Ridge Road Search for a Canada Jay with JC Birding

February 24, 2025

 

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Bill and Barbara picked me up at 8:30.  Bill wondered what the best route would be to go to Ridge road, so he decided on the Queensway.  It took us an hour to get to Ridge Road.  Once on 417, we saw something a bit strange, a Wild Turkey walking alongside the road on the snow.  Can't say I have seen that before.

There were a few cars parked at various places on Ridge Road, nothing of note, except the Common Raven.  When we got to the parking lot of Mer Bleue, we saw  Marc P and asked him if he saw the bird, No, has anyone? No,  not today.  He indicated he had walked around the parking lot area and down to the boardwalk.  We walked to the picnic tables and really the only birds, other than Black-capped Chickadees, were the very vocal Blue Jays.  We had heard that the Canada Jay was good at imitating a Blue Jay call so we checked all the Blue Jays calling and no Canada Jay.

We walked back to where the feeders used to be, seed was scattered about, there we saw the very hungry Black-capped Chickadees, both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and White-breasted Nuthatch.  We walked up to the road and down the road a bit and Ann G. stopped to ask about our luck at finding the Canada Jay, nope.  She said she heard there was a Barred Owls in the woods, she said she would check it out.  When we returned to the parking lot, a small flock of American Tree Sparrows had come in to enjoy the feast of seeds.

We decided to go to Dewberry Trail, as we left the parking lot, a Porcupine was spotted in a tree, lousy for photos. Too many trees between us and the porcupine.  I said to Bill you know we used to see lots of porcupines, why don't we see them now, his answer was fishers eat them, so they must turn them over, yes was his response.  I did a little research on porcupines, they take a long time to mature, they have a long gestation period and they birth only one porcupettes at a time. So it takes a long time for numbers to increase and hungry fishers don't help..

At Dewberry Trail the only other additional species was Mourning Dove.  While we did not see the Canada Jay, it was simply a glorious day to be out, sun shining and very mild temperatures.  Since I had not been walking outside much, I quite enjoyed the outing.

Species Noted

 

1. American Crow
2. European Starling
3. Wild Turkey
4. Common Raven
5. Black-capped Chickadee
6. Blue Jay
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Hairy Woodpecker
9. White-breasted Nuthatch
10. Mourning Dove
11. Rock Pigeon
12. American Tree Sparrow

Critters

1. Porcupine
2. the ubiquitous black squirrel
3. red squirrel

Carleton Place Riverwalk

 February 23, 2025

We expected to see a bunch of Trumpeter Swans, but there were none.  We got a few ducks and saw a surprising paddler out canoeing.

Stonecrest Road to Arnprior

February 21, 2025

This was an impromptu outing suggested by Carol.  Bill & Barbara met Carol & Alan on Stonecrest Road at 10:30 am.  There were 2 or 3 other vehicles with birders waiting and hoping to see the rare Varied Thrush.

We waited for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Barbara got out of our car to talk to Carol, and while she was there, the Varied Thrush popped into sight and perched on the wire fence.   Many photos were taken!

Bill called and texted Connie with the news, not knowing that she, Sami and Lynne had just arrived.  Unfortunately for them, the Varied Thrush did not come back during the 1 hour and 15 minutes that they waited.

Meanwhile, Bill, Barbara, Alan and Carol drove to Galetta to check out the feeders there and the pretty bridges.  Only common feeder birds were seen.

Then, it was off to Arnprior for a stop at Tim Hortons.  We had our hot drinks inside to chat a bit and warm up.

We drove across the Madawaska River and turned down to the river. We looked at the Mallards and Canada Geese, surprised that there were no Common Goldeyes or Mergansers.  The best sighting was an American Beaver swimming in the river near us.

We drove a short way to look at the large nearby church.  Alan and Carol spotted first one then two Peregrine Falcons perched at the bottom of the steeple.  Wow, that was special.

At this point, we decided to backtrack to get on the Hwy 417 and head for home.  The list is not long, but we were well pleased with our sightings today.

Birds Seen

1. Rock Pigeon

2. Red-tailed Hawk

3. American Crow

4. Varied Thrush

5. Blue Jay

6. Black-capped Chickadee

7. Dark-eyed Junco

8. American Goldfinch

9. Hairy Woodpecker

10. Mallard

11. Canada Goose

12. Peregrine Falcon

Critters

1. American Beaver

Boreal Owl & Great Gray Owl at FWG

 February 19, 2025

We saw a Boreal Owl reported, then Jane's phone call got us off the couch and on our way to FWG.  The Boreal Owl was easy to find with all the photographers.  We were told that a Great Gray Owl was over across the bridge, so we found it too.

