Ottawa Area Birding: Embrun, Crysler and Casselman Lagoons with JC Birding

September 19, 2023

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

The weather prediction was for rain until around 11:00. We decided on Monday night we would go ahead, we would dress warmly and for the rain. We met at Ken's place and the rain had turned to spitting, nothing we couldn't deal with. We decided that we would forget about warblers and focus on shorebirds.

The first lagoon we went to was Embrun Lagoons (these are the lagoons Connie and I decided the powers that be must have moved them -- we just could not find them). With Ken in the lead car, we had no problem finding the lagoons. We stopped at one lagoon and there was a lot of talk about should we go in, I climbed the gate and checked out the lagoon, one bird and it was not a phalarope. We drove down to the hut and again most of us climbed the fence, with Barb B. crawling under where the two gates meet, Bill opted not to climb the fence. We found three Red-necked Phalarope in the middle lagoon closest to the road. There seemed to be many, many Northern Shovelers in one of the cells. Bill saw Red-winged Blackbirds, we saw them as well but at the Casselman Lagoons

Next we went to the Crysler Lagoons, it was a bit of disappointment, I was expecting more. But we did see two Kestrels, along with Gadwall, Wood Duck and all the other duck species we had seen at Embrun.

We parked in the abattoir / butcher's parking lot and walked to the bridge. Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs. Eleanor spotted a Wilson's Snipe. There was a Belted Kingfisher flying about. Barb C. went to talk to Eric D. and he very nicely pointed out (like are we blind) three Pectoral right beneath us in plain view. He then came over and focused each of our scopes on a Stilt Sandpiper. I had seen the bird while I was scanning and I just thought it was a small Lesser Yellowlegs. I should have stopped to study, I would have noticed the difference, yes we all know what assume means.

We then drove over to the falls. Very close to us we saw aa single Pectoral Sandpiper. Then in walked a Solitary Sandpiper. I think we saw just 2 Killdeer. Someone, I am not sure about the decision capacity, had thrown a bicycle into the water quite close to the fence. Why, who knows,j ust a perfect place to throw a bicycle??? Bill, Barbara and I were at the falls for a while, and we wondered where the others were, surely they did not get lost - (like its three or four blocks). Turns out they went to either a deli or a bakery and bought goodies. On the cement crest of the dam, two Double-crested Cormorants stood guard.

We drove to High Falls, but we saw nothing new or that is what we thought. Ken was enjoying some of the goodies so he joined us when we were going to the cars. He made some hand gestures, we misinterpreted as he saw something. While walking over to join Ken, we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle. Ken had spoken to some young adults and told him about the path to the falls. Barb and I followed, but thought the better of it and turned around. Ken did some exploring and came back to report he had seen a Great Egret.

We thought we would try the road just on the other side of the bridge. We parked and started to walk toward the water. Just as we got to the water, Barb C and Eleanor noticed someone had set up a tent, mmm homeless or just for teenagers? As we looked toward the water we saw some Common Merganser and the Great Egret that Ken had seen previously.

The last stop was the Casselman Lagoons. The gate was open welcoming us, I figured. It said to report to the office, I knocked on the door, no answer, we noticed workmen at the other side of the building. We walked to the first cell, nothing new. The second cell, where Connie and I often would see shorebirds but no. The fifth cell yielded another Red-necked Phalarope, a single or maybe there were two Pied-billed Grebe and about 4 or 5 Red-breasted Merganser.

Time to call it a day. We parted company, Bill, Barbara and Jane going home, and Ken, Barb C. and Eleanor were headed to Ken's place to get their cars. On the way home it started to rain again, okay we were done for the day.

Thanks Sami for editing my photos, thanks Bill, Barbara and Ken for your photos.