Ottawa Area Birding

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Second Shrike Survey + Burnt Lands with JC Birding

May 28, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Guy, Ian, Eleanor, Susan, Bill and I worked on Bill's Loggerhead Shrike survey. At the first site Bill gave us instructions -- walk 200 feet or so and look on which side of the road for birds, seen or heard for 20 minutes. He set up his equipment and listened for birds. Once our 20 minutes were done we came back to the vehicle and told Eleanor what we saw and she checked off the birds of interest. He was not interested in how many birds we saw just if we saw the birds he was interested in. We did this at six different sites. As we were parking for the first site, what should fly in was a Wilson's Snipe, he stopped at some water then flew to another bit of water. Bill said he saw 2 of them.

After we finished the survey, we went over to Panmure to see if we could see the Upland Sandpipers. Ian was the only one who saw one and he photographed it. Lucky him

We then went to Burnt Lands, we were interested in seeing Clay-coloured Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow. While walking up the trail we ran into three men, one was Rick C. Once we caught up with him, we continued walking. We heard Grasshopper Sparrow but did not see it. . We walked to the wooded end, the first time for me to do that. At the wooded area we heard and then saw a Magnolia Warbler. On our way back Guy and Ian got ahead of us. We heard the Grasshopper sparrow, then it decided to show itself and we got good views of the little fella. This species is not officially classified as 'endangered' in Eastern Ontario, but it is listed as a species of Special Concern provincially and federally. This status means the bird is not currently threatened or endangered but it is sensitive to human activities and natural events such as habitat loss and agriculture mowing. Thank goodness Burnt Land is a provincial park,

We all were at the head of the trail, when Ian pointed out a sparrow. I put my bins on it and said this guy has a clear chest. YES, clay-coloured Sparrow. Its song is so distinctive like an insect buzzing -- buzz buzz -- we were all very happy to see it.

At this point Ian and Guy left us. We went home via Fine Estates, the only new bird was a Swamp Sparrow.

Bill received a notification regarding a Olive-sided Flycatcher on Chipmunk Trail. Bill said he had to go home, Eleanor and I thanked Bill for driving and headed to Chipmunk Trail off of Moodie Drive. We walked to where we thought it was and we heard it. Then we walked over to the another boardwalk. Walking along the trail, we saw a Garter Snake, but it was too fast for me to take a photo. A guy on a bicycle rang his bell and asked if we saw the Olive sided Flycatcher. Nope but we heard it,and told him where. He seemed to think it should be at the boardwalk we were headed to. Off he went. Eleanor said to me that is Richard W. known as Dickie W. and he is a good birder. When we caught up to him, he agreed the bird was where we heard it, because he had heard it from where he was standing. We chatted a while, then he went off to check it out. We went up to the lookout and Eleanor pointed out a Blanding's Turtle. But more importantly she said American Bittern flying over. Good one.

Walking back to the vehicle, Eleanor heard a Black-throated Green Warbler, we took a trail closer to where the bird was heard, where I got to hear it as well. Other species we saw were Red-eyed Vireo, Great crested Flycatcher, Kingbird and White-breasted Nuthatch.

I think we called it a day around 4:30

Another good day for birding. But the weatherman got it so wrong. Most of the day we were so cold, because we had dressed for.the forecast that indicated much warmer weather.

Species Noted

American Crow
Common Grackle
Ring-billed Gull
American Robin
Common Raven
Wild Turkey
Red-winged Blackbird
Mallard
Canada Goose
Bobolink
Turkey Vulture
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Snipe
Savannah Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Song Sparrow
Brown Thrasher
Tree Swallow
Blue Jay
Alter Flycatcher (h)
Brown-headed Cowbird
Gray Catbird
House Wren
American Goldfinch
Pine Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Broadwing Hawk
Northern Yellow Warbler
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Black-billed Cuckoo
Field Sparrow
Barn Swallow
Chipping Sparrow
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Upland Sandpiper
Grasshopper Sparrow
Clay-coloured Sparrow
Magnolia Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Swamp Sparrow
Olive-sided flycatcher (h)
Great-crested Flycatcher
American Bittern
Black-throated Green Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
Hairy Woodpecker

Critters Noted

Bullfrog
Groundhog
Garter Snake
Blanding's Turtle

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Murphy's Point with JC Birding

May 26, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We were on the road by 7:00. Bill, Eleanor and Barbara took a different route than Susan and I to Franktown Road, where we had planned to stop and look for Upland Sandpiper, Meadowlark and Bobolink. We saw the Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Harrier, Northern Yellow Warbler and a Brown Thrasher.

We then headed to the Swale, where we saw a Trumpeter Swan, Mallard, Wood Duck, Great Blue Heron and a Double-crested Cormorant.

We met up at Lally Homestead parking lot. Bill said they had seen a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and heard both Blue-winged and Golden-wing Winged Warbler. Later we decided that the Blue-winged Warbler was probably the Brewster Warbler singing, so Blue-winged Warbler is not listed as seen.

We started down the trail, but then decided to go back to the parking lot, where there seemed to be more singing. We saw the Golden-winged Warbler several times. We then went back to the trail, where we saw Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black &n White Warbler, American Redstart, heard a

Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Warbling Vireo and Ovenbird.

A Gray Catbird sang to us while we had our lunch, it eventually flew over to a small tree, and it became hard to see. Tony B. brought his group to the same area for lunch. I waved to say hello, Bill was the friendly one and went over to have a brief chat.

After we had birded the wooded area, Bill suggested going to the store for ice cream. No new birds at the store. We went to the dock area, where Susan and Bill had heard Black-throated Green Warbler and we eventually got to see it. I walked up the hill, while the others remained closer to the vehicles. I was lucky the Ovenbird came out to greet me.

We decided it was time to head back home, via Carleton Place stormwater pond. There we saw Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Common Tern and American Black Duck.

Bill, Eleanor and Barbara headed home and Susan and I were not quite done birding.

Susan and I stopped at the Jock River near Deer Lane, there we saw two Trumpeter Swans, a couple of Blue-wing Teal and a Bobolink.

Now who would even imagine seeing a Bobolink on a dead tree in a swamp area. It clearly had a yellow head and a white back, so Bobolink it was. That being said Susan totally disagreed with me, but I saw it well. Oh and it was very windy, I took photos, I had to lean into the bridge and still the camera was hard to manage, at one point just to look through my binoculars, I had to hold my hat with my camera in hand. What birders do.....

We drove and drove and finally I figured out we were so far away from where I wanted to go. We checked out Goodstown Road, nothing in the feeders, so we headed to Munster Road. No Eastern Bluebirds., We did see Barn Swallow, Black-crowned Nightheron, Nashville and heard a Veery in the distance. Time to go home. We checked out the stormwater pond in Richmond, absolutely nothing. On the hydro line we saw a Kestrel and on the Jock River leaving Richmond we saw a Great Egret.

We saw a lot of birds, the weather was warm, maybe even hot, there were lots of bugs, did I mention we saw lots of birds. Excellent day.