Ottawa Area Birding: Westmeath to Lake Doré with JC Birding

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Westmeath to Lake Doré with JC Birding

November 18, 2025

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

We met at Eagleson Park & Ride. We took two vehicles - Barb C and Ian in one vehicle and Bill, Barbara, Eleanor and I in the other. Of course the first stop was Antrim Truck Stop for their baked goods.

We drove to the Cobden boat launch, where we saw Hairy Woodpecker, Hooded Merganser and Mallards. It was cold so Barbara, Bill and I went back to sit in the car. I knew what Barb C was looking for and she and Eleanor found one -- Common Loon. We backtracked a bit to Foresters Falls Road. Bill had a plan but there was a road closure so the plan changed.

We drove down Beachburg Road and we spotted some Hooded Mergansers on Little Lakes. Eleanor pointed to a small parking lot. Out came the scopes -- what - White-wing Scoter (good one and close). Well close is a relative thing, when we see White-wing Scoter at Shirley's Bay, they are usually very far away. There were also common Goldeneye. A common Raven flew by letting us know he was there.

We finally ended up on Pleasant Valley Road - oh we were happy. Sandhill cranes about 300 of them. Bill said there are some on the other side. We drove up a bit and wow - at least a 1000 of them. Various places along our route we saw smaller flocks of the Cranes. In total we estimated we saw at least 2000 of them. Let me get back to us seeing the 1000 or so, we see this huge bird in the tree in front of us -- Juvenile Bald Eagle. During the day we saw at least 6 or 7 more. With one we debated whether it was a Golden Eagle, no slight dihedral, Bill took a photo and said Bald Eagle. I believe we saw maybe 2 full adults, the others various stages of juvenile. I remember I think it was last year we saw some very dark large birds, it took a while before we came up with Juvenile Bald Eagle.

Bill was driving along and I asked him to stop. There in the field was a large dark bird, we all thought turkey, but something was old about it. Ian took a photo, another juvenile Bald Eagle. Scratch Wild Turkey from the list.

Of course while we were driving the roads, we saw many, many flocks of Canada Geese.

We had our lunch at the Westmeath Boat Launch.

Next up was Lake Dore -- this was a good stop. We brought our scopes to the shore. We thought there were just 4 Trumpeter Swans. No, there must have been maybe 10 o4 12, because when we drove around the lake we saw more and more. While looking at the first four, we noticed a Grebe mmm Red necked or Horned. After the discussion all agreed it was a Red-necked Grebe because of how large it was and the size of the bill. At some point, I turned around and saw a Pileated Woodpecker, I called the others attention to it. We were packing up, but Eleanor was still checking out of the water. Come look at this, is this a gull or a long-tailed duck. It was far, but definitely a Long-tail Duck, because of the long tail, head shape and how fast the bird was moving in the water.

All and all an excellent day - Sandhill cranes in numbers, lots of Bald Eagles, Long Tailed Duck, Common Loon. We were happy with the day, But any day birding is good, but today was particularly good.

Thanks Bill and Ian for driving.

Thanks for the photos.