Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Greg Zbitnew at [email protected] or [email protected]
March 17, 2016 Some very interesting sightings added to the spring excitement in the National Capital Region. The best bird of the week was a BLACK VULTURE seen on the 13th, crossing Highway 17 west of Antrim, headed northwest. The next best was a dark phase GYRFALCON, which was seen in the west end in the Tunney’s Pasture area on the 12th, and presumably the same bird was near Fallowfield/ Greenbank on the 13th. A ROSSES GOOSE or hybrid was seen at the Moodie drive ponds on the 12th , while a ROSSES GOOSE was near North Gower on the 16th. A week of spring-like weather has melted most of the snow in the open areas, and has resulted in an early arrival to some of the more ordinary migrants. More open water is on the rivers, but they have not yet broken up. Bearbrook creek in the east end has considerably flooding, but there are no reports on the status of the Bourget area yet. The most obvious sign of spring was a major influx of waterbirds. Bearbrook in the east end had 10,000 CANADA GEESE on the 14th, with 4 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE there on the 13th (2 were at Burrit’s Rapids on the 14th). While these GEESE were not at Bearbrook on the 15th, there were about 100 NORTHERN PINTAIL and a few RING-NECKED DUCKS. 2 GREEN-WINGED TEAL were there on the 14th. Clearly we are still very early in the duck migration. A CACKLING GOOSE was in Russell on the 12th, and another was on Milton Road on the 14-16th. 400 SNOW GEESE were near Casselman and 300 were at North Gower but otherwise there ar`e just a few SNOW GEESE here and there. 7 CANVASBACK at Britannnia east of Cassels were notable on the 14th (and also seen at Baie Simard in Gatineau the same day) while 2 TRUMPETER SWANS were in Carleton Place also on the 14th and 3 on the 15th. HORNED GREBES, the first of the year, were seen from Chemin du Fer à Cheval in Gatineau on the 15-16th. A GREAT BLUE HERON in Carleton Place on the 14th was the first of the season. There was noticeable hawk movement this week. Greenland Road is the place to be on good days for the next few weeks. The first RED-SHOULDERED HAWK of the year was there on the 16th along with 3 NORTHERN GOSHAWK, while 2 GOLDEN EAGLES were there on the 12th and another on the 17th. A GOLDEN EAGLE was also near Thurso and Orleans on the 13th. GRAY PARTRIDGE are a little more conspicuous as they display and start to pair off. There were some in Kanata south. EASTERN BLUEBIRDS have arrived in a number of places, and the first recent sighting of RUSTY BLACKBIRD was in Breckenridge on the 15th. A BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD was on Ch. Eardley-Masham on the 13th and will soon be commonplace. Among the FINCHES, a HOARY REDPOLL at Constance Bay on the 14th was the first recent sighting in the area. 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
