. These peatlands hold a diverse array of plant species adapted to the acidic or alkaline conditions. And with these plant species come the associated insects, and the birds, and all the rest. Today's goal was to explore a patterned fen near the end of the Detour Mine road, just a few kilometres before the mine itself.  Detour Lake peatlands, Cochrane District This particular fen has been put on the radar due to a number of interesting dragonfly and damselfly species that reside here. Several years ago intrepid dragonfly hunters targeted this area, presumably because it is relatively easy to access from the paved Detour Mine Road. And by relatively easy to access, I mean it only takes about a kilometre of slogging through thick peat moss interspersed with prickly Black Spruce bows protruding at every angle. It is not for the faint of heart, but I've spent many hours in similar habitats during my career as a field biologist, so I don't mind.
One of the first birds I observed this morning as I ate my scrambled eggs and sipped my coffee was an adult American Goshawk that blasted past my makeshift campsite. It had been several years since I had been graced by the presence of an American Goshawk. It was going to be a good day! I packed up my one-burner stove and camp chair and hit the open road. Today would include a lot of driving as I made my way up to Cochrane and beyond. But I love driving in northern Ontario, passing millions of Black Spruces and keeping an eye out for Black Bears or Moose. I didn't linger too long in Timiskaming District. Typically, I make a number of birding stops - the New Liskeard Lagoons, Thornloe Lagoons, Hilliardton Marsh and Englehart Lagoons are some of my usual haunts - but today I wanted to save time so I could look for insects at a site further afield.  Compton Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis l-album) - Berlinghoff Rd, Iroquois Falls, Cochrane District I woke to a warm and hazy morning at Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve. I had several goals for the day. 1: Spend a couple of hours exploring Horseshoe Lake; 2: put in a solid search for a quite localized damselfly called the Alkali Bluet in North Bay; and 3: find somewhere secluded with decent habitat for car-camping and mothing in the evening.  Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District The deer flies were quite eager to accompany me as personal guides that I neither asked for nor wanted. But I'll take deer flies over black flies or mosquitoes any time! In just a couple of days I would be dealing with all three, so fending off a few pesky deer flies this morning was no trouble at all.
There is something about northern Ontario that I can't get enough of. I was born and raised in densely-populated southwestern Ontario where most of our natural areas have been turned into subdivisions, aggregate pits and soybean fields. However, I have always had a longing for wilderness areas, where people are few and far between and where forests, wetlands and wildlife dominate. Fortunately, I can reach places like this with just a "short" eight-hour drive to the north. Yes, most of the vast swaths of trees in central and northern Ontario are semi-regularly logged, and towns and cities still dot the landscape. But by turning off the highway and driving down a logging road one can get away from the sound of traffic, people and the busyness of the world. Not quite wilderness, but good enough for me.  Black Spruce skyline - Fraserdale, Cochrane District During most of the previous 13 years of my life, my job as an ecologist has brought me to various sites in northern Ontario. I've surveyed islands in the Albany River along the James Bay coast, beautiful prairies and aspen stands in Rainy River District, and endless forests throughout Thunder Bay and Cochrane Districts. I've counted Whip-poor-wills and Blanding's Turtles outside of Sudbury, surveyed for Red Knots along the James Bay coast, and found subarctic plants and butterflies 250 kilometres north of Pickle Lake, which is the furthest north that one can drive on an all-season road in Ontario. In hindsight these have been some of my fondest moments as an ecologist, especially since the din of the mosquitoes and the bites of the blackflies fade in my memory, leaving only the positive recollections.
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