Ottawa Area Birding: Cedar Hill & Burnt Lands with JC Birding

June 13, 2024

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We stopped at Holland Marsh to see if there were shorebirds there, there were not, oh but the Meadowlarks and the Bobolinks were singing. We drove over the bridge and then walked to check out the river, Bill spotted a Killdeer driving water, I walked over to where it was and took some photos. Bill turned the vehicle around and we stopped at the marsh where I clearly heard Wilson's Snipe.

We drove over the 417 toward Pakenham and birded some roads there. First stop high in a dead tree, 4 birds. Two Common Grackles, American Redstart and a Brown-headed Cowbird (we saw four Cowbirds later in the day as well). Just a little bit further on the road we saw an Eastern Kingbird and then saw a House Wren (saw many during the course of the day). Bill said he heard Baltimore Oriole, Barbara spotted one, we had a male and a female Oriole, of course they were high in the tree. What a beautiful contrast the green leaves and the orange on the Oriole.

Again driving a bit, I said what is that, then I felt rather embarrassed because only the day before Connie and I heard this song. Why I did not remember it, I just don't know -- Least Flycatcher. While we were out of the car, trying to photograph the Least Flycatcher we heard the "Weep" of the Great-crested Flycatcher. We stopped at post, to look at a Savannah Sparrow, the sound very similar to a Song Sparrow, except at the end of their song. The notched shorter tail and the yellow lores are the classic identification markings of a Savannah Sparrow. We saw Eastern Bluebirds perched on hydro lines throughout the day.

While driving, Bill noticed high in the sky a bird not a Turkey Vulture -- Red-shouldered Hawk. The books say it has quick choppy wingbeats and it is shorter winged and longer tailed than other widespread buteos. But for me I look at the bands on the tail. The Broadwing has bands as well but they are broader and there are not as many bands as on the Red-shouldered, I think there were two of them, they flew off in different directions.

We drove the road to Conc. 9 off Cedar Hill, parked the vehicle and started to walk. We had been here in the spring and saw a couple of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Once out of the car, this bird flew directly toward me and then to Bill and off it went, no idea what the bird was, Bill thought Black & White Warbler, but when the bird is coming right at you, your thoughts are not at identification. It was quiet for some time and I entertained myself by taking photographs of insects. There was a man cutting his lawn and we stopped to talk with him, we heard a Blue Jay in the distance. Walking, walking, Barbara noticed a Eastern Garter Snake sunning itself in the middle of the road. Is it alive, Barbara said walk closer to it, the snake's head rose up and its tongue started to flick. Obviously it had smelled us. We took photos and left it alone, coming back we did not see it, so I guess it had moved on.

We heard a very loud Ovenbird and yes we called it, it flew in and out, but never stayed long enough for a photo. We heard a Veery and it came right in. We started walking toward the water and I turned around and said Finch, Bill said Purple. It was high up in a dead tree and then it flew. We heard a Chestnut-sided and it flew in and allowed a few photographs. Bill and Barbara went to the water and one of them took a photograph of a Midland Painted Turtle. We walked toward the cottage and I asked Bill what was that sound? Like he knows all the frogs in my estimation. He said I don't know, no it can't be so. A few seconds later he said Mink Frog, I had not heard of that one. I asked what it looked like? He said they have rounded spots on their back legs. We also heard Green Frogs and Tree Frogs. We turned to go back and we heard a Hermit Thrush and further up the road he saw a Wood Thrush. They are good finds, but for me, the Scarlet Tanager is such a wonderful find, its red body and black wings, simply stunning.

We drove up Cedar Hill to Klondike, but it was pretty quiet. We returned to Blakeney for lunch at a picnic table.

We drove to the Burnt Lands Provincial park and we took Golden Road which is very rough and the potholes are huge. We wanted to see the Blue-winged Warbler that has been for the past month or so. Bill and Barbara had taken this route previously. Once out of the vehicle I sprayed myself with insect repellent, I don't want those nasty ticks. We also made sure we had a plastic bag to cover our cameras, because it looked like rain and it did, but just a sprinkle. First we walked through some poison ivy and into a field, walked to a fence, followed it until there was an opening and walked some more. We heard Field Sparrow. After about 10 minutes of walking we get to the 'dead tree'. We called Blue-winged Warbler but to no avail. But we did hear an Eastern Towhee. It flew in to see what we were doing. Walking back and almost to the vehicle I saw a sparrow with white outer tail feathers. I told Bill he said Vesper Sparrow, hey we got a bonus sparrow. Its song (at the beginning only) sounds very similar to a Field Sparrow. We saw the most beautiful orange Wood Lilies in the fields when we walked the Burnt Lands.

Back in the vehicle we headed to the parking lot of Burnt Lands. We wanted to get Clay-coloured and Grasshopper Sparrow. Clay-coloured is usually pretty easy to get and we saw several of them in the first five minutes. As we walked I said to Bill I have had some luck getting the Grasshopper Sparrow after the stand of trees. Barbara was well ahead of us. Hey a sparrow - Grasshopper, so looking and searching was not needed, two of them appeared, That little bird to me is easy to identify - no neck and a flat head and it's cooperative to boot. Walking back to the vehicle, we saw Cedar Waxwings and a Brown Thrasher.

While walking in the Burnt Lands, you see many different flowers -- Bell flower, while it's invasive it is a beautiful shade of blue, of course I mentioned Wood Lily orange with a yellow deep in its throat, Spurges with its tiny red blossoms, just to name a few of the flowers. Burnt lands Provincial Park is a wonderful place to visit.

Time to go home. We were talking about how many sparrow species we saw -- House, Song, Savannah, Chipping, White-throated, Field, Vesper, Clay-coloured, Grasshopper, mmm shouldn't we get 10, so we stopped near a marsh and got the Swamp Sparrow. 10 Sparrow Day. pretty good, oh wait a minute Eastern Towhee belongs to the sparrow family, that makes it a 11 Sparrow day, Darn Good!!!