Our stay at the Opinicon Hotel was cancelled due to Corvid-19, so we converted our plan to a long day trip.
We go off to a good start when we spotted a perched Red-tailed Hawk along Highway 7.
We got to Murphy's Point and were surprised to see it completely closed; the government spokesman had said parks would be open. No matter, we were going to the Silver Creek Mine area.
We looked around the parking area, then were drawn to a singing Eastern Towhee across the road.
We started down the trail then took the branch that was the Rideau Trail. It was very attractive.
Field Sparrows were singing close by.
Barbara saw a rock and some moss she liked.
We saw quite a few Eastern Phoebes and Song Sparrows, and a distant Red-eyed Vireo.
We took the trail back to our car, and saw a Chipping Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and Eastern Kingbird.
We went to Narrows Lock and had lunch at a picnic table. We saw another phoebe and some Yellow-rumped Warblers, but did not bother with photos.
Turtles were out basking. Newborn goslings were out for a swim.
After lunch, we headed to Chaffey's Lock. The Opinicon Hotel was closed up tight. We parked at the Indian Lake Road and hiked a portion of the Cataraqui Trail. It was very quiet, but we did spot some butterflies and Black-and-White Warblers. There were several low-flying Turkey Vultures.
We returned to our car and drove to the Queen's U. Biological Station road. We did better with mammals than birds.
We carried on the Opinicon Road, stopping for a wetlands with a muskrat, and for active nest boxes with Tree Swallows.
We came to the Skycroft Campground road and went for a hike.
Wild Leeks were growing in profusion, but we knew not to pick any. We finally saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a few woodpeckers.
We enjoyed our hike on the Red Gate trail. Back at the car, we did hear a Cerulean Warbler sing, but were unable to spot it. What looked like another phoebe across the road, turned out to be an Eastern Wood Pewee.
We stopped at a small cemetery where we saw a Broad-winged Hawk fly over.
Also at the cemetery, there were fields on both sides of the road where Queens was studying nesting Tree Swallows with many nest boxes. We noticed many of the swallows were mating, so we include a series of action photos.
By this time, it was quite late in the afternoon, so we headed for home through Westport.
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