Ottawa Area Birding: Gananoque Lake Nature Reserve with JC Birding

June 21, 2023

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Bill wanted to get to Gananoque Lake Nature Preserve as early as possible so he asked us not to make many stops along the way, so the first 14 birds on the list were seen while driving or heard birds. But Bill did say we could stop for Eastern Bluebirds and we did stop, but I am sure it was no more than a 10 minute stop. We got to the Nature Preserve around 8:00, we could hear the Ovenbirds singing (you have to be extremely hard of hearing not to hear Ovenbirds, they are loud). We walked the road and along the way, one of our 'colourful gentlemen' drove by in a 4 x 4 and all he did was smile and wave. No interaction with him this year. We got to the place we traditionally see the Cerulean Warblers and it was pretty quiet. Bill played the song and we were rewarded, we saw at least two and they came close and relatively low for Cerulean Warblers. Then a Ruby-throated Hummingbird flew in and started to chase the Cerulean Warbler. Lots of photos were taken, but I don't think any were taken of the interaction. Lifer for Guy. Walking back we heard and then saw a Golden-winged Warbler - bonus. We wanted to see it because often the Blue-winged Warbler sings the Golden-winged Warblers song. Golden-winged Warbler was a lifer for Guy.

We walked down the road to the water, well Bill walked to the water while the others were interested in the 2nd Golden-winged Warbler and the Pileated Woodpecker. A raptor that turned out to be an Osprey flew high in the sky with a Ring-billed Gull. We walked back to the vehicles and Bill and Guy were happy to see a Pickerel Frog and a couple of feet over were Least Skippers puddling (drinking the moisture from a mud puddle).

While driving to Lost Bay Nature Reserve, we stopped at the swamp where we normally see a Great Blue Heron Heronry. I counted 18 Herons in one tree. Along with the Great Blue Herons, we saw Mallards and Wood Ducks with their offspring. Ontario Nature recently purchased a 50-acre parcel of land in the Lost Bay Nature Reserve in the globally important Frontenac Arch area of eastern Ontario. We checked this rustic trail out in the afternoon after our lunch. The trail is not long: under 3.5 km to the water and back. There were a few birds along the trail and one must remember it was the "siesta time" of the day for birds and also Jane who needed a regenerative nap. The trail has some hills and one can see the rocky outcrops of the Frontenac Arch. The main disadvantage is that the trail is very overgrown with long grasses. It would be really good if the trail was cut and maintained for hikers. Barb C. gave me the write up about the reserve, I started off down the train, then decided my back was bothering me and I needed a power nap. While moving the back of the chair back, I noticed I had picked up an uninvited guest - a bloody tick, can't stand those bugs. After my nap, I went for a walk along the road, when I returned the others were at the cars, darn I missed a Baltimore Oriole.

Next stop was the big swamp at Bellamy Lake. We drove some country roads to get there and on one road we saw a medium sized Blanding's Turtle in the middle of the road. Of course we stopped and took photos and Guy, our Turtle Mover, gently picked up the turtle and placed it in the grass. I have never seen a turtle move so fast. Blanding's turtles are listed as threatened. Threatened means the species lives in the wild in Ontario, is not endangered but is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to address factors that are threatening it. We finally arrived at the lake, doing very little birding enroute. The first bird seen was Great Blue Heron, then Canada Goose, there was a Mute Swan way over on the other side of the lake. Then someone said look, a largish bird flying away, easily identified because of the colour of its legs Green Heron. Another Green Heron flew toward us and landed on the edge of the reeds, so we all got good looks. In total we saw five of them, a pretty good number. Barb C., who is always looking for Common Loons, found one on the lake.

Barbara, Bill and Eleanor left us at this point, I guess it might have been around 3 or 4 o'clock. They headed to an ice cream spot and then home. We just drove roads, you know, take this road, then take another, not really knowing where the heck we were. Guy says to us, stop and back up, in the woods, he spotted what we think must have been a Cooper's hawk, but the bird flew as Guy was getting ready to take a photo and we just had our bins on it. We were driving down a road with the windows open and my hand out with the Merlin sound app playing on my phone. Oh stop we have a good bird - Scarlet Tanager, we called it and it immediately responded.

We drove lots of roads and ended up in Merrickville, darn Mrs Macgargles was closed, I would have gone in and purchased something, but the time was 7:00 o'clock. We drove towards Burritts Rapids, I was hoping to take the one way bridge, but no it was closed for repairs. Driving on Dwyer Hill road, again we stopped and then turned around and turned around again to get the best view of a Coopers' Hawk just perched on a branch getting harassed by an American Robin. We decided that we would check out Jock Trail and again we stopped for a sparrow, it flew into a large field of tall grass, so no identification. We turned onto Munster Road and checked the Jock river for maybe a Kingfisher, nope. We drove on a bit to stop for the Guy, the Turtle Mover to move a Blanding's Turtle from the road, this one was half the size of the first one he moved. Barb saw Cedar Waxwings and we all heard White-throated Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows singing. Almost at the end of Munster Road I heard one 'raspberry' song of an American Woodcock. On our return turn down Munster, Guy, the Turtle Mover, moved yet another Blanding's Turtle from the road. A bit further up the road, a Blanding's Turtle had just run over (this had to have happened between the time we went up and down the road because it was not there when we drove up) and the blood on the turtle was a sure sign. Road kill is one of the factors that threaten Blanding's Turtles. Why why why???

I asked Barb to go back to the Sparrow field, it was bothering me what the species name was. The only sparrow we saw was a Savannah Sparrow. I will have to go back to determine what that unidentified sparrow was. Last stop was Moody Pond where we saw Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Northern Shoveller and Gadwall. It was about 9:30 and the light was very low, so we decided that the birding for the day was done.

We were almost at Barrhaven when I discovered a tick on my head, I threw it out the window. Once at home I asked my dearly beloved to check my head and neck, nope no ticks. I went upstairs to change and I found another tick on my upper leg, tweezed it off and then used alcohol. I checked myself for ticks no, no more. After showering I found another on my leg. I hate ticks. I texted the group saying check yourself thoroughly, it seems ticks liked the ladies because each of the ladies found ticks, while the two guys did not. I am not ever going on the Lost Bay trail again, I will walk the roads around the area, but nope not going to that trail. While I was registering for a Nature Ontario membership I suggested they put a very large sign indicating the tick problem. Mind you we all knew there were ticks.

Thank you Bill & Barbara, Barb and Guy for your photos.

Another good long day of birding,even if there were ticks. Did I mention I love birding?