Eardley-Masham Road and Steele Line

 January 30, 2021

We dropped off a birthday gift for Miller in Aylmer where they had a huge number of starlings in their tree.

While there, we headed out to the Eardley Escarpment to look for hawks and eagles.  We took a tour of the farm fields with no results, then checked out Thérien for eagles.  No luck, but we heard a Pileated Woodpecker.  A member of the Outaouais club came by and gave us a tip about Snow Buntings and we met him again later on Steele, where he told us about a Bald Eagle.  Well, we did not find it, but did get on a small flock of redpolls, which included a hoary.

It was a nice drive in the country, but the sightings were slim.

Snow Buntings - YES, Harriers - NO

 January 27, 2021

We went looking for  Northern Harriers that had been reported on Aikins and also Triangle.  So we drove to Shea and Aikins where we saw plenty of Snow Buntings, but no harrier.

So, we drove north on Shea to Abbott, then east to Triangle - nada.  Oh well, it was a long shot.  We took Terry Fox north to March and carried on to check out Hilda.  Lots of common species, but nothing rare, except perhaps the White-throated Sparrow.

Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais

 January 25, 2021

A Black Vulture first reported near Farrelton, Quèbec, had not been reported since January 15, but since we were travelling in the neighbourhood, we decided to have a look.  We drove up the west side of the Gatineau River on Chemin de la Rivière.  Well, we did not see our Vulture, but did have some interesting sightings.  Chief of which, was a Bald Eagle on the frozen Gatineau River near Alcove.

We proceeded along Chemin de la Rivière to the barn where the Black Vulture had been seen.  

We travelled around some of the back roads, and went over the newly refurbished Farrelton bridge.

We had our lunch and spotted a large black bird on a hydro pylon.  It was a Common Raven.

We decided to return the way we had come, and to our surprise, the Bald Eagle was on the ice with some ravens.  They were gathering and eating some river flotsam. Just when we thought the show was over, a second eagle swooped in and interacted with the first, which then retreated to a pine tree nearby.

A very interesting excursion!

White-winged Crossbills on Crazy Horse Trail

 January 24, 2021

We have been using the eBird link Colin sent us to explore where White-winged Crossbills have been seen around Ottawa lately.  There have been frequent sighting earlier in the month, but not so many lately.  We tried a two-day old sighting at Old Quarry Trail the other day without success.  But today, I saw a sighting of five at Crazy Horse Trail this very day!

Coincidently, Kirk called to suggest  trail hike to celebrate Sam's birthday.  He was looking for suggestions around here, so I said let's try Crazy Horse.  So we all met a the trailhead and went for a hike.  Imagine or surprise wen we came upon a flock of crossbills feeding on pine cones. Bingo.

We had a very enjoyable hike with family, including their new dog, Molly, all keeping proper social distancing, of course.

Tufted Titmouse in Kars

 January 23, 2021

A Tufted Titmouse has been reported on and off on the eBird Rare Bird Alert at 1533 Commodore, Kars, Ottawa, Ontario.  Since it was -16, we decided a little car birding would be a good idea.

We bundled up anyway, since we had to prepare for a wait at the feeders.  Fortunately, there was a vacant lot next to 1553, which allowed us to see into the back yard.

We did not have to wait too long before our target showed up, but it always came to the right feeder which was partially obscured.  It came in about 3 times while we were there, and we finally got good views.

It was a very active feeder station with many common visitors.

A cold but successful wait.

Completing the Section of Rideau Trail by Snowshoe

 January 17, 2021

We parked on Joy's Road and hiked the blue side trail to the junction, turned left, and went as far as the hydro line. It was heavy going in the fresh snow.

Birds were scarce except near feeders where we parked.

Both coming and going, however, we saw some large flocks of Snow Buntings.