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.