Sunday Excursion 27th March 2011

Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) 

15 enthusiastic birders and photographers gathered together on this clear, yet brisk morning in Gatineau Park. Our goal was to look for lingering winter-birds in the hills of Quebec.

Yet again the day started out perfectly with 2000+ Bohemian Waxwings having a feast on the remaining berries in the trees, occasionally coming to the ground to eat snow. Their soft trill had a soothing quality.

We car-pooled for a long ride along the base of the Gatineau escarpment.

We cut through the park north from the village of Eardley.

Along the way  we observed about 20 Turkey Vultures, a few Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, 4 Bald Eagles, 2 American Kestrels, and 2 Merlins.

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

To end a great birding day, and make it complete, we had an Eastern Screech-Owl, which I now can proudly add to my lifelist.

 Daylist:

1. Canada Goose        
2. Mallard
3. Wild Turkey
4. Red-tailed Hawk
5. Rough-legged Hawk
6. Ring-billed Gull
7. Rock Pigeon
8. Blue Jay
9. American Crow
10. Common Raven
11. Black-capped Chickadee
12. American Robin
13. European Starling
14. American Tree Sparrow
15. Song Sparrow
16. Northern Cardinal
17. Red-winged Blackbird
18. Common Grackle
19. American Goldfinch
20. Common Redpoll
21. House Sparrow
22. Bohemian Waxwing
23. Merlin
24. Turkey Vulture
25. Hairy Woodpecker
26. Downy Woodpecker
27. Red-breasted Nuthatch
28. Bald Eagle
29. Snowbunting
30. American Kestrel
31. Common Goldeneye
32. Eastern Screech-Owl

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis)

Excursion organized by Tony Beck - Always An Adventure

Excursion Thursday 24th March 2011 - Ottawa

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

What a most perfect day!

The excursion started with a young Moose staring at us from the edge of the woods while driving to our destination.

It was a fresh and crisp day, with sunshine and blue skies.
It started out very well, already with 17 species on the day-list before 8:00am.

After some hiking, driving, stopping and scanning, we went searching for geese again.

Our goal was to repeat the great experience of last Sunday's excursion. 

Thousands of Canada Geese

Today we had a single Snow Goose together with thousands of Canada Geese. 

After a tractor flushed about 20,000 of them, we spotted a Leucistic Canada Goose in with the flock.

We ended up with 29 different species by the end of the morning:

1. Canada Goose        
2. American Black Duck
3. Mallard
4. Wild Turkey
5. Red-tailed Hawk
6. Rough-legged Hawk
7. Killdeer
8. Ring-billed Gull
9. Rock Pigeon
10. Mourning Dove
11. Blue Jay
12. American Crow
13. Common Raven
14. Black-capped Chickadee
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
16. American Robin
17. European Starling
18. American Tree Sparrow
19. Song Sparrow
20. Northern Cardinal
21. Red-winged Blackbird
22. Common Grackle
23. American Goldfinch
24. Common Redpoll
25. House Sparrow
26. Northern Pintail
27. Horned Lark
28. Snow Goose
29. Pileated Woodpecker

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

Although I can not get enough of the massive numbers of Canada Geese these days, I haven't forgotten the more common birds like Northern Cardinal and American Black Duck.

Thanks to Tony, I can also add American Woodcock to my life-list.
Last Wednesday evening we saw and heard its full display. 

Rough-legged Hawk / Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus)

Excursion organized by Tony Beck - Always An Adventure

Goose overdose...?

Snow Geese

Am I on the brink of a birding overdose?
Nope, not at all!! On the contrary!!

After witnessing over 100,000 - Yes! One Hundred Thousand - Snow & Canada Geese last weekend, I am more hooked on spring migration then ever before!
It was an unbelievable sight! I was in total awe...

Scenery with Canada Geese

Nothing can compare to the experience of seeing such an abundance of life.

In addition to the goose overdose, I had Ross's Goose as a lifer, and a really nice long look at an adult  Peregrine Falcon from our balcony at the 23rd floor, which was a new bird added to my "balcony list".

Saturday we had a day-list of 32 species, and on Sunday we had 34.

