October 19, 2022
Birding Report by Jane Burgess
We - Ken, Eleanor, Barb, Sami,
Lynne and me - met at Mud Lake at 8:00. There were lots of Mallards on
the shore, and Canada Geese on the lake, with a scope we found a
Pied-billed Grebe, Wood Duck and two Wigeon. Ken was anxious to check
out the berm because there were some good warblers reported in the past
week, sadly we just got to see many many Yellow-rumped Warblers. We saw
Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and two Red-winged Blackbirds high up
on the top of a tall tree. There seemed to be a small flock of American
Robins flying about.
I had to go back to the
car since I had forgotten to bring my phone - I had told the Bowmans
that they could contact me when they arrived. On my return Eleanor and
Barb were looking at something on the ground, lucky me I got to see it
-- weasel. I never liked weasels, but looking on the internet I found
they eat chipmunks and squirrels, mmm we could use less of those
rodents. Unfortunately none of the photographers were around. Looking
down at the Ottawa River, we saw literally no birds - strange. There
was a small flock of American Goldfinch flying about. We walked back to
the car area and then to the river, found 2 very still Mallards, Ken
said they looked like decoys.
Walking toward
the filtration plant we saw an Eastern Phoebe. I received a call from
Bill saying they had arrived, I told him where we were. Lynne and I
noticed a Red Fox - I called Ken and Sami to turn around. They did and
got some good photos. Then the fox trotted off to the wooded area. Ken
and Sami followed suit but to no avail. Then I saw what I thought was
the fox's mate up ahead of us. We kept walking and for some reason we
turned and the fox came out of the woods and started rubbing a tree, it
would stop and look at us, finally it trotted off toward the filtration
plant and passed another photographer by maybe 3 feet. Ken followed,
Sami said he did not need any more photos, he took lots.
Lynne
spotted a very focused Woodpecker drilling a hole in a small branch.
Not sure how the photos will look since there were lots of branches.
Ken, Bill and Barbara came walking up with smiles on their faces - guess
they were happy with their fox photos. A very small flock of Dark-eyed
Juncos flew in and then we saw even more walking on the path behind the
filtration plant. Ken was ahead of me and I said to him, that bird was
too big for a Junco, it flew maybe 2 feet from me at eye level. Ken
asked Barb how big was that bird, Blue Jay size was the response.
Merlin, not sure if it caught a Junco or not because we could not find
it.
Walking to Mud Lake, two Wood Ducks come
waddling toward us, they expected a hand out, sorry that did not
happen. Two Wigeon were at the water's edge under a bushy area. Ken
said he got an ID photo of a Great Egret. Walking towards the car, I
was looking at all the maple trees, and the different colors of yellows,
oranges and reds, a beautiful time of year. I think the fall colours
are just beyond their peak.
While we were doing
the bird list, Bill and Barbara went up to check out the berm. Bill
came back and reported seeing a Cape May Warbler - darn for the rest of
us. We decided we would go to Andrew Haydon Park, there we saw
Green-winged Teal, Red-breasted Mergansers, Great Blue Heron, a Great
Black-back Gull in the distance and a Herring Gull near the far path. I
watched a Ring-billed Gull harass a Wood Duck, maybe it had a small
morsel of food that the Gull want or maybe it was just being a big
bully.
Bill and Barbara had gone to Fletcher
Wildlife Garden on Tuesday and were not interested in seeing that area
again, so they headed to Shirley's Bay. Barb C. joined them there and
said she would join Ken, Sami, Lynne and I later. Off to Fletcher
Wildlife Garden we went, at the garden we saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch,
lots of Black-capped Chickadees and a lone Evening Grosbeak, thanks to
Sami. We had heard from others at the garden there were good birds at
the Butterfly Gardens. Before going to the Butterfly Garden, lunch was
in order. Ken and I were chit chatting and decided Barb C had decided
not to join us, and who should drive in Barb C. She reported that she
had seen a Double-crested Cormorant and Blue-winged Teal
Now
I am not at all sure if I like the 'wildlife garden', it seems too
cultivated to me, but there are lots of paths. But the Butterfly Garden
is wonderful, lots of good habitat for our feathered friends and
definitely for butterflies. They did a great job. We walked the paths
and came upon White-crowned Sparrows. Again a small flock of American
Robin were there along with a couple of absolutely beautiful Blue
Jays. Barb and I decided we should investigate why the American Crows
were making such a fuss. While going there Barb C, not totally aware of
what she was trying to walk through, came out the other side with lots
of burdock burrs on her. The plants were taller than her!!! They were
in her hair, her silk scarf tied around her neck and mostly her gloves
that she moved the burdock plants with. I received a phone call from
Ken who said he was watching a Nashville Warbler, I indicated we were
investigating the crowing. After a good search, we came up with, it
must have been the American Crows' night roost.
We
went over to say goodbye to Ken, Barb and I were going to check out the
garden once again. I ended up going home, lucky Barb found a Wood
Thrush and a Cedar Waxwing.
I was home for maybe 10 minutes when I had to get back into the car and drive to Richmond to pick up one of my granddaughters.
The
weather was rather cool, most had hats and warm gloves on. Yeah I did
not have a hat nor did I have warm gloves. From now on I have to accept
the warm weather is behind us and the cool to cold weather is here.
Species Noted
- Ring-billed Gull
- White-throated Sparrow
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Red-winged Blackbird
- American Robin
- Wood Duck
- Mallard
- American Wigeon
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Great Egret
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Canada Goose
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- American Goldfinch
- European Starling
- American Crow
- Cape May Warbler
- Merlin
- House Finch
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Green Winged-Teal
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Common Raven
- EveningGrosbeak
- Nashville Warbler
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Mourning Dove
- Blue Jay
- Wood Thrush
- Cedar Waxwing
- Blue Winged-Teal
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