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 May 7, 2015 The best bird of the week and indeed of the season so far was 2 BARNACLE GEESE on the Mississippi River southeast of Galetta, seen May 3-4. This Ontario rarity sent many birders on a literal wild goose chase, and many did see it. The remainder of the week was rather mundane in comparison, but it was still a good week. It suddenly became summer in Ottawa, temperatures being well above seasonal and close to hot a few days. While the winds finally shifted and the pace of migration picked up considerably, the sunny and dry weather conditions have not been conducive for any fallouts. Still, new birds are arriving daily and establishing their territories, and every day there are more birds to see. There have been over 30 arrivals, although many of them (and some of the previous ones) are only here in small numbers. The volume and variety are well below the peak, which is still 1-2 weeks away. Ottawa birders are on the alert for rain during a night of southwest winds, or strong weather fronts during the day. Aside from the rarity noted above, waterfowl sightings this week were limited. There were surprisingly few ducks, even in prime locations such as the marshes on the north side of the Ottawa River from around Rivière Blanche east to Plaisance. Interesting sightings at the Winchester Lagoons were CACKLING GOOSE and several thousand SNOW GEESE (large numbers so late in the season). REDHEAD at the Moodie Drive pit and the Ottawa River was one of few less-common species noted. Small flocks of RED-NECKED and HORNED GREBES have been seen a number of times. VIRGINIA RAIL and SORA are now being widely heard. There are still few shorebirds, but arrivals were DUNLIN, PECTORAL (Winchester), LEAST (March Valley Rd. snow dump) and SOLITARY SANDPIPER (Jack Pine Trail). COMMON TERN was new this week. WHIP-POOR-WILL have now arrived on their breeding grounds on the Thomas Dolan Parkway. CHIMNEY SWIFT has also arrived and there have been a number of reports. The first RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD was in Cantley. Newly arrived and able to take advantage of the increasing, and now biting, insect population were EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE, LEAST and GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, and EASTERN KINGBIRD, most of them are here in numbers. PHILADELPHIA, BLUE-HEADED, and WARBLING VIREOS have been seen, although only WARBLING is common. AMERICAN PIPIT was on newly prepared fields on Giroux Road. This has been a good week for WARBLERS. YELLOW WARBLER is now common on territory. NASHVILLE, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, and BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, OVENBIRD, AMERICAN REDSTART and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH have had multiple sightings. CHESTNUT-SIDED, BLACKBURNIAN and MOURNING WARBLER have been seen but sightings have been few. Uncommon in the spring, there were also several sightings of ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. 17 species of WARBLER have now been seen to date, and up to 9 species have been seen in a single visit to some areas. Among the other songbirds, VEERY, SWAINSON’S and WOOD THRUSH, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, WHITE-CROWNED and GRASSHOPPER SPARROW (Ottawa Airport area), and BOBOLINK arrived this week but mostly they are only here in small numbers. Finally, in the late department, BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER was reported on Old Quarry Trail and in Aylmer (Pink/ Klock Rd.), and a few BOHEMIAN WAXWING linger at Britannia. 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
