Ottawa Area Birding: Canoe Lake Road with JC Birding

May 27, 2021

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We had a fantastic day, it was long and quite cool ( 9 degrees then up to 16 and back to 11) for May but oh so satisfying. I did get sun on my face, the sun was out, but with all the trees, we were in the shade most of the time.

I met Bill and Barbara at Richmond Arena at 6:30 and then at 7:00 to 7:15 Anne and Ken at the Franktown park & ride. I allowed 30 or so minutes to drive down Franktown / Richmond Road, just in case we saw Upland Sandpiper or a Wilson's Snipe, we did not see either, but saw Eastern Meadowlark. We proceeded to Canoe Lake Road through Perth and then to Westport, missed #12 somehow, but did pick it up later.

Once on Canoe Lake Road, we stopped at the marsh and called Sora and Virginia Rail, no response. We heard singing up the hill, so we walked up to find Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo and Common Yellowthroat. Ken was a bit late joining us and he announced he had his first tick of the day, hence he took time to spray repellant and tuck his pants into his socks. We followed suit. We played Golden-winged Warbler as Bill's book indicated that they were found at the north end of Canoe Lake Road. No response. We all got into our cars and off we went, we might have been in the car for 2 minutes and while driving down the hill I heard 'the song'. Not much traffic so we all parked, oh I see a little bird, yes Golden-winged Warbler. We stayed around that area for at least an hour, I think there were two of them and they were very cooperative. Honestly it was the absolute best view of that bird for me. We also had Great-crested Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler and Chestnut-sided Warbler. We all heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, but it refused to come close.

We stopped for a turtle at a stand still in the middle of the road. I called Bill and said turtle is your department. But it did not need any assistance, it put on fast mode (for a turtle) and made it across the road without help. I stopped because I was not interested in seeing a squashed turtle.

Back in the cars and maybe another 2 minutes drive, we stopped again. I hear Fire, fire, where, where, here, here, Great, an Indigo Bunting (we had many over the course of the day). Can't get tired of seeing such a beautiful bird. I remember one time in Quebec, Connie and I were birding and we got an Indigo Bunting, after listening and looking Connie turns to me and says Jane stay a bit with this bird and bond with it, in others words get the song into your thick skull, because every time I would hear that song, I would ask what is that bird. Until Rick told me about fire, fire.... I never got it. Now that bird can just sing a partial song and I know I have an Indigo Bunting.

Barbara does her own thing, wandering ahead of us, she points to the sky. An Osprey flying by, a little bit later we see the Osprey carrying a huge stick back, guessing that it is nesting material. I would not want to be a baby osprey, sticks that size must be uncomfortable, but then they might not even know that concept. Barbara points again, Turkey Vulture lower in the sky and a Red-tailed Hawk much higher.

Bill was getting anxious about getting to the point where we would potentially see the Louisiana Waterthrush, so we drove to 10201 Canoe Lake Road. He played the Louisiana Waterthrush song, I played the Black-throated Green Warbler song. Neither would come out, but the Black-throated Green just kept on singing. We decided to have lunch at the mouth of the lane and then we went down the lane. As I am a little paranoid about ticks, I turned around, not comfortable with the thought of a tick making friends with me. The others walked to almost the end, where Bill said a thrush flew by and thought with maybe 95% confidence (can't get away from Statistics Canada) that it was the Louisiana Waterthrush. I kept myself occupied at the road by photographing an Indigo Bunting.

We heard a rather fast song and I said to Bill what is that song? his response, maybe a Scarlet Tanager, he was right.

