Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 15 November 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]
A combination of good weather and interesting birds made for an enjoyable week. SNOW GEESE numbered up to 250 in and around the Moodie Dr. quarry pond all week, and 150 were at the Casselman sewage lagoons on the 9th. BRANT are still moving through - aside from the usual couple of "lawn ornaments" that linger at parklands along the Ottawa River every autumn, a flock of 22 flew over the river on the 13th. CACKLING GEESE were again noted here and there among the large flocks of CANADAs. Good numbers of dabbling ducks including GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN SHOVELER and NORTHERN PINTAIL were found west of the Shirley's Bay causeway as well as at Baie Noire on the Quebec side. 581 RING-NECKED DUCKS were counted on Mud Lake in Britannia on the 11th, good-sized rafts of LESSER SCAUP and small numbers of all 3 SCOTERS continue on the river along with ever-increasing BUFFLEHEAD and COMMON GOLDENEYE. On the 10th, the 1st seasonal male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE arrived in a now-traditional location, the Rideau River north of the Hwy 417 bridge, and a male BARROW'S X COMMON HYBRID was at Shirley's Bay on the 12th. All 3 species of MERGANSERS continue on the river as well as at some of the larger ponds east and west of the city. A couple of reports of GRAY PARTRIDGE came in over the past week from fields near the town of Richmond, and groups of up to a dozen WILD TURKEYS were noted in several locations. Single RED-THROATED LOONS were on the Ottawa River off off Andrew Haydon Park on the 12th and 13th , along with at least 8 COMMON LOONS and a few each of HORNED and RED-NECKED GREBES. An immature BALD EAGLE stirred things up at Andrew Haydon on the 13th. Only a few ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS have been reported this season (a couple were in the Shirley's Bay and Navan areas in recent days). A PEREGRINE FALCON was seen at Deschenes rapids on the 10th. At least 5 AMERICAN COOTS were in Baie Noire on the 13th and an odd location for one was Mud Lake in Britannia on the 14th. Over 100 SANDHILL CRANES are still in the fields south of Smith Rd. west of Milton Rd. in the Navan area and will likely linger until we get some serious snow. The only shorebird reports came from the Casselman sewage lagoons - from the 9th to the 13th there were 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, 1 KILLDEER, 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPER, 3 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and 2 DUNLIN. On the other hand, gull diversity has begun to get more interesting. Five rather late BONAPARTE'S GULLS were at Andrew Haydon Park on the 14th, the first seasonal reports of THAYER'S, ICELAND and GLAUCOUS GULLS have come in since the 1st week of November, and up to 11 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were in the vicinity of the Trail Rd. landfill on the 10th with several seen in the area since then. A 1st-winter and an adult "NELSON'S" GULL (HERRING X GLAUCOUS HYBRID) were also reported from the Trail Rd. area and the Ottawa River at Andrew Haydon on the the 12th and 13th respectively. A NORTHERN SHRIKE has been a regular in the Shirley's Bay area all week, and another was in the Trail Rd. area on the 14th. A CAROLINA WREN persists in the Britannia Conservation Area, and another visited a feeder in the Wychwood area of Aylmer, Quebec on the 13th. A late EASTERN TOWHEE was at a feeder in Carleton Place on the 14th, a couple of late-ish FOX SPARROWS were still around in a few locations on the weekend, and at least 1 LAPLAND LONGSPUR was among a flock of perhaps 600 SNOW BUNTINGS at the St. Albert sewage lagoons on the 13th. Smaller but growing flocks of Snow Buntings have also begun to appear elsewhere around the region. 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/
