Ottawa Area Birding: Wolfe Island with JC Birding

January 12, 2025

Birding report by Bill & Barbara Bowman

We arrived at the Bankfield Park & Ride on Hwy 416 at 6:50 am. Alan & Carol German and Ann Gibson were already there, and the new members, Richard & Pat Morris, drove in shortly after. Alan & Carol carpooled with us, and Ann drove with Richard & Pat.

We had a quick uneventful drive to Kingston. Richard et al spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on #15 that the rest of us missed. There were several cars already waiting for the ferry and we had to move our cars after parking in the wrong area. We patrolled the waterfront and saw some mergansers, then a Merlin perched on a wooden pole nearby. The washrooms were excellent. Soon it was time to load onto the ferry.

As we started across to Wolfe Island, we saw Common and Hooded Mergansers, some Common Goldeneyes, a few Mute Swans, lots of Herring Gulls, and two Bald Eagles. As the ferry came in, we saw a bunch of Mallards.

We exited the ferry and drove straight to a house at 337 Button Bay Road to try for the reported Eurasian Tree Sparrow that was visiting an excellent feeder station. We had to stay on the side of the road, rather far from the numerous feeders. It was difficult to spot the ETSP among the many American Tree Sparrows and American Goldfinches along with the odd Blue Jay and European Starling. Ann got back in the car to warm up, but suddenly, from inside the car, she spotted our target out in the open in a tree away from the feeders. We all rushed over, but most of our cameras refused to focus, except Richard’s, whose photo was fortunately excellent.

We proceeded south on Button Bay Road, then back north on Rd 95, then west on Reeds Bay Rd. We saw a number of Rough-legged Hawks which were very distant. We went to the Big Sandy Bay parking area, but the toilets were closed for the season. Ann was checking eBird, and found a report of a Snowy Owl and a Short-eared Owl at 7th Line Rd and Baseline Rd. Alas, there was no sign of them. So, we continued to cruise west, then north looking for hawks and Snowys. On Rd 96, we had wonderful views of Lake Ontario with Kingston in the background and many waterfowl, mostly Canada Geese in the foreground.

We drove into Marysville and checked both the Tourist Info Centre and summer Ferry Dock, but both washrooms were locked. There was nothing for it but to return to the winter Ferry Dock, where we used the facilities and had our lunch behind the cars. Alan scoped some American Black Ducks on the ice, and a raptor flew right overhead. But we were all eating our sandwiches and could not raise our bins or cameras!

After lunch, we decided to travel east on Rd 96 to the end of the road in the hopes of seeing more raptors. This was successful, as we saw Rough-legged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, and an American Kestrel, but no Snowy Owls. Ann got busy on eBird again, and shouted that there were 2 Snowys seen on 7^th Line Rd. So off we went at speed. Alas, there was absolutely no sign of them.

With time running out, we decided to head to the ferry for the 2:30 pm crossing in order to have time to drive into Kingston to look for the Fish Crow in City Park. We saw another Bald Eagle and the same species of duck on the crossing.

Richard, Pat & Ann decided to head for home, while our intrepid foursome drove into Kingston for the Fish Crow. We hiked in the area and saw a crow all right, an American Crow. Oh well. Then it was off to Hwy 401 and our trip home with a short stop at enRoute.

We all agreed that it had been a very worthwhile outing and we sure couldn’t complain about the beautiful weather or our great driving conditions.