Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
April 6, 2017 After 4 weeks delay, there was finally some bird action and some real highlights. 2 TUNDRA SWANS were on Milton Road from the 2nd-3rd, and 4 were in the Carp area on the 2nd-5th. Winter did give what we hope was the last kick at Ottawa, another snowstorm on the 31st. However, mostly temperatures were near seasonal and with heavy rain a number of days, most of the remaining snow melted and brought flooding to Bearbrook Creek and some other places. There was a major influx of WATERBIRDS, mostly GEESE, but there was no flooding in Bourget as of April 2. While there were a few seasonal firsts, it looks like we will have to wait until next week for the monstrous wave of birds. TRUMPETER SWANS were near Richmond from the 2nd-3rd, and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were sometimes at Carp from the 30th to the 2nd, but often not. Near Ottawa, flooded Bearbrook Creek had up to 2000 SNOW GEESE and 10000 CANADA GEESE, but only a few dozen NORTHERN PINTAIL and a few other DUCKS. Inland ponds have yet to melt, and much of the Ottawa River is still frozen over. So generally there are just small numbers of migrant DUCKS in the expanding areas of water. A number of GOLDEN EAGLES were seen in different locations on the 3rd, including one flying over Parliament Hill, perhaps returning from voting in a byelection. The following were the first of the year: 1. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT on the 31st downtown. 2. NORTHERN SHOVELER on the 5th in the Kinburn area. 3. WILSON’S SNIPE on the 1st on Rifle Rd. 4. OSPREY on the 30th near Manotick. 5. TREE SWALLOW on the 2nd in a few spots. 6. EASTERN MEADOWLARK in Gatineau and Carp on the 2nd. GRAY PARTRIDGE are still in the Robert Grant/ Cope Drive area on the 4th. SANDHILL CRANES are back at their usual spot south of Smith Road. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK appears to have set up territory in the Greenland Road area. CAROLINA WREN was in Richmond this week, and the one in Carlington persists. RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER persists in Gatineau. A few other local/ less common species have also settled into most of their breeding grounds, such as AMERICAN WOODCOCK and EASTERN BLUEBIRD. A number of species have become quite common in the last week, and probably will not be reported here again until they become scarce again late this year. This includes such birds as: 1. SONG SPARROW 2. TURKEY VULTURE 3. GREAT BLUE HERON, and 4. KILLDEER 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
