Road trip
I have recently taken a road trip to the eastern part of Ontario. I looked at my options and the 401 just scared me, so I went through Google Maps and I talked to my boss who routinely travels all over Ontario and her and her husband always take the backroads. Google maps said it would only add 2 hours to my trip so I thought I'd give it a go. The trip was an important one but also may have some stress, so I thought that I might as well do what relieves my stress, bird! It was a good decision. Though some of my relatives thought I was crazy for doing so, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Google maps suggested I head N and W towards Grand Bend but I thought I would go straight up the 402 to Strathroy towards Ailsa Craig. The weather was cold, damp and overcast, but it was interesting going through these smaller communities. Starting with Lambton, then Middlesex and on to Perth county, then Wellington, (where I was surprised to see a large flock of Tundra Swans on flooded field), Peel and York. My trusty old CRV took me East towards Orangeville, Newmarket, Uxbridge and Port Perry. I've lived in this area for the first 50 years of my life, only living in Lambton County since 2010 and I don't recall exploring here. My Dad would often talk about fishing in these areas. Newmarket flabbergasted me! The town I knew like the back of my hand was unrecognizable! I was taken to Hwy 9 up Davis Drive.
One of the best stops was the Lake Scugog Causeway, in Durham, which I came to by chance after filling up on gas and having a pee break in Port Perry. I stopped on a gravel shoulder before the causeway and was amazed to see a large flock of Ring Necked ducks close to the shore. I sat there and took in the sights ((I had never been there before) and was surprised by some loud trumpeting, I raised my eyes from my camera viewfinder to find a pair of gorgeous Trumpeter Swans making their entrance! It was an amazing moment!
I continued on E towards Havelock, in Northumberland, where I stopped at a marshy area and was welcomed by a very raucous Belted kingfisher! He was gorgeous and let his existence be known. I thought of my beloved family member who I was travelling for, and thought this was him letting me know I was on the right track. I thought of his wisdom and curiosity and knew that he would be telling me all about every hill and valley that I was travelling, though he was too practical to not take the highway I was told. I went through Peterborough and I really wanted to stop as my OFO pal is from there and I asked him for some tips on this trip, but I continued on, I would stop at a PP on my way back in Peterborough.
Hills and valleys were very much on my mind as the terrain changed drastically from the flat land of Lambton County. The backroads were so hilly and I thought my little CRV was using a lot of effort going up and having fun going down! Not the most fuel efficient!
The last stop before my motel in Napanee was outside of Belleville in Hastings.
My motel was great, clean and spacious, I think I got an upgrade, and friendly staff, shout out to Fox Motor Inn in Napanee. It was cold and damp so I just took a rest and watched CTV from Ottawa before I went out to Tamworth for the family time.
I visited my sister at her home in Tamworth and saw and heard Evening Grosbeaks at her feeder. I walked with my very kind niece through a bit of the wood and saw the beaver pond, such a beautiful area. Robins had just returned and there were many on the ground in the front yard. Earlier that morning I tried to spot the pair of Red Crossbills that I saw on Ebird on Mountain Rd, would be a lifer for me, but I ran out of time and internet service so I decided to head back to the house. The rest of the day was for family.
The return trip started off rainy but by the time I hit Marlbank I was greeted by a large group of wild turkeys! I looked at my Google maps before I left and it still insisted that it would be faster to take the way that goes farther n and e towards Grand Bend, so I did take that route. It was a lot more 'dirt roads' and I wish that I could have stopped to bird a bit, but the roads were narrow and though traffic wasn't bad, there was still no place to pull over. Heading towards Peterborough, I pulled over to check out Mark S, Burnham PP, the gate was closed, but I did a bit of a walk and got my first Golden Crowned Kinglet and Hairy Woodpecker, I would definitely like to return to this place. The rain had started to ease up as Google took me to Kawartha Lakes (my favourite all time place to bird is the Carden Alvar, which is in this area, but I resisted, really wanted to get home to my pup.) I saw a spooky sight as 2 Turkey vultures were perched atop an old silo, had to take a pic! It got warmer but was extremely windy as I headed into Grand Valley in Dufferin. I had a very hard time getting out of my car as the wind was so strong! The wind was gusting from the west, which was the direction that I was driving, so my car really was pushing it, literally! The new route took me on a less busy route towards Newmarket, it took me up Green Lane and avoided the Davis Dr. mess, took me through the Holland Marsh, which I have birded many times when I lived in Newmarket, but it is huge now and didn't want to veer too much off the road.
Going north and west towards Wellington and Perth and the landscape became more familiar, I stopped on roadside along the way, nothing of note was seen. I continued into Huron county and for the 2nd time I looked at ebird for hotspots, nothing was really there but I thought that I had never been to the Exeter sewage lagoon before, and this is a good time of year for sewage lagoons and flooded fields (my eyes went to every flooded field and wet area along the way, there had to be over 100 flooded fields!) I followed instructions to go through Exeter only to find the sewage lagoons were closed and no trespassing signs were everywhere. Oh well! I continued on as the time was decent, it was only 2:30 so I thought I'd check out Pinery PP. I'm glad I did as all the trails were open! (they close them for the winter) so I went to my favourite Riverside trail. It was hard getting out of my vehicle but I really needed to walk, I had been driving for 7 hours by that time with only a 10 minute walk at the PP near Peterborough. My body started to straighten up and I was welcomed by many groups of songbirds along the trail. It was gorgeous weather, cooler at 10C but sunny, a blessing from the dull dreary days of the past few days. I saw my first Yellow Rumped Warbler of the year, Brown Creeper, Golden Crowned Kinglets, Winter Wren and many turtles! Met a nice couple and it was good to talk to people outside of my bubble. I didn't have the time or patience to wait out birds for photos , but the turtles were willing.
I headed straight home to see my wonderful dog Ri and my lovely neighbour Alice! Ri was so happy, she was crying and shaking! My almost 20 year old Honda CRV did me good as driving over 1000 km with no issues (I did consider renting a car) It was good to get home, but important to see my family at this time
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