Art Prints

Monday, October 8, 2012

Enjoying Fall & Birding!


Birding Petrie Island
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Morning mist at Petrie Island
Tuesday October 1:
It was a misty morning at Petrie Island, Always An Adventure's first official birding excursion this fall.
The fog lingered a bit thorough the first hours of the day, but vanished and gave room for blue skies and sunshine.
We had Merlin, Rusty Blackbirds, Green Heron, American Bitter and a young Bald Eagle at Petrie to mention a few species.
At Giroux Pond it was Killdeer galore, in addition to Greater Yellowlegs, Dunlin, American Widgeon, and 3 Wilson's Snipes.
Venturing through the back roads and farm fields, we had Sandhill Cranes, Coopers Hawk, American Kestrel, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows.
We ended up with a day list of 63 species.
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Common Gallinule/Moorhen
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

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Red-breasted Nuthatch
Wednesday October 3:
Despite gloomy forecast from the weather people, this day turned out to be spectacular, both weather wise and birding wise.
It was supposed to be a photo day, but we ended up wanting to bird more than taking pictures.
We left Gatineau Park and went down to Ottawa river and wandered around in the nearby area.
The best birds of today was without question Grey-cheeked Thrush, Surf Scoter and a migrating flock of Clay-colored Sparrows.
Canada Goose
Mallard
Surf Scoter
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Cooper's Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Gray-cheeked Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch

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Jack Pine Trail
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Red Squirrel
Thursday October 4:
Jack Pine Trail never fails when it comes to birds or scenery.
Today it was mild and comfortable with a thin layer of misty fog.
It smelled wet nature and fall and the landscape was quite magical.
We had Rusty Blackbirds and our first Fox Sparrow for the season. We also fed a few hungry Red-breasted Nuthatches and Chickadees.
After a great walk in the woods, we headed for the Quarry Pond, where we had several Cackling Geese, Lesser Black-backed and Greater Black-backed Gull, and adult Pied-billed Grebe to mention a few. We also had 5 Snow Geese and 2 Blue Morphs. We ended up with 50 different species of birds.
Snow Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Greater Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch

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White-breasted Nuthatch
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Joshua McCullough & the foal
Saturday October 6:
Rain and wind did not keep dedicated birders home today. We were greeted by hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds at Petrie Island. They were loud and clear in the reeds and in the air.
We did the usual loop around the east end, but spent a little more time driving the back roads and checking out the farm fields. As the morning progressed, the weather changed and became quite pleasant. The highlight of the day was 14 Sandhill Cranes in the area of Milton Road.
We ended up with 52 species of birds.
Snow Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Common Gallinule/Moorhen
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

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Sunday October 7:
What a fantastic fall day!
We met at the west end, and headed straight for Andrew Haydon Park where we had a Peregrine Falcon and thousands of Brant fling over. We then went to Shirley's Bay and from there we ventured out driving through colorful fall landscape in the west end. At Twin Elms Road, we had another Peregrin Falcon together with Red-tailed Hawks and Ravens. To our great surprise we also encountered several species of warblers, such as Tennessee, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green and Orange-crowned. We also had 2 Eastern Bluebirds.
At the Quarry Pond, it was Snow and Cackling Geese, Redhead, and a one year bird Bald Eagle.
This Thanksgiving gave us the total of 61 species.
Snow Goose
Brant
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Greater Yellowlegs
Bonaparte's Gull
Chroicocephalus philadelphia
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
American Pipit
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-thr. Green Warbler
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
American Goldfinch

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All excursions organized by