Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
December 8 2016 The bird of the week was a GREAT CORMORANT, seen by a small group from Britannia Pier on the 3rd, but not relocated. The PACIFIC LOON at Muskrat Lake near Cobden was still there on the 6th. With the arrival of December, many birders were out to start their “winter list” (December-February), and there was quite a bit of searching this week. Weather the first few 4 days of the month was particularly favourable due to the mild conditions, absence of snow cover and a lot of open water. Snow arrived again on the 5th, but temperatures were mostly above seasonal for the remainder of the week. Quite a few lingering birds were present, and so far this month, 95 species have been seen in the region. WATERBIRDS were in good supply this week. A few GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were present still at Lake Madawaska, as well as at the Moodie Drive ponds. A few CACKLING and SNOW GEESE are also around with still 1000s of CANADA GEESE taking advantage of the largely bare fields. 20 species of DUCKS were present, the Ottawa River being the best spot. Among the scarcer were BLACK and SURF SCOTER (Ottawa River), numbers of NORTHERN PINTAIL and GREEN-WINGED TEAL (Giroux Road), NORTHERN SHOVELER (Dow’s Lake and Britannia), AMERICAN WIGEON (Britannia), WOOD DUCK (Rideau River), and GADWALL (Plaisance). 2 BARROW’S GOLDENEYE (male and female) have been present on the Rideau River north of Hurdman. Numbers of both RED-THROATED and COMMON LOON were seen along the Ottawa River as late as the 5th. Both HORNED and /RED-NECKED GREBE were also around. Also taking advantage of the open water were a few DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT and BELTED KINGFISHER, again along the Ottawa River. An AMERICAN COOT at Plaisance on the 4th completes the list of lingering birds reliant on open water. GULLS are back in the news. A THAYER’S GULL was at Beltown Park on the 7th with 100s of others, mostly HERRING GULLS, including a few of the coveted WHITE-WINGED GULLS (GLAUCOUS and ICELAND). A NORTHERN FLICKER was at Bruce Pit on the 2nd, while a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER remains in Gatineau. 4 EASTERN BLUEBIRD were in the Luskville area on the 4th, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were near Dow’s Lake and at a feeder in Gatineau. A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was near the Trail Road Landfill and on Shaw Road this week. Among the lingering SPARROWS, FOX SPARROWS in Nepean and Richmond were notable, but the most unusual was a CHIPPING SPARROW, seen daily at a feeder in Carleton Place. Lingering BLACKBIRDS were RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (Petrie Island), BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD (Trail Road) and COMMON GRACKLE (at a feeder in Kanata). Finally, the FINCH supply is quite poor this winter. PINE SISKIN was in Gatineau, as was COMMON REDPOLL. Up to 40 EVENING GROSBEAKS (fairly reliable) are frequenting a few spots near the western edge of Larose Forest, with a few COMMON REDPOLLS (not reliable) as well. *NOTE RE: ACCESS TO THE SHIRLEY’S BAY CAUSEWAY*. The OFNC has a signed agreement with DND and PWGSC that gives OFNC members limited access to this important birding area. You must call the Range Control Office (613-991-5740) before entering DND property, and you will be informed how far down the causeway you may go. For your safety, please respect their instructions, as the shooting patterns vary from day to day. 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. We encourage everyone to report their bird sightings on eBird for the benefit of the entire birding community. Good birding. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
