Chickadees, Nuthatches, Sparrows & Others – Ottawa West with Tony & Nina

Tuesday Nov 5

We met at Jack Pine Trail.  A much larger group today - Tony, Nina, Ron, Rick, Loraine, Al, Brian, Josh & Eric.

Eric needed at Red-breasted Nuthatch, but Tony had to pull out all the stops to get even a poor view of one.  It was that slow on Jack Pine Trail.  The highlight for me was a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Bird List

1. Black-capped Chickadee
2. American Crow
3. Mourning Dove
4. Red-breasted Nuthatch
5. Blue Jay
6. Mallard
7. Golden-crowned Kinglet
8. Dark-eyed Junco
9. Hairy Woodpecker
10. Canada Goose
11. Hooded Merganser
12. Common Merganser
13. Red-tailed Hawk
14. Cackling Goose
15. Northern Pintail
16. European Starling
17. Ring-necked Duck
18. Red-winged Blackbird
19. Great Black-backed Gull
20. Great Blue Heron
21. American Tree Sparrow
22. Northern Cardinal
23. Greater Snow Goose
24. Green-winged Teal
25. American Black Duck
26. Rough-legged Hawk
27. Northern Harrier
28. Wild Turkey
29. Lesser Black-backed Gull

 

Dows Lake

Nov 4, 2013

After chatting with Ken Ball on the OFNC trip, I got inspired to give it a try.  I was not disappointed.  I parked at the Arboretum and hiked down the hill. I was not the only birder with the idea - I also ran into Anouk Hoedeman and Janet Barnes.

Besides lots of waterfowl, there were also shorebirds, especially Pectoral Sandpipers,  on the exposed mudflats, particularly up a piece towards Carleton U.

 

 

 

West End Water Birds with Bernie Ladouceur

Sunday, Nov 3.

 

A very popular outing with two dozen or more participants including Connie, Sami, Brenda & Ken Ball.  The latter two carpooled with us.

 

We went first to Mud Lake and Britannia Point, where we got some good birds, including Barrow's Goldeneye.  Then it was over to Andrew Haydon where we got some more distant waterfowl and close views of a Brant and a Green-winged Teal.  A plan to go to Shirley's Bay got derailed when  a friend of Bernie's showed up saying there was nothing there.  Instead, we went to the foot of Vanier Rd in Aylmer where we got a Red-necked Grebe.  Our final stop was Chapman Mills conservation area on the Rideau, where there were shorebirds on the mudflats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird List (by Connie)

 

1 American Crow

2 European Starling

3 Ring-billed Gull

4 American Goldfinch

5 Barrow's Goldeneye (1, saw briefly)

6 Black-capped Chickadee

7 Bufflehead

8 Canada Goose

9 Common Goldeneye

10 Common Merganser

11 Downy Woodpecker

12 Great Black-back Gull

13 Great Blue Heron (2)

14 Hooded Merganser

15 Horned Grebe (6)

16 Iceland Gull (saw fly-by very quickly)

17 Lesser Scaup

18 Mallard

19 Northern Cardinal

20 Wood Duck

 21 Black Scoter (f)

22 Brant (1)

*** Bufflehead (m, f)

23 Green-winged Teal (f)

*** Horned Grebe

24 White-winged Scoter

25 Greater Scaup

*** Hooded Merganser

*** Horned Grebe (2)

26 Red-breasted Merganser(1)

27 Red-necked Grebe

 28 American Black Duck

29 Dunlin (1)

30 Greater Yellowlegs (1)

31 Pectoral Sandpiper

 

Coniferous Woodland Trails – Ottawa West with Tony & Nina

Thursday Oct 31

We met at Andrew Haydon East Parking Lot, off Carling Ave., West of Bayshore - Tony, Nina, Rick, Josh and me.

We checked the river then hiked over to the west section where the ponds are.  With rain threatening constantly, we decided to leave our cameras behind.  We had good waterfowl birding, so stayed quite a while.  Our next stops were Shirley's Bay boat launch and Hilda feeders.

