On a very cold day in February, while trailing a Algonquin Wolves (Canis lycaon) across the frozen Lake of Two Rivers, South of highway 60 running through Algonquin Provincial Park, a fellow tracker and I came across a nest. I took out my phone and quickly took some measurements and moved on. It wasn’t too long, as it was -30°C (-22°F/243K) and my hands we’re screaming at me, but this little discovery started itching my memory of the day and pestering me to figure out who it was. I did a little bit of research, through which I came to the conclusion that the nest may have been built by a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus).

This is the story of that discovery and some of the readings which led me to a possible answer to an ageless question; whodunnit?

To learn more :
A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds by Colin Harrison. Collins, 1978.

Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Birds’ Nests by Hal H. Harrison. Houghton Mifflin, 1975.Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests by Casey McFarland, Matt Monjello, and David Moskowitz. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021.
Bird Nest Finder by Dorcas Miller. Nature Study Guide Publishers, 2024.

Inaturalist identifications of Red-winged Blackbirds in the area of the nest
Inaturalist identifications of Swamp Sparrow in the area of the nest