Fletcher and Near Home

March 9, 2020

While loading our equipment for a trip to Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Barbara spotted a Downy Woodpecker across the street in a cedar hedge.

Things were not exactly hopping at Fletcher, but we did get another Downy at the main feeder and a nearby FOS Red-winged Blackbird.

So we went for a hike to the back feeder and found a pair of House Finches.

An American Robin and Northern Cardinal serenaded us on our hike back to the car.

Before going to our house, we stopped at Greenbank and Baseline to check out the Common Raven's nest; it was occupied!

Mayo and Area

March 7, 2020

We had seen reports of crossbills and other finches in the area north of Mayo, so we decided to visit the area we had first been to last summer with JC Birding.

Before proceeding north, we checked out a few side roads right in Mayo.

We found a Rufffed Grouse on the road and a second one in a small tree overhanging the road.

We turned left off Hwy 315 at Ch. de la Rivière Blanche and followed the pretty little river for quite a distance.

There were a lot of houses, but wildlife too, including a Golden Eagle.

We finally came to an intersection where we saw about 20 finches on the road.  They flushed but a couple of American Goldfinches settled on a wire.  They did not return to the road, so we decided to drive a short loop and approach the intersection from the other direction. We stopped and ate our lunch in the car, and were rewarded when a couple of Pine Siskins came down to eat some grit off the road.

We retraced our route back to Hwy 315, seeing many more White-tailed Deer in somebody's yard.

We drove the short way up to Foret La Blanche without seeing anything new.

It was a beautiful day to explore a new area in the country.

East End Birding

March 3 with Barbara, Bill & Connie

We picked up Connie at 9 am and headed out to Frank Kenny.  We did not see much except crows, pigeons and starlings until we turned onto Giroux, where we saw only a few Horned Larks and Snow Buntings.

From Giroux, we headed south to Larose Forest to check out the feeders.  We spent some time here but there were only a few common species and no sign of grosbeaks.

Chemin Clarence Cambridge was closed for the winter, so we had to backtrack a bit via Limoges and take 417E to Hwy 138.  We turned north and checked out Concessions 20 and 21 where we saw many more Snow Buntings and Horned Larks with a few Lapland Longspurs thrown in to the mix.

It was time to stop at the Burger King for our bagged lunch, but from the parking lot, Connie spotted a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk perched in a tree across the road.  We jumped out and hurried across the road to photograph it.

After lunch, we went west on Concession 19, but we saw nothing new, just a few more Snow Buntings.

Connie managed quite well, in spite of the difficulties with her knee surgery.

Bird List

1. Northern Cardinal
2. American Crow
3. European Starling
4. Rock Pigeon
5. House Sparrow
6. Wild Turkey
7. Horned Lark
8. Snow Bunting
9. Black-capped Chickadee
10. Downy Woodpecker
11. White-breasted Nuthatch
12. Mourning Dove
13. Lapland Longspur
14. Rough-legged Hawk
15. Common Raven