Hi all:
I'm on dial-up and a laptop without a mouse, so forgive any errs as I'm not
used to this. I picked up a number of new birds for my New Brunswick list when
passing through. The best of which were wood duck, bald eagle and osprey,
pied-billed grebe and red crossbill.
Passing through Quebec all birds were new for that list, as the last time I
drove I did not create or start a list for that province. We stayed at Riviere
Du Loop on the way through and close to the main drag. This is a great spot
with many bird species and I wish that I had more time to explore. A flat tire
with a nail took away from time, but I still managed to see a large group of
cedar waxwings, a clay-colored sparrow at a feeder by the place we stayed and a
peregrine falcon along with numerous other species. I was pleased. Through
Quebec we saw one turkey vulture at Wickam and another near the border to
Ontario.
In Ontario about 9km inside the border along the 417 close to Hawksbury there
were five turkey vultures. At Carp there were 10. Going though Ottawa there
were hawks in the air, but during rush hour on a Friday evening it was no time
to get an id. Also movements of other hawks were at various locations, but
again traffic being heavy, I could not determine species.
For those that are keeping track of such along St. Albert on the 417, there was
some type of reeds along the medium and hundreds of black-birds, likely
red-winged were socking down into there. I counted 200, but who knows how many
more went in before or after. There was also a flock of about 80 red-winged
blackbirds as we were leaving the outskirts of Ottawa along the 417.
25 km before Renfew there was a pull off where we stopped. It was right by the
25 km sign and there is a farm with a field. For those who are keeping track
of shorebirds there were 26 killdeer there.
Upon reaching Baptiste Lake, my best birds so far are a sharp-shinned hawk and
a yellow-bellied sapsucker. I had a mystery warbler. One I have not seen
before. It was an olive warbler, with a white eye ring and a dark eyebrow line
above the eye. It was about the size of a palm warbler and came out relatively
low in the foilage. It gave me a brief look only and I cannot find anything in
my Sibley's guide to match what I saw.
James R. Hirtle
Dublin Shore, NS
Visiting Ontario
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