A Little Outing – Shirley’s Bay, Dick Bell Park, Andrew Hadyn Park, Mud Lake, Old Quarry Trail

Shirley’s Bay, Dick Bell Park, Andrew Hadyn Park, Mud Lake, Old Quarry Trail

March 25, 2002 – The weather wasn’t as nice and warm as it had been in recent weeks but I decided that I needed some fresh air and exercise so convinced Graeme to come along and off we went on a circuit of some of the local area parks.

  First stop was the bird feeders at Shirley’s Bay.  Didn’t actually stop at the feeders because someone else was there already and I don’t like crowding out other photographers or bird watchers. I looked over to the tree where I had photographed a Porcupine on an earlier trip and was very surprised to see perhaps the same porcupine sitting on almost the very same branch of the tree.

  Once I had taken a few shots and Graeme had taken a few shots, we headed over to the Shirley’s  Bay boat loading ramp to see how high the river was.  While Graeme kept to the dry land, I did a bit of rock hopping to get a few shots from a different perspective.

 

  Then it was off for a quick look around the dock area at Dick Bell Park. There was still ice around the docks and no boats were in the water yet. Aside from the sheltered area around the docks, the river was free of ice.

 

The initial plan was to stop at Andrew Hadyn Park but the winter barricades are still in place and there was no room for parking so off we went to look around the Mud Lake area. We walked the ridge, saw a few squirrels and photographed a few Canada Geese and then headed over to the Old Quarry Trail in Kanata.

When I saw the Canada Goose with the smudge on its neck, I, at first, thought that it was some mud but decided after getting a bit closer that it is likely a sign of some cross-breeding at some point in time, like with a Brant. The goose had been banded but I couldn’t get a clear shot of its number.

 

We had agreed at the outset that our little tour would be more like a whirlwind tour so it wasn’t long before we left Mud Lake and headed over to the Old Quarry Trail in Kanata where we photographed a few deer and smaller mammals.  I didn’t bring along any seeds this time out so the Red Squirrels and Chipmunks had to be satisfied with a bit of sandwich. Our catch of the day was a nicely coloured Ruffed Grouse with a well demarcated ruff on its neck.

 

After photographing the Ruffed Grouse, our path led us home.

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