Hello Ontbirders The Shirley's Bay area was again the highlight of birding along the Ottawa River today. This morning, I was very surprised to see the Whimbrel still feeding along the mudflat. Normally Whimbrel just pass through the area and rarely stop. Other shorebirds included 7 Baird's Sandpiper, 3 Pectoral Sandpiper, 11 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 7 Least Sandpiper and 5 Semipalmated Plover. The Great Egret numbers continue to increase at Shirley's Bay with 18 feeding along the shoreline along with 25+ Great Blue Heron. One of the immature Bald eagles was seen flying over the back bay. A quick stop at Andrew Haydon Park produced 5 Baird's Sandpiper, 1 Sanderling, 6 Common Tern and 1 Black Tern which has become quite an uncommon bird in recent years. I visited Shirley's Bay again yesterday evening at 6:00p.m. without Ben, he had a soccer game near Kanata. The birding was great with the Whimbrel still present and a good variety of shorebirds including 7 adult Black-bellied Plover, 3 Pectoral Sandpiper, 18 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Dunlin, my first of the fall and the 2 Wilson's Phalarope. During Ben's soccer game he observed 25 Common Nighthawk!
Good Birding, Bruce & Ben Directions: Shirley's Bay: From Ottawa take Hwy. 417 west to the Moodie Drive exit and turn north (right) on Moodie Drive and continue to Carling Ave. Turn left at Carling Ave. and follow Carling to Rifle Road. Turn right (north) on Rifle Rd. Park at the lot at the end (boat launch). Walk back to the road, and continue through the gate on the Department of National Defense property. There is a trail on your right (clearly marked with vehicle "No Entry" signs) which heads into the woods, and, eventually to the dyke. There is lots of POISON IVY along the dyke. **** PLEASE NOTE**** YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THE RANGE CONTROL OFFICE BEFORE ENTERING THE DYKE AREA-- Call (613) 991-5740 and request permission to visit the dyke area for birding. Di Labio Birding Website Courses and Field Trips http://www.dilabiobirding.ca http://www.brucedilabio.blogspot.com Bruce Di Labio 400 Donald B. Munro Drive P.O. Box 538 Carp, Ontario K0A 1L0 Office 613-839-4395 Mobile 613-715-2571 _______________________________________________ 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/
