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 14, 2015 The best bird of the week was an adult male PRAIRIE WARBLER, photographed on the 9th from Giroux Road between the ponds. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it was not seen again on subsequent visits. The National Capital Region is in the thick of songbird migration, and the weather has been quite variable. The summer-like conditions earlier in the week gave way to cooler, rainier, and at times quite windy conditions, with temperatures near freezing on the 14th. The volume and variety have stepped up a notch compared to last week. The 12th was the best day of the week, but migration has been slow the last few days. The number of arrivals (21) was lower than last week, but only because so many had already arrived. The songbird peak will likely be sometime next week. Waterbird population has definitely peaked, most particularly the diving ducks. Puddle ducks can still be seen in riverine marshes and inland ponds/ lagoons. 8000 SNOW GEESE were present at Winchester on the 10th, and the first BRANT were on the 10th. Other less common sightings this week included HORNED GREBE, RED-NECKED GREBE and RED-BREASTED MERGANSER on the Ottawa River and REDHEAD at the Moodie Drive and Giroux Road ponds. The latter bird was still at Giroux on the 13th. While there are still few shorebirds, populations are building up in the limited available habitat. Shorebird peak is still 2-3 weeks away. Newly arrived were SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. For example, the Winchester lagoons had 100+ birds of at least 5 species on the 10th, the Giroux Road ponds had 70+ birds of 6 species on the 13th. The viewing conditions at this latter site are a challenge due to the topography and because it is private property. BLACK TERN arrived this week, and there are increasing numbers of BONAPARTE’S GULLS being seen. ALDER FLYCATCHER and OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER (early, at Lac Leamy) are new this week. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER was seen in the Winchester area, a sign of this species’ northward expansion. Meanwhile, with the arrival of RED-EYED (everywhere) and YELLOW-THROATED VIREO (a single sighting from Luskville), the suite of regular VIREOS is now complete. BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO (early) was seen near Munster. It was another good week for warblers. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER is back on territory on the Thomas Dolan Parkway; TENNESSEE WARBLER has been around in numbers this week; MAGNOLIA, CAPE MAY, and BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS have been seen regularly, while BLACKPOLL (early), CANADA, and WILSON’S WARBLERS have had few sightings. With these 8, all of the 25 regular WARBLERS have now been seen in the region. While there have been no major fallouts, on the 12th up to 16 species were seen on a single visit, and at least 24 species were seen regionally that day. It was a colourful week for other songbirds. Newly arrived were SCARLET TANAGER and INDIGO BUNTING. Drab arrivals included MARSH WREN and CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW, the latter near the Ottawa airport. Note that the traditional sparrow fields south of the airport are now more difficult to access. Birders are cautioned that on the east side of Bowesville, south of Leitrim and the north end of High Road, the no trespassing rules are now strictly enforced, and birding needs to be restricted to public roads and trails. LINCOLN’S SPARROW is now on territory at the Mer Bleue bog, and there have been a number of sightings elsewhere. Finally, although just outside the region, it is worth noting that CERULEAN WARBLER was seen near Clayton, and Carbine Road near Pakenham had reports of LEAST BITTERN, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO and GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. 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
