Ottawa Area Birding: Crysler and Nearby Lagoons with JC Birding

August 9, 2022

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

The weather forecast indicated that the damp weather should end in the morning and to expect highs of 24, well they were so wrong. We had misty damp conditions to a light rain pretty much all day and the sun might have made an appearance for 5 minutes. I think everyone but me had proper footwear on, that is rain boots or the like. I wore running shoes and yes my shoes and socks were soaked when I returned home. But I definitely was not uncomfortable. Everyone had rain jackets and some even took them off for a spell. I wore a sweater along with my rain jacket all day and I was not hot at all. So much for complaining

We met at Elmvale Acres shopping centre at 7:30 and since we were six, two vehicles were needed. Barb C and Bill were the drivers. We headed directly to Crysler and parked the abattoir / butcher shop lot. On the bridge looking at the river, Bill pointed out our first Spotted Sandpiper, there was also a Great Blue Heron wading in the water. Looking the other way, more Spotted Sandpipers and in the distance Canada Geese, Double Crested Cormorants and what looked like Lesser Yellowlegs. A Belted Kingfisher flew by. Above, we saw Tree Swallows flying about as they hawked for insects.

We drove to the area where we could see the dam, my goodness, lots of water was flowing over the dam, I suspect it was a result of all the rain we had in the past few days. More Spotted Sandpipers, mainly juveniles and lots of Killdeer. A few Lesser Yellowlegs and a single Solitary Sandpiper. We were all very intent at checking the shorebirds out, when along came an elder gent Paul Schoening (he mentioned his age 85+), whom we have met before while birding in the exact same spot. He told us all about the local hotspots and some of the birding history of the spots. We wanted to go to the abandoned Hansen Brick Quarry, Paul told us how to get there.

We then went to the Crysler Lagoon. On the road going to the lagoon, we saw a Black & White Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Purple Finch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Barn Swallow and heard a Common Raven. We finally got to the lagoon and Ken said we should take our time walking to the edge so as not to scare the waterfowl and shorebirds. We did this and we saw so many shorebirds, in fact it was the birdiest shorebird place I have been to in Ottawa in all the years of birding. We hit pay dirt big time. Ken and I saw what we thought was a Short-billed Dowitcher (time will tell with all the photos taken). Then we saw a Black-bellied Plover in full breeding plumage. Eleanor spotted a Red-neck Phalarope in non-breeding plumage. Finally getting to the edge we focused on all the shorebirds -- Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers and Pectoral Sandpipers. We moved to another side of the lagoon to get closer, our presence did not seem to bother the shorebirds one little bit. Only ducks in the lagoon and not all that many of them were Wood Ducks and Mallards with a couple of fly by Blue-wing Teal. The shorebirds way out numbered the ducks. Overhead we saw a mature Bald Eagle. Bill walked to the other lagoon and reported Mallards and Pied-billed Grebes. I went to join him but never got there, Bill said not all that great. In the sky we saw a Juvenile Bald Eagle.

We spent a couple of hours at this lagoon, it was time for lunch. There was an extra long park bench that could accommodate 4 of us easily, Bill and Barb C brought out their own chairs. A Eastern Phoebe flew in while we were eating. As we were going to the vehicles, Ken pointed out a Northern Harrier.

After lunch we decided to go to the other Crysler Lagoons, which are also known as the St Albert Lagoons. We drove up and there was a Kestrel at the far end of the first lagoon. Off Ken, Barbara and Bill go, Bill comes back and says there was also a Merlin near where the Kestrel was spotted. Not the shorebird variety as the first lagoon, but we did see maybe 5 Ruddy Ducks and 6 or 8 Pied-billed Grebes. We walked to a dried up lagoon, nothing really except a Monarch Butterfly visiting the flowers. Barbara, Ken and Bill started off down the area between the four lagoons, Ken wanted better photos of the Grebes. We joined them when we saw that they were very focused and taking photos of something. The 'something' turned out to be a Marsh Wren, there were a number of them singing in two lagoons. Some were quite cooperative (for wrens that is). I was looking in one direction and when I turned - Bill, Barbara, Eleanor and Barb were looking into the reeds, Mmm wonder what they have, Sora, good one. It always stayed in the reeds but it was obviously a Sora. Bill looked to the other side of the lagoons and spotted an American Coot. Bill heard a Virginia Rail in the same area.

We left the lagoons just in time, a sanitation truck came to make a donation into the lagoons.

Next we decided to drive to the abandoned Hanson Brick Quarry. It was raining so we decided not to take Paul's advice about the best way to get to the quarry. On the way to the quarry we spotted 4 Wild Turkeys. Well Paul was totally correct, no access to the quarry from the road. But Paul did tell them where and what path to take for the quarry. He said just opposite the cemetery, he indicated it could be a long walk. For a guy who is 85+ it might have been a long walk, but it really wasn't, maybe 10 minutes. We got to the quarry and we saw a large pond of water with no sandy edges, we did have a lot of rain. What we did see were a couple of Double-crested Cormorants, Mallards and Yellowlegs. Barbara went off wandering, and said to us "guys there is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird here", but it was long gone when I joined her. I think it was Eleanor (she brought her scope) who spotted what we initially thought was a Red-tailed Hawk - it was far, even for a scope. She kept watching the hawk turned out to be a juvenile Black-crowned Night heron.

Walking back to the car, a Great Pyrenees (Eleanor had read Jon Ruddys' post about this dog) jumped the fence and was barking like mad at us. It did not growl or try to bite us. The rain started again. We discussed where we should go next, the time was shortly after 3:00. We decided to check out the cemetery, maybe some birds there. We checked all around for birds, but nothing new. Barbara and Bill found Jonathon Petrie's (Butterfly boy) headstone. Walking back to the vehicles we saw a Turkey Vulture lurking above the cemetery.

We headed back to Elmvale Acres. We were almost at the 417 when this woman decided not to look for oncoming cars, just drove out and into our lane. Thanks to Bill's alertness, quick thinking and the space in the turning lane, we were not hit. I am sure the woman had no clue what she did. But for each of us, our hearts were beating a bit faster.

Good day for birding. Eleanor had indicated she wanted to see shorebirds on the last outing, we aimed to please and we definitely got a lot of shorebirds.