Ottawa Area Birding

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Mud Lake Warbler Palooza with JC Birding

September 1, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Bill and I arrived at Mud Lake around 7:45. We put on my rubber boots as it had rained overnight, the forecast called for rain during the day that never happened.

We walked over to Mud Lake, there to greet us was a single Mallard. Looking through my scope, I saw so many Wood Ducks. Bill wandered over to a small body of water on the other side of the road, there he saw a Green Heron. Bill called to me to let me know, I joined him to see the Green Heron disappearing into the vegetation, but I did see one later in the day.. No Red-winged Blackbirds. I went back to my scope to finish scanning around the lake, the only other species I found was a Great Blue Heron.

Instead of going to the ridge we walked toward the water and started checking the trees along the water. Bill should we go down to the water? Bill said yes. Bill had told me he got himself a speaker to hang on trees, freeing up hands. Such a thoughtful gesture.

First bird we heard was a Black-capped chickadee. Bill hung up the speaker and played the mobbing tape. It didn't take long before we had lots of Chickadees, then the warblers arrived -- American Restart, Black and White, Magnolia, Cape May and Blackburian. Ann and Guy joined us looking at all those warblers. Ann indicated she did not know all the warblers. I told her I am concentrating on taking photos and I will identify them at home. We walked closer to the water, Bill said I have a Black-throated Green. Ann pointed out a single Common Merganser. She also said hello to what she called the Mallard sewing circle, 7 or 8 female Mallards.

High in the dead trees were a couple of Cedar Waxwings and a couple of Eastern Phoebes.

Ann and Guy walked up the ridge, while Bill went to take off his rubber boots. I stayed a while hoping to see more, I did not. I met Ian on his way down to the water and I was on my way up to the ridge. I caught up to Ann and Guy as they were trying to determine what birds were flying to and fro, they could not. We saw a group of people checking out an area with cameras and scopes at the ready. I stopped to talk a bit and Ann and Guy went on. No sign of Bill. We really did not see much. Ann wanted to go sit on the bench at the head of the path. We waited for Bill. I could not phone him as I left my phone in Bill's vehicle. Ann received a call, she thought it might be her son, nope Bill saying he had birded with Ian for a bit. Luckily he did, he saw a Blackpoll Warbler.

He joined us and we walked down the path. We heard Chickadees, out comes the speaker, oh my the mobbing sound really draws birds in -- Yellow-rumps, Bay-breasted and some of the others that we previously had seen.

We stopped and looked at a flower -- Guy said this flower is called Turtle head. He sent me more information this morning regarding the flower. "Scientific name is Chelone glabra, Common name White turtlehead. Native from Georgia to Newfoundland to Labrador, thus Eastern North America. In Greek , chelone means "tortoise" and was the name of a nymph who refused to attend the wedding of Zeus and was turned into a turtle as punishment. Its natural habitat is wet areas, such as riparian forests and swamps. It has been used as a method of birth control by Abenaki people." Thanks Guy, always the very knowledgeable flower guy;

Ann walked back to the bench as we continued.

We continued to the viewing platform to check out what we could see on the water -- Wood Ducks, so many juveniles -- they all looked like females, but the juveniles look so much like female Wood Ducks.

We walked to the bridge, played the tape, it was more effective at the far end of the bridge, bringing in more warblers and a single Blue-headed Vireo. At one point, Bill saw a Red-eyed Vireo, not sure if it was on the way to the bridge or at the bridge.

Guy what do you call these flowers -- Wapoo or Arrowhead. Again he gave me more information. "Well it's not Wapoo but Wapato, scientific name is Sagittaria latifolia and common names Broadleaf arrowhead, Duck potato, Indian potato. This plant produces edible tubers that have traditionally been extensively used by Native Americans. The starchy tubers were consumed by Native Americans in the lower Columbia River basin, in addition to the Omaha and Cherokee nations. The tubers can be eaten raw or cooked for 15 to 20 minutes. The taste is similar to potatoes and chestnuts, and they can be prepared in the same fashions: roasting, frying, boiling, and so on. They can also be sliced and dried to prepare flour. "

I don't think we saw any new warblers on the way back, Ian joined us at this point. Bill did play it again, oh yes White-breasted Nuthatch and Downy Woodpeckers flew in during one of the playbacks. As well when Guy and Ann were walking with us, they mentioned seeing a Belted Kingfisher as they were parking. We later saw one at Richmond storm pond.

