Ottawa Area Birding

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Westmeath and Pembroke Marina with JC Birding

September 29, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We met up at the Eagleson Park and Ride, Bill, Barbara and Jane in one vehicle and Barb C, Ken and Eleanor in the other. Of course the first stop was to buy goodies and use the facilities then we headed toward Cobden. One lone Mallard on the small pond just before entering Cobden. Next was the Cobden Boat Launch -- Pileated Woodpecker, Common Loon, Common Merganser, Ring-billed Gulls, Wood Ducks and a Double-crested Cormorant. Good stop but short, we were on a mission to find the Nelson's Sparrow.

Once at Westmeath, we parked near some trailers that I think were there till the spring. We walked over to the beach area and followed the path where we saw some White-crowned Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows and Yellowrump Warblers. We walked and walked, Bill played the Nelson's Sparrow song several times, no response. Barbara had brought a small bucket with her to pick low bush cranberries, she found some and picked while we birded. Walking back we saw a Hairy Woodpecker and White-reasted Nuthatch. Ken spotted what he thought was a Bald Eagle, just a few minutes later, Barb C and Eleanor said they had spotted a Bald Eagle. Ken rushed to their spot, but the Eagle had gone. Darn. Ken wanted to try another spot for the Nelson's sparrow, but when we got there we all agreed the habitat was wrong, wrong, wrong. So No Nelson's Sparrow.

We checked out the Westmeath Boat Launch -- lots of Swamp Sparrows, Eastern Phoebe, Song sparrow and a Great Blue Heron. I met a guy with fishing gear and he was hoping to catch a pike or two. Bill, Barbara and Jane were anxious to check the roads for the Sandhill Cranes, We told them where we were going and off we went as Barb's crew were getting into their car. We drove down Gore as we were about to turn, when we spotted birds on the hydro lines - two small ones and a larger one, after looking at the photos - Savannah Sparrows and one American Pipit. While taking photos, we heard the Sandhill Cranes. I tried calling Barb, but no, Bill tried and then he noticed they were coming down the road. They told us why they had taken so long, two River Otters. We got back into the vehicles and Barbara said something that triggered a memory that I spoke about and Bill said yes Jane but they were mink we saw. Oh dear, a faulty memory. We kept driving and looking for the Sandhill Cranes, nope couldn't see any. Turned onto another road, yes we have Sandhill Cranes, but oh so far away from us. Why can't they be closer tous. Photos were taken and all of a sudden the 40 or so we thought we had, became about 100--the other 60 or so were on the other side of the tree fenced line and we did not see them until they took flight. The birds didn't seem to know which way they wanted to go. The larger flock seemed to be flying in circles, while a smaller group headed away from us. They kept flying higher and higher singing their beautiful song. We drove off and the birds were directly above us, but soo high up. As we left Barb C and her crew we spotted a Merlin flying a million miles an hour, well really fast and while Bill was watching he spotted a Northern Harrier. We tried another road and I think we got the mother load -- found on Pleasant Valley Road -- had to be at least 1000 birds. Wow the flock just kept going and going again so very far away. When Barb and crew got out of the vehicle we told them about the Harrier and Merlin, yes they had seen them, and actually watched the Merlin actively hunting a small bird. Back to the Sandhill Cranes.

What a beautiful site. Just too far away to really enjoy them to the maximum. Everyone had big smiles on their faces. This is what we came to see.

Off we went to Pembroke, but first we stopped to see birds on the line - maybe 10 + American Pipits. We got out of the cars to walk toward the birds, but traffic scared them off. It is very difficult to find Pipits in a field, watch for movement ,says Ken, sure, easier said than done. . Again photos were taken and we were off to the marina in Pembroke. We took our scopes out and walked the path down near the river. Most of us were looking at the 6 or so Killdeer when this other bird was spotted and it seemed to be sitting in the water. Must be a spotless Spotted Sandpiper, nope it got up and showed us who he was a Lesser Yellowlegs. A Hooded Merganser was swimming with some Mallards quite close to us

There were many many Gulls out on the small 'islands of rocks' far out. Far being the operative word. Eleanor spotted the Plovers, "Bill come here and tell me which is an American Golden Plover or Black Bellied Plover". So nice to have experts around. The closer one is an American Golden Plover, was his response. It is difficult to distinguish them in their non breeding plumage -- American Golden Plover has a white eyebrow and darker tail feathers, yeah and we are far away from the birds to see those details. Scopes are good and if you really look you can see the details, but it takes focus. I took a crap photo of the American Golden Plover.

