Greenbelt Pathway & Richmond Lagoons with JC Birding

 October 31, 2024

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We were a large group today - Bill, Barbara, Barb, Ann, Ken, Carole, Alan, Eleanor and me.  We walked the north side of the trail in hopes of seeing crossbills, nope.  We did see American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees.  We took a short drive to Conroy Road to the trail.  There we saw American Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Canada Geese and Mallards flew over so just the same old same old.  Ann and I decided to walk back on the trail to sit on the bench.  When the rest of the group rejoined us, they reported they saw a juvenile Northern Shrike - darn I missed it.  Carole and Alan continued on the trail and later reported hearing a Rusty Blackbird.

We drove over to the Ottawa Dump on Trail Road - Ring-billed Gulls not unexpected.  We drove down Cambrian Road, Ken and Barb stopped because American  Crows were making a lot of noise, they were hoping that the crows were mobbing an owl.  After looking and listening they decided it was an American Crow roost and they were just having a good conversation.  At the end of Cambrian we saw a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds.  While we were at the end of Cambrian, we had stopped to chat and I said, "What is the bird at the top of the tree over there?"  No idea what it was because a Red-tailed Hawk was spotted and our focus was immediately on the raptor. Meantime Eleanor and Ann went to Moodie Drive, since both of them were driving on fumes.  When we had joined Eleanor, Ann had already left.  Eleanor reported seeing Ring-necked Ducks, Pied-billed Grebes as well as Great-blacked Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and of course Ring-billed Gulls.  A couple of Common Mergansers were interspersed with the very large flock of Canada Geese.  Ken was late joining us and when he did I said Good Afternoon to him, he made a wrong turn.  He reported his big find -- Mourning Doves.  Eleanor left the group as she had things to do.

Onto Richmond Lagoons, we had lunch before going to the lagoons.  Bill told us that an American Bittern has been seen regularly and its habit is once someone comes into the lagoon, it flies, so we should all go in together.  Unfortunately there were two school boys there already, so no American Bittern.  We set up our scopes and Barb says I see one Greater Yellowlegs and 2 Lesser Yellowlegs.  Then the 2 became 4, no wait, their bills are not long enough.  So we walked a bit closer and those Lesser Yellowlegs turned out to be Pectoral Sandpipers -- good find.

We walked to the other lagoon and my goodness so many Green-winged Teal.  Walking back Barb mentioned she and Ken had seen a White-breasted Nuthatch in the parking lot area.

As we all had things to do, we decided to call it a day.  Home by 2:15.

Species Noted

1. Ring-billed Gull
2. American Crow
3. Black-capped Chickadee
4. American Robin
5. Downy Woodpecker
6. Blue Jay
7. Canada Goose
8. American Goldfinch
9. Dark-eyed Junco
10. Red-breasted Nuthatch
11. Northern Cardinal
12. Northern Shrike
13. Hairy Woodpecker
14. Mallard
15. European Starling
16. Red-winged Blackbird
17. Red-tailed Hawk
18. Ring-necked Nuck
19. Common Merganser
20. Pied-billed Grebe
21. Lesser Black-backed Gull
22. Great Black-backed Gull
23. Herring Gull
24. Scaup (sp)
25. Mourning Dove
26. Greater Yellowlegs
27. Pectoral Sandpiper
28. Green-winged Teal
29. White-breasted Nuthatch

Cornwall to Ault Island with JC Birding

 October 25, 2024

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

I was late getting to Bill and Barbara's place. Bill said the Queensway was slow and that we would probably be late getting to Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre.  We arrived just a few minutes to 8:00 and we were off 15 minutes later.  I find it so strange that we rarely see any birds other than American Crows, along the 417. We took the exit to Cornwall via highway 138.  Stop Bill, Snow Geese, we saw a flock of about 1 to 200, they were far, but still lots of Snow Geese.  

Our first destination was Moses-Saunders Power Dam, hoping for lots of water fowl near the dam.  Unfortunately there were not lots of water fowl - many Double-crested Cormorants, one Great Blue Heron and Gulls.  Oh yes, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee and a few American Crows.  Even though the Saunders Hydro Dam Visitors Centre was closed, we went in anyway.  After using the facilities, we spoke with one of the men who work there and we all picked up various freebees offered at the centre.

