Hello Ontbirds people, Unlike last spring, there is actually very little "flooding" in the agricultural fields around Ottawa, and with the still chilly temperatures and lack of precipitation not much more is likely to happen. Nevertheless, lots of migratory acitivity was noted today in the Milton Rd. / Frank Kenny Rd. area east of Ottawa. Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, etc. were reported this morning, however the flocks of Canada Geese and various duck species are very large and very mobile. It's always a challenge to locate (or re-locate) "special" birds among them, and things can change rapidly within the space of an hour or even a few minutes!
Several parties out there this morning did NOT see the aforementioned Greater White-fronted or Cackling Geese, but a few of us managed to find 4 SANDHILL CRANES (1st local report, 1st spotted by Tom Hanrahan and Jan Slumkoski) on the west side of Milton Rd. Waterfowl included Snow Goose ( 1 Greater white, 1 Lesser blue morph), good #'s of Wood Ducks, Am. Black Ducks, Mallards, multiple 100's of Northern Pintails, a few Green-winged Teal and American Wigeon. DIRECTIONS: >From Ottawa, take Hwy 417 east to exit 96. Go north on Boundary (#41) toward >Carlsbad Springs, then right (east) on Russell Rd. (#26) to Milton Rd. Frank >Kenny Rd. ( #33) has some flooding at the bridge over Bear Brook. Driving the >roads east of Milton / Frank Kenny towards Bourget is also often rewarding at >this time of year, but it's hard to tell just yet..... ....well, spring has just begun, and many more migrants to come! Chris Lewis Ottawa, ON [email protected] _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
