Ottawa Area Birding

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Grand Calumet Island with JC Birding

June 4, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Guy, Ken, Eleanor, Barbara, Bill and I went on a road trip to Calumet Island. Yes it was a birding trip, but it felt like a road trip. Our first stop was, of course, at Antrim Truck Stop, for a bathroom break, well it really was to buy goodies at the bakery.

Once on the Quebec side, we stopped at a boat launch, where several vehicles were filling up their water tanks, road cleaning in the village that day. There was a lot of bird activity on the other side of the water. Out came our scopes and we got to see Cliff Swallows busy at work gathering mud for their nests under the bridge. Just around where we parked we heard Red-eyed Vireo, saw Eastern Phoebe, American Redstart, Eastern Kingbird, Cedar Waxwing. Canada Geese with at least 10 goslings in tow, Red winged Blackbird and Chipping Sparrow. Ken suggested we stop at the bridge and check out the Cliff Swallows a little closer. We did just that and spent a good deal of time there. I was walking with Guy and he remarked he had not seen as many Cliff Swallows since his childhood. While we were watching the Swallows three very noisy Common Ravens announced their presence..

Bill was anxious to get to the grassy area of the island so we could start birding. We stopped and the first bird Guy, Eleanor and I saw was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird resting on the power line. Bill and Ken were focused on photographing a very cooperative Brown Thrasher. We walked up to the vehicles and Eleanor indicated the flat head no neck bird was being heard -- yes we saw a Grasshopper Sparrow and we all remarked how much yellow was on the bird.

Driving on, we stopped to hear the Bobolink in the fields, Bill spotted something on the line - Eastern Bluebird, so we drove a little closer and that bird was playing Kestrel with us, we would almost catch up to it and it would fly a little further and land on the power line and so on. We saw at least 6 or 7 Eastern Bluebirds. My photos are not that great, I am hoping Bill's are much better. We drove to where Bill had told us about a house with many feeders -- disappointment -- Grackles, Redwings and Blue Jays were there and not many of them, only two feeders had food in them. We waited around for Ken and Eleanor to catch up. Oh Bill something high in the sky, what is it., take a photo. Jane, it is much too far away for me to do that.

Barbara had wandered down the road so Guy and I joined her as Bill drove back to see what the other two were up to. They reported that they had Bobolinks on the fence and Ken was busy photographing them. The bird high in the sky was a Red-tailed Hawk.

Bill was anxious to get to the Mourning Warbler spot, we drove there and Bill stuck his hand out with Merlin listen -- Mourning Warbler he said. The bird showed itself and Bill got busy snapping away. The bird flew back and forth from one side of the clearing to the other. I got a lot of branches photos but none with the Mourning Warbler. Time for lunch while listening to the Mourning Warbler singing. Eating outside was beautiful, the weather was warm, we had to find a spot that was shaded. Not complaining, it was simply a beautiful 'summer' day and we were all thankful for that.

After lunch we proceeded to another spot Bill knew, there we got White-crowned Sparrow and a Northern Parula. We drove through the town and Bill recalled Barbara and Bill's canoe trip and where they stayed at a B&B owned by a lady owner named Jane, who later built a mansion. At one point we drove through the1st or 2nd longest covered bridge in Quebec.

Driving on Bill was looking for a footpath which he found. Before heading down the path, everyone dosed themselves with insect repellent. We took a foot bridge and the best species we got there was a Map Turtle sunning itself below and to one side of the bridge. Then we saw one swimming in the water. Bill told us they were both females because the male Map Turtle is a whole lot smaller than the female.

Bill drove home via 148, I think Ken and Eleanor drove home via the Ontario side since Eleanor's car was parked in Kanata. Bill dropped Guy home, Barbara asked if we could have a tour of Guy's garden. Just like every gardener of course the answer was yes. He has such a beautiful garden with very different flowering plants. It was easy to see that the garden is Guy's passion. We may have overstayed our welcome but it was enjoyable to see his garden and watch how his cats welcomed him home. Great way to end the day.

Species List

Ring-billed Gull
American Crow
Rock Pigeon
European Starling
Turkey Vulture
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird
Cliff Swallow
Common Grackle
Chipping Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Canada Goose
Red-eyed Vireo
Common Raven
Blue Jay
Barn Swallow
Gray Catbird
Common Yellowthroat
Great-crested Flycatcher
Warbling Vireo
Veery
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Brown Thrasher
Grasshopper Sparrow
Bobolink
Savannah Sparrow
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Meadowlark
Northern Flicker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Warbler
Black-billed Cuckoo (h)
Kestrel
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Parula
Mallard
Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Cardinal

Critters Noted

Beaver
White-tailed Deer
Groundhog
Map Turtle

Sure we saw squirrels and chipmunks, they are just annoying little creatures and I don't put them down as a critter of interest!!!

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Ross Road with JC Birding

June 2, 2026

Report written by Barb Chouinard

It was a surprisingly cool morning with a brisk wind when Ian, Eleanor, Jane and Bill and self met up at Eagleson Park and Ride. Bill was solo today. Barbara, we missed you today.

