2023 OFO Peterborough Convention : September 21-24, 2023

Day 3: Petroglyphs and Nephton Ridge

On Saturday, we were up early again for the 1-hour drive to Petroglyphs Park. We had received an email from Matt Garvin, advising us that there was no parking at the park, but rather to proceed 1 km further along Northey’s Bay Road to Quarry Bay Beach parking lot. He and Scott Gibson would shuttle us to the park in their trucks. This plan worked well.



Unfortunately, there was very little bird activity as we hiked along the park roads. We could hear Pine Warblers, but were unable to see them. We saw a distant Belted Kingfisher at McGinnis Lake and a very large flyover of Common Grackles at the picnic site.



Then it was on to nearby Nephton Ridge. We carried our lunch on this somewhat demanding hike, passing ATVs and dirt bikes along the trail. We spotted a couple of Bald Eagles in the sky and many Eastern Phoebes along the trail. We had our lunch at the top of the ridge, but the birding was again very slow. Some shorebirds were barely visible with scopes below at the nepheline syenite mine. Those with better eyes claimed they were American Golden Plovers!
On the hike down, we saw a couple of Swainson’s Thrushes and a Gray-cheeked Thrush at the parking lot. But they were too furtive for photos.



Since there was still time, and having already purchased a park pass, we decided to return to Petroglyphs Park to see the glyphs. Once parked in the seniors’ lot, we hiked to the visitor centre. Here Colin tripped on some decorative rocks inside the building and badly injured is leg and elbow. After first aid, he gamely accompanied us to the petroglyphs themselves, which were interesting to see. Photography is not permitted.

Colin was particularly worried about the hard lump on his leg and decided that he would only go to the meal at the banquet, and return to our hotel to rest. The rest of us got to see Bruce Di Labio receive the Distinguished Ornithologist Award, presented by son Ben, and hear the accolades by Doug McCrae and various fellow birders. Barbara, being the official photographer, caught all the action. Stu Mackenzie of Birds Canada gave the keynote address about bird migration monitoring.
When we returned to our hotel, Hilda knocked on our door to say that she and Colin would have to skip the next day and return to Toronto.

Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Peterborough, Ontario, CA
Sep 23, 2023 8:27 AM - 10:19 AM
Protocol: Traveling
4.163 kilometer(s)
21 species

Canada Goose  3
Belted Kingfisher  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Pileated Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  4
Black-capped Chickadee  6
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  3
American Robin  1
American Goldfinch  4
White-crowned Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  1
Common Grackle  200
Ovenbird  1
Northern Parula  1
Pine Warbler  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S150728615

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Nephton Ridge (no public access), Peterborough, Ontario, CA
Sep 23, 2023 10:53 AM - 1:25 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.858 kilometer(s)
26 species

Canada Goose  6
Mallard  3
Mourning Dove  1
American Golden-Plover  2     Plovers, thin and attenuated, no dark underwing on stretch
Turkey Vulture  14
Bald Eagle  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  1
Common Raven  2
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Gray-cheeked Thrush  1
Swainson's Thrush  1
Hermit Thrush  1
American Robin  1
American Pipit  8
American Goldfinch  16
White-throated Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Magnolia Warbler  1
Bay-breasted Warbler  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S150728640

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)