Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 20 September 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]
There's been lots of excitement on the Ottawa River, beginning with an extended visit by a PARASITIC JAEGER, briefly punctuated by a POMARINE JAEGER, and most recently up to 2 SABINE'S GULLS have appeared. All of the above have been juvenile birds, and all were in the zone from Andrew Haydon Park to the Deschenes rapids. A somewhat early SNOW GOOSE was at the large quarry pond on Moodie Dr. south of Trail Rd. on the 17th, 20 GREAT EGRETS were feeding west of the Shirley's Bay causeway early on the morning of the 14th along with an equally large number of GREAT BLUE HERONS. GREEN HERONS and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS continue to be seen regularly in the Britannia Conservation Area. BALD EAGLE sightings have become almost routine along the river, and 2 PEREGRINE FALCONS were patrolling the Deschenes rapids on the 19th. The fall gathering of SANDHILL CRANES has begun in the traditional fields along Smith and Milton Rds. southwest of Navan - 26 were seen here on the 19th. Among the few shorebirds along the river were BLACK-BELLIED, AMERICAN GOLDEN and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, SOLITARY SANDPIPER, SANDERLING, WHITE-RUMPED and BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. The High Falls Conservation Area in Casselman had good shorebird habitat on the 13th, and 9 species of waders included at least 100 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, several SANDERLING, WHITE-RUMPED and PECTORAL SANDPIPER, and a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER. A juvenile RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was still present in Britannia Bay as of the 20th. A SABINE'S GULL discovered on the 16th at the east end of Andrew Haydon Park was still around on the 20th, and 2 were seen flying and feeding below the Deschenes rapids on the 19th. Sixteen LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS of various ages and 76 GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS were roosting on the exposed rocks of the same rapids, also on the evening of the 19th, and at least 1 CASPIAN TERN is still hanging around between Parc Brebeuf and Andrew Haydon Park. The last report of a PARASITIC JAEGER in Britannia Bay was on the15th - the same day that a juvenile POMARINE JAEGER cruised by the beach and briefly harassed the gulls before heading northwest. A CAROLINA WREN discovered 2 1/2 weeks ago along the western fence line of the Britannia Conservation Area was noted again on the 18th, a few GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS were along the Sarsaparilla Trail in the Stony Swamp, SWAINSON'S THRUSHES continue to fly over in the wee hours, and warbler-watching was again rewarding with a few good flocks found at Shirley's Bay and Britannia all week. A couple of late-ish YELLOW WARBLERS were still in Britannia on the 14th, and numerous PALM and BLACKPOLL WARBLERS were noted among the 10 species reported. At least 2 LINCOLN'S SPARROWS were at the base of the Shirley's Bay causeway on the 14th, and it's RUSTY BLACKBIRD time - the 1st report of the season came from the creek at Andrew Haydon Park on the 12th. 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/