We then checked out Guindon Park, which was a very good stop.  We saw a juvenile Common Goldeneye, its plumage was new to all of us.  There were Lesser Black-back Gulls.  It breeds in the Atlantic coasts of Europe.  It is migratory, wintering in the British Isles (40% call UK home) to West Africa.  However they have been coming to North America since 1934, but not in large numbers.  It was a good study for all of us.  We moved a bit to see the other Gulls to our left.   Bill is that a Great Black-back Gull?  It certainly is, was his response.  Lesser Black-back gull is L21 WS 54, WT 28.8 compared with  the Great Black-backed Gull L 30 WS 65, WT 57.06.  So the Great Black-back Gull is a big boy, it is the largest gull in the world.

We decided to have lunch at this park even though it was just past 11:00, we were all hungry.  Ken brought a treat for all of us to try -- Cheese Crisps - (Asiago Cheddar flavour), he bought at Costco.  We all enjoyed them.

We drove to Richmond Avenue, to see Dark-eyed Juncos on the way, but one one American Crow and we heard a Common Raven calling.

The place we all love is the Long Sault Parkway.  Bill parked close to the bridge, yes it's a no parking zone, but no one told us to move.  Eleanor parked behind us, but moved to park at the other end of the bridge.  Bill and I saw Lesser Scaup (lots of them) and Barbara walked over to tell us that Eleanor and Ken had also seen Redhead, Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser.  Nope we could not see them.  I joined Eleanor and Ken and could see they had a much better view and a bigger view of the water.  With difficulty I saw the Redhead and the Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser were easy to see.  Bill moved his vehicle just ahead of Eleanor's.  Again with difficulty he saw the Redhead.  We did see one Snow Goose way out with the Canada Geese, it stood out because of the white colour.  On Sunday, Ken texted me to put Pied-billed Grebe on the list.  It was not mentioned to Bill nor I because we had been focusing on the Redhead.

Driving along the parkway, we stopped to see 2 Common Loons, one on each side of the road.  One was very close, then it dove, came up further away, every time it dove, it just went further and further away.  Ken was busy  photographing the other Loon that was flapping its wings. We made another stop and the new birds were four American Black Ducks.

Along highway #2, we stopped to look at Swans - Trumpeter and Mute.  It was really cool to see them fly in.  Once again lots of Canada Geese and Eleanor found us a Cackling Goose.  We stayed a good long time looking at this flock of waterfowl.  Once we were back in the vehicle, Bill indicated it was getting late and we should have one more stop.  Do you want to stop at Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary?  No, I want to stop at Ault Island.  It was a really good stop -- so many Ring-neck Ducks, sprinkled with Redheads and so many American Wigeon.  Such a good stop.  Ken indicated that John R had reported a Eurasian Wigeon, it could be here, so we searched and searched.  Bill wanted to get the show on the road, to see what there was to see on the island,  Ken and I stayed searching while the others went to see what was on the island.  They returned and reported they saw nothing and we reported that we did not see a Eurasian Wigeon.  

But I forgot to mention all the other birds we saw or heard while on the Ault Island Causeway -- we heard a Pileated Woodpecker, Ken and I went to investigate, we saw a big bird flying but we really never got a bead on it.  A small flock of American Robins flew across the road a number of times.  We heard a Downy Wood[ecker, White-breasted Nuthatch and a Brown Creeper, but never saw them.  Back with the group, I said I hear Red-winged Blackbirds and Ken said there are about 15 in the tree over there.

Time to go home.  Oh Bill, we did not get any wild Turkeys.  However on my way from Bill and Barbara's place to my place, I did see a small flock of wild Turkeys on the experimental farm property.

Species Noted

1. European Starling
2. Canada Goose
3. Rock Dove
4. Snow Goose
5. Ring-billed Gull
6. American Crow
7. Herring Gull
8. Great Blue Heron
9. Double-crested Cormorant
10. Black-capped Chickadee
11. Blue Jay
12. Turkey Vulture
13. Lesser Black-backed Gull
14. Great Black-backed Gull
15. Common Merganser
16. Mallard
17. Dark-eyed Junco
18. Common Raven
19. Bufflehead
20. Lesser Scaup
21. Redhead
22. Hooded Merganser
23. Common Loon
24. American Black Duck
25. American Wigeon
26. Bald Eagle
27. Trumpeter Swan
28. Mute Swan
29. Wood Duck
30. Ring-necked Duck
31. Cackling Goose
32. Pied-billed Grebe
33. Pileated Woodpecker  
34. Red-winged Blackbird
35. Downy Woodpecker (h)
36. White-breasted Nuthatch (h)
37. Brown Creeper (h)
38. American Robin
39. Wild Turkey