We saw some fungi on a log - Trembling Crust fungi -- Guy gave me this information -- The mushrooms on the log are, I believe, Schizophyllum commune. It is common in rotting wood. It can be found throughout the world, year-round in places such as North America. This mushroom is edible when young. The species was regarded as nonpoisonous but regarded as inedible due to its smallness and toughness. It is chewed by some natives of Madagascar. This mushroom is sold in markets in Guatemala. Known locally in Chinese as baishen , this mushroom is enjoyed as food in Yunnan. In Northeast India, in the state Manipur, it is known as kanglayen and one of the favourite ingredients for Manipuri-style pancakes called paaknam. In Mizoram, the local name is pasi (pa means mushroom, si means tiny) and it is one of the highest rated edible mushrooms among the Mizo community. As to the edibility of those that we saw at Mud , personally I would not risk eating them and would not recommend them to anyone. When in doubt avoid.

At one point we noticed an absence of Canada Geese, mm that is different.

Ann and Guy left us and we continued onto Andrew Hayden park. We noticed Colin and another man standing over to the right of where we would normally scan. We joined them, Colin very nicely pointed out the Hudsonian Godwit and the Black-bellied Plover and said the Franklin's Gull had not been seen. We checked them both out and took photos. Bill let me know he saw a single Red-winged Blackbird. I walked over a bit to get a photo of the Great Egret and I spoke to a very dedicated birder (he had an oxygen pack on his back and lines running to his nose.) His walker was for his camera and he had a scope set up. I asked if he had seen the Hudsonian, yes, how about the Black-bellied plover, no. I tried to find it with my bins, but had to use my scope, he came over and got the coordinates. I went back over to talk to Colin and asked me to give me a short lesson on Gull aging. Bill said the speaker at OFO conference is speaking on Gulls. Yes.but I want a primer. Colin gave me a short explanation. We decided it was time for lunch, we were on our way out, when Colin said I have Franklin's Gull. Appetite or seeing the Gull. No surprise the Gull won. We checked it out and took more photos and off we went to the vehicle to get our lunches.

A single Ring-billed Gull joined us while we were eating, it did not bother us, it moved its head back and forth ever so slightly as if listening to our conversation. After a stimulating conversation we decided we would move onto the Emerald Meadows stormwater ponds. Once there we found it was very difficult to see the water, the vegetation had overgrown so much. Lots of Canada Geese, Great Egret. Off to the Richmond's Stormwater Pond -- Double-crested Cormorant, Osprey, 4 Great Egrets, 1 Great Blue Heron, 1 Map Turtle, 1 Painted Turtle and as we were leaving a Belted Kingfisher.

Then we were off to the Richmond Lagoons. Bill and I were talking too much and we missed the parking lot to the lagoons. Oh well we just turned around and parked the vehicle. I brought my scope, and off we went. At the viewing platform, Ian said he saw something go into the grasses, bigger than a Virginia Rail. Well Bill and Ian were so lucky they saw an American Bittern, probably the best bird of the day (oh my I just discounted all those beautiful warblers). We checked out the first lagoon, it looked pretty dry, but looking through the scope, I saw many, many Mallards and one lone Great Blue Heron swimming or standing in the deep slime.

Bill played the tape at the viewing stand, more warblers. Ian decided to stay at the viewing stand, in hopes he would see the American Bittern again. Bill again played the tape just as we were leaving, more warblers. I spotted a Black-capped Chickadee lying flat out on a branch. Bill, look at that bird, why is he doing that -- we all had different speculations that were wrong. I googled it and my search indicated that birds do that for several reasons --sunbathing or to cool down. I can't remember if I have seen this before, the Chickadee just looked weird on the branch. High up on a tree we saw an Eastern Wood Pewee.

