Eastern Lagoons with Jane & Connie

Aug 25, 2009 7:00 am

I met Jane & Connie at Petrie Island just before 7.
There were a number of warblers along the road including Black-and-White, Tennessee and Magnolia. We heard an Eastern Wood Peewee and Red-eyed Vireo but could not locate them. We saw a number of White-throated Sparrows, dull form.

From Petrie, we drove straight to the Alfred lagoons. Just before getting there, the ladies spotted a very large raptor, which turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon, although we all wanted it to be a Gyrfalcon. Up on the platform we saw another (or perhaps the same) Peregrine fly over. There were one or more Merlins too, which flew past and landed in a dense tree, and a Northern Harrier patrolling the fields.

In the lagoons, there were many Ruddy Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Common Moorhens and American Coots. I spotted a couple of Wilson’s Phalaropes. Jane & Connie saw a pair of Northern Shovellers, but I did not. We all saw some Pied-billed Grebes. We spotted a couple of Gadwall hidden in the reeds and Connie saw some Redheads.

Our next stop was at Casselman lagoons. The first cell had nothing, but Jane saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The next cells were more productive with some Spotted Sandpipers, Ring-necked Ducks, a Wood Duck fly-past and two female Common Goldeneye.

We went to High Falls Conservation Area for a picnic and found both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a Great Blue Heron below the dam.. On the other side of the river, we saw an Osprey fly over and a nice male Northern Harrier. An Eastern Kingbird posed on a wire.

Our next stop was the Dignard Constructed Wetland ponds. We saw a Red-winged Blackbird, which was unusual, a number of Lesser Yellowlegs and a very spotted Spotted Sandpiper and another Great Blue Heron.

That was all for me, but Connie & Jane went on to the Embrun lagoons.