NeilyWorld  Birding Ottawa - Southwest - Mississippi River Valley Loop


CARP ROAD LANDFILL

Spring: **  Summer: **  Fall: ***  Winter: ***

        Independent Directions to this Site: From Highway 417 (The Queensway) take exit 144 north (Carp Road or Regional Road 5). If travelling west, the 0.5 km offramp dumps you right or west onto Carp Road, where you will turn right or northwest. If driving east, a 0.6 km offramp brings you to Carp Road, where you will turn left or northwest onto it and in 0.6 km join the westbound offramp traffic. Both groups will now follow Carp Road for 0.4 km northwest. The Carp Road Landfill will be visible on the left or southwest side of Carp Road.
        Mississippi River Valley Route Directions: From wherever you are on David Manchester Road, return northwest to Richardson Side Road (2.9 km from the SE end at Rothbourne Road). Turn right or northeast onto Richardson and go 2.7 km to Carp Road or Regional Road 5. Turn right or southeast and drive 1.1 km to the Carp Road Landfill.
Map of the Carp Road Landfill area
Map of the Carp Road Landfill area
         Site Description and Birding Information: This private landfill site does not allow visitors since a change of owership in 1988, but as with other such sites, many birds may be viewed from outside the actual dump site. And if you are really keen, you can always pay a fee to dump some trash there, just to get access.
         The dump itself is difficult to see because of the high mounding. But on the east side of Carp Road, the many piles of quarried material at the Spratt Quarry provide excellent roosting for those gulls which have had their fill of garbage. Since you are looking across or down at these birds, you can scan them at your leisure. Just be sure to get well off the roadway, the traffic can be murderous.
View of the Quarry Opposite the Carp Road Landfill
View of the Quarry Opposite the Carp Road Landfill

         The main attraction, of course, is the gulls. This is inevitably more interesting in late fall to early spring. Both Iceland and Glaucous Gulls can be found here in winter. Lesser Black-backed Gulls can be found in late fall and early winter; or even in early spring (3 on Apr. 17, 2004). Turkey Vultures roost in good numbers nearby, often on the tower near the Highway 417 - 7 split.
         Rarities seen here include Common Black-headed Gull (Dec.-Jan. 1986-87) and Franklin's Gull (May 21, 1987).
        Mississippi River Valley Route Directions: From the Carp Road Landfill continue southeast along Carp Road or Regional Road 5 for 1.2 km to Westbrook Road. Turn right or southwest onto it and drive 0.3 km to Walgreen Road. Park off the side near the junction and find an obscure path to the NNW, leading into our next site, the ponds and marshes in the West Carleton Stittsville Industrial Park.
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Copyright © 2000 - 2009     Larry E. Neily
Last update:  October 28, 2009