All of a sudden a small raptor flew by at eye level not that far from me and past the others really fast with pointed wings - Merlin. We walked up the hill to see what other new birds we could get while Ken was talking to a guy at the end of his laneway. Ken was telling him we would really like to see a Cerulean Warbler, the man whose name is David said that a number of years ago a Phd student did a study and found many Cerulean Warblers at the back of his property. He invited us to check it out. Well of course we took up the offer. Not far on David's laneway a Ruffed Grouse was walking along the laneway, beauty. The laneway was an interesting drive, up steep hills to wonder if the road was straight or curved at the top, many sharp turns, but very well maintained, David did say he spent a whole lot of money for the gravel. Once we got to the end, we all got out and heard a short emphatic song - Least Flycatcher. Ken had indicated one bird he would like to get on this outing was an Eastern Towhee, he found a small area right off the laneway that reminded him of the spot we go to on Thomas Dolan, sure enough he heard one and it was visible to all. Walking around the turn around, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird made an appearance. I think it was Barbara that pointed out the toad and said don't step on the toad, of course photo op.

Back on the road, we stop at the bottom of the hill near an old barn and Barbara is doing her thing and says Barn Swallows, why do you say that, well there is a barn and they are swallows, she was totally correct. Barn Swallows were nesting in the barn and bringing food to their little ones. We watched them for a while with the hope one that would land closer and sure enough one lands on the hydro wire for a minute or so and then off he goes. I mentioned to the others when I stopped the car, the horse in the paddock lifted its head and neighed, so of course I neighed back. While going back to the cars, the homeowner where the horse was, drove into the laneway, the horse neighed and galloped along with the car, neighing. What a wonderful way to be greeted when coming home. Obviously lots of love between the horse and owner.

We are at another spot on Canoe Lake Road when this old battered car stops and the man inside tells us that the property on both sides of the road belongs to him and it is private property and we were not welcome to go on it. Okay, we think, then he goes on to say if we see any good bird, just go back and ask he or his wife for permission. Contradiction. He had seen happier days, in other words he was a bit grumpy. He drives on and obviously turns around, stops to tell us that in 15 or 20 minutes a lot of cars would be coming along. We all had the same thought he was just saying move along. Needless to say there was no rush hour and we just continued birding. Some locals are just colourful!

At another spot, we stopped and while getting out of the car, Anne beckoned for all of us to come, she was the last car in our group. She said a Barred Owl flew up beside our cars and then in front of her went into the woods. It stayed long enough for her to take photos, but we did not see it. Bill plays Barred Owls and all of a sudden it very quietly flies across the road, it answers the song many times but stays its distance. At the same stop we heard or at least we thought we heard, another Red-eyed Vireo in a dead tree. Bill looks up and says no Yellow-throated Vireo, I had forgotten they sound so similar or truthfully maybe i did not even know. I rdo emember birding with Susan G and she said "listen" the Yellow-throated Vireo is slower to answer. All those Red-eyed Vireos we heard driving the road, I wonder how many were Yellow-throated. Will I remember the song difference? who knows. It is a difficult one for me to differentiate - play the songs if you can and let me know if you can hear the difference.

It's now about 5:30 and I ask about our evening meal, we all seem to be a bit tired. We found an area where we could all pull in, right next to Canada Post's neighbour box to have our dinner. I decided I needed to take a short drive up to a private lane, but instead I found a church near a cemetery with an outhouse behind it. Good information for the next trip.

Around 6:30 we decided it was time to go home. Anne went straight ahead while we turned around. For me it was so difficult not to stop seeing many birds flying around, but I really should get home. We took the Perth route home. The construction that we had to deal with getting to Canoe Lake Road was stopped for the day, so it just meant we had to drive slower rather than wait for the oncoming traffic.

Traditionally when I do this outing with Barb C and Connie we always stop at Moodie Pond. So I did so, and I saw a couple of Gadwall, Mallard and lone Canada Goose and some yellowlegs, could not identify which type, a tern, could not identify it and lots of ducks at the far corner to the right.

Now this is generally where my story ends. I got home at 8:30, made a nice cup of tea because I was so cold due to the Moody Drive stop and spent some time with my dearly beloved. I finally crawl into bed at 10:20, close my eyes and what do I see? trees, trees and more trees and a few birds. I could not turn off the whole day's experience. Such a fantastic day.