Loch Gary Trails and St. Isidore

 February 28, 2021

Loch Garry, just east of Alexandria, is an area we have never visited.  Also, a Black-backed Woodpecker was reported on one of the nature trails.  So, off we went in the fog.

We first hiked the purple trail, the Loch Garry Trail.  It was a lovely hike, but birds were pretty well absent. 

So we went east down the road to hike part of the yellow trail, the Garry Fen Trail.  We had been alone on the first trail, but this one was more poplar.  We even met Mark G coming out with his friends. They had done the whole 2 hr loop, and seen very few birds.  We decided to hike up past the fen, then turned back.

The deer was a nice find.  We'll be back to see those orchids!

The way home took us right past St. Isidore, so we gave the roads a quick look.  No owls this time, but lots of Horned Larks.

The big surprise was a tree with 4 perched adult Bald Eagles.

Mountain Provincial Wildlife Area

 February 26, 2021

After our success on the last outing, we decided to explore a new area to the south, the Mountain Provincial Wildlife Area, which looked like a large wetland on the topo map.  With subsequent research, we found that it had been called the Winchester Bog, but that it had been largely drained.

We accessed the area east of Hallville heading north on Development Road to a dead end.  The house where we parked had a great feeder station.

We briefly spotted some Evening Grosbeaks and could hear them twittering in the trees.

We could see a distant raptor, which was hard to ID.  But the photo proves it was a Merlin.

Barbara got a nice shot of an American Tree Sparrow and a dark photo of a Pine Grosbeak.

We did not have much time, but resolved to return in the spring to this good looking area.

Northern Hawk Owl - Metcalfe

 February, 24 2021

Jane and Ken had intel from Paul Lagasi on the whereabouts of a Northern Hawk Owl.  We left home at 8am and met them and Barb C. in Metcalfe. We went straight down Victoria St. to a street under construction, Andrew Simpson, where the subject bird was conveniently perched on a pole at the corner.

The owl took off and flew across the field.  We followed it down the road in hope of a better photo.

Where to go next?  We tried the cemetery, but got nothing.  Ken suggested the trail at Oschmann Forest at Ormond.  Along the way, we came upon a flock of Horned Larks - first for us!

The park was interesting, but not birdy. It was set up for maple sap collection.

Next stop was Reveler Conservation Area, where we grabbed a sandwich and hiked the trails.  Barbara B. got the prize when she spotted a Merlin.

 

We hiked part way around, then headed back.  Unfortunately, we missed the turnoff for the parking and went all the way around the loop again.  By then, we were tired, so finished our lunch and birded at the feeders in the lot before heading home.