Aylmer & Eardley Escarpment with Connie & Jane's group

*** text by Connie ***

We did go birding December 16th as planned. Another beautiful day, but once again, quiet for birds. I think the most prominent bird was Blue Jay. They seemed to be around at many locations. The puffed-up one in the attached photo was with a group on the Eardley-Masham Road.

Best bird for the day was White-winged Cross-bill. We saw 8-10 of these on the Eardley-Masham Road, along with one Bald Eagle and a Common Raven. Our first stop for the day in Quebec was the Lakeview Road area of Aylmer looking for the Red-shouldered Hawk and Carolina Wren that had been reported in the area. We did not find them but did see a Pileated Woodpecker. We were surprised to see the Dark-eyed Juncos this late (Therien Road in Quebec), but I saw several in my backyard the following day as well.

Not on my list, but very likely seen by Bill & Jane in the group was a Long-eared Owl that flew over a trail off the Eardley-Masham Road. My list for the day is below.

Note - after consulting with Tony, we are now thinking Great Horned Owl is most likely.



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Birds Observed, Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gatineau West Quebec

(Jane, Connie, Bill, Rick, Hedrik)



Ottawa West - 40 Holitman

1 American Tree Sparrow (1)

2 House Sparrow (lots)



Ottawa West - Fallowfield, Woodroffe

3 Mourning Dove

4 Red-tailed Hawk

5 Rock Pigeon



Aylmer Quebec

6 Pileated Woodpecker (rue des veterans)

7 American Crow (Lakeview Avenue)



Gatineau Quebec - Vanier Road

8 Black-capped Chickadee

9 Common Goldeneye

10 European Starling

11 Hairy Woodpecker

12 White-breasted Nuthatch



Gatineau Quebec - Hwy 148 West of Aylmer

13 Wild Turkey



Gatineau Quebec - Eardley Masham Road

14 Bald Eagle (1)

*** Black-capped Chickadee

15 Blue Jay

16 Common Raven

17 Downy Woodpecker (m)

18 White-winged Crossbill (8-10)



Gatineau Quebec - West - Therien Road

19 Dark-eyed Junco

*** Red-tailed Hawk

Total: Birds Observed =19 Birds Heard Only = 0

Note: Others likely saw Long-eared Owl (two saw this fly over trail off Eardley-Masham Road);

Coyote and Deer (Eardley Masham Road)

Wild Turkeys (no Greater White-fronted Geese)

Dec 4, 2010 2:00 pm

We were at home on Saturday, making some preparations for Christmas. A hot tip arrived on OntBirds that 7 Greater White-fronted Geese had been observed near Carp. We needed a break, so decided to head right over to check it out.

Another birder was there scoping the fields, so I joined him. No luck, the geese had left. There were two and then just one Snow Geese left with the flocks of Canadas. It was cold and windy, so Barbara looked from the car, while I toughed it out outside.

Disappointed we left and went home via Carling Avenue. Near the corner of Rifle Road, Barbara spotted a flock of Wild Turkeys right along the road. We did a U-turn, and went back to get some images.

Later, it was reported on OntBirds that the geese came back in around 4:00 pm. Nuts.
 

Strathcona Park with Connie & Jane’s group

Nov 29, 2010 – 9:00 am

A large turnout today to see the Barrow’s Goldeneye - Lynn, Colleen, Connie, Peggy, Jane, Ed, Marc, Brenda, Barb R. and me.

I arrived a few minutes early to find Connie already scoping the Barrow’s Goldeneye. There were lots of Common Goldeneye and Mallards, which made finding Waldo in the crowd difficult. I could not get on it, and without warning, a large flock took off upstream. It must have been with them, because nobody else could locate it either.

We did have a couple of male Common Mergansers and female Hooded Mergansers and a Lesser Scaup on the far shore.  In the distance were a couple of American Black Ducks.

Most of us decided to hike upstream to look for the Barrow’s Goldeneye. In the trees bordering the river, Jane saw a white-breasted Nuthatch, several Black-capped Chickadees and an American Crow.

We stopped at an opening in the trees, and I spotted a pair of Hooded Mergansers, also on the far shore. With no sign of the target species, we headed back downstream. We notice a lone Herring Gull sitting on a rock in the middle of the current. There was a Hairy Woodpecker in the tree beside the path, poking away at what looked like a squirrel’s nest.

Then, Connie discovered the Barrow’s Goldeneye again, and eventually, everyone got good scope views.

The group was going to the west end to check the Ottawa River, but I decided to head east to see the Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes. Boy, did I draw a blank – no sign of either species. The best I could report were a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, a Rough-legged Hawk and an American Kestrel along Concessions 19 and 20.

