A Lifer on on October Global Big Day 2021

Lesser Black-backed Gull

On October 9, 2021 eBird celebrated its fourth annual October Global Big Day. I participated in this event last year and ended up with 50 species; I probably could have done better if I had planned for it properly instead of deciding halfway through the morning that I wanted to do a personal big day. This time I planned for it, but health issues limited my time outside in the field to the morning only.

I had a much better idea of where I wanted to go this time, and unlike the Global Big Day last May, which was limited due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions then in place, planned to leave my 5-mile radius. After a great outing at Bruce Pit on Monday in which I tallied 40 species, the loop around the pond was sure to help me reach my goal of beating the 50 species I tallied last year. I also planned to hit a couple of trails in Stony Swamp (a short walk along the Rideau Trail at the P6 parking lot and Sarsaparilla Trail), the Ottawa River for diving birds, the Eagleson ponds for shorebirds, and the Moodie Quarry/Trail Road landfill for gulls and more waterfowl.

The choice to start my day at the Rideau Trail was a good one, even if the boardwalk area was silent. This area is full of wild grapes and buckthorn berries, and I was hoping to find some thrushes, sparrows or even a late Gray Catbird even if all the warblers that stop in here in September had long departed. This was the only spot where I found Brown Creeper and Pileated Woodpecker, which are normally present throughout the woods in our area and are not usually difficult to find.

Brown Creeper

(Note: most photos appearing in this post are old ones; I did not take many pictures due to the overcast skies in the early morning and harsh sunlight later on.)

As it turned out, I found only three sparrow species here – while the Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows were expected, it was thrilling to see my first Fox Sparrows of the fall along the trail.

From there I drove over to Sarsaparilla Trail where I met my friend Arlene. We found 23 species here, including several sparrows feeding along the trail. I added White-crowned and Song Sparrow to the day’s list, but Swamp Sparrow turned out to be a notable miss. A Pine Siskin flying over was great to hear, and the best bird of the trail turned out to be a flock of about half a dozen Rusty Blackbirds perching in a tree next to the marsh!

Rusty Blackbird

Even better than the birds was the group of North American River Otters swimming along the north side of the pond. Coincidentally, the last time I’d seen the river otters here was on the May 2021 Global Big Day! When one of the otters started walking along a log I grabbed a few distant photos so I could add the sighting to iNaturalist. These are fun animals to watch, and I really wish they weren’t so hard to find or see up close.

North American River Otter (October 9, 2021)

We left Sarsaparilla Trail after adding Golden-crowned Kinglet, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-winged Blackbird, Belted Kingfisher, and Pied-billed Grebe to the day’s list. This was the only spot where we found Hairy Woodpecker (heard only) and Common Grackle, demonstrating again how important it is to visit a number of locations when trying to do a big day.

When we left Sarsaparilla Trail the day’s list was up to 27 species; not bad for two quick stops. It was almost 9:00 by the time we left; next on the list was Bruce Pit, where I hoped to find the majority of species for the day. I still had not seen or heard a single warbler during the previous two stops, and was hoping to find at least three or four species. Shorebirds, too, were lacking on the list, and I was hoping that the mucky edges of the pond would prove to be productive for at least a couple of species. I still needed Wood Duck and both teal species, and hoped that the female Northern Shoveler was still present at the bridge. Bruce Pit holds a lot of potential, and we were rewarded almost right away with a Lesser Yellowlegs scuttling along the water’s edge on the north side of the pond.

A group of chickadees feeding on the seedy vegetation growing next to the fence that separated the trail from the dog park were entertaining to watch; a little further along we found a large flock of robins feeding on what looked like European Mountain Ash. Best of all, a Fox Sparrow flew up off the ground and landed briefly in a tree! These are one of my favourite sparrows with their rusty red colour.

Black-capped Chickadee

We heard a single Red-breasted Nuthatch calling in a grove of conifers, a few notes of the wiry song of a Blue-headed Vireo, and the distinctive calls of Wood Duck in the water below (we never did end up seeing one despite much scanning). A Pine Siskin landed briefly in a tree before flying off, and the triple calls of Golden-crowned Kinglets issued softly from a group of spruce trees. We still had yet to find a Ruby-crowned Kinglet or warbler of any species.