We then went to Timmys and then off to Kerwin Trail.  There was not much doing except for Ruffed Grouse.

We next visited Constance Creek at Thomas Dolan and Vance's Side Road.  Before heading home, we checked O'Hara feeders off of Kerwin.

Bird List

1. Horned Grebe
2. Canada Goose
3. American Crow
4. Ring-billed Gull
5. Mallard
6. Great Black-backed Gull
7. Surf Scoter
8. White-winged Scoter
9. Black Scoter
10. Common Goldeneye
11. Lesser Scaup
12. Bufflehead
13. Double-crested Cormorant
14. Red-breasted Merganser
15. Brant
16. Long-tailed Duck
17. Hooded Merganser
18. Green-winged Teal
19. Bald Eagle
20. Red-necked Grebe
21. American Robin
22. Blue Jay
23. American Tree Sparrow
24. Golden-crowned Kinglet
25. Ruffed Grouse
26. White-breasted Nuthatch
27. Ring-necked Duck
28. Wood Duck
29. Northern Shoveller
30. Dark-eyed Junco
31. Hairy Woodpecker
32. Downy Woodpecker
33. Red-winged Blackbird
34. Herring Gull

Sandhill Cranes, Geese & Raptors – Ottawa East with Tony & Nina

Tuesday Oct 29

We met at Petrie Island Causeway - Tony, Nina, Al, me and Brian, whom I had not met before.

We birded at Petrie for nearly an hour, then went to Timmy's for a short beak.  We carpooled from the Park & Ride at Navan Arena; then we headed to Giroux Ponds.

Our next stop was Smith Road and Milton Road for the cranes.  We saw about 20 of them.  We also tried a couple of other side roads leading to Mer Bleue in case we could see the rest of the group.  This was not successful, but we did see a group of Wild Turkeys cross the road in front of us.

We returned to Milton Road, then took Perrault back to Navan padding the list with a few common species.

 

Bird List

1. Green-winged Teal
2. Mallard
3. Ring-billed Gull
4. American Crow
5. Red-winged Blackbird
6. Mourning Dove
7. American Black Duck
8. European Starling
9. Canada Goose
10. Common Merganser
11. Hooded Merganser
12. American Robin
13. Brown Creeper
14. White-breasted Nuthatch
15. Northern Cardinal
16. Great Blue Heron
17. Snow Bunting
18. Horned Lark
19. Bufflehead
20. Greater Scaup
21. Pectoral Sandpiper
22. Greater Yellowlegs
23. Dunlin
24. Gadwall
25. Northern Pintail
26. Sandhill Crane
27. Red-tailed Hawk
28. Peregrine Falcon
29. Wild Turkey
30. Rough-legged Hawk
31. Black-capped Chickadee
32. American Tree Sparrow
33. American Goldfinch
34. Dark-eyed Junco

 

Nina had 39

 

Some Uncommon Migrants at the Cottage

Oct 26-28, 2013

We were up for a work weekend , but could not help checking out the birds from time to time.  Saturday was snowy and rainy, so we worked inside all day.

 

On Sunday morning, we saw some dark ducks near our shore in the dim light.  We rushed out to see them, but they disappeared behind the trees, then flew off towards the creek.  We did see a Pileated Woodpecker out front, which is rather unusual, but not uncommon.  Later on, we took a break and hiked over to the creek where we saw a raft of Lesser Scaup rather far out.  We concluded that these were the ducks we had seen.

 

 

 

 

 

On another short break, we hiked up the path behind the cottage to cut a tree that had fallen over the path.  We heard birds calling, then saw a flock of about 10 Golden-crowned Kinglets come in close right at eye level - perfect for photographs, but of course we had no camera.  Barbara raced back to get hers, but the opportunity had passed.  They were still around, but up in the tree tops.

 

 

 

In the late afternoon, we looked out the front window and saw a male and three female Common Goldeneye rather far out.  Barbara went out to photograph them and saw a female Hooded Merganser that was closer, and a Common Loon that was much more distant.