Ian left us and we continued on to Trail Road. We saw a big flock of European Starlings, Turning down Cambrian we saw some Ring-billed Gulls, but at the open garbage part of the dump many more Gulls joined by at least a dozen Turkey Vultures. I was fascinated by how the garbage truck dumps its load - it lifts the back of the truck upwards and pushes all the garbage out. We drove to the end of the road and there we saw a single American Goldfinch. Driving back, we found our first and only Common Raven of the day.

Back home by 4:45. Another really good day birding -- 13 species of Warblers.

Species Noted

Great Blue Heron
Mallard
Wood Duck
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night heron
Eastern Phoebe
American Redstart
Black & White Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Northern Parula
Song Sparrow
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
White-breasted Nuthatch
Common Merganser
Belted Kingfisher
Ring-billed Gull
Wild Turkey
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Merlin
Hudsonian Godwit
Spotted Sandpiper
Black-bellied Plover
Red-winged Blackbird
Franklin's Gull
Canada Goose
Great Egret
Mourning Dove
Double-crested Cormorant
Osprey
American Bittern
Turkey Vulture
Eastern Wood Pewee
European Starling
American Goldfinch
Common Raven

Critters Seen

Leopard Frog
Map Turtle
Painted Turtle

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Loggerhead Shrike Monitoring at Napanee Plain

August 29, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

About a month and half ago Bill, Barbara and I registered for the Loggerhead Shrike Field Visit. Bill and Barbara do a Loggerhead Shrike survey in early summer one per month for three months. I volunteered to help the first time this year, then we included it in our regular birding trips. I expressed interest in seeing where they released the birds. We signed up for the 9:00 visit. So this morning (Saturday) at 6:46 we left Jane's place and arrived at the gate on Nugent Road at 8:50. When we turned down Nugent Road we saw a shrike on the top of a tree, but we did not stop because we did not want to be late. In retrospect that was a mistake because we saw it a lot closer than those we saw later.

Background: I should really comment on the difference between Northern Shrike (the ones we see often in the winter around the Ottawa area and the Loggerhead Shrike (the ones if we are lucky to see them found in the Napanee area and Cardin Plain). Three big differences - the thickness of the facial mask, the colour of the base of their bill and the barring on their chest. The Loggerhead Shrike has a thicker facial mask covering its eyes and extends across the forehead. The northern Shrike's facial mask is much thinner. The Loggerhead Shrikes have smaller all black bills, while the Northern Shrike has a longer and almost flesh coloured base of the bill during fall and winter. An adult Loggerhead Shrike has a solid white chest with no barring while Northern Shrikes have faint brown or grey barring and scalloping across the chest and underparts.

Loggerhead Shrike is an endangered resident in Ontario with only a few dozen breeding pairs that are found in Southern Ontario. While Northern Shrike is a secure northern breeder

The report: A vehicle was parked at the gate so we knew it was the correct place. We got out and introduced ourselves. A few minutes later a young lady came across the field and unlocked the gate. Only four in the group, the maximum size. She explained that we would walk across the field to the feeding station (where they kept all the food and other supplies). The field was quite rough, a herd of about 50 cows graze on the grass, keeping the grass short which helped the Shrikes see all the critters that they feed on -- so many, it was alive with insects, many many grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, etc. Honestly I thought the shrike ate mice and birds, but no, they eat mainly large insects. A google search indicated that insects make up 75% of their diet in the summer, in the winter they eat small songbirds and rodents.

I remember when I first started birding and saw a Northern Shrike, I was told they were called a Butcher Bird. they do not possess strong talons to hold onto their prey. They use their hooked bill to sever the prey's spinal cord and then impale them on a sharp object such as a thorn or barbed wire. One thing I did not know is they will impale a Monarch Butterfly or a toad and wait a few days to let their toxicity break down before eating. I didn't know that the monarch or the toad contained toxins. Continuous learning.

Now back to the field visit. We walked toward a small pond, about a dozen Wilson's Snipe flew out leaving 2 Lesser Yellowlegs. We also saw swallows. I did not think they looked like Tree Swallows and when asked at the end of the trip, our guide was unsure. Thank goodness Bill took photos and after Bill examined them, the swallows turned out to be Cliff Swallows.

