Fletcher, Dow's Lake & Ottawa River with JC Birding

 October 23, 2025

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Eleanor, Barb C, Connie, Barb B, Bill and I met at Fletcher Garden for 8:00.  At the bird feeder we saw Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow and lots of Black-capped Chickadees.

We walked to the bridge where there were a pair of Mallards swimming.  We heard and saw lots of Canada Geese leaving the area.

We met a gentleman who told us he regularly saw an owl perched on one of the bird houses, but more often than not, it is scared away by dogs not on lease.  We vended for a while and continued up the hill.  

Just before the butterfly pond we stopped to look at the American Robins, oh my goodness we saw lots of American Robins at Fletcher and then around the arboretum.  While looking at the American Robin, we saw a single Yellow-rumped Warbler and then 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  Those little budgie guys just can't sit still, I swear they shake when they perch.   Then we saw some Purple Finch and lots of American Goldfinch.

We walked toward the back feeder and we were hoping when we walked through the evergreens we would see an owl.  Nope we did not.  We walked eastward and stopped  looking toward the gulley.  Eleanor produced a recording of mobbing birds.  So many birds flew in - more Chickadees, Goldfinch, 2 Downy Woodpeckers and on the other side of the path we had House Finch fly in.   As we were watching the show a Common Raven flew over quietly. We walked down toward the water, when Eleanor suggested we might want to move our vehicles.

We moved the vehicles to the Agriculture Canada visitor parking and walked toward Dow's Lake.  More of the same birds.  Barb and I were talking about her seeing lots of European Starlings while driving back to Ottawa.  I said they must be all gone from here by now and so what should we see about 8 Starlings.  Then Barb said what is that bird on top of that far tree -- Merlin - good one.  At the water saw at least 20 American Black Ducks, 1 Green-wing Teal, at least 10 Lesser Scaup, 2 Double-crested Cormorant and a couple of Ring-billed Gulls.

It started to rain so Barb C and I walked quickly up the hill to the car.  While we waited for the others, we wondered if Connie had left since she only walked down to a park bench and sat while the rest of us went to the water. No she had not left, she walked back to her car.  Where were the rest, they must have taken a different route.  While we were waiting we caught up with each other since we had not seen each other in 6 weeks.

Connie, Eleanor and Barb C decided it was time to go home.  Bill and Jane wanted to keep birding.  Bill drove to Kichi Zibi Parkway and checked out some of the lookouts, only to find rocks.  We did see a flock of Scaup near the parkway but there was no way we could stop, so we headed for Mud Lake, there we saw Wood Duck and Pied-billed Grebe.  We drove down to the water and saw just water.  Okay where to next, let's try Scrivens - Common Merganser.  We had lunch at the turnaround on Grandview where we saw more American Robins. Then we tried Dick Bell - Common Goldeneye.  There was nothing at Shirley's Bay.

On our return we checked out the DND pond, Hooded Merganser and a Song Sparrow.  Bill, let's try Andrew Haydon Park. Just after I got out of the vehicle I received a call from Ken asking if we were still birding and where were we?  He said he would join us.  Bill brought out his scope and we checked out the western end of the park.  The water was very very low, many Canada Geese along with Common Mergansers and a couple of Blue-wing Teal and of course Mallards.  I walked over to the bridge to see if there were any birds around, yep one lone Canada Goose.  Walking back I see Ken's car.  I shouted to him to look up, there was a Bald Eagle juvenile.  His response was a good way to start birding.

We chatted a while and we were heading to the car and I was telling him Sami did not join us because he had a cold.  Ken said well there is Lynne and Sami.  We caught up with them, it had started to rain again.  Time to go home and stop birding for the day,  Well not really our last bird was a Rock Pigeon on Pinecrest.

33 species for mid October is not bad.  

Thank you Bill and Barb and Connie for your photos and thank you Eleanor for doing the ebird list.

Species Noted

1. Canada Goose
2. Black-capped Chickadee
3. American Crow
4. Ring-billed Gull
5. White-throted Sparrow
6. Dark-eyed Junco
7. American Goldfinch
8. American Robin
9. House Finch
10. Purple Finch
11. Yellow-rumped Warbler
12. Northern Cardinal
13. Common Raven
14. Mallard
15. Downy Woodpecker
16. Blue Jay
17. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
18. White-breasted Nuthatch
19. American Black Duck
20. Double-crested Cormorant
21. Green-wing Teal
22. Scaup (sp)
23. Merlin
24. European Starling
25. Pied-billed Grebe
26. Wood Duck
27. Common Merganser
28. Common Goldeneye
29. Hooded Merganser
30. Song Sparrow
31. Blue-wing Teal
32. Bald Eagle
33. Rock Pigeon

Bruce Pit

 October 21, 2025

Beautiful scenery and a few good birds.  A Yellow-rumped Warbler jumped up, but left before a photo could be taken. Bet shot was a juvenile Chipping Sparrow.

