Mud Lake & Andrew Haydon Park

 August 20, 2023

We stopped at Mud Lake again and this time met Eleanor and several of her Monday Group there.  The warblers were in the bushes and trees at the bottom of the ridge.  A male Bay-breasted Warbler that was in partial breading plumage was a particularly nice find.  A non-breeding one seemed to have very light legs, which led us to believe that it was a female Blackpoll.  As before, there were plenty of Cape Mays.

We moved on to Andrew Haydon Park and sat on a bench to have our sandwich while observing a couple of  Eastern Kingbirds.

We checked the river, but all we saw was a Great Egret and some Mallards.  We saw Gillian M who was netting Damselflies and Dragonflies.  She showed us a skimmer that had just emerged and was drying its wings.

Confusing Fall Warblers - Mud Lake

 August 16, 2023

Many of these warblers gave us trouble, and many of the young of other birds did too.  It is a tough time of year to ID birds.

We arrived at Mud Lake in time to see Lynne & Sami, who gave us a hot tip of a Barred Owl just inside the gate of the trail.  And the news that the trail would be closed the following day for several months due to construction.

Loon Count, Fishing & Canoe Trip

 August 13-15, 2023

Our fears about he lack of baby loons were confirmed on a formal Loon Count on August 13.  But the young eagle looks ok so far.

After a slow July, the Lake Trout have started biting again, but almost all of the catches have been too small to keep.

On July 14, we went on a canoe day trip on the Désert River at Montcerf.

See all the photos at https://web.ncf.ca/ed143/Desert/Desert%202023.htm

Mud Lake

 August 11, 2023

We had a lovely drive in Lanark County yesterday, but failed to find the Limpkin. Oh well.

So today, we headed over to Mud Lake, hoping that some fall warblers would be in.  There was nothing doing on the lawns and waterfront, but the ridge was hopping with warblers and some flycatchers.  Many of these were young birds.

Eagle Fledged

 August 2, 2023

In good news, the Bald Eagle young at the lake was finally seen out of the nest at the front of the island.

In potentially bad news, we have only seen 2 loon nests on Cedar Lake this year.  And the Seagull Rock nest seems to have been abandoned, as the area is overrun with Common Terns nesting.  Meanwhile the Deep Bay loons continue to sit on a nest so long that we fear that the eggs are infertile.

At home, the House Wrens had success in the box in our yard, after a late start.  But the young fledged while were were away, and we never saw them.