Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Greg Zbitnew at [email protected] or [email protected]
Recent sightings to June 4, 2015 It was a week of great finds in the Ottawa region. There was a lot of Agitated Behaviour (A) among birders when a LITTLE EGRET showed up in Carp on the 2nd. This was the first Ontario record of this Eurasian species (an ABA Code 4 bird). While most of those who came out that evening saw the bird, it was last seen flying west down the Carp river at 6 am on the 3rd, and was not relocated despite diligent searching by many out-of-town birders. The YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON re-appeared on the 29th, but was not cooperative. Seen again on the 31st, it finally put on a good showing on the 2nd-4th, happily feeding on worms on some lawns near the area of the original sighting, a residential area between Carp and Almonte. 2 FRANKLIN’S GULLS at Britannia point on the 30th, seen by many, were followed by a LAUGHING GULL at the St. Albert lagoon on the 31st , seen by few. Also at St. Albert on the 29th-2nd was a breeding plumaged HUDSONIAN GODWIT (rare in the spring). Finally among the rarities, a WHITE-FACED IBIS flew into the Giroux Road ponds on the 2nd, but was only seen by 4 people before flying off again a few hours later to points unknown. Other sightings for this week were quite dull in comparison. Aside from a few lingering birds, like a few SNOW GEESE at the Winchester and St. Albert lagoons, and a BUFFLEHEAD at the Bill Mason Centre on the 31st, the few remaining waterfowl are mostly the local breeders now raising their families. The last of the WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS are passing through. Shorebird numbers remain low and have probably peaked. Some much smaller flocks were seen during unsettled weather this week, and such weather in the next week may still bring a few birds down. The MARBLED GODWIT, seen at the pond on Greenbank north of Barnsdale, was still there until the 1st. There were several of RED-NECKED PHALAROPE: Britannia point on the 30th, St. Albert on the 31st and Giroux ponds on the 2-3rd. WILSON’S PHALAROPE was at Giroux again on the 2nd, Winchester on the 30th, and at a small pond just north of the large one on Moodie Drive. Lastly, an UPLAND SANDPIPER was at Hwy. 31 near Belmeade Rd. ARCTIC TERN, sometimes in numbers, have been reported almost every day from Britannia point. BONAPARTE’S GULLS fly among them (up to about 40 on the 30th), feasting on the emerging insects. There was a CASPIAN TERN at Luskville. A late ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was seen near Barnsdale and Greenbank on the 1st. A RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER was at a feeder in the western edge of Larose Forest, while a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was at Innis Point on the 4th. Another sighting of the locally uncommon SEDGE WREN came from Pontiac (ch. Aylmer and ch. Bristol Mines) on the 2nd-3rd. There has been virtually nothing out of the ordinary reported in the songbird population. Likely indicative of the current state of migration, a visit to Larose Forest on the 4th produced 16 of the probably 17 breeding WARBLER species there. This is one of the few areas in the region for breeding CAPE MAY WARBLERS, reasonably common in the spruce trees along Bertrand Road. However, there was not a single migrant seen on this trip. The only other out-of-the-ordinary sighting was 12 EVENING GROSBEAK at Innis Point on the 4th. Note: There appears to be a tick population explosion at the St. Albert/Crysler lagoons. Visitors are advised to beware. 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
