Twenty one participants enjoyed the vagaries of Ottawa weather - it had plunged to -20C overnight - to look for the local rarities. At our first stop, some people got their first lifer - a Red-bellied Woodpecker that appeared on cue. The next half an hour was birdless until we saw a Snowy Owl, then another and then a fine white male. Persistent searching of 300 Snow Buntings got us a brief view of a Lapland Longspur. We moved to the dump and saw ZERO gulls, but met an Ohio birder who joined us in a trip to the Rideau River, where he saw two lifers - Harlequin and Barrow’s Goldeneye. Overall we saw 28 species, about normal for winter Ottawa.
At the Rideau I had a personal crisis; my 96 year old mother had been taken to Emergency. I was most grateful to the lady who took my car pool passengers home. (My mother is fine) Roy and Dave Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10 _______________________________________________ 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
