Ottawa-Gatineau Christmas Bird Count

 December 20, 2020

This is our third count in the Britannia Sector under the leadership of Bruce Di Labio.  We were on our own this time due to Covid-19.

We began in Clyde Woods at 7:30 am.  It was snowing lightly and it soon picked up.

We headed east through the woods and continued on the paved path.  We got some finches and cardinals and many many crows.  By the townhouses, we encountered 100 Rock Pigeons.

We turned around and followed the path west to Maitland and back, checking out all the feeders in peoples backyards as the snow picked up.

We got back to the car to dry off and warm up.  Then we headed over to Hampton Park.

Here we did well on woodpeckers, seeing 2 each of Hairy and Pileated.

We were heading back towards the car when we heard a bunch of crows cawing loudly.  That only means one thing, and Bill spotted the Barred Owl up in a Pine Tree.

After that, we went for lunch, then headed out to Black Rapids lock station.  There was a single Common Goldeneye, hundreds of Mallards and 14 Blacks.

We went across the road to the Greenbelt Pathway, but it was disappointingly quiet.  We drove back to Elmhurst Park to check the feeder, and did see a few birds.  Our last stop was Pinecrest Creek near Sean's, where we got more feeder birds and 20 Mallards in the creek.

We were exhausted, but pleased with our efforts.