Petrie Island and St. Lawrence Lowland Habitats - Ottawa East with Tony Beck

Thursday Sep 9, 7:30am

Today it was Michael, Rick, Heather, Nina, Tony and me. It was a dull morning at Petrie Island, so photography was difficult. We could see Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Great Blue Heron and Ring-billed Gulls. We got an Eastern Phoebe and a Belted Kingfisher before the light improved enough for photography.

In the trees along the causeway, we heard a Warbling Vireo and a Northern Flicker, and saw a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We spotted a Black and White Warbler and a Northern Parula. 

An Osprey flew over as we waked towards the beach. We saw a Swainson’s Thrush and an Ovenbird in the same tree. A Philadelphia Vireo, a Red-eyed Vireo and a Palm Warbler also showed up, and later, a Black-throated Green, a Wilson’s and a Magnolia Warbler. Tony spotted a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and we all got good looks. We heard a Hairy Woodpecker and saw an American Robin and a White-breasted Nuthatch.

Tony heard a Black-bellied Plover call and saw a Bald Eagle fly past. Michael saw another Bald Eagle on the far shore feeding on something. It was amusing to see a Great Blue Heron saunter right past the eagle. A Double-crested Cormorant was on some debris in the middle of the river.

Tony saw a warbler that looked like an Orange-crowned, but it turned out to be a late juvenile female Yellow. We heard a Brown Creeper, even me! Some got a Blackburnian Warbler and we saw an American Redstart.

Then we noticed an American Goldfinch, Eastern Wood Pewee and an Eastern Phoebe. We also had a Northern Flicker and a Red-eyed Vireo. Back on the water, we saw an American Black Duck and a Common Moorhen.

After all that activity, we went to Tim Horton’s for a coffee, then headed to Giroux Ponds. Just before we got there, we saw an American Kestrel chasing an American Crow. At Giroux, we saw a Northern Harrier and a couple of Turkey Vultures. Coming down Dunning Road, we had a lovely male Northern Harrier fly over the road.

We proceeded to Hall Road to check out Mer Bleue. We did not see anything much except horses, which Tony called in and fed some grass. Our last stop was along Milton Road and Smith Road. Heather was jumping up and down in excitement when we saw a family of 2 adult and 2 juvenile Sandhill Cranes.