Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at sighti...@ofnc.ca
April 27, 2017 The highlight of the week and perhaps the year so far, was an adult plumaged LAUGHING GULL, seen on the 22nd on Cambrian just east of the Jock River. This rare GULL has not been seen in Ottawa for many years. Fortunately, it was there all afternoon and was seen by many. Weather was mostly seasonal with a very warm day on the 27th. While there was a steady trickle of birds all week, unfavorable winds until the 27th and the earliness of the season meant that there was not a huge push of migrants as of press time. 11 new birds were seen this week. WATERBIRDS were in good supply this week. On the 21st, 17,000 SNOW GEESE were in the Milton/ Frank Kenny area along with 5 ROSS’S GEESE and 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. While it is only fair to say that none of these were there seen on the 22nd, both these species were found south of there on the 23rd, and there are still large flocks of SNOW GEESE moving around eastern Ontario. 10,000 were at Winchester on the 24th along with a ROSS’S GOOSE. 22 species of DUCK were seen in the region this week. Some of the inland ponds have been useful. There were 3 LONG-TAILED DUCKS at the Giroux pond on the 22nd, and a somewhat premature trip to Embrun on the 26th found 13 species of DUCK including a LONG-TAILED DUCK. The Moodie Drive pond was rather quiet on the 25-26th. Somewhat surprisingly, the HARLEQUIN DUCK is still on the Rideau River north of the Tennis Club as of the 26th. Along the Ottawa River, 8 species of DUCK were at Plaisance on the 24th. There have been rather few reports from the west, and only the ordinary stuff. At the wet area near Antrim, a surprisingly early, and now apparently injured AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER was there on the 27th. An UPLAND SANDPIPER was there on the 26th, while DUNLIN and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were there as late as the 22nd. Mostly SHOREBIRD activity has been marked by large numbers of GREATER YELLOWLEGS with a smaller number of LESSER YELLOWLEGS. A SORA was in the Mer Bleue area on the 24th, 2 COMMON GALLINULE were le Marais-Trépanier in Gatineau on the 26th. A pair of GRAY PARTRIDGE was near Dunning and Magladry on the 22nd, and an early EASTERN WHIPPOORWILL was in a woodlot in Orleans on the 27th. The last SWALLOWS have arrived. PURPLE MARTINS have been at the Nepean Yacht Club as of the 23rd. HOUSE WREN arrived at Shirley’s bay on the 22nd, and WARBLING VIREO was in the Limbour area of Gatineau on the 27th. The 4th WARBLER sighting of the year was a very early one but unfortunately also a very late one. A TENNESSEE WARBLER was found dead downtown on the 24 th. A live NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at Pine Grove Trail on the 27th was the 5th of the year. Finally, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was in Gatineau on the 20th. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to sighti...@ofnc.ca for the purpose of maintaining local records. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. We encourage everyone to report their bird sightings on eBird for the benefit of the entire birding community. Good birding. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
