July 19/20, 2012 Local birding in the Ottawa area.

The water levels along the Ottawa River continue to drop. With all the exposed mudflats, shorebirds are dispruted over a large area. There are no large concentrations yet as the weather has been too sunny and hot. No significant rainfall has also reduced the chance of a grounding. Most shorebirds are likely moving over eastern Ontario and not stopping. No reason to! I've noticed a definite increase in the number of terns in the area, mainly Common with a few Caspian Terns feeding at Shirley's Bay and in the Constance Bay area. No Black Terns yet but likely soon. With the low water levels, herons are easy to find almost anywhere along the river, mainly Great Blue, Green, and Black-crowned Night-Heron with a few Great Egrets. Still numerous families of dabbling/diving ducks including Mallard, American Black,Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser. The Red-headed Woodpeckers at Constance Bay are nesting and hopefully young will be seen soon. This is the 11th consecutive year that they have nested in the "old burn site". Most of the trees have now fallen and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before these woodpeckers move on to another location. Since their discovery in June 2002 there has been only a couple of other nesting sites found in the Ottawa-Gatineau district.
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The Great Blue Heron is a regular breeder along the Ottawa River
at Shirley's Bay.

Up to 5 families of Hooded Mergansers have been observed along the Ottawa River between Britannia and Shirley's Bay.

A family of Mallards move along the shoreline at Shirley's Bay.

An adult Red-headed Woodpecker waits for a insect to fly by.

Dramatically low water levels along the Ottawa River at Constance Bay.

Another view from The Point looking east.

A Gar Pike was a surprise along the causeway at Shirley's Bay.

A family of Wood Ducks quickly look for cover.

July 17, 2012 More birding along the Ottawa River

Ben and I spent a few hours birding along the Ottawa River today between Britannia and Shirley's Bay. We sighted 7 Whimbrel heading south west over the river and observed activity in the 2 Great Egret nests at Deschenes Rapids. At Shirley's Bay there were a variety  of shorebirds including 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Semipalmated Plover and a small group of Semipalmated and Least Sandpiper.
A flock of 20+ Gadwall were noted resting on the exposed rocks off the end of the causeway.
Good birding, Bruce and Ben


Directions: Shirley's Bay: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to the Moodie Drive exit and turn north (right) on Moodie Drive and continue to Carling Ave. Turn left at Carling Ave. and follow Carling to Rifle Road. Turn right (north) on Rifle Rd. Park at the lot at the end (boat launch). Walk back to the road, and continue through the gate on the Department of National Defense property. There is a trail on your right (clearly marked with vehicle "No Entry" signs) which heads into the woods, and, eventually to the dyke. There is lots of POISON IVY along the causeway.

**** PLEASE NOTE**** YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE RANGE CONTROL
OFFICE BEFORE ENTERING THE CAUSEWAY AREA-- Call (613) 991-5740 and request permission to visit the dyke area for birding.

Caspian Tern fishing at Shirley's Bay

Low water levels at Shirley's Bay.

Greater Yellowlegs feeding.

Size camparison of Greater Yellowlegs and Spotted Sandpiper.

July 16, 2012 Shirley's Bay birding.

The birding at Shirley's Bay continues to change as the water levels to drop. Ben and I birded the area during the mid day heat and had a nice variety of birds. The shorebird numbers were low with 4 adult Greater Yellowlegs, 14 adult Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2 adult Least Sandpiper along with 20+ Spotted Sandpiper and 16 Killdeer. There were 18 Great Blue Heron, mainly juveniles and 3 Great Egrets. With the low water levels we counted 27 Common Tern including 3 juvenile, 1 Caspian Tern and 1 early juvenile Bonaparte's Gull resting on the exposed rocks off the end of the causeway.
Good Birding, Bruce and Ben

Directions: Shirley's Bay: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to the Moodie Drive exit and turn north (right) on Moodie Drive and continue to Carling Ave. Turn left at Carling Ave. and follow Carling to Rifle Road. Turn right (north) on Rifle Rd. Park at the lot at the end (boat launch). Walk back to the road, and continue through the gate on the Department of National Defense property. There is a trail on your right (clearly marked with vehicle "No Entry" signs) which heads into the woods, and, eventually to the dyke. There is lots of POISON IVY along the dyke.

**** PLEASE NOTE**** YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE RANGE CONTROL
OFFICE BEFORE ENTERING THE CAUSEWAY AREA-- Call (613) 991-5740 and request permission to visit the dyke area for birding.

A juvenile Bonaparte's Gull resting on the exposed rocks off the Shirley's Bay causeway.

A Great Blue Heron takes advantage of the low water levels along the Ottawa river.

A female Hooded Merganser with young.

