September 30, 2025
Birding Report by Bill Bowman
Photos by Bill, Barbara & Anne
Bill, Barbara, Eleanor, Ian & Ken met at the Eagleson Park & Ride at 7:00 am. After texting Anne that they would meet her at the Cobden Boat Launch shortly after 8 am, they were soon on the road. Eleanor rode with Bill & Barbara, while Ian got a lift with Ken. It was a beautiful sunny day.
Road construction going into Cobden delayed their arrival somewhat, but they soon saw Anne at the Boat Launch scoping the distant waterfowl. She reported two different guys in canoes, which were right where we wanted to see birds.
There was an obvious raft of about 50 Double-crested Cormorants out front and Eleanor and Anne spotted a Common Loon in the far distance. All of the gulls were Ring-billeds as far as we could determine.
Anne said that there was an Osprey hanging around, and we soon saw it fly in and put on a good show for us, diving nearby. A Pied-billed Grebe swan across fairly close to us, and a Great Blue Heron and Belted Kingfisher both flew by and disappeared.
We went to Tim Horton’s for a pit stop. Anne left her car and jumped in with Bill’s group. Then we drove to Westmeath Provincial Park via Hwy 17, Perrelton, Bearchburg, Westmeath and Sand Point Roads. We benefited from Anne’s local knowledge of the Westmeath area. We drove to the end of Greatview Trail and parked where we have before. There was nobody around, but the presence of several parked house trailers was different this year.
The Ottawa River water level was unusually low because of the drought, exposing huge sand beaches. We were hoping for shorebirds, but there were none to be see
We crossed into the park land and started looking for Nelson’s Sparrows. Bill forged ahead to where he had seen them in the past, while the rest took a slower approach. Barbara soon spied a patch of cranberries, so she stopped to pick a bunch. Ken played the call of the Nelson’s and pished. He was rewarded with a brief sighting. It jumped up right in front of him and flew to the other side of the trail, never to be seen again.
The rest of us saw several Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-throated Sparrows and Black-capped Chickadees. We heard some Sandhill Cranes and a Common Raven. Anne and Eleanor saw two large Eastern Garter Snakes. Out on the river, there were the usual Canada Geese and gulls along with some very distant ducks.
It was getting close to lunch time, so Bill suggested a picnic at the Westmeath Lookout. It was a lovely spot with a magnificent view. Some of us struggled a bit to climb the hill from the parking to the gazebo, but it was worth it. Then it was crane time.
We slowly cruised the side roads and Eleanor spotted a large scattered flock on Pleasant Valley Road. They were very distant, but Bill scoped them and tried out his new Kite Optics digiscope attachment for his phone. He was optimistic, but the results were disappointing; more practice is required. A local gent stopped and chatted quite a while. He said he would rather have a bunch of Canada Geese than the Sandhill Cranes – not us
We needed a bathroom break, so drove to the boat launch in Westmeath, hoping for a porta potty, but there was none. But there were birds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and lots more Yellow-rumped Warblers.
We drove more side roads – Gore Line, Hawthorne, Lapasse, Canola and part of Grant’s Settlement without seeing additional flocks of Sandhill Cranes. But Ken & Ian did get a Red-tailed Hawk, and those in Bill’s car saw Wild Turkeys.
It was time to call it a day. Ken & Ian went straight to Kanata, while the rest went to Cobden first to return Anne to her car. We were all impacted by a serious accident on Hwy 17 that required us to detour through Renfrew.
Eleanor kept the bird list for us – 34 species. Thanks also to Anne for her photos.
JC Birding list by Eleanor – Westmeath Provincial Park outing, 2025-09-30
Eagleson Park & Ride Lot:
1. Canada Goose
2. European Starling
3. Common Raven
Muskrat Lake Boat Launch:
4. Pied-billed Grebe
5. Osprey
6. Double-crested Cormorant
7. Common Loon
8. Mallard
9. Ring-billed Gull
10. American Robin
11. American Pipit
12. Bald Eagle (seen by Anne before the Ottawa folks arrived)
13. American Goldfinch
Westmeath Provincial Park:
14. Blue Jay
15. White-throated Sparrow
16. Song Sparrow
17. Swamp Sparrow
18. Nelson’s Sparrow (seen only by Ken)
19. Yellow-rumped Warbler
20. Black-capped Chickadee
21. American Black Duck
22. Great Blue Heron
23. Dark-eyed Junco
24. Red-breasted Nuthatch
25. White-breasted Nuthatch
26. American Crow
27. Turkey Vulture
Pleasant Valley Road / Westmeath Rd
28. Sandhill Cranes (more than 300)
29. Red-winged Blackbird
Westmeath Boat Launch:
30. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
31. Rock Pigeon
Canola Rd:
32. Mourning Dove
Elsewhere:
33. Red-tailed Hawk
34. Wild Turkey
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