Hawks, Snowy Owls & Open Country Birds – Ottawa East with Always an Adventure

Thursday February 12 - Lifer Gyrfalcon today

We met at the Trim Road park & Ride.  Tony and Nina were late for the first time ever, as they had to wait for John Violette to come to Lincoln Fields by bus from Kanata.  There was a large group today.  Besides the aforementioned, there was another John, Josh, Lina, Sandra, Bree and her friends, Meg, visiting from BC, and Julia (new birder).  Rounding out the group were Al and me.

We checked out Frank Kenny and got a Snowy Owl, then Snow Buntings on French Hill.  Then we went straight to Lafleche Dump, where the Gyrflacon was on the ground with an Iceland Gull it had killed.  We got a few photos, then it flew up to a post inside the gate.  Tony went and asked permission to come in to get closer photos, which was given.  As we edged closer and closer, it finally had enough and flew off.  A truly banner day.

We went over to Ste Rose, where Al spotted another Snowy on a pole.  Tony drove past, but we stopped and flushed the owl - at least the others saw it well.  We stopped at Timmys, then returned to Ste Rose where we got a Rough-legged Hawk, then stopped for a large flock of Snow Buntings.  We also saw a few Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks.

From there, we went to Larose Forest for the Evening Grosbeaks and finches.  We returned via Frank Kenny and found yet another Snowy Owl on Regimbald.  This one followed the cars, so was presumed to be a baited owl.

Bird List

1. Snowy Owl
2. Snow Bunting
3. Gyrfalcon
4. Iceland Gull
5. Herring Gull
6. Common Raven
7. Rough-legged Hawk
8. Lapland Longspur
9. Horned Lark
10. Evening Grosbeak
11. Common Redpoll
12. Blue Jay
13. Hairy Woodpecker
14. White-breasted Nuthatch
15. American Tree Sparrow
16. Black-capped Chickadee
17. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Raptors & Open Country Birds – Ottawa West with Always an Adventure

Tuesday February 10

Today there were Tony & Nina, Josh, Brian, Josh, Pavel & Antonia, Lyse and me.

We met at the Coliseum and headed straight out to the farm fields.  We saw a couple of Red Tails on Steeple Hill and our first Snowy on Rushmore.  We also saw 2 coyotes on Rushmore.  On Eagleson, there were baiters with another Snowy Owl.  On Akins, we had Snow Buntings at a feeder.

We went over to Moodie to check the dump, and found a couple more Red Tails.  One of them put up a bunch of gulls, most of which were Glaucous Gulls, but there were also some Great Black-backed Gulls.

We went next to Hilda and finally to the roads around Dunrobin.

Bird List

1. Red-tailed Hawk
2. Rock Pigeon
3. Blue Jay
4. Snowy Owl
5. Snow Bunting
6. Glaucous Gull
7. Great Black-backed Gull
8. Common Raven
9. European Starling
10. Wild Turkey
11. American Tree Sparrow
12. Black-capped Chickadee
13. White-breasted Nuthatch
14. Bohemian Waxwing
15. Pileated Woodpecker
16. American Crow

Raptors & Open Country Birds – Ottawa East with Always an Adventure

Tuesday February 3

We met at the Trim Road Park & Ride - Tony, Nina,  Josh, Sandra, Al & me.  It was one of those really cold days, so we were all bundled up.

After a quick stop at Timmy's, we went to French Hill Road to look for Al's Snowy Owl.  But before we got there, we had one on Frank Kenny.  We got Al's, then we spotted another over on O'Toole, so we went over for a better look.  Further south on O'Toole, we saw a guy in the field baiting one.

We went to Lafleche dump, but there was no sign of the mythic Gyrfalcon. We did see a coyote in the field, apparently unbothered by the cold.  Then we headed out past Casselman to Ste Rose, where we saw two more Snowy Owls, both on the ground.  Eventually we saw two more, bringing our total to 8.

We returned to Lafleche, but all was quiet except for some decent gulls on the ground.

Bird List

1. Snowy Owl
2. Bohemian Waxwing
3. American Crow
4. Common Raven
5. Blue Jay
6. Downy Woodpecker
7. Snow Bunting
8. Rough-legged Hawk
9. Red-legged Hawk
10. Great Black-backed Gull
11. Glaucous Gull
12. Iceland Gull

Common Redpoll

January 31, 2015

These guys have been scarce around Ottawa this winter, so I am taking a bit of liberty to post these found coming to a feeder in Lake Placid NY.

Northern Shoveller

January 29, 2015

Ebird reports have been ongoing of this bird in Appaloosa Park in Bridlewood.  I did not realize that the little trickle through a city park was the headwaters of a branch of the Carp River.

Nedeless to say, it did not take long to find the shoveller among a bunch of Mallards.

A Second Barred Owl

While skiing with our grandson and family, we made our way to Keogan's Lodge from Kingsmere.  Much to our surprise, a Barred Owl was stationed outside near the recently-restored bird feeders.