Thursday, August 23, 2012

Shirley's Bay Shorebirds

August 22, 2012

There were lots of reports from Shirley's Bay, so I went over in the afternoon for a look myself.

At the parking lot, I saw a White-breasted Nuthatch, three Double-crested Cormorants and a Mallard.

There were some serious photographers on the ridge, later joined by Heather.  We could not finds the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but saw Stilt Sandpipers, lots of Lesser Yellowlegs and some Greater.  A Merlin flew in to scatter the flocks.



There were three or four Northern Shovellers, a Green-winged Teal, a female Northern Harrier, Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret.

A fly fisher regaled me of tales of the 40-50 inch Gar Pike that he catches at this very spot.

I returned to the parking lot to find a Common Raven making quite a racket and showing off the red inside it's mouth.

Loons and More Loons

August 18-19, 2012

On the weekend we went from the cottage up to LaVĂ©rendreye Park for a short canoe trip. 
We saw 49 adult Common Loons and 6 small young.  In the canoe, we were able to get very close.

 
 







 
 
Bird List

  1. Black-throated Blue Warbler
  2. Common Yellowthroat
  3. Northern Parula
  4. Ovenbird
  5. Pileated Woodpecker
  6. Eastern Bluebird
  7. White-breasted Nuthatch
  8. Eastern Phoebe
  9. Turkey Vulture
  10. Mourning Dove
  11. Blue Jay
  12. American Crow
  13. Great Blue Heron
  14. Common Grackle
  15. Northern Flicker
  16. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
  17. Northern Goshawk
  18. Common Loon
  19. Ring-billed Gull
  20. Belted Kingfisher
  21. Bald Eagle
  22. Common Merganser
  23. Semi-palmated Sandpipers
  24. Common Raven
  25. Double-crested Cormorant
  26. Herring Gull
  27. American Black Duck
  28. Wild Turkey

 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Day Trip to Camp Opemikon on Christie Lake to Check the Crazy Canuck Adventure Challenge Route

August 16, 2012






Bird List

  1. American Crow
  2. European Starling
  3. Red-tailed Hawk
  4. Rock Pigeon
  5. Turkey Vulture
  6. Great Blue Heron
  7. Ring-billed Gull
  8. Mourning Dove
  9. Wood Duck
  10. American Goldfinch
  11. Red-eyed Vireo
  12. Ruffed Grouse
  13. Green Heron
  14. Northern Parula
  15. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  16. Black and White Warbler
  17. Osprey
  18. Wild Turkey
  19. Killdeer
  20. Merlin
  21. Eastern Kingbird
  22. Common Nighthawk
  23. Tree Swallow
  24. Green-winged Teal
  25. Double-crested Cormorant
  26. Pied-billed Grebe
  27. Ruddy Duck
  28. Mallard
  29. Canada Goose

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Cooper's Hawk a Block from Home

August 14, 2012

I read about the juvenile Coopers' Hawk in the Otawa Citizen bird column, and recognized the person reporting as someone in my neighbourhood. I made an educated guess of where to look and lo and behold..

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

A Two-Hawk Weekend

August 11-12, 2012

It was  wet weekend at the cottage, but there was still good activity at our feeders. 

On Sunday we drove the roads around Little Cedar Lake hoping to see the American Bittern reported in The Citizen by Roy McSheffrey (no luck).

But we did luck into a young Red-tailed Hawk on a fence near the road that was not shy of the car.  We saw it again on Chemin Petit Lac des Cèdres and then a Broad-winged Hawk on a wire near the boat launch.  We saw other birds listed below and two Sandhill Cranes on the way home outside of  Venosta (third sighting!)







Bird List

  1. European Starling
  2. Blue Jay
  3. American Crow
  4. Common Yellowthroat
  5. Pale warbler sp
  6. American Robin
  7. Swamp Sparrow
  8. Eastern Phoebe
  9. Red-tailed Hawk
  10. Broad-winged Hawk
  11. Northern Flicker
  12. Black-capped Chickadee
  13. Black and White Warbler
  14. Pileated Woodpecker
  15. Downy Woodpecker
  16. American Goldfinch
  17. Purple Finch
  18. Red-breasted Nuthatch
  19. Hairy Woodpecker
  20. Common Grackle
  21. American Black Duck
  22. Ring-billed Gull
  23. Common Tern
  24. Eastern Kingbird
  25. Sandhill Crane

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Good Birds Without Trying

August 6, 2012

It was  a busy weekend at the cottage with lots of company, and little time to go birding.  The first good bird was a Broad-winged Hawk along Ch. Tims when returning from berry picking - yes there finally were some decent raspberries.

Then a young Red-eyed Vireo showed up on our deck, an apparent victim of colliding with a Window.  Later, while swimming, an adult Bald Eagle made two passes right over our dock.  Then, on the way home, we saw two Sandhill Cranes on the west side of the highway outside of Venosta.


 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Cottage Birding

July 27-30, 2012
On Saturday, we headed to Maniwaki to pick up a few things.  We stopped at the creek to Blue Sea Lake where Barbara spotted a female Wood Duck with 2 young.  At Chemin Galipeau, we had American Goldfinches with the sun spotlighting them.  We took Farley Road and were rewarded with fine views of an American Kestrel, a soaring Broad-winged Hawk  and some Wild Turkeys.


In the afternoon, we drove over to Lac Lacroix to visit friends.  On the way, we saw several Barn Swallows (new to list) on a wire.  At the lake there was a very active hummingbird feeder and other feeders which hosted Purple Finch, Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches.  Bill also spotted a Black and White Warbler in the yard.  We went for a hike around the extensive property, and Bill pished in a Veery (new to list).  We also heard a few Wood Thrushes (new to list), but they would not show themselves.





On Sunday, Bill went down the lake to try some fishing and keep an eye on the loons.  He saw a pair of Belted Kingfishers  at the north end.  Later, we all went for a paddle all around Black Bay.  We saw 7 Common Mergansers on parade and a Great Blue Heron watching the show.  The Common Tern colony had a few juveniles with them and a Mallard mom had 2 toddlers.








On Monday we went next door where we had seen many warblers earlier on.  This time it was quiet except for a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  Driving home, we saw another American Kestrel just outside of Messines where we had seen on before.  Along the highway, we always keep a sharp eye out for the Sandhill Canes, and this time son Grant did spot one just north of Venosta on the east side of the highway.