Ottawa Area Birding: Farran Park with JC Birding

October 7, 2025

Ken had seen reports of a Glossy Ibis at Farren Park on the St Lawrence River and suggested that our group go and try for it. Because of other commitments, the only day available was October 7. Unfortunately, this was also the only day of the week with rain in the forecast.

Ken, Eleanor, Ian, Bill & Barbara met at Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre parking lot at 7 am. There was no sign of rain. We set up our car pools; Ian drove with Eleanor while Bill & Barbara went with Ken.

We arrived at Farran Park an hour later with some sun and lots of clouds in the sky. We started west along the causeway checking both sides of the river. The first bird we saw was a Red-winged Blackbird – a good omen! The fall scenery was lovely.

There were ducks, some too far off to identify with binoculars, so Eleanor went back for her scope and wisely donned her raincoat. The distant ducks were American Wigeons, while a large raft of Ring-necked Ducks was somewhat closer. Near at hand were many Mallards, including a strange-looking one that must have been a hybrid. We also saw Wood Ducks, Blue-winged Teals and a very distant Bald Eagle.

We were almost half way across the causeway when the rain began. It was light at first, but soon picked up, so we retreated quickly to the vehicles. The rain stopped for a while, then began again, so Ken suggested that we drive the short distance to the Long Sault Parkway to check out the many channels between the islands.

We stopped to check out some ducks, but they were all Mallards. Then Bill spotted a distant bird, with a lot of white, that he thought was a female Goldenye, but the bill was wrong. Ian and Barbara took photos and we soon identified it as a Pied-Billed Grebe! The cloud formations were neat, but a downpour soon ensued, which persisted as we drove slowly along the rest of the parkway. We saw some birds, but photos were all but impossible.

We turned west on County Road 2 and stopped on the shoulder when we were close to the river. The raft of Ring-necked Ducks was a bit closer, and a group of American Wigeons were right by the shore along a with a single American Black Duck.

The rain came on again very heavily and Ian & Eleanor decided that enough was enough; they headed for home. Ken & Bill wanted to try again for the ibis, so they and Barbara carried on.

Ken turned into the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Near the entrance, there were lot of birds jumping around. The rain had surprisingly stopped, so we all hopped out to get photos. Ken saw a Swamp Sparrow but it did not pose for a photo. Bill got a shot of a Song Sparrow and Barbara concentrated on the many Yellow-rumped Warblers.

We carried on to the visitor centre, and as it was still dry, we had our lunch on the bench behind the building. Afterwards, we drove to the causeway to Morrison Island. Here we got close up views of a couple of Pied-billed Grebe.

With the rain holding off, we returned to Farran Park, and this time with rain gear, we hiked the causeway again determined to find the Glossy Ibis at the west end. Ken spotted a Common Gallinuile and a Great Blue Heron as we hiked along. There were many more Blue-winged Teals and a few Green-winged too. We could see 3 Trumpeter Swans at the west end where the ibis should have been. Bill & Ken tramped onwards, but Barbara had had enough; she returned to Ken’s car. The swans provided good photo ops before noisily taking flight, but the ibis seemed to have flown the coop.

The drizzle began again, so Bill & Ken returned to the car and we voted to call it a day. No sooner did we start for home than it started to pour, and it rained all the way back.