Ottawa Area Birding: Second Shrike Survey + Burnt Lands with JC Birding

May 28, 2026

Birding Report by Jane Burgess

Guy, Ian, Eleanor, Susan, Bill and I worked on Bill's Loggerhead Shrike survey. At the first site Bill gave us instructions -- walk 200 feet or so and look on which side of the road for birds, seen or heard for 20 minutes. He set up his equipment and listened for birds. Once our 20 minutes were done we came back to the vehicle and told Eleanor what we saw and she checked off the birds of interest. He was not interested in how many birds we saw just if we saw the birds he was interested in. We did this at six different sites. As we were parking for the first site, what should fly in was a Wilson's Snipe, he stopped at some water then flew to another bit of water. Bill said he saw 2 of them.

After we finished the survey, we went over to Panmure to see if we could see the Upland Sandpipers. Ian was the only one who saw one and he photographed it. Lucky him

We then went to Burnt Lands, we were interested in seeing Clay-coloured Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow. While walking up the trail we ran into three men, one was Rick C. Once we caught up with him, we continued walking. We heard Grasshopper Sparrow but did not see it. . We walked to the wooded end, the first time for me to do that. At the wooded area we heard and then saw a Magnolia Warbler. On our way back Guy and Ian got ahead of us. We heard the Grasshopper sparrow, then it decided to show itself and we got good views of the little fella. This species is not officially classified as 'endangered' in Eastern Ontario, but it is listed as a species of Special Concern provincially and federally. This status means the bird is not currently threatened or endangered but it is sensitive to human activities and natural events such as habitat loss and agriculture mowing. Thank goodness Burnt Land is a provincial park,

We all were at the head of the trail, when Ian pointed out a sparrow. I put my bins on it and said this guy has a clear chest. YES, clay-coloured Sparrow. Its song is so distinctive like an insect buzzing -- buzz buzz -- we were all very happy to see it.

At this point Ian and Guy left us. We went home via Fine Estates, the only new bird was a Swamp Sparrow.

Bill received a notification regarding a Olive-sided Flycatcher on Chipmunk Trail. Bill said he had to go home, Eleanor and I thanked Bill for driving and headed to Chipmunk Trail off of Moodie Drive. We walked to where we thought it was and we heard it. Then we walked over to the another boardwalk. Walking along the trail, we saw a Garter Snake, but it was too fast for me to take a photo. A guy on a bicycle rang his bell and asked if we saw the Olive sided Flycatcher. Nope but we heard it,and told him where. He seemed to think it should be at the boardwalk we were headed to. Off he went. Eleanor said to me that is Richard W. known as Dickie W. and he is a good birder. When we caught up to him, he agreed the bird was where we heard it, because he had heard it from where he was standing. We chatted a while, then he went off to check it out. We went up to the lookout and Eleanor pointed out a Blanding's Turtle. But more importantly she said American Bittern flying over. Good one.

Walking back to the vehicle, Eleanor heard a Black-throated Green Warbler, we took a trail closer to where the bird was heard, where I got to hear it as well. Other species we saw were Red-eyed Vireo, Great crested Flycatcher, Kingbird and White-breasted Nuthatch.

I think we called it a day around 4:30

Another good day for birding. But the weatherman got it so wrong. Most of the day we were so cold, because we had dressed for.the forecast that indicated much warmer weather.