West end birding with Jane & Connie’s group

Nov 18, 9:00 am

We met at Andrew Haydon Park’s west end. There was a large group - Jane, Peggy, Brenda, Rick, Hedrick, Barb R., Janet B., Marc & me.

It was a grey cold day. The only thing of interest at Andrew Haydon was a group of Green-winged Teal near the Ottawa River shore with some Mallards and Black Ducks.

So went drove to Shirley’s Bay where we had more luck. There were Common Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, and a female Bufflehead. Rick spotted an Adult Bald Eagle away on the far shore.

We decided to check Hilda feeders. We saw a Northern Cardinal, lots of Black-capped Chickadees, several Blue Jays, some American Tree Sparrows, a White-throated Sparrow and a Dark-eyed Junco.

A Hairy Woodpecker looked dead as it huddled against a tree trunk. Soon the reason became clear, as Rick spotted a Merlin perched up on a neighboring snag.

We went out March Valley Road and saw a Red-tailed Hawk fly across in front of us. We stopped at McEwen’s for a break and coffee, then went over to Kerwin trail in another fruitless effort to find a Black-backed Woodpecker. In fact, there was nothing on the trail at all, so we turned back.

We drove along Fifth Line Road and took a detour down Berry Side Road, seeing nothing. Back on Fifth Line, a raptor was spotted. Those that stopped saw it was a Rough-legged Hawk.

Our next stop was at Constance Creek on Thomas Dolan Parkway where we saw several American Wigeon, too far off to photograph. There was also one Lesser Scaup, and, on the other side of the bridge, three Hooded Merganser males. As we watched, two Common Raven flew past making raven noises.

Our final stop was the man-made ponds nearby on Constance Creek Road, where we saw some distant Buffleheads.

Kerwin Road and Shirley’s Bay with Craig & Pamela

November 7, 2010 11:00 am

Today Barbara joined us as we had a quick west-end outing.

We went to Kerwin Road to look for a reported Black-backed Woodpecker, but all we found were other birders.

Then we went to Hilda Road feeders where we saw several Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees along with a Red-winged Blackbird , an American Goldfinch and a few American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.

We moved on to Shirley’s Bay where we saw quite a few Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaup and one Pied-billed Grebe. Another birder said there were several Horned Grebes, but we couldn’t spot them.

At Andrew Haydon Park, we saw Common Goldeneye, Common Mergansers, Buffleheads and a couple of distant Common Loons in winter plumage.  A Beaver swam right across the bay in front of us.  Returning to the car, we saw a Great Blue Heron.

Craig and Pamela had to leave for Kirk’s, so we went out to Burnside after dropping off some hazardous waste at the dump. There were lots of Hooded Mergansers and some Ruddy Ducks. Too bad we missed these earlier with Craig and Pamela.

As compensation, they had a Barred Owl right in Kirk’s yard!

Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese with Craig & Pamela

November 6, 2010 10:00 am

We drove straight to Milton Road and cruised slowly along without seeing any cranes. That all changed when we turned onto Smith. There was quite a large flock –perhaps 60. A few were relatively close, so Pamela got out to photograph them while I set up the scope. By the time I was finished, the close ones had flown off, so was left with the more distant ones.

We then drove out past Casselman to Concession 20, but there was nothing at all. We crossed back over the 417 and saw a large flock of Snow Geese in the fields. We could not get close, but with the scope, we could see that there were very few blue morph among them. Tony had said that blue morphs were much more common out west, and Pamela agreed.

On the way back, we stopped at Embrun, but it was a bust.

Jack Pine Trail and Munster Side Road with Tony Beck

October 19, 7:30 am

We met at Jack Pine – Tony, Nina, Rick, Heather and me. We had the usual suspects, A Ring-billed Gull, American Crows, Black-capped Chickadees, Canada Geese and Blue Jays. We went to the feeder area and got a Hairy Woodpecker.

Along the trail, there were quite a few Dark-eyed Juncos and American Robins. We saw an Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Chipping Sparrow too.

We headed out onto the boardwalk where there were lots of Mallards and a couple of shy Green-winged Teal. We has a Red-winged Blackbird calling and saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler. We did see an American Tree Sparrow, a Fox Sparrow and a Northern Cardinal.

Out perched, backlit by the sun, were a couple of Rusty Blackbirds. An American Black Duck flew over.

We moved on to Burnside where we saw a Greater Yellowlegs at the spit. We had some Ring-necked Ducks and a couple of flying Great Blue Herons. There were Hooded, Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Lesser Scaup and Bufflehead.

We drove out to Munster Side Road, but it was really quiet there. We did get a nice Hermit Thrush and both Kinglets.