The total list for the weekend was 41:

1. American Black Duck
2. Canada Goose
3. Mallard
4. Green-winged Teal
5. Bufflehead
6. Common Merganser
7. Wild Turkey
8. Turkey Vulture
9. Red-tailed Hawk
10. Rough-legged Hawk
11. Killdeer
12. Ring-billed Gull
13. Herring Gull
14. Lesser Black-backed Gull
15. Rock Pigeon
16. Mourning Dove
17. Hairy Woodpecker
18. Blue Jay
19. American Crow
20. Common Raven
21. Black-capped Chickadee
22. White-breasted Nuthatch
23. American Robin
24. European Starling
25. American Tree Sparrow
26. Song Sparrow
27. Northern Cardinal
28. Red-winged Blackbird
29. Common Grackle
30. American Goldfinch
31. Common Redpoll
32. House Sparrow
33. Hooded Merganser
34. American Wigeon
35. Ring-necked Duck
36. Cackling Goose
37. Northern Pintail
38. Northern Harrier
39. American Goldfinch
40. Horned Lark
41. Snow Goose

Common Redpoll (carduelis flammea) 

Last Tuesday's birding excursion we had 36 species as follows:

1. Canada Goose        
2. American Black Duck
3. Mallard
4. Green-winged Teal
5. Wild Turkey
6. Turkey Vulture
7. Red-tailed Hawk
8. Killdeer
9. Ring-billed Gull
10. Herring Gull
11. Lesser Black-backed Gull
12. Great Black-backed Gull
13. Rock Pigeon
14. Mourning Dove
15. Hairy Woodpecker
16. Blue Jay
17. American Crow
18. Black-capped Chickadee
19. White-breasted Nuthatch
20. American Robin
21. European Starling
22. American Tree Sparrow
23. Song Sparrow
24. Northern Cardinal
25. Red-winged Blackbird
26. Common Grackle
27. Common Redpoll
28. Hoary Redpoll
29. Northern Pintail
30. Horned Lark
31. Dark-eyed Junco
32. Common Goldeneye
33. Downy Woodpecker
34. Pileated Woodpecker
35. Greater White-fronted Goose
36. Bald Eagle 

The Greater White-fronted Geese was the highlight of the day together with the Bald Eagle.

All excursions organized by: Tony Beck - Always An Adventure

Common Redpoll (carduelis flammea) chaos at the Hilda Road Feeder, Ottawa - Canada

Birding Excursion - Ottawa, Canada, 17th March 2011

Hoary Redpoll or Arctic Redpoll (Carduelis hornemanni)

The taste of spring becomes sweeter each day.
Birders and photographers met at Britannia, where Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Cardinals and a single Song Sparrow entertained us with their beautiful song.
We were surrounded by spring-like activity with some birds carrying nest material, others claiming their territory and others in courtship.
The best birds of the morning were a Killdeer flying over head, Hooded Mergansers on the river and a pair of Northern Pintail near the marina.
We moved on for a little drive to March Valley Road. Here we found Pileated Woodpeckers, Green-winged Teal, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks.
As the day progressed, the fog lifted and we had beautiful blue skies with warm comfortable temperatures.
There’s not many winter-birds left, but luckily Tony spotted a Northern Shrike.
We went to the Hilda Road feeder again to see if we could relocate the Leucistic Common Redpoll from Tuesday’s excursion, but we could not. Although there was still a lot of redpolls we could only find two Hoary Redpolls.
Never the less, it was a super day, which also included Turkey Vulture and Bufflehead, amongst other things.

Daylist:

1. American Crow
2. Northern Cardinal
3. Wild Turkey
4. Canada Goose
5. Rock Pigeons
6. Ring-billed Gull
7. European Starling
8. Red-winged Blackbird
9. Red-tailed Hawk
10. Common Grackle
11. Blue Jay
12. Mourning Dove
13. American Robin
14. Common Merganser
15. Rough-legged Hawk
16. Common Raven
17. House Sparrow
18. Buffledhead
19. Common Goldeneye
20. Herring Gull
21. Black-capped Chickadee
22. White-breasted Nuthatch
23. House Finch
24. American Tree Sparrow
25. Dark-eyed Junco
26. Mallard
27. Hairy Woodpecker
28. Hooded Merganser
29. Great Black-backed Gull
30. Downy Woodpecker
31. American Black Duck
32. American Goldfinch
33. Turkey Vulture
34. Common Redpoll
35. Killdeer
36. Song Sparrow
37. Northern Pintail
38. Hoary Redpoll
39. Pileated Woodpecker
40. Northern Shrike
41. Green-winged Teal

Male Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)

Excursion organized by Tony Beck - Always An Adventure

Bird Walk @ Jack Pine Trail, Ottawa, March 15th.

