Greenbelt Pathway & Richmond Lagoons with JC Birding

 October 31, 2024

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We were a large group today - Bill, Barbara, Barb, Ann, Ken, Carole, Alan, Eleanor and me.  We walked the north side of the trail in hopes of seeing crossbills, nope.  We did see American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees.  We took a short drive to Conroy Road to the trail.  There we saw American Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Canada Geese and Mallards flew over so just the same old same old.  Ann and I decided to walk back on the trail to sit on the bench.  When the rest of the group rejoined us, they reported they saw a juvenile Northern Shrike - darn I missed it.  Carole and Alan continued on the trail and later reported hearing a Rusty Blackbird.

We drove over to the Ottawa Dump on Trail Road - Ring-billed Gulls not unexpected.  We drove down Cambrian Road, Ken and Barb stopped because American  Crows were making a lot of noise, they were hoping that the crows were mobbing an owl.  After looking and listening they decided it was an American Crow roost and they were just having a good conversation.  At the end of Cambrian we saw a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds.  While we were at the end of Cambrian, we had stopped to chat and I said, "What is the bird at the top of the tree over there?"  No idea what it was because a Red-tailed Hawk was spotted and our focus was immediately on the raptor. Meantime Eleanor and Ann went to Moodie Drive, since both of them were driving on fumes.  When we had joined Eleanor, Ann had already left.  Eleanor reported seeing Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes as well as Great-blacked Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and of course Ring-billed Gulls.  A couple of Common Mergansers were interspersed with the very large flock of Canada Geese.  Ken was late joining us and when he did I said Good Afternoon to him, he made a wrong turn.  He reported his big find -- Mourning Doves.  Eleanor left the group as she had things to do.

Onto Richmond Lagoons, we had lunch before going to the lagoons.  Bill told us that an American Bittern has been seen regularly and its habit is once someone comes into the lagoon, it flies, so we should all go in together.  Unfortunately there were two school boys there already, so no American Bittern.  We set up our scopes and Barb says I see one Greater Yellowlegs and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs.  Then the 2 became 4, no wait, their bills are not long enough.  So we walked a bit closer and those Lesser Yellowlegs turned out to be Pectoral Sandpipers -- good find.

We walked to the other lagoon and my goodness so many Green-winged Teal.  Walking back Barb mentioned she and Ken had seen a White-breasted Nuthatch in the parking lot area.

As we all had things to do, we decided to call it a day.  Home by 2:15.

Species Noted

1. Ring-billed Gull
2. American Crow
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. American Robin
5. Downy Woodpecker
6. Blue Jay
7. Canada Goose
8. American Goldfinch
9. Dark-eyed Junco
10. Red-breasted Nuthatch
11. Northern Cardinal
12. Northern Shrike
13. Hairy Woodpecker
14. Mallard
15. European Starling
16. Red-winged Blackbird
17. Red-tailed Hawk
18. Ring-necked Nuck
19. Common Merganser
20. Pied-billed Grebe
21. Lesser Black-backed Gull
22. Great Black-backed Gull
23. Herring Gull
24. Scaup (sp)
25. Mourning Dove
26. Greater Yellowlegs
27. Pectoral Sandpiper
28. Green-winged Teal
29. White-breasted Nuthatch