Ottawa Area Birding: Gananoque Lake Nature Reserve to Bellamy Lake with JC Birding

July 12, 2022

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We met at my home at 7:00, Barb insisted the weather would be good with the possibility of some light showers. We drove for 1 1/4 hours to Mallorytown, then we started to bird. It started with the usual suspects - American Robin, European Staring, Yellow Warbler, Blue Jay, Eastern Kingbird. We stopped and saw a Brown Thrasher in the distance and heard a Hermit Thrush and House Wren. A bit further up we saw lots of Bobolinks and a couple Eastern Bluebirds on the hydro lines (we saw Bluebirds on 4 different occasions). Today we got to see little older juvenile Barn Swallows and the Eastern Meadowlarks were singing both the spring song and fall song.

We stopped to determine if the bird singing was a Song or Savannah Sparrow, but got distracted when we saw two Killdeer. We heard Gray Catbird and so I decided to play it to see if the Catbird would come in. Instead the Killdeer took off like a shot, guess they don't like Catbirds. Brown-headed Cowbirds were showing why they are called Cowbirds (check Barbara's photos) or at least that is what I thought (Barb and I did not see them). Turns out Bill has a sense of humour. Barbara had taken them while she was in Ottawa, so they were not seen on the outing and not on our list of species noted.

Once again we saw Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (saw them on 2 stops) high up almost to the top of dead trees. We always look at the hummingbird feeders while birding, but so far this year no luck looking there. We were stopped to look at a Cedar Waxwing and a Broadwing Hawk flew by carrying his catch of the day. No time for photos, we just enjoyed the moment. Later we saw another Broadwing Hawk, who knows if it was the same one. At the same stop we heard then saw Indigo Buntings. We had really good luck with these birds since we saw them 5 different times. Who gets tired of looking at these beauties?

We finally reached our destination - the place we always see Cerulean Warblers. Starting down the trail Barb heard tapping, but we just could not find the source of the tapping. Teacher, teacher, teacher -- Ovenbird, who was too shy to come and join us. Barb spotted a Scarlet Tanager, male. Both Bill and I had difficulty locating it, but we finally got a glimpse and it moved on. Barb then said there is a female as well, she was a bit easier to see. What kept us company on the trail were so many deer flies, horseflies and mosquitoes. We all had doosed ourselves with insect repellant, but those bugs were just persistent. One of the brothers who lives at the end of the road, stopped to tell Bill we parked in a no parking spot. When Barb parked we made sure we were not near a No Parking sign because there were No trespassing signs. Barb parked well away from the Private property signs but there absolutely no No parking signs. Oh well, it is nice to know we were totally right and he was wrong. The guy and his brother are a bit weird!! We played Cerulean Warbler a lot, but sadly we came and went and saw no Cerulean Warblers. Now this year we came about one month later than we normally do, so next year we have to keep this in mind. Walking back to the car, Bill said to me "I hear a Red-bellied Woodpecker", we played it, and heard it again, but no it did not come in to see what was up. At the car, we heard and saw a female Purple Finch and then we heard and saw an Eastern Towhee.

I saved the best part of the story until now, while walking in the woods, I stepped off the trail and played the Merlin Bird ID app - Sound ID. It indicated a fantastic bird, I said Yellow-billed Cuckoo. We all had heard the sound, Bill very quickly played the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and said there it is. Barb and l very quickly moved to where Bill was and yes, it was high in a tree and it had moved so we could all see it well. I went to take a photo and I guess the bird wanted to move again, never to be seen. But we were all so happy. It has been several years since seeing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Not sure if a Yellow-billed Cuckoo trumps a Cerulean Warbler, but for sure the Yellow-billed Cuckoo was THE bird of the day.

Bill wanted to check out the lake where the owner of the building said we were welcome any time. We drove down the wrong road, but soon remembered where the correct road was. Barb was not at all sure she should be driving down the road as it did not look like it had been driven on in some time, the vegetation at the centre of the road was rather long. We got to the end and both Barb and I were hesitant about getting out. Bill said he would go check out the lake, to see if there was a Common Loon. Yeah, he did not get to the lake, the deer flies and horse flies thought he should be their lunch, he was back in the car in a very short time. He definitely took one for the team and we thank you Bill.

It started to rain lightly when we got to the swampy area on Black Rapids Road. Fine, we can just have lunch no problem and not lose any birding time. But that being said Bill was checking out the pond, particularly the heronry (see his photos). The light rain did not last very long. The pond was overgrown with pond lilies, but we were able to see, with the use of our scopes, some Mallards, Wood Ducks and Canada Geese and of course lots of Red-winged Blackbirds swimming around the vegetation, well not the Red-winged Blackbirds. Along the side of the road I asked Bill what a yellow flower that had large leaves was and rather tall. Bill is a wealth of knowledge and sure enough he had the answer. It is a member of the sunflower family and is called Elecampane also called horse-heal or elfdock. We also heard Bullfrogs and Green frogs at the swamp. A female Scarlet Tanager was seen here as well.

Driving to our next destination of Bellamy Lake, we saw a Kestrel on the hydro line, nope we did not stop for photos. Barb wanted to be homeward bound by 3:00. Once we reached the lake, Barb slowed down to determine where we should park. We saw two Green Herons on the hydro lines, and of course they flew once we were parked. Two swans out in the open water we assumed were both Mute, but once one had lifted its head out of the water, it became a Trumpeter Swan. The scopes came in handy, we saw two Common Gallinules, and a Pied -billed Grebe. Heard an American Bittern and Swamp Sparrows. We called Virginia Rail and Sora, but no answer. Good stop.

Between Smith Falls and Old Richmond Road it started to pour for about 10 minutes. On the way home we stopped at Cambrian Road to see the Ospreys and got a bonus -- a Purple Finch (2nd one of the day).

Good day of birding, happy to see the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, disappointed in not seeing the Cerulean Warbler. It was the best day, numbers wise. First time hitting 60 species.