Back to Shirley’s Bay with Rick, Janet & Jane

Sept 21, 2009 8:00 am

This time we were the first to arrive. We got Wilson’s Snipe and Solitary Sandpiper right by the shore in the shadows. The sun finally rose enough that we could get decent photos. The Marbled Godwit was across the bay along with the Stilt Sandpiper. Janet got some good photos by digiscoping. We saw a Black-bellied Plover which morphed into am American Golden Plover when Langis and Hervé arrivded. The Monday Group was out with Dave, and Brenda came along too to see the Godwit and other shorebirds. Other shorebirds included several Killdeer and lots of Yellowlegs.

There were a couple of Hooded Mergansers, and several Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal.

We started looking for the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow in the reeds along the far shore, but instead saw a Virginia Rail. And then the sparrow did make several short appearances.

Cottage weekend with Ross & Margaret Ann

Sep 18-21, 2009

We did a lot of biking on the Low to Maniwaki Cyclo Parc, principally around Lac Blue Sea. We saw skein after skein of Canada Geese high in the sky on their southward migration. Ross was especially fascinated by them. On Sunday morning, there was the usual group of Common Mergansers on our swimming raft.

Shirley’s Bay with Rick, Janet & Susan

Friday, Sept 18, 2009

I met Rick, Janet & Susan at Shirley’s’ Bay at 9 am.

We hiked over to the dyke and met Bob Cermak & Jay Peterson who were already scoping the good birds.

We had fantastic views of the Marbled Godwit. There was also a juvenile and adult Stilt Sandpiper. The adult looked a lot like a Yellowlegs (of which there were plenty). Later Langis Sirois and Hervé Tremblay arrived and pointed out the adult Stilt in close for photo ops. Other interesting birds were a Bald Eagle and Belted Kingfisher, which flew past. There were many Green-winged Teal when we first arrived, but they soon dispersed.

Bob and Jay had seen a couple of Great Egrets earlier, but they had moved to the back, out of sight.

Britannia Conservation Area – Fall Migration with Tony Beck

Tuesday Sep 8, 7:30am

For the first fall outing, it was only Heather & me accompanying Tony.
It was a great day for warblers. We got Yellow-rumped, Blackpoll (lifer), American Redstart, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Bay Breasted, Nashville, Tennessee, Black-throated Green, Cape May and Northern Waterthrush (heard). On Mud Lake, we got Red-necked Grebe, Northern Pintail, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, American Black Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, American Widgeon and Wood Duck. On the Ottawa River, we had Common Merganser, Great Black-backed Gull and Double-crested Cormorant.

On the ridge and in the woods, we saw Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Raven, Gray Catbird, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Cedar Waxwing, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Grackle, Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Peewee and Brown Creeper.

Mud Lake & western sites with Jane, Connie & friends

September 2, 8:00 am

I joined the group, Jane, Connie, Janet & Rick, about 8 am after a fruitless search for items lost off my trailer the night before. They were on the ridge, and reported lots of warbler activity earlier, with a lull as I arrived. We met Bob & Jan who directed us to the west end of the ridge, where good things were still happening. We also checked across the road in the grassy clearing.

Warblers spotted included Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Nashville, Wilson's, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped, Yellow, Pine, Black-throated Green and American Redstart. A few saw Black-and-White, Black-throated Blue and Bay-breasted. We saw lots of Cedar Waxwings, may of them juveniles. There was an oddball Northern Cardinal interacting with the Cedar Waxwings. There were Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, a Hairy Woodpecker, a Purple Finch and an Osprey fly-past.

A small flycatcher refused to bob its tail, but was almost certainly an Eastern Phoebe. A perched Great Blue Heron had only one leg. Nadine joined us around 11:00. We headed back to Cassels Road and found a very cooperative Philadelphia Vireo.From Britannia, we stopped at Ottawa Beach to use the washroom, saw nothing much, and moved on to Rifle Road for a picnic lunch. Rick had to attend to other business.

From there we car-pooled along March Valley Road seeing a Belted Kingfisher and Solitary Sandpiper at the second pond.

We turned on Riddell Road, spotting an Osprey with a fish. We took 6th Line to Berry Side Road, then 5th Line, where we saw an American Kestrel and a Northern Harrier at the same stop.
Then it was on to Thomas Dolan Parkway with a stop at Constance Creek. The Ospreys had fledged, but we saw one on a distant tree, also with a fish.

We carried on Thomas Dolan Parkway up onto the Carp Ridge to try for Towhees. They were not around, but several Eastern Phoebes pretended to be Wood Peewees (no tail bobbing), and we had another Hairy Woodpecker.

I decided to call it a day, but saw a perched Red-Tailed Hawk on the way back down Thomas Dolan. As usual, the ladies carried on to a couple more stops.