Report by Bill (Jane is in NZ)
November 2, 2023
The target today was a Short-billed Gull that had been found by Jon Ruddy a few days earlier at Muskrat Lake in Cobden.
Bill and Barbara met Eleanor at the Eagleson Road Park & Ride at 8:30 am. Ken called to say that he was stuck in a massive traffic jam on Hwy 174, due to an accident. He suggested that the rest start birding and he would catch up.
Eleanor was checking reports and saw that a Hudsonian Godwit was been seen in the morning at the Carleton Place storm water pond. So, they told Ken they were going for it.
They parked at Canadian Tire and hiked over to the pond. They split up with Eleanor and Bill going clockwise, and Barbara in the other direction. Barbara soon got on some Dunlins, Northern Shovellers and Green-winged Teals. She also came upon a dead Short-tailed Shrew.
Eleanor and Bill saw some other birders with their scopes, and they soon got some good views of the Hudsonian Godwit in their scopes too. It was hanging around in the north corner of the pond with several Greater Yellowlegs. But before they could attempt a photo, the whole flock took off and flew to the far side of the pond.
They decided to walk around the pond to meet Barbara, hoping to get close to the godwit for a photo op. But before they got there, it flew back across the pond.
Ken phoned to say that he was in Carleton Place, and soon joined them. Bill was annoyed with himself for having missed a photo op, so he and Barbara went back to the other side, while Eleanor and Ken slowly went the other way. But the godwit flew again, but this time landed very close to Ken, where he was able to get some excellent photos.
Finally, the godwit flew back to where they had first seen it, and Bill was able to get some satisfactory though distant photos. Is there a lesson here?
It was now 10:30 am, and it was time to head for Cobden. Ken left his car and they all carpooled together.
On Hwy 29, Bill noticed a perched Red-tailed Hawk and pulled over. But naturally, it flew before it could be photographed.
There were some other birders, including one from Toronto who said “if you are looking for the Short-billed Gull, it’s over on the nearby beach”. They grabbed their scopes and headed quickly over where they saw several dozen Ring-billed Gulls on the beach. Where’s Waldo?
Bill was kicking himself for not bringing a copy of the excellent photo that Michael Runtz had posted a few days before. But they knew it was a first-year bird, so would be mostly brown. Right way, Bill saw a potential candidate and quickly snapped a couple of photos before it flew off with a bunch of Ring-billed Gulls. Subsequent study of these photos, lent credence that this bird was their target.
But of course, they did not know that and continued studying all of the gulls on the beach until another candidate was spotted and photographed well. This one turned out to be a first-winter Iceland Gull. It was so confusing, since both candidates were quite similar to the one in Michael Runtz’s photo.
They had their lunch in the car, and continued to scan the Ring-billed Gulls. A first-winter plumage bird caught their attention, but they soon realized it was a Ring-billed.
They thought about leaving and going to Lake Doré, but the consensus was that they should stick to Muskrat Lake to be sure that they had the Short-billed Gull. Accordingly, they checked out the road beside the picnic site, MacFarlane Road and Faught Road with no further sightings. But Eleanor spotted two adult Bald Eagles on Faught, and they saw a number of Common Loons and Common Goldeneyes out on the lake.
They came back via Snake Line Road and sharp-eyed Eleanor spotted a distant perched raptor. A Red-tailed Hawk? No, when it flew, they saw it was a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk – first sighting of the season!
They stopped at the boat launch for one last look and noticed, again, a number of Common Loons. One could conclude that the lake has an ample supply of minnows.
Time was up. They drove back to Carleton Place to Ken’s car, then on to Eagleson Road to Eleanor’s. At home, they had to check the photos very carefully, but were pretty confident that they had seen their target Short-billed Gull after looking at Runtz’s photo and using the Merlin app. It was a special day of birding.
Eleanor’s Bird List
- Canada Goose
- Common Raven
- American Crow
- Ring-billed Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- European Starling
- Hudsonian Godwit
- Green-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveller
- Dunlin
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Common Grackle
- Common Loon
- Herring Gull
- Mallard
- Blue Jay
- Common Goldeneye
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Hooded Merganser
- Great Blue Heron
- Bald Eagle
- American Goldfinch
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Double-crested Cormorant
- American Black Duck
- Iceland Gull
- Short-billed Gull
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