Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 31 May 2011 Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario,W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis [email protected], or [email protected]
Last week got off to an auspicious start, with the discovery of a rare-in-Ottawa male BLUE-WINGED WARBLER in the Britannia Conservation Area on the 25th and an adult FRANKLIN'S GULL flying up the Ottawa River over Deschenes rapids on the 26th. In fact, the 26th was a dynamite day on the river when a major fall-out of water birds occurred. In excess of 11,000 BRANT filled the river from Deschenes to Britannia Bay, along with many SURF and WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 28 LONG-TAILED DUCKS as well as several restless flocks of shorebirds including 14 WHIMBRELS, 1 PURPLE SANDPIPER, at least 7 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, and 6 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 14 ARCTIC TERNS and a CASPIAN TERN were also present. BRANT in multiple flocks of various sizes continued to be reported from many locations all through the weekend. A male EURASIAN WIGEON was a nice find at the Russell sewage lagoons on the 28th along with smaller numbers of other waterfowl. All 3 spp. of SCOTERS were seen on the river from Petrie Island through Constance Bay from the 26th through the 28th. On the 29th, 10 RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS flew over the large quarry pond on Moodie Dr. which has hosted few waterfowl but did have an immature BALD EAGLE on the 28th and 29th. A LEAST BITTERN was a surprise at Mud Lake in Britannia on the 27th. Finally, the arrival of good numbers of shorebirds provided lots of excitement, and 17 species were reported since the 26th, mostly from the Alfred, Casselman, Embrun and Russell lagoons east of Ottawa. From the 27th to the 29th: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS appeared along Frank Kenny Rd. and at the Alfred lagoons, SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS are now moving through, WHIMBRELS were also noted at the Alfred and Embrun lagoons, as were single RED KNOTS, and numerous SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS and DUNLIN. SANDERLING, WHITE-RUMPED and PECTORAL SANDPIPER and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER were all 1st local reports. Another PURPLE SANDPIPER was at Alfred on the 28th, and RED-NECKED PHALAROPES seemed to be literally everywhere. Pairs of WILSON'S PHALAROPES were seen at both the Embrun and St. Albert lagoons on the weekend. It's ARCTIC TERN TIME in Ottawa - up to 30 were seen on the river between Deschenes rapids and Shirley's Bay on the evening of the 27th, and a number were seen again over Deschenes rapids on the 28th. Several BLACK TERNS were again noted at sewage lagoons and at Petrie Island on the 28th, and at least 10 were back on their breeding grounds at Marais aux Grenouillettes in the Masson - Thurso marshes on the 30th. On the 25th in Gatineau Park, an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was heard again at Lac Fortune, and a PHILDELPHIA VIREO was seen in an almost annually consistent location - the Champlain Lookout parking lot. SEDGE WRENS were very vocal and active on territory in a traditional meadow near the railroad tracks on Torbolton Ridge Rd. on the 29th. A significant overnight movement of SWAINSON'S THRUSHES including at least 1 GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH were heard between the rain showers in the wee hours on the 27th. Another local rarity, a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, was seen before the rain on the morning of the 29th, on Rue St-Malo in Aylmer, Quebec; it was searched for but not so far relocated. Most breeding warbler species are on territory, but several BAY-BREASTED, BLACKPOLL and WILSON'S were still around on the weekend. And, in addition to the reports of CERULEAN WARBLERS from the Champlain Lookout trails in Gatineau Park back on the 21st and 23rd, a male was found on the 26th approx. 400 m. southwest of the Penguin picnic area parking lot off Gatineau Parkway south of the Meech Lake Rd. Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
