Today I took a short walk out to the viewing platform at the end of the boardwalk off the 20th Sideroad of Bradford-West Gwillimbury between the 11th and 12th Lines and encountered two Ruby-crowned Kinglets flitting about in the cattails (an odd place) and willows as well as quite a few Swamp Sparrows, a Winter Wren, and 5 Ring-necked Ducks along the waterway there. No sign of the Sandhill Cranes I observed there last year on this date. At the end of the 13th Line the large willow tree at the mouth of the Holland River was festooned with Double-crested Cormorants. I won't be surprised if they choose to nest somewhere at the lower end of Cook's Bay, perhaps close to the Great Blue Heron colony there which has a few building birds already. Bradford is north of Toronto. Turn east on County Rd. 88 and north on Hwy. 11 to the 11th Line. Turn right and continue to locations listed. Peter Wukasch From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Apr 15 11:25:58 2007 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from mx3-6.spamtrap.magma.ca (mx3-6.spamtrap.magma.ca [209.217.78.173]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1180C6348C for <[email protected]>; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:25:58 -0400 (EDT) Received: from mail4.magma.ca (mail4.internal.magma.ca [10.0.10.14]) l3FFPu0v026632; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:25:56 -0400 Received: from pcpringle.magma.ca (ottawa-hs-209-217-96-164.d-ip.magma.ca [209.217.96.164]) (authenticated bits=0) by mail4.magma.ca (Magma's Mail Server) with ESMTP id l3FFPsC5009675; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:25:55 -0400 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.1.0.9 Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:25:54 -0400 To: [email protected] From: Gordon Pringle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-magma-MailScanner-Information: Magma Mailscanner Service X-magma-MailScanner: Clean X-Spam-Status: Subject: [Ontbirds]Ottawa/Gatineau 15Apr07... Snow Goose, Tundra Swan, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-headed Blackbird X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 15:25:58 -0000
- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 15 April 2007 * ONOT0704.15 - Birds mentioned SNOW GOOSE Cackling Goose Canada Goose TUNDRA SWAN Wood Duck American Wigeon Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck Ruddy Duck YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON Golden Eagle Peregrine Falcon Sandhill Crane Short-eared Owl Ruby-crowned Kinglet Fox Sparrow White-throated Sparrow YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 15 April 2007 number: 613-860-9000 for the status line : press 2 for rare bird alerts: press 1 to report a sighting: press # coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Can. Nat. Capital Reg.), E.Ont., W.Que. compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] internet: Gordon Pringle [EMAIL PROTECTED] THE OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE @ 9:00 am, APRIL 15, 2007. This is Chris Lewis reporting. The highlight this week was the huge wave of Snow Geese that moved through our area, with flocks of countless 1000's seen east of Ottawa. Perhaps 10,000 birds were seen east of Bourget on the 9th, and an inestimable flock numbering into the 10's of 1000's were at the St. Isidore sewage lagoons on the 11th. On the 9th, a single Sandhill Crane was among one of these huge congregations, a Cackling Goose was among the continuing large numbers of Canada Geese east of Bourget on the 9th, and a TUNDRA SWAN was reported from the same area both the 9th and 11th. Fifteen species of ducks were found this week in various locations including the Embrun and St. Albert sewage lagoons and the large quarry pond along Moodie Dr. south of Trail Rd. on the Ontario side, and Petit Baie Clement in the Masson area on the Quebec side. Although there is still ice in the marsh areas in Quebec, some open water is beginning to appear in the larger bays, and most of the Ottawa River and the eastern sewage lagoons as well as Moodie Dr. pond have open water now as well. Increasing numbers of Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck were noted, and the 1st reports of Ruddy Ducks came from the St. Isidore lagoons on the 11th and the Embrun lagoons on the 13th. A one-day-wonder on the 9th was an adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on the Rideau canal below the arboretum of the Central Experimental Farm. The bird was searched for but not relocated the following day. An immature Golden Eagle was seen east of Bourget on the 11th, Merlins were noted the same day in urban areas (Sandy Hill and Carlington), and speaking of urban falcons - the 1st indication that Ottawa's breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons are nesting again on the Crowne Plaza hotel was reported on the 10th. A Short-eared Owl flew low over March Valley Rd. heading into the Dept. of National Defence property near the Skeet Club, also on the 10th. Songbird sightings continue to be very slim, with the most exciting bird being the male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD that continues to hang out on Manitou St. in the community of Forest Park, Embrun as of at least the 14th. The first Ruby-crowned Kinglet report comes form Deschenes in Aylmer Quebec on the 10th, a couple of White-throated Sparrows were seen at the feeders on Hilda Rd. by Shirley's Bay on the 9th, and a Fox Sparrow was singing in Forest Park, Embrun on the 14th. Thank you - Good Birding! - End transcript