Eleanor said are all the Gulls Herring Gulls?, after checking leg colour we thought maybe half of them were and the other half were Ring-billed gulls. I spotted a Gull with a dark back. drawing Eleanor and Bill's attention to it, we came to the conclusion it was a Lesser Black-backed-Gull. Why? The back was charcoal coloured not a really dark black, we could not see its legs because it was swimming. The OFO conference this weekend keynote speaker is speaking on Gulls, I will take note but....Gulls are really difficult sometimes.

What is the duck with the white butt, I asked. Eleanor said "Gadwall", She has such good eagle eyes. Wigeon. She brought up a Wigeon on her phone, and pointed out the details of a Wigeon, she was exactly correct.

Ken had gone to the car to rest a bit and really it was time to go home - an hour and half to get home. Barb C said she would offer to write up the report but then said she could not because she was taking minutes at a meeting later on tonight. No no it's okay i will do them. I got the photos done last night and part of the report.

Bill, Barbara and Jane took a little detour off highway 17 to Snake River Line. We saw nothing.

By 5:00 we were home. Our list did not make 50, 4 shy, but we got some good birds - Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, Sandhill Cranes, American Pipit, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Black bellied Plover and American Golden Plover. The weather was beautiful in the low 20s and the friendship, always good.

Another awesome day birding.

Species Noted

White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blue Jay
Ring-billed Gull
American Crow
Wild Turkey
European Starling
Mallard
Pileated Woodpecker
Wood Duck
Double-crested Cormorant
Common Loon
American Goldfinch
Mourning Dove
Canada Goose
Common Raven
Swamp Sparrow
Hairy Woodpecker
White-crowned Sparrow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Eastern Phoebe
Common Merganser
Bald Eagle
Black-capped Chickadee
Song Sparrow
Great Blue Heron
American Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Sandhill Crane
American Pipit
Common Yellowthroat
House Sparrow
Merlin
Northern Harrier
Rock Pigeon
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden Plover
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Wigeon
Hooded Merganser

Critters Seen

Leopard Frog
River Otter

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Carp River Flood Ponds Again

September 23, 2026

Both Jane and Guy had gotten good photos of this rarity, so Bill & Barbara returned the next day after it had been reported again. This time they had better luck. They ran into Daniel Lafortune again, and he pointed it out. Good thing, as it was far and hard to see among the similar-sized gulls. They were able to get record shots.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Mud Lake to Carp Flood Ponds to Carleton Place with JC Birding

September 22, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Barb C, Guy, Bill, Eleanor, Barbara, Jane and Ken met at Mud Lake at 8:00. There were so many Mallards on Mud Lake, with a few Wood Ducks and one Great Blue Heron. I walked over to see if the Green Heron was in the pond between the road and the berm. Nope, what I had missed when Ii left the others, was a very quick mink who ran across the area between our people and the water. It ran so fast that if you were not looking, you missed it.

We spent a long time checking the trees that run along the road, many birds, lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Cape May Warbler and Black-capped Chickadees, We walked up the hill, Bill and Barbara stayed looking along the road. More Yellow-rumps, Ken decided to go wandering, when he joined the group, he reported he had seen Golden-crowned Kinglet and Common Merganser. Bill and Barbara joined the group as we checked out the path close to the water. Then we walked very slowly to the water filtration plant. On our return we saw a single Northern Flicker checking out the lawn for goodies.

Where to go next, let's go to Andrew Haydon Park to use the facilities. I did not get the specifics, we turned at what was called Ottawa Beach, while Barb C went to the large Andrew Haydon Park. We let Ken know where we were going as we left him at Mud Lake on another of his excursions.