Snowy Owl, yes - Short-eared Owl, no

 February 12, 2025

We went on an afternoon owl prowl. We were lucky to see the Snowy Owl reported by our Physio, Kumar, on Greenbank Road.

We then headed out to Metcalfe in search of a Northern Hawk Owl. There was no sign of it. Finally we drove to Earl Armstrong Road to look for the Short-eared Owls reported by Eleanor and BarbC.  We were joined by Richard M and Roy J.  But the owls did a no-show on this evening.  We were so fortunate that Richard was there, because our car would not start and he gave us a boost.  Always an adventure!

Ridge Road, Navan & Beyond Casselman with JC Birding

 February 13, 2025

We drove to Ridge Road, where we met Alan & Carol who were waiting for us. Anita was coming there too, so we kept in touch by phone to be sure she found us.  We proceeded east on Ridge Road to where a couple of other vehicles were parked – a sure sign that we had found the location to search for a Great Gray Owl.  Most of our group headed off on a well-trodden trail through the bush.  Soon Anita arrived, and she and Bill joined the party. But the search was in vain.  Barbara headed back to the road to check a feeder and the rest of us came back to our cars to warm up a bit.

We carried on east on Ridge Road to the parking lot.  BarbC spread some seeds near the outhouse while the rest of us enjoyed the Black-capped Chickadees, Hairy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, American Tree Sparrows and Mourning Doves.  Bill also spotted a Dark-eyed Junco.

Time to move on to Dolman Ridge Road. Here we found all of the same species and added Downy Woodpecker and White-breasted Nuthatch.

Alan & Carol decided that they would leave us to attend to appointments. Our next destination would be Giroux Road with a stop at the Navan Arena.  Since we had four in the Bowman SUV and Anita by herself, BarbC kindly jumped in with Anita at this point to keep her company and welcome her to our birding group.

We hoped for Snowy Owls or Snow Buntings on Giroux, but there were none.  BarbC did see a feeder full of American Goldfinches near the Dunning intersection.  There were plenty of Crows and we did hear a Common Raven at this point.  Then Ian spotted it.  Eleanor had to get back home too, so she and Ian left us as well.

We decided to head to the roads east of Casselman.  Bill suggested going through Larose Forest, but the others vetoed it due to the expected lack of birds and likely poor road conditions.  So, we went by Russell Road to Bourget, then south on #8, skirting Larose Forest.  After quite a drive, we took Co Rd 3 to St. Rose, then south to Conc. 21.  There were almost no birds until we came to a house with feeders that had a sizeable flock of Snow Buntings. Yeah, finally something to cheer us up!   Mixed in were many House Sparrows.

We proceeded to the Burger King truck stop, where we had our lunch and discussed the Trump/Musk situation.

Bill told the group that we would check the remaining Concession Roads, then call it a day.  We started with Conc. 20, and Barbara spotted the only raptor of the day – a perched Bald Eagle.  Then we came to Desnoyers.  The sign said NOT WINTER MAINTAINED, but it looked fine, so Bill led the way. Big mistake.  The snow drifts got deeper and deeper and before we were half way along, we had to stop.  Bill got out, looked at the deep snow ahead, and declared that we would have to retreat.  He asked Anita if she had 4-wheel drive – she did not!  But like a real trooper, she executed a three-point turn and drove right out of there.  Bill followed suit.  Phew!

We tried Concs. 17 and 19, but there were simply no birds.  Time to head for home. BarbC got back into Bill’s SUV, and we headed west on 417, Anita to home, and the rest of us to Elmvale Acres.  BarbC decided to go the Earl Armstrong Road to try for the Short-eared Owls that Eleanor told us about.  When she got there, Alan & Carol were also present.  As the light grew dim, two owls were seen in the distance.  Success!

Meanwhile Bill & Barbara decided to drive Guy home, which was an adventure in itself during rush hour.  After dropping Guy, they took the Champlain Bridge, where they spotted several Common Goldeneyes in the river as they made the crossing.

We got 17 species, which was not too bad for the time of year, but the important thing was that we had a great time birding with our friends.  We all missed Jane who was stuck at home nursing a painful knee injury.  We wish her a speedy recovery.

Species Noted


1.    American Crow
2.    Rock Pigeon
3.    Black-capped Chickadee
4.    Mourning Dove
5.    Downy Woodpecker
6.    Hairy Woodpecker
7.    American Tree Sparrow
8.    Dark-eyed Junco
9.    Blue Jay
10.    Common Raven
11.    White-breasted Nuthatch
12.    American Goldfinch
13.    Snow Bunting
14.    House Sparrow
15.    Bald Eagle
16.    Common Goldeneye
17.    Short-eared Owl