Mud Lake and Shirley's Bay with JC Birding

October 30, 2018

Birding Report by Connie

Four of us met at Mud Lake in the somewhat chilly weather.  Although some were further away than others, the good birds here were Hooded Merganser, Ring-necked Duck, American Wigeon, and Wood Duck.  We had great views of the American Wigeon and Wood Ducks later when walking down the trail beside Mud Lake.  I think lots of photos were taken -- my camera was in the car! Among the trees and bushes East of the parking area there were many Ruby-crowned Kinglets flitting about as usual and mostly very high up in the trees.  We had three sparrows along this route:  Song, White-crowned and White-throated.  In the Bay behind the filtration plant we saw Common Loon, Bufflehead, and Common Goldeneye all at a great distance. 

The usual birds were around and even before we had out the birdseed they were alighting on camera lenses and seedless hands. The Downy Woodpecker was on my hand before I got the bag of seed open!  Bill and Barb were ahead of me (I was busy getting out birdseed) and saw a pair of House Finch.  On the ridge someone pointed out the two large birds soaring overhead ... Yes.. immature Bald Eagles.  We also had Common Raven fly over. 

To fill in for Jane, who was off on a trip to Mexico with her Guiding Friends, Barb B brought along some Girl Guide cookies to share with us!

Bill and Barb left us here for Shirley's Bay to look for the Red-bellied Woodpecker but did not find it.

Birds Observed Tuesday, October 30, 2018   
Ottawa West - Mud Lake, Shirley's Bay Beach.   
(Sami, Barb C, Bill, Barb B, Connie)   
   
Ottawa West - Mud Lake   
1    American Black Duck
2    American Crow
3    American Goldfinch
4    American Robin
5    American Wigeon
6    Bald Eagle (2 immature)
7    Black-capped Chickadee
8    Bufflehead
9    Canada Goose
10    Common Goldeneye
11    Common Loon
12    Common Raven
13    Downy Woodpecker
14    European Starling
15    Hooded Merganser
16    House Finch
17    Mallard
18    Northern Cardinal
19    Ring-billed Gull
20    Ring-necked Duck
21    Ruby-crowned Kinglet
22    Song Sparrow
23    White-breasted Nuthatch
24    White-crowned Sparrow
25    White-throated Sparrow
26    Wood Duck
       
        

Emerald Meadows Storm Water Ponds

October 29, 2018

Two Greater White-fronted Geese were reported at these storm water retention ponds, and we wanted to get some photos.  Alas, they were not there when we went, although a few thousand Canadas flew in.

There were some common ducks and gulls and a Greater Yellowlegs flew in briefly.

Cottage Association Meeting

October 28, 2018

As Barbara is on the board, we headed up to the lake the day before the meeting.  On the way, we spotted a Red-tailed Hawk just past Venosta.

We took a slight detour by the river at Alwyn hoping to see waterfowl on the river.  There were only Canada Geese, but while stopped, Barbara spotted several Redpolls along the shore in the bushes.

At the lake, I did some birding while Barbara attended her meeting.

Arboretum and Dows Lake

October 25, 2018

It was just a guess to try Dows Lake.  We parked at the Arboretum and went down the hill to the lake after spotting a few birds in the crab apple trees.

It was very chilly down by the lake.  There were many Hooded and Common Mergansers along with a few Common Goldeneyes.

Other common ducks were American Black, Green Winged Teal and, of course, Mallard.

Hudsonian Godwit at Black Rapids

October 22, 2018

We got a RBA that a godwit had been seen at Black Rapids.  We decided to go for it, and to avoid traffic, we went via Fallowfield Rd.  At the corner of Woodroffe, Barbara spoted a large raptor perched in a tree.  Bingo, the first Rough-legged Hawk of the season.

We got to Black Rapids and looked around a bit.  We crossed the locks and saw a birder with a scope - Richard Waters.   He told us that there had been lots of peeps, all spooked by a Peregrine.   We were about to give up when he whistled for us to come back to the locks.  There was the Hudsonian Godwit right below us in the shallow water.

Here is a video of the Hudsonian Godwit probing for food.

https://youtu.be/Vu3LX-9DgGc

After taking a ton of photos, we thanked Richard and said goodbye.  But wait.  here come the peeps back  A flock of perhaps 30 Pectoral Sandpipers with a dozen or so Killdeers.  So we hung around for another 20 minutes photographing them while other birders, including Michael Tate, arrived.