Once at the feeding station she told us the young Loggerhead Shrike arrived at the age of 2 months or older and stayed at most 2 weeks. I thought they hatched them there. No, they come as far away as Virginia My question was how do they know when and where to migrate, since they were born in Virginia. Answer we don't know. The survival rate is low, she said maybe 90% of them die before their first year is up. But normally the survival rate for any first year birds is low.

They band them, rings go on the right side if they are wild born and left side if they are captive born - or maybe it is the other way round. On some of the birds they put on a digital radio tag. She explained some of the tags have longer antennae others have shorter. She said in her view the shorter ones will be used more often since on recapture there was a lot of damage done to the longer antennae. As well they used a colour code indelible marker on them, some had a dot on their throats, some had colouring on their chest or under their chin. This helped them identify the birds more easily from afar. The colours have faded over the weeks they have been released. Some of the birds stick around because they know the food source, others just leave to parts unknown except for those wearing a radio tag.

We spotted the first Loggerhead Shrike high in a dead tree, she indicated the birds had favorite perch sites. In total we saw three birds. All the birds were on the same tree. We were brought to their feeder, a larger plastic container with some critters, mealworms, super worms and one spider that came in on its own. They also added mice, but there were none in the container, I guess it had been eaten already.

Bill and I wanted to get closer, we were allowed to go as far as one side of an enclosure, but still not all that close and the lighting wasn't that great. We could only go on one side of the enclosure because the two other pens of the enclosure had 5 Loggerhead shrikes in them. Here I thought we were going to get up close and personal, but I was wrong. Our presence obviously disturbed them because they kept flying back and forth. While taking photos one bird flew, again I thought they would stay because she had indicated they were used to having people around them.

While walking back to the group I noticed a lot of various sizes of puff balls. I did photograph butterflies on the Canada Thistles that were blooming. Cows don't like thistles. She showed us a Shrike nest, she told us while it was completely built, it was abandoned fairly quickly, maybe because of human disturbance or a predator threat.

The field tour lasted exactly two hours. We said our thank yous and left to bird other places. On the way down the road we saw European Starlings and a Kestrel. While driving down another road we saw a Peregrine Falcon.

We first stopped at Camden Lake Provincial Wildlife Reserve. Lunch or go up to the viewing station? Viewing station won, Bill and I saw about 7 Caspian Terns. one Double-crested Cormorant and maybe 15 or 20 Ring-billed Gulls. Way in the distance we saw one Great Egret. Closer to the viewing station one Brown Thrasher and two Red-winged Blackbirds. Hey Bill maybe we could play the mobbing tape, Yes said Bill, we will do that after lunch. We all have priorities.

So after lunch we checked out what was on the water, this time we saw 5 Mute Swans in the distance and four Common Loons. We thought of Barb C who always looks for Common Loons. The number of Caspian Terns increased to about 15. Bill played the tape, nothing, I mean nothing, not even a Chickadee came in. We packed up and drove to the water where a man and his little boy were, the man was fishing and the boy was swimming. When we drove up the Common Loons were close, but when I got out with my camera, they had gone a good distance away. The little boy suggested we could wait until his Dad caught a fish, while I was talking to them, the only thing his Dad caught were weeds.

Bill turned the vehicle around and drove down a grass road, then we took a path to the water. Again he played the mobbing tape, absolutely nothing. Mind you we were playing it at the quietest time of the day, around 1:00.

Nothing new on the water. We returned to the vehicle and stopped at the port-a-potty, Normally I would leave the stop out, but this port-a-potty's door would not close so it was wide open while in use!!!! No cars came along, thank goodness

We drove to Moscow Lake. We were followed down the short road by a four wheeler, there goes seeing any birds, said Bill. We got out and walked a bit. We spoke to the two boys about 12 or 14 years old. Both were friendly and polite. During the conversation one boy said they had found a dead owl under their boat. We showed some interest and they asked if we wanted to see it. No not an owl but a Barred Plymouth Rock Chicken -- pretty common chicken. While walking back to the vehicle we saw two Leopard Frogs. The red headed boy had told us he drives the four wheeler and he has to pay the insurance, gas and repairs out of the money he earns, Oh what do you do, cut grass for neighbours and other chores. We thanked the boys and left. I said to Bill, those boys are quite responsible.

Time to head home. Slow day but birding can be like that.