October is prime season in Renfrew County, and yesterday's dynamic weather
rewarded a small but intrepid band with some fine birding. First up was a quick
inspection of Muskrat Lake at Cobden, which held a flock of Bonaparte's Gull,
over a dozen Common Loon, and a surprising two Redhead. Nearby fields yielded a
bumper crop of American Pipit, with over a hundred in sight at one time, along
with a well seen Lapland Longspur, dozens of Savanna Sparrows and four Sandhill
Crane. Lac Dore itself held good numbers of Bonaparte's Gull (maximum count:
103), Common Loon, plenty of Horned and Red-necked Grebe, along with six Surf
Scoter. A quick check of nearby Mink Lake produced yet more Common Loons along
with four Red-necked Grebe.
Raptors were in evidence with at least eight Northern Harrier, four Bald Eagle
and solo Peregrine Falcon and Northern Goshawk. We saw several flocks of Pine
Siskins, which put on a good showing last weekend during the OFO convention,
and are still moving through eastern Ontario. In total, the group recorded 56
species. The oddest sighting was not totally unexpected, and was a mammal, not
a bird; a bull Elk observed during last weekend's OFO convention outing was
still hanging out with a local dairy herd.
Thanks to Mark P for e-birding our sightings.
Mark Gawn
Ottawa
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit
http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup
Posting guidelines can be found at
http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
