Ottawa to Amherst Island

A Varied Thrush was found by Giovanni Pari in Ottawa on Sunday and was seen several times throughout the day by various birders as it came to a feeder. Andrew Keaveney and I immediately made plans to see it as it would be a great bird for a big year. While more will probably show up, this west coast thrush is never guaranteed! Unfortunately it wasn't seen the next day but we decided to go down anyways. Varied Thrushes will often stay at a feeder for days or even weeks.

We left Monday evening after my first day of classes, arriving at our destination for the night at around 1:00 AM. The next morning we showed up at the spot and immediately met Nicholas von Maltzahn, also standing vigil at the feeders. Unfortunately it wasn't seen for the several hours we were there. Nick showed us some spots around the Larose forest before he had to take off. After not getting any Evening Grosbeaks at the feeders where they are supposed to be, we lucked out and heard two Red Crossbills calling. I managed to take very distant photos of one!

Red Crossbill - Larose Forest

We then tried for Gray Partridge in an area southeast of here, but after driving the fields for an hour or so we didn't have any luck. At this point we were getting kind of desperate as we headed over to Kanata to try for them there. We arrived around 3:00 PM, but lucked out as the first spot we looked contained 4 partridge - 3 females and 1 male. This was only the second sighting that I have had of this species, the other being in Brantford last winter.

Gray Partridges - Kanata

Gray Partridges - Kanata

With about an hour of light left we drove down to Bate's Island to try for Barrow's Goldeneye. In the fading light Andrew picked out a textbook example of a female Barrow's Godeneye! I found an adult Glaucous Gull nearby and I ended the day with 82 species for the year.

Today we took the Amherst Island ferry to try for some owls and other wintering raptors. Driving along the roads we saw several raptors, including Snowy Owls, Rough-legged Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers and American Kestrels.

distant Snowy Owl - Amherst Island

A walk around Owl Woods was next on the agenda. A flock of 4 Common Redpolls greated us near on the walk in.

Common Redpolls - Amherst Island

Thar be owls in them woods....

owl pellet - Amherst Island

There's one!

Northern Saw-whet Owl - Amherst Island

We couldn't turn anything else up in the woods and continuing on. Before grabbing our ferry we drove farther west on the island. We were very surprised to see an adult Goshawk perching at eye level in a nearby tree! I managed one shot through the window as it flew away.

Northern Goshawk - Amherst Island

A couple of more photos from the day:

House Finch - Amherst Island

American Robin - Amherst Island

October 22 - Port Stanley and area

Today, a large group of us from the University of Guelph wildlife club headed down to Port Stanley to spend a day at the hawkwatch.

As soon as we arrived it was obvious that there were large numbers of passerines. Among the highlights were 5 species of woodpeckers (including Pileated), Blue-headed Vireo, Fox Sparrows, and 5 species of warblers including 5 Orange-crowned and 1 Tennessee.

Orange-crowned Warbler - Hawk Cliff

After about an hour, the raptors really started moving and it was obvious that there would be a huge Turkey Vulture migration. Here is one fine individual:

Turkey Vulture - Hawk Cliff

Here is a huge TV next to a tiny Sharp-shinned Hawk (or a "shin" as the grizzled veteran hawkwatchers call them)

Turkey Vulture and Sharp-shinned Hawk - Hawk Cliff

I was happy to spot a two Common Loons circling high overhead. Not a species that I was expecting to see!

Common Loon - Hawk Cliff

Eventually, an eagle passed over, way overhead. Based on its proportions and its underwing pattern, we determined it was a Golden. The only one we saw today, though the official counters tallied several more throughout the day.

Golden Eagle - Hawk Cliff

Here is a normal Baldy for comparison. The head of Bald Eagles sticks out much farther than for Golden Eagles, especially when they are in a "tuck" such as the above Golden Eagle.

Bald Eagle - Hawk Cliff

There were quite a few Accipiters, flying over high and low. Among the many Sharpies, we picked out a few Cooper's Hawks.

Cooper`s Hawk - Hawk Cliff

The third species of Accipiter (Northern Goshawk) finally made an appearance in the mid afternoon. It was a juvenile bird and, despite the (lack of) quality photo, it passed over quite close and I had fantastic views in the scope. This was only the second Goshawk I have seen this year.

Northern Goshawk - Hawk Cliff

Turkey Vultures kept streaming over all day, and by the time we left the official counters had counted over 8,000 of them, smashing the all time high for one day! This is just an example of what the skies were filled with all day. If you squint, you can see hundreds of TVs.

Turkey Vultures - Hawk Cliff

After leaving the hawkwatch (Turkey Vultures were still streaming overhead), we headed down to the town of Port Stanley to check a few spots. I was hoping that after the strong west winds over the weekend, followed by the strong east winds on Wednesday, that something decent would be at the harbour. As I was scanning the east pier, I noticed a phalarope swimming close to the pier. After getting Andy's scope (mine did not have a zoom lens), we were able to determine it was a Red Phalarope. The bird was in basic plumage and had an unstreaked, grey back, relatively thick bill, and completely white underwing. I was pretty stoked as this was my first one that I have seen in Ontario. Here is the best photo I got (as you can see, all the photos in this post are Nat. Geo quality).

Red Phalarope - Port Stanley harbour

We quickly checked out the lagoons (scoring about 6 species of ducks, some Bonaparte's Gulls, a Horned Grebe, and about 8 Greater Yellowlegs), then headed on home. Not a bad day!!!