Ottawa Area Birding: June 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

Petawawa Camping Trip

June 25-28, 2013

The Venturers were busy doing various things, but during lulls, I could bird along the beach at Black Bear Campground. Most of the birds are from there, but the Ovenbird was found in nearby Algonquin Park.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Cottage Day Trip and Mont Morissette

June 27, 2013

While Bill was camping with the Venturers, Barbara and Craig made a quick trip to the cottage to lay in provisions.

By the path to Colleen and Terry's, they pished in a male Magnolia Warber. On the way home they visited Mont Morissette, which has a lookout over Blue Sea Lake.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Rails at Bruce Pit

June 20, 2013

Barbara got a hot tip from Stephen on the bus and called me.

After doing a few chores, I headed over on my bike. A Virginia Rail was out walking around as I arrived! I photographed it and then tried for a Sora. I actually heard three or four calling, but got no sightings. I also heard a Common Moorhen (Gallinule) close but also unseen. Lots of action for little time spent.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Fishing (and Birding) on Big Rideau Lake

June 12, 2013

Jim picked me up and we drove to Big Rideau at Portland. The day was promising, but the fishing was dismal. The best fish we saw were on the sonar.

Birding was better. A Common Loon surfaced right beside the oat two or three times. A cormorant colony was roosted nearby, and they were coming and going continuously.

We finally gave it up and started for home. Just down the highway, an American Bittern flew across really close. No chance for a photo.

We'll try Cedar Lake the following week.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Home and Cottage Birds

June 9, 2013

While packing up for the cottage, the neighbourhood Carolina Wren was singing up a storm in the back yard. I went around and played the song once. The wren went crazy, so I snapped one photo and left him alone.

At the cottage, at Grand Lac des Cèdres, Barbara spotted a hawk perched above our feeders. It was partially obscured, but it looks like a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. I also took time out to check for the Northern Waterthrush that we had last spring. No luck this year, but at least an Ovenbird came out to play.

Looking for Frogs (and Birds)

June 3, 2013 5:00 pm

We decided to pack a picnic and check out several location along the Rideau River for possible frog hot spots. We did see a few frogs, but nothing outstanding. We also saw a few birds in the same category.

Manotick Second Line

June 2, 2013

We store out Scout trailer on a farm there, so went to retrieve some goods. Of course, we were on the lookout for birds & got a few.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Chaffey's Locks with Tony & Nina

May 23, 2013

There was lots of rain in the forecast, but there was a good crowd out anyway at 6:00 am at the Coliseum parking lot. There were Gary & Sue, Al, Rick, Roger, Bree, two sisters, Nina, Tony and a guy who drove with Al. In addition, we met Lorraine and her friend from Manotick at Chaffey's.

Rick and I drove together, as we had to be back by suppertime. Bree got a ride back with us.

The day started out very well, but the rain came on heavily at times, which damped our spirits. The stars of the show, Cerulean Warbler, Golden Winged Warbler and Yellow-billed Cuckoo failed to show. Nevertheless, we did get some good birds, but the clouds and rain hampered photo ops.