Greenbelt Eastern Pathway at Conroy Road

 October 17, 2025

We were dog sitting Molly so brought her birding with us.  Bill found it difficult to use binoculars with a dog tugging at the leash.  

There were dozens of robins and a few other good birds.  Barbara got some photos - some Fox Sparrows, several Hermit Thrushes, and a single Rusty Blackbird.  It was a good day!

Thanksgiving at Cedar Lake

 October 13, 2025

Farran Park with JC Birding

 October 7, 2025

Ken had seen reports of a Glossy Ibis at Farren Park on the St Lawrence River and suggested that our group go and try for it.  Because of other commitments, the only day available was October 7.  Unfortunately, this was also the only day of the week with rain in the forecast.

Ken, Eleanor, Ian, Bill & Barbara met at Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre parking lot at 7 am. There was no sign of rain. We set up our car pools; Ian drove with Eleanor while Bill & Barbara went with Ken.

We arrived at Farran Park an hour later with some sun and lots of clouds in the sky.  We started west along the causeway checking both sides of the river.  The first bird we saw was a Red-winged Blackbird – a good omen!  The fall scenery was lovely.

There were ducks, some too far off to identify with binoculars, so Eleanor went back for her scope and wisely donned her raincoat.  The distant ducks were American Wigeons, while a large raft of Ring-necked Ducks was somewhat closer. Near at hand were many Mallards, including a strange-looking one that must have been a hybrid. We also saw Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teals and a very distant Bald Eagle.

We were almost half way across the causeway when the rain began.  It was light at first, but soon picked up, so we retreated quickly to the vehicles.  The rain stopped for a while, then began again, so Ken suggested that we drive the short distance to the Long Sault Parkway to check out the many channels between the islands.

We stopped to check out some ducks, but they were all Mallards.  Then Bill spotted a distant bird, with a lot of white, that he thought was a female Goldenye, but the bill was wrong.  Ian and Barbara took photos and we soon identified it as a Pied-Billed Grebe!  The cloud formations were neat, but a downpour soon ensued, which persisted as we drove slowly along the rest of the parkway.  We saw some birds, but photos were all but impossible.

We turned west on County Road 2 and stopped on the shoulder when we were close to the river.  The raft of Ring-necked Ducks was a bit closer, and a group of American Wigeons were right by the shore along a with a single American Black Duck.

The rain came on again very heavily and Ian & Eleanor decided that enough was enough; they headed for home.  Ken & Bill wanted to try again for the ibis, so they and Barbara carried on.

Ken turned into the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary.  Near the entrance, there were lot of birds jumping around.  The rain had surprisingly stopped, so we all hopped out to get photos.  Ken saw a Swamp Sparrow but it did not pose for a photo.  Bill got a shot of a Song Sparrow and Barbara concentrated on the many Yellow-rumped Warblers.

We carried on to the visitor centre, and as it was still dry, we had our lunch on the bench behind the building.  Afterwards, we drove to the causeway to Morrison Island.  Here we got close up views of a couple of Pied-billed Grebe.

With the rain holding off, we returned to Farran Park, and this time with rain gear, we hiked the causeway again determined to find the Glossy Ibis at the west end.  Ken spotted a Common Gallinuile and a Great Blue Heron as we hiked along.  There were many more Blue-winged Teals and a few Green-winged too.  We could see 3 Trumpeter Swans at the west end where the ibis should have been.  Bill & Ken tramped onwards, but Barbara had had enough; she returned to Ken’s car.  The swans provided good photo ops before noisily taking flight, but the ibis seemed to have flown the coop.

The drizzle began again, so Bill & Ken returned to the car and we voted to call it a day.  No sooner did we start for home than it started to pour, and it rained all the way back.

Thank you, Eleanor, for keeping the bird list. 

1. Wild Turkey
2. Canada Goose
3. American Crow
4. Ring-billed Gull
5. Rock Pigeon
6. European Starling
7. Red-winged Blackbird
8. Great Egret
9. American Goldfinch
10. Blue Jay
11. Gadwall
12. Wood Duck
13. White-breasted Nuthatch
14. Mallard
15. Great Blue Heron
16. American Wigeon
17. Ring-necked Duck
18. Common Grackle
19. Bald Eagle
20. Double-crested Cormorant
21. American Black Duck
22. Song Sparrow
23. Black-capped Chickadee
24. Yellow-rumped Warbler
25. Pied-billed Grebe
26. Swamp Sparrow
27. Blue-winged Teal
28. Green-winged Teal
29. Common Gallinule
30. Trumpeter Swan

Other critters

Raccoon

Spring Peeper (H)