The Last Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

After a couple of days in the low single digits, Remembrance Day started out cool but quickly warmed up to a beautiful, sunny 14°C. Warm days in November are rare, so I took advantage of the weather and went out to Hurdman Park for a walk. I was hoping to find a couple of lingering migrants, or perhaps some Bohemian Waxwings or winter finches, and I thought I definitely had a chance of finding one more Autumn Meadowhawk. The nights haven’t been too cold yet, and there haven’t been any heavy overnight frosts, either, so it seemed likely that one or two of these hardy dragonflies might be out enjoying the final warm day of the season.

MacGregor Point PP: The rest of day 1

After the walk ended my mother and I ate lunch at the Visitor’s Center then did some exploring of our own. We returned to the Huron Fringe Trail, the official name for the boardwalks encircling the Visitor Center, and spent some time on the beach. We didn’t see anything unusual in either place, although it was great to see all the Herring Gulls on the water, a species I usually don’t see in Ottawa until late fall and winter.

New Year’s Day Birding

I couldn’t let New Year’s Day pass without going out and attempting to find some birds for my brand new year list. My plan was to head south along Eagleson and Moodie to look for hawks and gulls and Snow Buntings, but as the day was incredibly foggy I had to give up the idea of birding in any open areas. Instead, I stopped in at the Eagleson Ponds, where I found a couple of House Finches, about ten mallards, and one Canada Goose…an excellent start to the year.

Next I went to the Jack Pine Trail, figuring the fog wouldn’t be as bad in the woods. There I found a couple of Blue Jays feeding on some peanuts near the parking lot and a single Mourning Dove by the large OFNC feeder. I was very surprised not to see or hear a single chickadee or nuthatch along the way, and as I continued down the trail I soon discovered why. While walking toward the back of the trail a large, grayish hawk flew up off the ground almost right in front of me, landing on a fallen tree not too far away. Fortunately he was quite visible from where I stood on the trail, allowing me good look at his long tail, the dark cap on his head and bright white supercilium. There was no doubt in my mind that it was an adult Northern Goshawk. Not only was the goshawk only the eighth bird on my year list, it was my first life bird of the year!

Hurdman in Late Autumn

Fungus sp.

The sun finally came out today, and the day was pleasant and mild, lifting my spirits. Yesterday, while I was at work, 14 Cattle Egrets were seen in a field just south of Fallowfield Road not five minutes from where I live. However, as my fiancé has the car during the week, and as it is dark now by the time we get home from work, I was unable to get out and see these rare birds. Only one or two are seen each year in Ottawa; such a large flock is unprecedented. As this would be a lifer for me, I decided to get up early this morning to see if I could relocate them before heading off to work. I drove south on Richmond Road, stopped at the field where they were last seen, and carefully scanned the area. As luck would have it, the Cattle Egrets were gone. I later learned that these birds are usually “one-day wonders” when they stop over in Ottawa.