Today we birded Mitchell Sewage Lagoons. It may be a contradiction say that a sewage lagoon is pleasant, but indeed Mitchell is. At the same time it appears to be underbirded and whenever we have been there we have seen relatively few other birders. Toady we arrived a little after 08.00h and were the only birders present. We did not see any other birders until around 10.00h and then one party of four and a single birder. The range of birds was not spectacular, but it was a very pleasant morning of birding nonetheless. Shorebird species seen were Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, a lone Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper and Solitary Sandpiper. Others reported a Greater Yellowlegs but we neither saw nor heard it. Additional species of interest were many families of Wood Duck, a Green Heron and numerous Cedar Waxwings both flycatching and feeding on berries. We understand that long negotiations with Ducks Unlimited and the town are progressing to the point where the area maybe be upgraded to a wetland, since only one pond is currently in use as a true sewage facility. Any move in this direction will only serve to make a good area even better.
Directions: Take Wellington Street South right to the end where there are soccer fields and the lagoons. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Jul 22 20:46:21 2007 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts20.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.74]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A8AFC6389B for <[email protected]>; Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:46:20 -0400 (EDT) Received: from brucedb4u2q8ov ([67.71.83.102]) by tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:46:21 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Bruce Di Labio" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "ontario birds" <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:46:24 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3138 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3138 Subject: [Ontbirds]Ottawa: Red-headed Woodpeckers and shorebirds X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:46:21 -0000 Hello Everyone The Constance Bay Red-headed Woodpeckers have fledged at least 2 young for the 6th consecutive year. No young were observed at the Pakeham site but 2 adults were seen. There were a total of six species of woodpeckers including 2 young Pileated and 3 juv. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers at the Constance Bay site. With recent heavy rains, the Ottawa River lacks suitable shorebird habitat as does most of the sewage lagoons. Hopefully in a week the water level will be lower. The Almonte Sewage Lagoon however, had a small variety of shorebirds today, July 22nd, with 1 juvenile and 26 adult Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 juvenile and 1 adult Least Sandpiper, 2 ad. Greater Yellowlegs and 11 ad. Solitary Sandpiper. The warbler migration is slowly starting up with 20+ Yellow Warbler, 1 male Bay-breasted Warbler, a few American Redstart , Black &White Warbler and Northern Waterthrush being observed in small wood lots along the Ottawa River. If you require additional information, please contact me privately. good birding, Bruce Directions: Constance Bay: RHWP: From Ottawa travel west bound on Hwy. 417 to the March Rd./Eagleson Road and exit right onto March Rd. Follow to Dunrobin Road and turn right continuing northwest through Woodlawn. At the hill turn right onto Constance Bay Rd following it for approx. 1.5 km. Turn left on Allbirch Road and drive 1.3 km to the " T " intersection. Turn left on Bishop Davis Drive and then right on Bayview Drive. Follow Bayview Drive to Ritchie St. Turn right and go a short distance to Whistler Rd. Turn left and drive .3 km and watch for a gate on the right. The trail through the burn area is opposite the gate. Parking is limited. The old burn area is on your left. There is an abundance of Poison Ivy in the burn area. It is recommended to stay on the trails. Directions: Pakenham: RHWP: From Ottawa take Highway 417 west towards Arnprior and exit at # 169. Take Kinburn Side Road west to Pakenham. Turn right on CR 29 and drive 8.0 km and then turn left on Shaw Road. Continue 1.3 km further on it to the junction of Shaw Road and 12th Conc.N. Pakenham Rd. Directions: Almonte Sewage Lagoon: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to exit 155/March Road and turn left and proceed west through the town of Almonte. At CR29 continue west and watch for the lagoons on the right side of road. Bruce Di Labio 400 Donald B. Munro Drive P.O.Box 538 Carp,Ontario,K0A 1L0 (613)839-4395 Home (613)715-2571 Cell Di Labio Birding Website Courses and Field Trips http://www3.sympatico.ca/bruce.dilabio/
