Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 08 September 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]
Dynamic weather and lots of bird movement kept the locals busy over the past week! Rarities included an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN flying up the Ottawa River near L'Orignal on the 7th, a juvenile BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER at the Mountainview sod farms east of Quyon, Quebec on the 6th and 7th, a fly-over BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER at Shirley's Bay on the 5th, a juvenile RUFF at Parc Brebeuf in Hull, Quebec on the 6th, and a juvenile PARASITIC JAEGER briefly harrassing the gulls at the east end of Andrew Haydon Park on the 2nd. A blue morph SNOW GOOSE appeared on the Ottawa River east of Britannia on Sept. 6th, and a waterfowl hot-spot on the 1st was the St. Albert sewage lagoons with 7 REDHEAD, 1 BUFFLEHEAD and 97 RUDDY DUCKS observed, along with 24 COMMON MOORHENS. The GREAT EGRET count at Shirley's Bay hit a new record on the 5th when 33 were seen flying in to the back bay in the evening. Up to three BALD EAGLES of various ages have been regular at Shirley's Bay, and raptors along the river as well as other areas included OSPREY, NORTHERN HARRIER, BROAD-WINGED HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL and MERLIN. Since the 31st, 22 species of shorebirds were noted, with the greatest variety again at Shirley's Bay but several good sightings also at some of the eastern sewage lagoons as well as on the Quebec side of the river. Aside from the aforementioned rarities, and the "regulars" that have been around for several weeks, highlights included 7 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, a WHIMBREL, a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER and 2 WILSON'S PHALAROPES at Shirley's on the 2nd and 3rd, a juvenile DUNLIN here on the 6th, singles and duo's of RUDDY TURNSTONES and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES in several locations, and impressive numbers of BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS for our region - 23 were counted on Aug 31st from Shirley's Bay through Andrew Haydon Park and smaller gatherings have been noted on both sides of the river since then. A single BONAPARTE'S GULL and BLACK TERN were spotted at the Moodie Drive quarry pond south of Trail Rd. on the 3rd, and 4 adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS roosted on the exposed rocks east of Shirley's Bay causeway on the 5th. The diversity of migrant passerines has also increased. A YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was among numerous EASTERN WOOD-PEWEES in the Shirley's Bay woods on the 5th, a PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen at Britannia the same day, 5 species of SWALLOWS were actively feeding along the Ottawa River on the weekend, and mixed flocks in various wooded areas included BLUE-HEADED VIREO, both species of NUTHATCHES, BROWN CREEPER, WINTER WREN and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. A movement of THRUSHES, mainly VEERY and SWAINSON'S, was also noted on the weekend, along with the first seasonal sightings of AMERICAN PIPITS. Twenty species of the expected WARBLERS have now been reported, with YELLOW-RUMPED's becoming typically more predominant. Finally, this year's team on the annual Seedathon (a "Big Day" event to raise funds for the OFNC bird feeders) had a successful day on the 5th with a very respectable total of 120 species in 15 hours. 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/
