Ottawa Area Birding: West Quebec with JC Birding

May 11, 2023

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Just Bill and I. I drove and did not get lost!! We turned onto Grimes, just before Alymer and I expected just a few birds and to be there no more than 15 minutes. Boy was I wrong. We stopped because we heard a Black-throated Green Warbler, but the first bird we saw was Blackburian, then a Magnolia, Northern Parula, looking a bit harder, Black & White Warbler and Tennessee. We looked up towards the sky and there were about 5 Chimney Swifts hawking for insects. Back to the cedar trees, we saw a Northern Cardinal and Chipping Sparrow and heard a House Wren. Oh that was nice, maybe we should turn around and see if the birds went to the otherside.

At this point we saw two Canada Goose statutes on both ends of a house roof. Like who would put Canada Goose statues on a roof, just plain weird!!! We turned around and stopped at the exact same place as we left. Now we see the Black-throated Green Warbler, another Blackburian, Nashville Warbler, a Blue-headed Vireo and a Cape May. We spent about 2 1/2 hours on the east side of Grimes. Bill went to photograph the Northern Flicker that just would not shut up and he says Jane those Canada Geese were not statues, they were the real thing. I don't think I have ever seen Canada Geese on the roof of a house. A Woman and her child came by walking their dog, an Irish Wolfhound. She asked what we were looking at and said she thought most of the birds she was seeing were Chickadees, the little boy was so proud he saw Blue Jays. They went off to meet the school bush and we drove to the north end of Grimes where we heard a Gray Catbird.

We headed to Chemin de Riviere, on the north end (the dead end side) we saw our first Bobolink (we saw them a number of times during the day). Driving a bit further, Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds. We drove to the end and turned around and heard Chestnut-sided Warbler, stopped the car and we got out and nope, we did not see it. Almost to 148, we saw 2 Red-winged Blackbirds chasing a male Northern Harrier.

On the south side of Chemin de Riviere, an Eastern Phoebe was singing and we saw some White-crowned Sparrows at a feeder. I said to Bill, we often see raptors in the fields and warblers near those trees or around the water. No raptors or warblers, well there was a Kestrel.

We turned onto Peres Dominicans and then onto Sapiniere. Neither of us had been down this road before. There had been massive flooding, and the road was freshly gravelled. On the water on either side of the road (more like a mini lake), there were Canada Geese, no other waterfowl. We drove down to the end and turned around. We heard a Warbling Vireo and so we stopped and got out of the car. Bill spotted a Yellow-throated Vireo (warbling and yellow-throated sound so much alike) and we both had great views of it. Bill lifted up his camera and the bird flew. We heard a Veery, so I played it, no response. A Great-crested Flycatcher was singing in the distance, I played the song and yes it came in and right over the road and flew off in the woods, never to be seen again by us. Bill, come here, I think I have a Veery, so the Veery eventually quietly came in, not singing not even once. We also heard a Purple Finch and then a Hairy Woodpecker flew in. Getting back into the car, we heard and saw Eastern Meadowlark. We were both happy we went down that road.

We always check out Terrien for raptors. I took out my scope and scanned the hills, nothing. Bill said it's been a long time since breakfast, so we decided we would have lunch. While eating, a Red-tail Hawk was seen, then a Merlin flew by.

The restaurant / bar on the corner of Eardley Masham and highway 148, is no longer there. Bill said it had burned down. The corner looked bare without it. We stopped at the Church hill Picnic area, Bill said there is a Winter Wren singing. He walked off to find it and I decided a pit stop was in order. We both heard an Ovenbird. I kept hearing the Winter Wren near the forest but did not see it, when I met up with Bill again, he said he saw one. So there were several around the park area.

On Wilson a very loud bird was singing. Bill knew the song, he said Northern Waterthrush. Bill, do they respond to the song? Yes, he said and he was absolutely correct, the bird came in quickly and Bill was able to take some photos. Driving a bit further down the road, I said to Bill, who is singing. The Merlin app indicated a Baltimore Oriole. I mix up Oriole with Robin all the time, yes I know a robin with a sore throat. We got out of the car and the bird was fairly close to the road and was easily seen, I mean really who could miss an orange bird.

We drove around Swamp Road looking for the Sedge Wren spot, but we were unsuccessful. Time to head home. Bill, is there a road near the river rather than taking highway 148, yes he said so we drove over the highway to Quyon. By the time we reached Quyon, we talked about the ferry, thinking the ferry was closed, but we checked it out anyway. As luck would have it, the ferry was unloading and we basically just drove on. Coming back using the ferry saved us a great deal of time. We saw a single Common Merganser on Constance Lake. While I surveyed the water on Constance Creek - nothing, Bill played Virginia Rail and it responded. Do you have it Bill? Yes, I walked over and I got to see it as well. Bill saw a tern in the distance but it was too far to identify. Driving down 6th Line, I saw a raptor high in the sky and I said Bill look, look. My mind was going a mile a minute, what kind of raptor is it? A grey bird with black wing tips, not a red-tailed, oh we have a rarity. Bill gets in the car and we go through the possibilities, he said I think it's a Northern Harrier. What is it doing so high in the sky, darn I wanted it to be a rarity. Oh I know a place where we could get one more bird - Dick Bell for the Purple Martins - finally the birds are there in numbers now. Oh lets try for 65, there must be a Rock Pigeon around, nope.

We had a great day, lots of excellent warblers and other good birds. The temperature was a bit cool to start but very nice by the end of the day. The bugs were out, they seemed to like Bill better than me. Lucky for him I carry alcohol in the car (thanks to Barb C), so he just rubbed alcohol on the bites.

I said we would be home by 4:00, I did not make it, but the time had a 4 in it, I believe the time was 4:45, I think that translates to 4:00 birding time. When we got out of the car we heard a House Finch calling, great we reached bird 65.

Thank you Bill for the mega timely photos.