Mark Conboy, Martin Mallet and I birded our way to Ottawa this morning and spent the afternoon around the city picking up what interesting birds we could, and it was quite a successful trip.
En route from Kingston we had ~20 Purple Finch and ~10 Pine Grosbeak on Perth Road south of Westport, an adult Bald Eagle just south of Perth, and a small flock of White-winged Crossbills northwest of Perth along Hastings. We stopped in at Keith Detloff's feeder at Watson's Corners to pick up the Varied Thrush, which did not show terribly well (lurking in the cedars and feeding under the deck) but was still present for a while at about 10:30am. There were also a handful of Pine Siskins at the feeder. Heading towards Ottawa on March Road north of Almonte at Upper Dwyer Hill Rd we found a Northern Hawk Owl sitting on the wires alongside the road just across from Red Rock Kennels (they have a large geodesic dome with a dog atop it adorning their property). The bird was last seen heading east beyond the kennel property shortly after 11am. In town we stopped at the Rideau Tennis Club along the Rideau River but there were only a couple of Common Goldeneye with the Mallards and Black Ducks so we walked south towards the Hurdman Bridge, where we found the drake Barrow's Goldeneye in a group of ~20 Commons just downriver of the bridge in one of the few patches of open water. We searched for but could not locate the female Barrow's at either location. On the walk down to the bridge we had a Brown Creeper associating with some chickadees and a flyby pair of Iceland Gulls. We headed up to Grandview and Hastings and did not find the long-staying Hawk Owl there - perhaps it is the bird we found north of Almonte? There were some Common Redpolls with the Siskins at some of the feeders along Grandview and a 1st basic Bald Eagle glided over us on Hastings. The Hilda Road feeders yielded more Siskins and Redpolls, but Bohemian Waxwings were conspicuously absent at both locations. Next we attempted to locate Gray Partridge along Maple Grove Road between Terry Fox and its end, but came up short, finding only a group of Wild Turkeys across from 1655 Maple Grove and about 25 Pine Grosbeaks feeding on the property of 1655 itself. Heading northwest we located the Great Gray Owl previously reported by Bruce Di Labio and Jeff Skevington in the vicinity of Thomas Dolan Parkway and 5th Line near Dunrobin at about 4pm. The bird showed brilliantly until we left at 4:20 and others who had appeared shortly after we stopped were still watching it at that time. We headed back to the 417 along Kinburn Side Road but failed to locate any Snowy Owls in the bright setting sun, though there were about 15-20 Wild Turkeys just south of Kinburn. Directions: For more information, contact me privately. Varied Thrush: To get to Dalhousie Conc. 6 from Ottawa, take Hwy 417 west to exit 155 and take County Road 49 to Almonte.Drive through Almonte and follow Wolf Grove Road (County Rd. 16) to the village of Hopetown. Turn south on County Rd 511 towards Lanark for about five km. and then go west on County Rd 8, through the hamlet of Watson's Corners, and another four km to Dalhousie Conc. 6. Turn south to #800. Alternatively, from the town of Perth on Hwy 7, go north on Co. Rd. 511 through the village of Lanark and then go west on Co. Rd. 8 through Watson's Corners, etc. Barrow's Goldeneye: From 417, take exit 117 and turn onto the Vanier Parkway. Turn left onto Donald Street and follow to the end of the road - parking is available at the Tennis Club. Walk south upriver towards the Hurdman Bridge - the bird was in the open water just south of the bridge. Good birding, Chris Kimber MSc Candidate Dept. of Biology Queen's University Kingston, ON [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
