Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Greg Zbitnew at k_zbitn...@bell.net or sighti...@ofnc.ca
May 5, 2016 No exceptional birds were seen this week. Most notable were a ROSS’S GOOSE near Frank Kenny on the 30th, a EURASIAN WIGEON seen at Shirley’s Bay on the 30th and a TUFTED TITMOUSE seen briefly there on the 29th. Temperatures were seasonal or below for much of the week, which combined with persistent northerly winds slowed migration for the second week in a row. Nonetheless there was a steady but slow movement of birds in, increasing towards the end of the week, and many of the early migrants/ winter residents are moving out. Based on the weather forecasts, next week should see quite a significant flux of birds. Starting with waterbirds, 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE at the Moodie Drive ponds on the 30th were quite late, a CACKLING GOOSE was in Gatineau on the 1st, and there are still numbers of SNOW GEESE east of Ottawa, 4-5000 at the Giroux ponds on the 5th. The first SURF SCOTERS, and the first WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS since early January were seen between Britannia and Andrew Haydon. 10 species of puddle DUCKS and 12 other species of DUCKS were a reasonable variety, with flocks up to about 100 present. The first SORA of the season was at the South March Highlands Conservation Forest on the 3rd. This was the week for TERN arrivals. BLACK TERN was at Marais des Laîches on the 2nd, CASPIAN TERN was at Britannia on the 3rd, and COMMON TERN was at the Moodie Drive ponds on the 3rd. An EASTERN KINGBIRD was at the Fletcher Wildlife garden on the 2nd, continuing the parade of the insectivore arrivals. Only 7 more to come! All of a sudden there are multiple sightings of NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS: Val des Monts on the 30th (and apparently in the area for some weeks before), near Magladry and Birchgrove on May 2nd, near the eastern corner of Britannia by the parkway (as late as the 4th), and Parc Brébeuf on the 5th. A BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER was reported at the Mill of Kintail CA on the 5th (note that a parking charge now applies). The first of the year AMERICAN PIPIT was at Magladry and Birchgrove on the 3rd. COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, OVENBIRD, and NASHVILLE, BLACK AND WHITE, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, ORANGE-CROWNED and YELLOW WARBLERS arrived this week at various times and places, bringing the year to date WARBLER tally to date to 12. However, numbers and variety and any given spot are still low, 1-4 species per trip. A VEERY was at Parc du Lac Beauchamp on the 4th, WOOD THRUSH in Richmond on the 4th and ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK in Gatineau Park on the 3rd were new as was a LINCOLN’S SPARROW in Gatineau on the 1st. A BALTIMORE ORIOLE was at Marais aux Grenouillettes on the 2nd. Finally, some late birds were BOHEMIAN WAXWING on the 3rd at Beechwood Cemetery, and FOX SPARROW on the 3rd-4th in Richmond. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to sighti...@ofnc.ca 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 birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
