Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler and transcriber: Greg Zbitnew at [email protected] or [email protected]
Recent sightings to April 16, 2015 The best bird of the week was an adult LITTLE BLUE HERON flying south over Dow’s Lake on the 16th, but unfortunately not relocated as of posting time. The second best bird of the week was a ROSSES GOOSE in Carp on the 11th. Another was seen near Bourget on the 14th and 16th. A plegadus IBIS may have been seeing flying near Bourget on the 12th; unfortunately the identification cannot be confirmed. Ottawa finally had a week of seasonable weather, even well above seasonal, the first this year. Spring may be reasonably construed to have “arrived”, if such words dare to be spoken. Except in heavily sheltered areas, there is now virtually no snow cover, and the warmth is bringing out insects in numbers, and some plant growth. As a result there was a considerable influx of migrants this week, including:· COMMON LOON· REDHEAD (Britannia)· AMERICAN BITTERN· GREAT EGRET (Nortel marsh)· WILSON’S SNIPE· SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Quyon)· BELTED KINGFISHER· BROAD-WINGED HAWK· RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET· WINTER WREN· HERMIT THRUSH· PINE WARBLER· CHIPPING, FIELD, FOX, SWAMP and VESPER SPARROW· EASTERN TOWHEE (Experimental Farm) Flooding on Bearbrook Creek has peaked and there is little water, and the water on the Cobb’s Lake Creek flood plain (east of Bourget) is quickly receding. An estimated 75,000 SNOW GEESE were seen there on the 12th. A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was there on the 14th. Large stretches of the Ottawa River are open, but wide bays like Shirley’s Bay are not. There is a good variety (about 20 species) of the expected waterfowl but until the wide areas of the Ottawa River are open, we cannot expect the large springtime rafts of ducks. By next week we can expect a greater variety and greater numbers of birds on the water, the numbers depending on the Ottawa River ice conditions. The only other waterfowl of note were 7 TRUMPETER SWANS seen in the Munster area on the 12th. Numbers and variety of land birds seen continue to rise almost daily, but there were no notable species except for a CAROLINA WREN at Shirley’s Bay on the 15th. Birders are starting to notice the spring migration pattern: no sightings of a bird one day, multiple sightings the next day, and commonplace within a few days. This is especially noticeable with birds that like urban habitats, like CHIPPING SPARROW, and that are also habitual singers. There are still some lingering “winter birds”. There were two sightings of BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER, and there are some immense flocks of BOHEMIAN WAXWING (2500 in the west and 3000 in the east end) flying about. How they find enough to eat is an enduring mystery, but even the buckthorn bushes have been stripped when they are around. 12 EVENING GROSBEAK near Bearbrook Village on the 12th were one of the few sightings from Ottawa county this year. REDPOLL of both species and PINE SISKIN continue to pass through the region on their way north. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to [email protected] for the purpose of maintaining local records. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. Good birding. _______________________________________________ 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
