Another Red-bellied Woodpecker

 November 25, 2020

We were at home in the afternoon when an RBA came in from Jon Ruddy that he had a male Red-bellied Woodpecker on Chemin Houle near the COO bird feeder in Aylmer.  Off we went 

We parked near the bird feeder and staked it out for 20 minutes without result.  Barbara went down the bike path while Bill stayed put.  Then Jon came along and we discussed the bird and other birding issues.  Suddenly, he spotted the Red-bellied flying across and landing fairly high up in a nearby tree.

Barbara hurried to join us and just got a glimpse before it took off. We waited for quite some time, but we did not see it again. We made a plan to return when the sun shines, so we might obtain better photos. Meanwhile, we checked out the excellent feeder.  Note that COO has another identical feeder at the foot of Vanier Road close by.

Black Rapids Creek Trail

 November 21, 2020

We wanted a short hike close to home, so went to Black Rapids to hike a trail behind Country Place that we had never done before.

We first checked the river.  There was not much except a couple of Common  Goldeneyes.

We crossed the closed bridge and found ourselves on a private driveway. So we had to cross Prince of Wales and walk back to the start of the trail; we won't do that again!  We did see a White-breasted Nuthatch at least.

The trail started out beside a corn field far from the creek.  So we went down a steep path to check it out.  No birds, though.

Back on the main path, we saw a trio of Hairy Woodpeckers and a Pileated Woodpecker that had flown over earlier.

We saw a flock of redpolls, but they were high in the tree tops and hard to photograph. But Barbara persisted and got some ID shots.

We went as far as Merivale Road, then turned and headed back.  This time, we saw about 10 Mallards & Black Ducks feeding in the creek.

Some song birds were flitting about the shore past the Mallards. Although distant, we were pretty sure they were American Tree Sparrows.

Then Bill spotted a couple of Muskrats on the far shore and a Blue Jay.

A little farther along, we saw a Beaver dining on a stick and a second one pulling a a long pole down the far bank.

A very interesting hike.  Some people we met told us about a fox and an otter.  Next time.

A 7-Goose Day with JC Birding

 November 18, 2020

We met at Nolan Quarry at 8:00 am.  Barb C and Jane were already there and Ken came shortly after us.

The Bean Goose had already left for the fields, so we did too.  Sure was hard getting up and down that steep bank.

We followed Ken to Milton Road the back way in case we intercepted our targets.  We parked along Milton road and scoped the distant geese.  Barbara spotted a couple of Rough-legged Hawks. Margaret and Connie joined us.

Finally Ken and Jane spotted the two Greater White-fronted Geese that had been reported. They were sleeping on the far  bank of the creek.

We moved to Perrault and Connie treated us to her home-made muffins.

Ken got a message that the Bean Goose and Ross's Goose had returned to Nolan, so off we went to repeat the big climb, although Barbara and Connie stayed down to check the roads.  The Bean Goose was actually quite close, so most of us were scoping the far side when Jane spotted it.  A distant blue-morph Snow Goose was also there.

We also spotted the Barnacle Goose, but were unable to get a photo this time.  Then came the tricky descent again.

Counting Canada and Cackling Geese, we already had our seven species!  The rest of the group had already seen large numbers of Snow Geese at Moose Creek lagoon, so we decided to head there on our own following Jane's directions. On the way, we saw a very large Coyote far off in a field.

We found the lagoon easily, but were a bit disappointed to see only 6 Snow Geese there, but there were many Common Redpolls along the fence.

Those six geese took off, but seemed to settle just across the road.  Indeed, there were several hundred over there, included quite a few juveniles.  We had a good look at a blue morph juvenile too.

Rather than taking the 417 home, we decided to take the back roads.  We were rewarded with another couple of Rough-legged Hawks.

Passing close to Embrun, we decided to drive by the sewage lagoons - a good move.  There were thousands of Snow Geese there.

We were well satisfied with our day!