Pakenham Paddle

August 31, 2018

We finally got to one our paddling day trips - a very short paddle on the Mississippi downstream from Pakenham.

We expected to see more birds, especially waterfowl, but there were only a few Wood Ducks.  There were dozens of Midland Painted Turtles sunning themselves on logs.

We paddled for a few km, then turned around.  On the way back, we explored an incoming creek on the east side for about 1 km.

We saw a couple of River Otters, a Belted Kingfisher and a Red-tailed Hawk.

Petrie Island and Mer Bleue with Craig & Pamela

August 29, 2018

We headed out early to Petrie Island to avoid much of the rush hour traffic.  So it was dim when we arrived, and there were few birds to be seen. Barbara spotted the bid of the day, a young Common Gallinule tucked into the south corner of the east bay.  A Great Blue Heron was fishing in the middle, later replaced by a Green Heron.  We briefly saw a Swamp Sparrow too and a Belted Kingfisher did a fly over..  We hiked the trail but saw little until the end when we spotted an American Redstart.

We decided to go to the Mer Bleue boardwalk, but my memory on the shortcut was faulty, and we went roundabout. It was an enjoyable walk, but we saw little.  Craig and I had a muskrat pop up at our feet, but it vanished before we could lift a camera.

Back home on the deck, we were having supper when Pamela noticed a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at our Bee Balm.  It was the only one we had seen at our place all year, and it was a one-day wonder.

Mud Lake with Craig & Pamela

August 28, 2018

We decided to forgo the cottage trip, since the weather was not looking too good. That did not stop us, however, for going birding at Mud Lake.

We got a good variety of fall warblers on the ridge - Black & White, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Pine, and Yellow-rumped.

In the woods, we added a few more species and watched the Brown Bullheads at the lookout dock.

After a hot day of birding, we adjourned for ice cream at the Britannia store.

Andrew Haydon Park

August 26, 2018

Craig and Pamela arrived for a visit as part of their extensive road trip.  Pamela mentioned that she had not seen a Green Heron, so we made the quick visit to Andrew Haydon Park, figuring that at least one of the two we had seen would still be around.

We almost missed it, as it had relocated to the rock near where we had seen the Snapping Turtle.

Later, we checked the Baird's, and there were two present.  Too bad the light wasn't better.

Rockliffe Airbase Birding

August 25, 2018

Following up on JC Birding's recent visit and Ken Ball's excellent directions, we visited the site.  It was modestly productive, although we did not see any migrating warblers.