We deviated from the main path to check the open field at the back and followed the trail through the tangles to look for thrushes, Winter Wrens, and other secretive birds. We finally found a group of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler that showed itself briefly was the only warbler of the visit.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Despite the tantalizing habitat there were no spotted thrushes and no wrens in the thickets. When the trail opened up into a field we found a flock of House Finches and starlings, and heard a single Purple Finch fly over. This was disappointing as this area had been so productive on my last two visits.

My disappointment vanished once we reached the bridge. The light was bad due to the low angle of the sun, and it was difficult to identify many of the distant teal. When a Blue-winged Teal stretched its wings, however, we were happy to add it to the list, along with a pair of Northern Pintails. Distant shorebirds, too, were vexing, but we were happy to see two Wilson’s Snipe close to the bridge and identified a Dunlin after taking several photos. We spent about half an hour at the bridge but the Eastern Phoebe failed to put in an appearance. Three heron species were present: Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Black-crowned Night Heron, none of which were present at Sarsaparilla Trail.

Dunlin

While we were there, a rare bird alert came in: the Slaty-backed Gull seen at the Trail Road Landfill yesterday was still present. Arlene and I decided to forego our trip to Andrew Haydon Park for river birds to search for this mega-rarity instead. The Slaty-backed Gull typically lives in Asian coastal regions stretching from Russia to Taiwan, with many regularly visiting Alaskan waters. However, it is well-known for its long-distance travels, with several records from Ontario where it tends to show up in landfills – and this one was no exception.

The Trail Road Landfill has attracted its fair share of uncommon and rare birds over the years, so it was just a matter of time before something as exciting as this Asian wanderer appeared within some fortunate birder’s scope. The adult Slaty-backed Gull is a dark-mantled gull that looks similar to a Lesser Black-backed Gull with its duller slate-gray back and wings compared to the larger Great Black-backed Gull; however, it also has bright pink legs (not yellow), and a broad white crescent near the wingtips when perched. This would be a lifer for both Arlene and me, so once we finished our circuit around the pond at Bruce Pit we drove over to the landfill where we found a crowd of local birders.

The bird wasn’t in view when we arrived, but had just been seen walking on the ground behind the quarry fence on the opposite side of the road (the gulls here often divide their time between roosting on the water or sandhills of the active quarry and feasting on the abundance of food within the active landfill on Trail Road). Then it emerged from a group of roosting gulls, and someone called out the pertinent field marks as it walked along the ground briefly before disappearing behind a small mound of vegetation: the slate-coloured back, pink legs, white white tertial area of the wings, and dark feathering around the eye giving it a smudgy appearance. I got on the right bird and saw it for a few seconds, but it was so far away that even with the scope I had difficulty in ticking all the field marks before it disappeared. This was number 544 on my life list, and although I wished for closer views, I was happy I got more than just a brief glimpse.

While there I added a few other species to the day’s list, including Great and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gull, Turkey Vulture, and a Bald Eagle that was initially perching placidly in a tree until it launched itself into the air and sent all the gulls on the ground wheeling into the sky.

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

I was getting too tired to contemplate any further birding, but decided to stop at the Moodie Drive Quarry gate to see if the Red-breasted Merganser someone mentioned was still there. I didn’t see it, but a couple of Common Mergansers and Gadwall were swimming in the water just beyond the gate, and I saw an American Pipit fly over.

As it turned out, beating my goal of 50 species was relatively easy with a bit of planning and one well-timed mega-rarity; I finished the day with 56 species altogether. Notable misses include the gang of House Sparrows that have been visiting my yard recently (thanks for abandoning me, guys!), Rock Pigeon, Greater Yellowlegs, Red-tailed Hawk, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Swamp Sparrow, and all the river waterfowl including the three scoter species, Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe, and both scaup. Like last year, I only had one warbler species all day (Yellow-rumped Warbler) without any of the typically later-migrating species such as Orange-crowned, Nashville, Palm, or Black-throated Green Warbler to add variety. Perhaps if I’d visited Mud Lake I would have found some of these warblers; perhaps a trip to the Eagleson storm water ponds would have paid off as well. Hopefully my health will be better next year, and I will be able to spend more time outside and find at least 60 species for the next October Global Big Day!