We discussed our individual plans after birding today and it looked like most of us had to finish birding around 3 pm as we had other commitments. Now that I think about it..., we could have gone in one vehicle with the gents up front and three of us ladies in the second row. We always have some laughs when we are almost cheek to cheek in the back and have to buckle each other in etc.

Instead Bill and Eleanor both drove their vehicles: Bill and Jane in one SUV and Eleanor and Barb and Ian in the second SUV. We started off at 6:50 am. First stop was the Antrim Truck stop for.... some goodies. Plus it is a good place for a restroom break. We headed to Cobden. Traffic was not heavy heading out of town. Bill was the lead driver.

Between Arnprior and Cobden a probable Merlin was spotted on the fly by Eleanor’s group. We wish we could have had a better look on the fly but the Merlin’s colours were there. We also had a fly-over of a mystery bird just outside of Renfrew. We spotted a Ring billed Gull flying over and just as we arrived at the marsh right by highway 17 close to Cobden, an erratic stiff flight of a bird was spotted over the marsh. This was later identified by Bill as a Spotted Sandpiper. Thank you Bill. Jane spotted a bird in the marsh, and got a photo through the window of a Sora. Good one!

While at this marsh, Jane cried out American Bittern flying. Yipee we saw it fly and it was nice to see the bird. It sort of flew to the north end of the marsh never to be seen again. Jane tried to locate the bird again but the marsh was just too dense.

We turned right and went down the road that has theCobden boat launch. We heard Warbling and Red eyed Vireos. We saw two Double crested Cormorants flying over the water. I used my scope as I was on my usual mission to find a Common Loon. Far away on the other side of Muskrat Lake the Loon was spotted and it dove. It took a bit of time to relocate the bird and was seen by some of the group.

On to Snake River Line where usually there is minimal traffic. Not today, every kind of vehicle was out on the road today. We did careful frequent stops and drove with our blinkers on. We saw lots of Savanna Sparrows along the road in addition to the ubiquitous Grackles, Starlings and Red winged Blackbirds. No shortage of those today. We did see Common yellow throats and Northern Yellow Warblers. We spotted an Eastern Kingbird and a Gray Catbird.

We tried for a long while to see the Virginia Rail that was calling but it did not come out. We stopped at the big field where in the past we have seen Sandhill Cranes. There was something out there way out in the back of the field. This turned out to be several Wild Turkeys with one Tom displaying. We continued on to Ross Road. We looked to the right roadside to see if there were any Trilliums in bloom. In other years we have seen a carpet of the flowers here. But it is June and trilliums are done. At one of the houses on Ross Road, we could hear Northern House Wren singing away. Such a beautiful sound! We got out of the car and located the Wren pair. Photos were taken.

Bill drove on and stopped at a water pump just after crossing Stafford Third Line and Bill and Jane saw a Grasshopper Sparrow (very flat head and no neck sparrow). Ian, Eleanor and self came to the same spot a few minutes later and saw a solo Killdeer. The right time for each bird to be seen, just not together. Maybe they were a couple...

Here again we saw an American Bittern flying over the marsh. We heard a Virginia Rail and some of us had very brief glimpses of it. It continued to call a long while but did not come out. We saw some marsh birds: Sora, Common Gallinule, and heard an Alder flycatcher in the Alders. We saw several ducks: Ring necked Duck, Wood Duck, Blue Winged Teal and Mallards. We did see two groups of shorebirds flying around but they would not land where we could see them. The marsh was very quiet today. We always say that we should drive directly to Ross Marsh and get there early and see how active the marsh is in the early morning but it has never happened. We also spotted a Snapping Turtle resting. It looked like a dry grey rock.

In total we spent almost 90 minutes at the marsh. We ate lunch standing up. The sun was out and it was warm. It was beautiful but lacking in bird activity. Mindful of the clock today, we moved on. Jane and Eleanor said that they had heard Sandhill Cranes in the back of the marsh. So we did the drive of the square: Ross Road to Micksburg Road to Code Road and to Stafford Third line. We did not spot any Sandhill Cranes. We ended up at the bridge on Stafford Third Line. No swallows around the bridge, no Swans and it was pretty quiet.

We looked at the time and discussed our last stop and decided on the Osceola Dump. Off we went. We easily found the dump. Thank you Bill. Not much action here. The dump has been sort of repurposed.

We went down the country road that leads to the farm fields beside the dump. We have driven on this stretch and driven up the hill at the end to have a “The Hills are Alive” moment.

Then after a couple of years, the road/path got too rough to drive down it. This year it is flat and well used. The cattle saw us coming and started moving up to meet us. I remember one year, a teenage boy drove up on a dirt bike and led the cattle back to the barn. But this was us walking on the path and the cows were coming to meet us. Each one of them was watching us. Then the cows, I guess realized this was not the boy or the farmer. They turned back to grass munching.

Here we heard an Ovenbird call. We spotted several Black capped Chickadees, an Eastern Wood Pewee. and an American Redstart also. We had to leave and head home. At the cars, Eleanor and Jane saw an Indigo Bunting which is a reliable bird at this location.

We made it to the Eagleson Park and Ride for 4 pm and everyone was happy with the day up the valley. Every birding day is a happy day for each of us.