Anniversary Birding to Murphy’s Point and Chaffey’s Locks

May 13-14 2019

We picked two rainy days for our trip, so birding was tough.  We finished with 40 species, missing many of the warblers. We drove to Murphy’s Point via Perth and picked up our day use permit.  Last year there was some good birding right around the office, but this year we only got a Common Loon and Song Sparrow.

So we drove to Lally’s homestead and tried to bird by the parking lot, where we saw a Brown Thrasher and Yellow Warbler.  The rain got heavier, so we got in the van and ate our lunch, waiting it
out.

Finally, the rain slowed to a drizzle, so we hiked the Silver Queen trail.  A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was singing loudly, but other songbirds were mostly absent.  At the mine, we had a Yellow-rumped Warbler and an Ovenbird.  On the return trip, we twice heard a Ruffed grouse drum and had great views of an Eastern Towhee.

Back at the van, we saw several Brown Thrashers flying about.  We hiked the Lally Homestead trail adding an American Redstart.

We drove to the Group Campground road, which had been so productive last year, but we were only able to add a Blue Jay and an Eastern Phoebe despite hiking all the way to the lake.  Barbara discovered a long length of discarded fishing line, which she brought back for disposal.

We drove to Chaffeys’ Locks and checked in to our cabin at the Opinicon Hotel.  It continued raining, so we stayed in until dinner time.  When we went for dinner at the Dining Room, we saw a Great Blue Heron on the dock and starlings on the lawn.

The next day, the poor weather continued, so we decided to forgo the canoeing this year.  Instead, we birded around the grounds picking up some waterfowl on the lake and a Pine Warbler behind the cabins.

We checked out and drove to the Cataraqui Trail at the Indian Lake Road.

We hiked all the way to the Rideau Trail crossing and back.  We saw a Common Yellowthroat, a pair of Black and White Warblers and a couple of Ovenbirds.  Other good sightings included a Scarlet Tanager, Great Crested Flycatcher and a Swamp Sparrow.

We then drove down the Queens University Biological Station road and had superb views of a Blackburnian Warbler.

There was no Cerulean at Skycroft but a friendly camper alerted us to some Baltimore Orioles.

Before heading home, we wanted to check out the eBird hotspot on Canoe Lake Road, which was somewhat out of our way.  We did not see much, but at least heard a Louisiana Waterthrush.

 Our final sighting was a couple of Wild Turkeys as we were heading to Westport.

1. Canada Goose
2. American Crow
3. Red-winged Blackbird
4. Common Raven
5. Common Loon
6. Turkey Vulture
7. Black-capped Chickadee
8. American Robin
9. Northern Flicker
10. Song Sparrow
11. Brown Thrasher
12. Yellow Warbler
13. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
14. Yellow-rumped Warbler
15. Ovenbird
16. Ruffed Grouse (H)
17. Eastern Towhee
18. American Restart
19. Mallard
20. Common Gallinule (H)
21. Blue Jay
22. Tree Swallow
23. Eastern Phoebe
24. Great Blue Heron
25. European Starling
26. Bufflehead
27. Hooded Merganser
28. Pine Warbler
29. Rock Pigeon
30. Chipping Sparrow
31. Common Grackle
32. Common Yellowthroat
33. Scarlet Tanager
34. Black and White Warbler
35. Swamp Sparrow
36. Great Crested Flycatcher
37. Blackburnian Warbler
38. Baltimore Oriole
39. Louisiana Waterthrush (H)
40. Wild Turkey