Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 14 March 2010 Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Rare bird alerts are now included in the introductory message Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis [email protected]
On Sunday March 14, 2010 this is Chris Lewis reporting. A few expected spring migrants began to arrive over the past few days. CANADA GEESE are back, as are RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and COMMON GRACKLES. On the 10th, 6 NORTHERN PINTAILS, 4 GREATER SCAUP and 3 HOODED MERGANSERS were on the open water at Britannia Bay, and on the 12th two RING-NECKED DUCKS and two BUFFLEHEAD were on the Mississippi River by the bridge in Carleton Place. On the 10th at least 1 male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was still on the Rideau River off Riverain Park and 7 male COMMON MERGANSERS were putting on quite a show for a single female at this location. Three BALD EAGLES in the Dunrobin area on the 7th may have been migrants; four seen in the Gatineau Hills from Therien and Steele Rds. on the 12th were most likely birds that wintered here. The first local reports of NORTHERN HARRIERS came from Luskville, Quebec on the 7th and Upper Dwyer Hill Rd. on the 12th. At least 5 RED-TAILED HAWKS were reported in the Richmond/Fallowfield and Trail Rd. areas, some of which are certainly local breeders. A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, one of the very few locally wintering birds, was seen in the vicinity of Barnsdale Rd. and Moodie Dr. on the 6th. Single NORTHERN GOSHAWKS were spotted at Dunrobin and Kinburn Rds. on the 5th and along Steele Rd. in Quebec on the 12th. RING-BILLED GULLS are now back big-time. Single ICELAND and GLAUCOUS GULLS were reported from the large quarry pond along Moodie Dr. south of Trail Rd. on the 10th, and a report of a first winter THAYER'S GULL came in on the 13th from a field along Cambrian Rd. between Twin Elm Rd. and Moodie Dr. A couple of NORTHERN SHRIKES were seen on the Quebec side on the 12th - one along Ch. de la Riviere in Breckenridge, and another along Steele Rd. Several of Ottawa's breeding pairs of COMMON RAVENS have returned to previous nesting sites over the past three weeks, more of our common local songbirds are singing....and there are sure to many more migrants arriving as the unusually mild weather is forecast to continue next week! Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ 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/