Tony Beck hand-feeding the Black-capped Chickadee

What an amazing day!

Bright sunshine with blue skies, and spring migration all around us, hiking along the Jack Pine Trail today revealed many species, like  Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays, Hairy and Downy Woodpecker, just to mention a few.

Canada Geese were frequently flying over head, and Redwinged Blackbirds were busy claiming their new found territory.

After completing the trail and getting our fill of hand-feeding the smaller birds, we went to the Burnside Pit.

There we saw about 600 Canada Geese, and a good mix of about 800 Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls resting on the ice.

Tony spotted 3 Glaucous Gulls and a Cackling Goose.

A couple of Red-tailed Hawks were perched looking at all the incoming traffic of Gulls and Geese.

To end the excursion we went to the Hilda Feeder at Shirley’s Bay.

There we saw a wonderful mix of Common Redpoll, American Tree Sparrow and Red-winged Blackbirds.

In all this chaotic activity at the feeder, Tony spotted 3 Hoary Redpolls and a Leucistic Common Redpoll for us all to photograph.

Spring migration is all around us!

Day list 15th March 2011:

1. Northern Cardinal
2. American Crow
3. Canada Goose
4. Rock Pigeon
5. Ring-billed Gull
6. European Starling
7. Redwinged Blackbird
8. Redtailed Hawk
9. Blue Jay
10. Mourning Dove
11. American Robin
12. Common Raven
13. House Sparrow
14. Herring Gull
15. Black-capped Chickadee
16. White-breasted Nuthatch
17. American Tree Sparrow
18. Dark-eyed Junco
19. Mallard
20. Hairy Woodpecker
21. Great Black-backed Gull
22. Downy Woodpecker
23. Common Redpoll / Leucistic
24. Hoary Redpoll
25. Palliated Woodpecker
26. Red-breasted Nuthatch
27. Brown Creeper
28. Glaucous Gull
29. Cackling Goose

Leucistic Common Redpoll - Photo courtesy of Bill Bowman

Excursion Organized by Tony Beck - Always An Adventure

Birding Excursion to the Kingston area, Ontario, Canada 12-13 March 2011

Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis)

A small enthusiastic group of birders and photographers defied the cold and humid weather, and went to the Kingston area for a weekend excursion.
Although the number of owls were low, the group experienced a tremendous surge of waterfowl migrating along the shores of Lake Ontario.
Among the many species of diving ducks, there were about 3000 Long-tailed Ducks and about 4000 Greater Scaup.
Canada Goose, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls were everywhere, and Redwinged Blackbirds were singing from every treetop.
The best birds of the trip were 10 White-winged Scooter, a singing Carolina Wren and a soaring Turkey Vulture.
We had 40 species on the first day and 47 the second day.
The total amount of species for the trip was 53 (from Saturday morning until late afternoon Sunday).

Trip list as follows:

1. American Crow
2. Northern Cardinal
3. Wild Turkey
4. Canada Goose
5. Rock Pigeons
6. Ring-billed Gull
7. European Starling
8. Redwinged Blackbird
9. Redtailed Hawk
10. Common Grackle
11. Blue Jay
12. Mourning Dove
13. American Robin
14. Mute Swan
15. Common Merganser
16. Long-tailed Duck
17. Redbreasted Merganser
18. Rough-legged Hawk
19. Common Raven
20. House Sparrow
21. Buffledhead
22. Greater Scaup
23. Redhead
24. Common Goldeneye
25. Horned Lark
26. Herring Gull
27. Golden-crowned Kinglet
28. Black-capped Chickadee
29. White-breasted Nuthatch
30. House Finch
31. American Tree Sparrow
32. Dark-eyed Junco
33. Ring-necked Pheasant
34. White-winged Scooter
35. Mallard
36. American Kestrel
37. Lesser Scaup
38. Hairy Woodpecker
39. Northern Harrier
40. Sharp-shinned Hawk
41. Carolina Wren
42. Hooded Merganser
43. Great Horned Owl
44. Great Black-backed Gull
45. Downey Woodpecker
46. Snowbunting
47. Long-eared Owl
48. American Black Duck
49. American Goldfinch
50. Gadvall
51. American Coot
52. Turkey Vulture
53. Common Redpoll

Excursion was organized by Tony Beck - Always An Adventure