Ted’s Birdathon 2025 Account.

Gift4BPBObirds Team

Dear supporters of Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory and Birds Canada’s birdathon. Thank you for your generous support from my 2025 effort. If you have not yet contributed, it is not too late. But, the birdathon fundraiser ends on June 1, meaning that there are only a few days left to support BPBO by sponsoring my BPBO birdathon team.  My goal is to raise $4,000, and as of May 19, we have raised over $2,200.

Here is the link to make a charitable donation. https://www.canadahelps.org/s/j44GMW

I did my birdathon on Friday May 16. The weather was favourable, as the winds were from the south and the air was unstable with rain or thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon. Storms and rain stop the migration of birds – a good thing for birders as that means there are more birds around to observe (if the conditions for birding are not compromised.) The south winds bring the birds migrating northward.

I had arranged to take three people birding who I had never met before. One of them was Alex, who had bid and won a morning of birding with me at Nature Canada’s annual fundraising on-line auction the previous year. Her daughter Esther and their neighbour and friend Aara completed the group. As they live nearby, I planned to introduce them to a few of the best local birding sites over the morning. We started in la Forêt Boucher, a large Gatineau-owned forest on the northeast side of the Aylmer sector of Gatineau and a 3-minute drive from their house. We were on the new trail system by 6:30 am to the delight of thousands of mosquitos.  I felt bad for my group, but they showed impressive patience, thanks in part to their repellent. As is often the case in birding this time of the year, you hear far more than you see, so I spent some time showing them images of the birds that I heard singing, and playing the songs on an app so that they could understand what they were supposed to be listening for amongst the chorus of song and hopefully believe that I wasn’t just making it up.  Aara had taken Michael Runtz’s famous ecology class at Carlton University a few years back and was clearly inspired to learn more about birds and nature.  I have met many alumni from Michael’s course, and to a person, they were all deeply inspired. It was satisfying watching Esther and Aara actively learning and recognizing some of the songs. One of the bird highlights was a beautiful Northern Flicker posing on a tree about 20 metres from us. It filled up the field of view in my spotting scope. A Wood Thrush serenaded us from only a few metres away. It is hard not to get swept up in emotion from this birds angelic notes.  We heard several warbler species but saw few. We left Forêt Boucher after just over an hour with 29 species on our lists.

The next stop was the Deschenes Rapids and Marais Lamoureaux at the south end of Rue Vanier in Aylmer. This was a new location for my entourage, so I was delighted to share it with them, as the birding is always superb in the spring.  It did not disappoint!  A short walk along the bridge and into the oak forest was very productive. A superb, Scarlet Tanager teased us with its hoarse melodies before revealing itself. Several Baltimore Orioles delighted Alex, especially.

Aara even spotted a female building her signature pendulant nest, well hidden in a small tree. Great Crested Flycatchers were active in the swamp forest. One in particular was inspecting woodpecker cavities in standing dead trees as potential nesting sites. A Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart and several Yellow warblers actively “cleaned” the foliage, picking off tiny caterpillars that were intent on eating the fresh leaves. On the great Ottawa River, we spotted Double-crested Cormorants, and Ring-billed Gulls floating down the river and taking flight at the beginning of the rapids, as well as three Common Mergansers resting in a quiet eddy current near the shore. Conroy Island was bustling with nesting gulls, Cormorants, Great Egrets and Black-crowned Night Herons. After about 75 minutes we left with and impressive 39 species for that location.

After a delightful stop at Café Mulligan in Aylmer, we drove across Gatineau to another outstanding area that is completely different, le Marais aux Grenouillettes. This reserve faunique of the Gouvernment du Quebec is well known by hunters in the fall and birders in the spring. It is part of a complex of wetlands that stretch along the north side of the Ottawa River from eastern Gatineau to past Plaisance. Many Bobolinks greeted us along the narrow gravel road into the reserve. They were busy chasing each other and filling the air with their R2D2-like songs. The road ends in a very small parking area, but a trail continues to a series of dykes separating the Ottawa River from wetlands that formed behind the dykes. From the dykes we could observe a good variety of marsh birds, including Great Blue Heron, Blue-winged Teal, Wilson’s Snipe, Common Gallinule, Pied-billed Grebe, Swamp Sparrows and of course, Red-winged Blackbirds.  The last bird we observed as a group was a Northern Harrier, gliding on tilted wings over the hay fields on the way out to the main road. Our short visit to this area was outstanding, with 42 species.

After returning home in the early afternoon, I did some things around the house, went shopping, made dinner and was reminded by Cris that I still had time to do some birding. So at 7H30 pm I hopped on my bike and rode quickly to my old neighbourhood where Chimney Swift used to be found.  They were not at the rendezvous but I did add a few new species along the way. I hustled back to my neighbourhood and took my bike through the corridor Champlain, hoping to hear or see some of the missing forest birds from my day list. Incredibly, though it was starting to get dark in the forest, I was able to hear or draw in all four of my target species; Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler and Brown Creeper.  By the time I left the dark forest the sun had just set, but I did manage to incite a White-throated Sparrow to song. A Swainson’s Thrush called at me from the dark forest as my bike drifted past, probably telling me that I should have brought my bicycle light. I soldiered on through the darkness, using my cell phone light to alert any bears. The final bird of the day was a reliable American Woodcock, that Cris and I first found while walking back from the grocery store on March 21^st!

My species total this year was 82. Thanks to Alex, Esther and Aara with whom I enjoyed the first 73 species in the first eight hours and to my wife Cris who pushed me out to observe the final nine.  Thanks especially to you, my supporters and sponsors of BPBO. Your generous support will help our bird observatory in a significant way by covering the food subsidy costs of our long-term volunteers.