Ottawa River - Bate Island to Shirley's Bay

Nov. 25, 2016

We found good numbers o Common Goldeneye at Bate Island, but no Barrow's.  There was also a large group of Bufflehead.

Jon Ruddy reported a large group of Red-throated Loons at Dick Bell, so we headed over there.  We could not spot them, as we did not realize they were so distant as to be barely visible with a scope.  There was a nice selection of Red-breasted Mergansers and Buffleheads in the harbour.

We spotted some birds flying off west, so thought it would be worth checking Shirley's Bay.  We got there just as Jon was leaving - he obviously had had the same idea. We had 2 Common Loons and a single Red-necked Grebe, but no Red-throated.

We drove back past Dick Bell and spotted a number of birders there with scopes.  We thought it might be worth a second look.  Sure enough, a raft of loons was there, very distant.  We had a decent look in Bob Cermak's scope.

Ottawa River West with JC Birding

Nov 23, 2016
(text by Connie)
Started off at Mud Lake on Wednesday.  Except for a few "holes" of water, the lake was frozen over and the birds were walking gingerly across the ice! Path up to the ridge was not icy so up we went to the welcome of even more birds, obviously looking for handouts.  Once again we had left birdseed in the car but luckily others had not.  Several times birds landed on our outstretched arms/hands while we were pointing out the direction of birds to others!  Barb B had a Downy Woodpecker stop on hers. 

We stopped at Britannia and walked out on the pier checking shoreline for Purple Sandpipers but found none.  It was very quiet here and also very COLD with a fierce wind!

Andrew Haydon Park was also cold and windy.  Snow and ice had built up along the rocky shore and we did not find any Purple Sandpiper. There were many Common Goldeneye on the river today.  As well we had Greater Scaup, Redbreasted and Common Merganser, Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, and one Black Scoter.  Also here were Herring Gulls, one Black-backed Gull, and two juvenile Glaucaus Gulls.  There was also an American Wigeon pair on one of the ponds. 

There was activity on Grandview Drive especially at one of the feeders.  Others had a single Common Redpoll here but somehow I missed that while watching all the regular species!  A flock of American Robins was hopping from tree top to tree top and then finally a small flock of Waxwings which all proved to be Cedar Waxwings.  Two Wild Turkeys were wandering the street.

At the feeders on Hilda there were many American Tree Sparrows along with Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches and Blue Jays.  From the Beach at Shirley's Bay there were once again many Common Goldeneye.  Barb C saw a Grebe but it went under and we could not relocate it -- not sure what species.  We also found three Common Loon here. 

List for the day is below along with some photos from the Bowman's and Sami in this and another email.

************************************************************************
Birds Observed Wednesday, November 23, 2016   
Ottawa West - Mud Lake, Britannia, Andrew Haydon, Hilda, Shirley's Bay Beach   
(Sami, Barb C, Bill & Barb B, Connie)   
   
Ottawa West - Mud Lake   
1    American Black Duck (maybe a hybrid)
2    American Crow
3    Black-capped Chickadee
4    Canada Goose
5    Common Goldeneye
6    Dark-eyed Junco
7    Downy Woodpecker
8    European Starling
9    Hooded Merganser
10    Mallard
11    Northern Cardinal
12    Ring-billed Gull
13    White-breasted Nuthatch
   
Ottawa West - Andrew Haydon Park   
14    American Wigeon (pair)
15    Black Scoter (1)
16    Bufflehead
***    Common Goldeneye (many)
17    Common Merganser (one)
18    Glaucous Gull (juv, 2)
19    Great Black-backed Gull (1)
20    Greater Scaup
21    Herring Gull
22    Red-breasted Merganser (several)
23    Ring-necked Duck
   
Ottawa West - Grandview Road   
24    American Goldfinch
25    American Robin
26    American Tree Sparrow
27    Blue Jay
28    Cedar Waxwing
29    Common Redpoll (1)
30    Mourning Dove
31    Rock Pigeon
32    Wild Turkey (2)
   
Ottawa West - Hilda   
***    American Tree Sparrow (many)
   
Ottawa West - Shirley's Bay Beach   
33    Common Loon (3)

Bruce Pit

Nov 19 2016

Bruce Pit is right in our backyard, more or less.  So we could not resist hiking over to try for the Summer Tanager.  Alas we were not successful, although nine other birders did find it!

We explored some of the side trails that we never visit, and had a great time.  We were entertained by a Pileated Woodpecker, a Northern Cardinal and various ducks on the pond and outlet.

Snow Geese with JC Birding

Nov 2, 2016

Jane & Connie changed the route today to check out the immense numbers of Snow Geese at Laflèche Rd.  We also had a shot at the Pink-footed Goose, but it was not to be.  We did see Hugh Curry who had come up from Toronto, but I don't think he got it either.  Nevertheless, the spectacle of the Snow Geese was amazing.  We also did quite well on raptors with 2 Rough-legged Hawks, a Red-tail and a Merlin.