Presqu’ile Park Day Trip March 20 2019

We had a 7:30 am start after scraping a thin layer off ice off the windows of the van.  The sun was rising as we made our way down Hwy 416.  It was easy going until we reached Hwy 401.   

Barbara spotted a couple of Red-tailed Hawks and a Raven’s nest on a communication tower.  

Other good sightings were a Pileated Woodpecker and flocks of Wild Turkeys.  A massive traffic jam at Kingston due to a lane closure cost us upwards of half an hour.  Crossing over the Cataraqui River, we saw a Trumpeter Swan, far below.

We made it to Presqu’ile Park, but could not read the instructions on the self serve registration machine because of the bright sunlight shining directly on the screen.  A park employee directed us to a trailer in the maintenance area where we were able to buy our seniors day pass.

We decided to bird Bayshore Road first.  We spotted many ducks and Mute Swans on the bay as we peered between the houses.  

We carried on to the government dock where we had fairly close views of thousands of diving ducks.  Most of these were Redheads and Greater Scaups, but there were also good numbers of Ring-necked Ducks and Canvasbacks.  

There were a few Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads, and a single White-winged Scoter.  

Soon we were joined on the dock by a young fellow, Matt, and our old buddy Dave Milsom.  They had driven down from Peterborough, and gave us a few tips about places to check.

We left our friends and carried down the rest of Bayshore Road, checking the many feeders.  They were mostly quiet, but we did see a Northern Cardinal and Downy Woodpecker at “The Birdhouse”.

It was lunch time, so we back-tracked and went to the Lighthouse for a picnic.  The waves on the exposed Lake Ontario made spotting the ducks difficult.  It was better from the blind beside the lighthouse, where we saw many dozens of Long-tailed Ducks.

Then it was off to the Calf Pasture for more duck viewing.  A parks truck was deliberately blocking the road at the overpass, forcing us to walk the short distance to the viewing area.  Here we saw more of the same diving ducks and also some dabblers – American Wigeons, Green-winged Teals, Mallards and American Black Ducks. 

I experimented with the digiscoping attachment for our scope, but found that the magnification obtained without the eyepiece made it not worthwhile. 

Then it was back for a second quick stop at the government dock.  We hoped that the ducks might be close if nobody was there, but that was not the case since there were other birders present. We saw a European Starling in the parking area.

We decided to check out Owen Point, but the trail was icy and views not good.  A military transport plane flew over low, as did several Ring-billed Gulls.

So, we left the park and drove over to Barcovan Beach Road (Dave’s recommendation) and Stoney Point Road on the other side of the bay.  As we parked the car, two Sandhill Cranes flew over.  

There were lots of ducks, but they were back lit, so difficult to see.  There appeared to be many more Buffleheads here as well as the divers.  We hiked around the roads a bit as there was lots of bird song, mostly cardinals and robins.

Finally, shortly before 4 pm, we started for home.  Barbara took a photo of the sunset, and remarked that we had seen both the sunrise and sunset on this first day of spring.  It was a very successful day of birding - 36 species.

Bird species observed

1. Wild Turkey

2. American Crow

3. Canada Goose

4. R ed-winged Blackbird

5. Pileated Woodpecker

6. Common Raven (nest)

7. Ring-billed Gull

8. Red-tailed Hawk

9. Trumpeter Swan

10. Turkey Vulture

11. Mute Swan

12. Blue Jay

13. Mourning Dove

14. American Robin

15. Common Grackle

16. Long-tailed Duck

17. Redhead

18. Canvasback

19. Greater Scaup

20. Ring-necked Duck

21. Bufflehead

22. Hooded Merganser

23. American Goldfinch

24. Downy Woodpecker

25. Northern Cardinal

26. White-breasted Nuthatch

27. Black-capped Chickadee

28. Mallard

29. American Black Duck

30. Green-winged Teal

31. Common Merganser

32. American Wigeon

33. Common Goldeneye

34. European Starling

35. Song Sparrow

36. Sandhill Crane