We headed to Kanata - Didsbury Road Scrape - Carp Watershed Restoration Pond, specifically to see the Little Blue Heron. We parked at the playground and got out our scopes, no Little Blue Heron at first glance. The trail around the water really isn't a trail, it's an asphalt walkway. We saw many Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls, with a few Herring Gulls. Barb C walked over to speak to a group of people to enquire about the Little Blue Heron. She had learned it had flown and maybe it was closer to Terry Fox. Bill, Barbara, Barb walked ahead of Guy, Eleanor and Jane (Ken had not shown up as yet). We figured we were separated by maybe 5 minutes, but the separation got much more than that. We stopped to listen or watch for other birds, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbirds, American Goldfinch and to check the waterfowl. We approached a small bridge, Guy says there it is -- it stayed for just a few minutes and then flew, but the three of us got good looks. We had seen a Little Blue Heron before, but now we all saw it in Canada. At this point Ken called to say he was at the other end of the pond and the Little Blue was not there, I asked him to look again since the bird had just just flown off in that direction. When we finally caught up with the others, of course we asked if they saw it, the answer was a definitive NO. We told them we briefly saw it, off they went, we took our time on our return trip. We saw about 5 Common Gallinules. We kept walking. It was around then we discovered we had not taken the right direction and were way out of our way to get to the vehicles. I texted Bill to let him know where we were. When we finally met up with the others, Ken had joined them, Barb C had moved her car up to ours and they had finished their lunch. Oh well we got our steps in, but Guy was in pain his hip was bothering him big time.

A man stopped to talk to us, he had not seen the Little Blue Heron, but he could get here regularly as he worked nearby and lived near Carleton Place. He told us he had lived in South America for 17 years but had not taken up birding then. Off he went, we said we didn't catch his name. Barbara went off to speak to him. His name was Daniel Lafortune.

We had a discussion as to where to go next, we decided on the Carleton Place stormwater pond. Ken wanted to check something else out and said he might join us. Before we arrived Guy said he was just going to walk a little bit. Arriving at the pond and walking to the pond, I was told the Nelson Sparrow was seen flying over the pathway around 7:00 a.m. We were there closer to 2 p.m. First thing heard were the Yellowlegs calls, both Greater and Lesser were there. Three Trumpeter Swans, 2 appeared to be sleeping and one much further away. Two Great Egrets flew. Once we set up our scopes, we found about 4 Wilson's Snipe and some Killdeer. The Killdeer were first seen chasing each other and then one appeared to be enjoying just sitting in the water (can't say I have ever seen that before). When the Snipes were seen Eleanor said yep Wilson's Snipe you can see the snipes running down their back, she meant to say the stripes running down their back. Ken joined us. I went off and started to photograph some insects. Guy walked more than he had planned, in fact I was surprised at the distance he did walk.

Once done there we decided we should check out what we call the riverwalk (actual name Stonewater Bay stormwater pond). I quite enjoy walking this area, it is simply beautiful, we start off with the pond on one side and some beautifully landscaped properties on the other, we walk over a bridge and continue to the Mississippi River. Lots of big trees and some shade, homes with bird feeders, just a very calm place to be. Birders and non birders would enjoy this walk. I imagine two people hand in hand strolling down the path enjoying each other's company not saying a word.

Back to birding. At the bird feeders we saw Blue Jays, House Sparrows and Downy Woodpeckers. Bill played the mobbing tape at the boardwalk, in came many Black-capped Chickadees, Gray Catbird and I think a Northern Parula. At this point Ken said he had to leave, he lives at the east end of the city and would have to take the Queensway home, maybe a lot more traffic if he delayed any longer. We walked a bit further and the mobbing tape was played again. Guy left us, to go and sit at the cars, his hip was bothering him big time. We got Tennessee, Blackpoll, and of course many many Yellowrumps.

We decided it was time to get back to the vehicles. Guy left our vehicle and joined Barb C. Barb C gave him a painkiller (a side benefit of going with others). .We all agreed we had a great day, the weather cooperated and so did the birds. At one point I asked Eleanor and Barb if they knew I loved birding, they said yes and so did they!!!

52 species with 8 species of warblers and it’s Sept 21!

Home by 4:45.