Great Backyard Bird Count in Ottawa

I returned back to BC last night for a week off from school.  Before I went to the airport in the afternoon, I went out bird-watching with a friend for the Great Backyard Bird Count in the morning.  We actually went to Strathcona Park on Valentine's Day to scout some of the species found there (e.g., Mallards, Common Goldeneyes, Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, etc), and then began our Monday bird count there as well.  It was quite cold on Saturday and Monday morning, so I didn't bother taking photos then.  After surveying the birds at Strathcona Park on Monday morning, we took the bus to Remic Rapids along the Ottawa River, which was my first time there.  The temperature felt warmer by then and so I started snapping some photos.

Remic Rapids and some impressive rock-balancing.

View from the lookout.

One of the coldest capital cities in the world - Ottawa.

Quebec side.

Would not be fun to fall into the Ottawa River at this time of the year.

Bird-watcher.

One of the "rarest" species that we saw yesterday - one White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis).


Goldeneyes in the distance.


Common Goldeneyes to be more specific.


One gull-shaped bird in the centre of the image.

Then we slowly trekked our way along the river hoping to see more birds, but we didn't have much luck.

Bridge

Ice-covered Red Pine.

A welcoming sight of bright colour from fragrant sumac.

Here were all the speciess we saw on Monday: 

- 63 Mallards 

- 1 Northern Cardinal 

- 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 

- 47 Common Goldeneyes (18 males and 29 females) 

- 14 Black-capped Chickadees 

- 103 European Starlings 

- 15 House Sparrows 

- 7 American Crows 

- 7 Rock Pigeons

And here was one of the photos I took on Saturday as I was heading to the bus station.

Enjoy the rest of the week.