Britannia C.A. Ottawa

(Eastern Ontario Trip)

A stop at Britannia Conservation Area afforded us many opportunities to view wildlife up close including these muskrats munching on water lilies just below our feet.

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Wood Ducks are very flighty and we can't normally get very close to them. At this location, there were several families of Wood Ducks wandering around the trails looking for hand outs of food. They were a little too comfortable with humans.

A young Wood Duck chomps down on a Water Lily.

The skies were alive with Zebra Caddisflies. They provided a plentiful food source for Swallows, Kingbirds and other insect eaters which occasionally swooped through the insect mass in pursuit of their next meal.

One of the Zebra Caddisflies landed on a hand for a closer look.

We found several species of Woodpeckers including this Hairy Woodpecker.

View across the Ottawa River looking towards Quebec.

Lots of gulls and geese were in the river as well as a few Inukshuks!

Later in the day, after leaving Ottawa, we found our only Sandhill Crane of the trip.

Orange Hawkweed seemed to glow in the ditches and meadows on the cloudy day.