Blue Sea and Cedar Lake Birding

August 29, 2015

We picked up Brenda at her cottage on Blue Sea for a full day of birding.

First we hiked along the bike trail towards Messines, until we could get a view of the two immature Bald Eagles.  Should have brought a scope.

The we drove to Chemin des Trois Collines and hikes up to the old tower.  There were a few sparrows, a Cedar Waxwing  and a Ruffed Grouse family.  Nice views of Blue Sea Lake

Next, we checked out the swamp on Chemin Gallipeau, where we got a Common Yellowthroat.

Next we drove up Chemin Farley, where we stopped at the bike rest station, where we had our lunch and saw a large flock of turkeys.

Brenda had a hunch we should check out Chemin Lécuyer, which turned out to be very good for warblers, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Wood Duck.

Retracing our steps, we turned onto Chemin St Jacques to check the creek area where it flows into Blue Sea.  Brenda convinced us to explore the adjacent road down to the lake - once again her hunch paid off.  There were several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a flock of Cedar Waxwings, a Northern Flicker and even a Scarlet Tanager.

We saw quite a few Monarch Butterflies, which was encouraging. A fine day of late summer birding.

 

French River / Georgian Bay

August 18-24, 2015

On a canoe trip with a dozen teenagers and two other adults, we did not expect to have too much time for birding. But there is always the chance of incidental sightings.

Indeed, we got a nice Spotted Sandpiper, Belted Kingfisher and Merlin.  We saw a few nice Bullfrogs but Dave got this amazing shot of a Massassauga Rattlesnake.  He was justifiably pleased.

Baby Birds Growing Up at our Cottage

August 16, 2015

Heading up to the lake, we saw four Sandhill Cranes outside of Venosta - a family!  They were very distant at the far side of a field, so did not stop for photos.

On the lake, the baby loons are growing ever larger, and there is no doubt now that they will survive to migrate.  Common Mergansers and Common Terns are also almost in adult plumage.  We saw a Common Goldeneye today too, which was unusual.

On shore, warblers are staging for migration now.   Today we saw Black and White, Chestnut-sided and Northern Parula, together with a Red-eyed Vireo.

Lots of Green Frogs in our pond.

Sightings at the Cottage

August 10, 2015

We decided to canoe over to Little Cedar Lake, a voyage of well over an hour.  We saw a single Common Loon near the creek connecting our two lakes.  We headed to the north end of Little Cedar where we encountered a loon family  - 2 parents and 2 chicks.  This equalled the entire loon chick output of the big lake!

We came back in the afternoon and chatted with Bruce Amos at the entrance to Big Cedar.  We found out that his son, Will Amos was running in the election as the Liberal candidate.

Back on our deck, we spotted a surprise visitor to our feeder area - a Black and White Warbler.  We see them commonly, but not usually so close to the deck!  Other visitors were the common Purple Finches and Ruby-throated Humming birds.

We were amused to see an Eastern Chipmunk helping himself to the flower leaves in the planter box.

Clyde River at Lanark

August 8, 2015

We went for a leisurely paddle on the Clyde in  Lanark upstream as far as Kerr Lake, then retraced our route.

The Ospreys were very active.  A young Pied-billed Grebe put on a good show for us.  We also saw a couple of herons, kingbirds and a Cedar Waxwing.  It was a very worthwhile outing and we plan to do more like it at nearby areas of the Mississippi.

Of course we had to go home via Balderson for cheese and ice cream.

Lac à L'Arche

August 4, 2015

The abandoned fields near the west end of the lake, also known as Lac Catherine, have been a hot spot in the past for grassland sparrows and other species.

This time, sightings were in short supply, but there were lots of Northern Flickers.  We also got an Eastern Wood Pewee, new for the cottage list.

Osgoode Bike Trail and Shirley's Bay

July 30, 2015

The area behind the airport is now closed to birders, but it is still somewhat accessible on the Osgoode Bike Trail south of Leitrim Road.  The trail is officially called the Osgoode Link Pathway.  A short distance along the trail, there is a viewing platform over he sparrow fields.  The only one we could see was a Field Sparrow, but we did get gorgeous views.  The only other birds of note were a Northern Flicker, right on the pathway and a Hairy Woodpecker nearby.

For supper, we went to Shirley's Bay for a picnic, then checked out the dike.  Of course, the light is wrong, but we did see half a dozen Great Egrets and many Lesser Yellowlegs.  There may have been other shorebirds, but we could not make them out in the poor light.