OFNC fall outing with Tony Beck

Nov 9, 8 am

On invitation from Colin & Hilda Wooles, I joined the group today. It was a group of 20 or so, and included Rick and Marc, and plenty of people I don’t know.

We started at the Ottawa Beach, and walked over to the ponds of Andrew Haydon Park, then on the Dick Bell Park and out to the lighthouse where we located the Blackpoll Warbler. Here’s our list for the day:
Canada Geese, Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup,Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Merganser, Common Loon, White-winged Scoter, Great Black-backed Gull, Blackpoll Warbler, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, American Crow, Common Raven, Vole, Muskrat, Painted Turtle.

Lac Des Chenes and the Ottawa River with Tony Beck

Nov. 5, 7:30 am

Besides regulars Rick and Heather, today we had Jen and a couple of Algonquin journalism students, Jeremy and Alexander.

We began at Ottawa Beach at the east end of Andrew Haydon Park, where Heather discovered a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the sand spit. There was a first-year Glaucous Gull too, which we tried to digiscope. There were 4 or 5 Cackling Geese which quickly disappeared to the west behind the bushes in the foreground. There was a large raft of Common Goldeneye way out. An American Black Duck was off to the right on the spit. The three common gulls, were also present in various life stages.

We moved over to the ponds area of the park, and scanned the river. We found a single White-winged Scoter and also a Black Scoter, 4 Common Mergansers, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Red-necked Grebe, and rafts of mostly Greater Scaup. There were a few Buffleheads right against the break wall.

On the pond, there were some Green-winged Teal, including a male in breeding plumage. And about 15 Lesser Scaup and 1 Greater Scaup females.
We jumped in the cars and went for a coffee. Then we headed for Burnside Pit, stopping a few times to scan the fields.

At Burnside we had many Hooded Mergansers, some Ruddy Ducks, and a Greater Yellowlegs fly past.

Ottawa West with Tony Beck

Jack Pine Trail, 7:30 am

We met at the parking lot and discovered that the near boardwalk was under construction and closed to hikers. We headed off down the trail, noting that the winter feeders were not yet in place.

Things were very quiet until we reached the far boardwalk, where Tony noticed two rather late Greater Yellowlegs fly over for good looks.

We decided to retrace our way to the parking lot since there was not a lot of activity. However on the way back, we found a White-throated Sparrow, several Dark-eyed Juncos, a White-breasted Nuthatch and a Blue Jay, all at the same spot.

We headed for Burnside Pit, seeing our first Red-tailed Hawk perched nearby. As we were setting up, a Long-tailed Duck flew overhead. You could really see that long tail streaming out behind.

On the pond, we found several Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks, and Hooded Mergansers. There were Great Black-backed, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls in good numbers. We also saw a few Common Mergansers and a couple of Pied-billed Grebes and Buffleheads.

We headed over to Richmond to cruise the back roads. Stopping on Eagleson Road, we saw four or five Snow Geese among the hundreds of Canadas. On Rushmore Road, we saw several American Tree Sparrows and American Pipits, along with a few Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. A Downy Woodpecker posed for us too. On Twin Elm, we saw four Rusty Blackbirds high in a tree. They took off as we drew close to try for a photo.

We came east on Brophy to Moodie and returned to Burnside Pit. This time we got our Ring-necked Ducks. We went to Fallowfield for a coffee, then cruised Cambrian Road by the dump. We had another perched Red-tailed Hawk and a couple more hovering in the fields. We carried on around beside Hwy 416 to Barnsdale Road, where Tony spotted yet another Red-tailed Hawk in heavy brush intent on something on the ground. This first-year bird allowed us to take several poor photos before it finally took off and flew right overhead. Once more, we stopped at Burnside Pit, this time to study the gulls in our scopes. Tony pointed out a single Iceland Gull and four Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the thousands of ordinary ones. It was quite windy and getting very chilly, so we called it a day.

Andrew Haydon Park

Oct. 26 10 am

The ponds at Andrew Haydon Park continue to provide excitement for local birders and photographers. Today’s star was a male Green-winged Teal. The teal was accompanied by a female Lesser Scaup. And also nearby was a female Northern Pintail. Out on the river, there was a good sized raft of scaup and a few small groups of scaup nearer shore. Also spotted were a Red-necked Grebe and a pair of Buffleheads.

A Merlin terrorized the local Crow population, then was in turn chased by them.

Andrew Haydon Park

Oct 19, 2:00 pm

After receiving a tip on Ontbirds, I headed right out to see the Long-tailed Duck. It was easy to find, as there were three or four photographers set up already. The duck cruised in quite close for marvelous photo opportunities, and then decide to take a nap. The Green-winged Teal was still there and the two Northern Pintails too. Our lone Brant now had two other companions. Perhaps the three of them will migrate together.

Migration Along The Ottawa River - Ottawa West with Tony Beck

Thursday Oct 15, 7:30am.

We met at the east parking lot of Andrew Haydon Park. There was Kim, Tony and me.

We saw at least three Cackling Geese, but not much else. So we walked over to the west side of the park and checked the Ottawa River. We were hoping to find a Greater White-fronted Goose which had been reported the day before, but it was nowhere to be found.

We saw a Red-breasted Merganser and a few Lesser Scaup.

In the pond, there was a Green-winged Teal and a Greater Yellowlegs. At the far end, by the creek, we saw a couple of Killdeer huddled on the shore looking very cold. We circled the pond and saw some immature gulls and the Brant which has been around since July. Tony was worried about it’s health and hoped that the Wild Bird Care Centre was monitoring the bird. We decided to warm up by driving over to try for the Black-backed Woodpecker. We enjoyed the trail, saw both nuthatches, some Golden-crowned Kinglets, plenty of Robins, a Blue Jay, and a Fox Sparrow, but no Black-backed Woodpecker. Oh, well.

We checked the Burnside Pond, but it was quiet there. We saw a Ruddy Duck pair, a nice male Lesser Scaup, a Bonaparte Gull, and a Pied-billed Grebe.

So, we headed back to Andrew Haydon and checked the ponds and river again. This time we saw a Lesser Yellowlegs, a couple of female Northern Pintails, and a Great Blue Heron.

Rideau Trail – Ottawa West with John McAlpine

Tuesday, Oct. 13. 2:30 pm

Friends John and Mary Anne had spotted and photographed a Black-backed Woodpecker on Monday. I persuaded John to guide me there, and surprise, he was still there chopping away at the same tree. On the trail, we also saw a yellow-rumped Warbler, a Ruby-throated Kinglet and lots of Black-capped Chickadees.