Ottawa Area Birding: Holland Marsh etc with JC Birding

April 16, 2024

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Eleanor, Bill, Barbara and I were on the road headed to Holland Marsh at 7:30. It was a cool 5 degrees, but I think we all dressed for the weather. When we got out of the vehicle we heard and then saw Eastern Meadowlark singing. We set up our scopes. Bill was the first to start the identification process, but we all chipped in -- Greater Yellowlegs, then Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Canada Geese, Mallard, Killdeer and finally Wilson's Snipe (3). There was a huge flock of Wild Turkey (many displaying) behind the marsh. We heard Savannah Sparrow and located on the opposite side of the road. At that stop we identified 16 species.

We drove up a bit to the bridge that crosses the Mississippi. We saw our first Tree Swallows of the day (we saw many). We were looking from the car and then we decided it was time for the scopes -- Bufflehead, Northern Shoveller, Wigeon, Coot, Bill saw a male Northern Harrier fly low over the marshy area. We also heard another Wilson's Snipe.

We then went down Hanson, where Bill found a Wood Duck at the far end of the creek. On the way to Pakenham we spotted a vibrant blue Eastern Bluebird, just gorgeous. We turned down Concession 9, and we saw 2 Northern Flickers fly off. Once out of the vehicle, we could hear several woodpeckers drumming. The woodpeckers turned out to be a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. They seemed to be communicating with the drumming. Finally one flew in only to fly out. We walked down the road and we heard Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Purple Finch. Walking back to the vehicle the male Sapsucker flew in quite close and then the female made a brief appearance. I was looking at a coniferous tree and it appeared to have nuts stuck in the bark, on closer looks it turned out to be a Veiled Polypore identified by iNaturalist, thank you Eleanor.(see photo).

We stopped at the park at Blakney where we had our first outdoor picnic of the year - it was a bit cool but sunny. After lunch we went for a stroll over the 4 bridges and looked at various angles of the rapids. We heard Pine Warbler but could not find it.

On our way to Panmure we found more Eastern bluebirds. We turned down a dead end road that back on to the Burnt Lands. We saw many Eastern Meadowlarks. We stopped and heard Vesper Sparrow. We got out and as we got closer to the song, it stopped, either it flew or just was quiet because we were there. Eleanor played the Vesper song and it responded. It took a bit of searching but we found it high up in a large tree. And believe or not I think we had quite satisfying views, yes we were looking at its belly and neck, but it is a view we don't often see.

We stopped at a spot where we had Upland Sandpipers last year, none at this time, but we did see two Kestrels.

Next we drove over to Carp to Hidden Lake, hoping we would see lots of geese and maybe just maybe a Greater White-fronted Goose. On the path leading up to Hidden Lake we saw a Dark-eyed Junco. But there was absolutely nothing on the lake.

Let's head to Constance Creek, at Constance Lake there was nothing. At Constance Creek we had Ring-neck Duck and some Bufflehead. The Ospreys are back, we saw 4 of them and then we saw a Bald Eagle, it flew in and then left and then returned. Guess it's a good fishing spot.

Time to head home, we went to Shirley's Bay and one Double-crested Cormorant flew by. There has been a Red-bellied Woodpecker reported in this area, none at Shirley's Bay, so we checked out Grandview. We were hoping for 50 species, and we were at 48, so we noted what we did not have. Yes a Rock Pigeon but no Woodpecker. Barbara asked if we wanted to look onto the Ottawa River, Bill turned into a pull off, where we got our final bird of the day Common Loon.

We talked about the best bird of the day - Bill indicated Vesper Sparrow, Eleanor thought seeing 4 Osprey and a Bald Eagle in the sky was wonderful and for me it had to be the Wilson's snipes, mind you I dearly wanted to turn them into Woodcock.

We returned to Bill and Barbara's place at 5:45, the weather had warmed to 14, but we all had our clothing on from the morning. We were all happy with the day.

Thank you Bill for driving and thank you Barbara and Bill for the photos.