July 15, 2012 Southbound shorebirds, land birds and breeders

Bruce Mactavish, John Pratt and I spent the morning birding various sites along the Ottawa River and a couple of inland locations. Overall, lots of activity and very low water levels along the river. At Shirley's Bay there was a small number of shorebirds including 2 Greater Yellowlegs, 15+ Semipalmated Sandpiper, 1 Short-billed Dowitcher and 1 Sanderling. There was a small movement of land birds mainly warblers including 1 singing Northern Parula, 2 Yellow-rumped, 20+ Yellow, and a few Black and White Warbler. Also present were 2 Great Egret and 3 Caspian Tern. At the Richmond Sewage Lagoon water level were low and the first cell was dry and the second cell had a nice selection of shorebirds including 1 Semipalmated Plover, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 20+ Least Sandpiper and 150+ Killdeer. The 3rd cell was full of cattails and dry. At the Trail Road Landfill Facility (including ponds) we observed 14 Ruddy Duck, 7 Ring-necked Duck, 11 Pied-billed Grebe and 20+ Turkey Vulture.
At Deschenes Rapids we observed an amazing 34 juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron and two nests of Great Egrets, one with 3 visible young and the second nest was likely active too but due to the vegetation couldn't confirm young. This is the first confirmed nesting of great egret for the Ottawa-Gatineau district. These birds have been present and under observation since late May on Conroy Island.
Good Birding, Bruce

Directions: Britannia Pier and Dick Bell Park: Both areas are accessible from Carling Ave. west of Carling and Richmond Rd. intersection.

Directions: Shirley's Bay: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to the Moodie Drive exit and turn north (right) on Moodie Drive and continue to Carling Ave. Turn left at Carling Ave. and follow Carling to Rifle Road. Turn right (north) on Rifle Rd. Park at the lot at the end (boat launch). Walk back to the road, and continue through the gate on the Department of National Defense property. There is a trail on your right (clearly marked with vehicle "No Entry" signs) which heads into the woods, and, eventually to the dyke. There is lots of POISON IVY along the dyke.
**** PLEASE NOTE**** YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE RANGE CONTROL
OFFICE BEFORE ENTERING THE DYKE AREA-- Call (613) 991-5740 and request permission to visit the dyke area for birding.

Directions: Deschenes Rapids is located along the Ottawa River at Britannia. Britannia Point is accessible from Britannia Water Filtration Plant Deschenes Rapids

Directions: From Ottawa take Hwy 417 west to Hwy 416. South on the 416 to exit 66 (Fallowfield Rd.) Right (west) on Fallowfield to Moodie Dr. Left (south) on Moodie, go past Trail Rd. on your left and Cambrian Rd. on your right until you come to a very large sand & gravel operation on the left (east) side of the road. ***PLEASE NOTE*** - do NOT cross the gate to the sand & gravel operation. This is private property, and most of the birds can be well-viewed from the road. The landfill site is located on Trail Road. There is no access but the gulls can be viewed from Trail Road just south of the main entrance.

Great Egrets nesting on Conroy Island, Deschenes Rapids. First nesting record for the Ottawa-Gatineau ditrict. 

May 15, 2012 Bald Eagle nesting success.

The Bald Eagles at Shirley's Bay successfully hatched in late April and at least 2 young were observed being feed by the adults on May 4th and again on May 15th. Now we have our first documented breeding record for the Ottawa district. One adult landed at the nest and fed the young pieces of a small fish.

The nesting Bald Eagles now have two young.

Black-crowned Night-Heron and a pair of Wood ducks at Mud Lake. 

The Ovenbird is easier to heard than to see. Fortunately this individual  was not difficult to  locate as it sang .

May 13, 2012 Red-headed Woodpeckers at Constance Bay.

At least one adult Red-headed Woodpecker was present at the "old burn site" at Constance Bay. This is the 11th consecutive year the Red-headed Woodpecker at this site. Hopefully another adult will soon arrive. The majority of the dead trees, mainly popular have now fallen but there are still a number of suitable nesting cavities.  This is still one of the few breeding locations that remain in the Ottawa district. Since June 2002 the woodpeckers have been successful every summer raising a family. 

Directions: Constance Bay: RHWP: From Ottawa travel west bound on Hwy. 417 to the March Rd./Eagleson Road and exit right onto March Rd. Follow to Dunrobin Road and turn right continuing northwest through Woodlawn. At the hill turn right onto Constance Bay Rd following it for approx. 1.5 km. Turn left on Allbirch Road and drive 1.3 km to the " T " intersection. Turn left
on Bishop Davis Drive and then right on Bayview Drive. Follow Bayview Drive to Ritchie St. Turn right and go a short distance to Whistler Rd. Turn left and drive .3 km and watch for a gate on the right. The trail through the burn area is opposite the gate. Parking is limited. Please review the birding code of ethics. 

The Red-headed Woodpeckers are back for the 11th consecutive year. 

Loggerhead Shrike banding informatio update April 12, 2012

Of the 5 Loggerhead Shrikes observed on April 12th, 2 had no bands while 3 were colour banded. Out of the 3 colour banded individuals I was able to obtain banding information on two. The first one with left leg- orange over yellow and right leg white over metal/silver was banded in 2010 in the Napanee area while the 2 bird with left leg-green over blue and right leg- blue over metal/silver was banded in 2010-same area. A third bird, I was only able to see part of the band combination. On my next visit I'll try to check band combination again.