Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
April 20, 2017 The highlight of the week was a ROSS’S GOOSE near Antrim, there along with a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Oddly, both were somewhat gettable for several hours on the 18th, and the ROSS’S GOOSE has been in the same area until the 20th. Also quite good was a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, seen in the Greenboro area on the 20th. Quite bad was the first sighting of DEER TICK, source unknown. BIRDERS BEWARE! More generally, it was a good birding week, with vegetation greening up and near seasonal temperatures. 11 new species have arrived this week, with something new arriving every day, and the volume of birds of all types is going way up. The Ottawa River is also going way up, flooding the access to Petrie Island and the Shirley’s Bay causeway. Among the WATERBIRDS, as usual hundreds are congregating at Shirley’s Bay, although most can only be seen distantly from the boat launch. As usual, these are mostly LESSER SCAUP. Early WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS were seen a few times on the Ottawa River, with one sighting of 2 LONG-TAILED DUCKS at Shirley’s bay on the 17th. REDHEAD have been regular at the Giroux and Moodie Drive Ponds all week. HORNED and RED-NECKED GREBES were at Shirley’s Bay on the 20th, with 3 COMMON LOONS. Marshes and flooded fields are now becoming interesting. The first VIRGINIA RAIL was at Constance Creek on the 15th. The flooded field near Antrim which had the above GEESE has also had PECTORAL SANDPIPER sometimes since the 15th, and on the 20th there was an early DUNLIN there. On the 16th, the first UPLAND SANDPIPER was southeast of Luskville. PECTORAL SANDPIPER has also been at the Richmond Conservation Area. The first LESSER YELLOWLEGS was at Twin Elm and Cambrian on the 16th. A BONAPARTE’S GULL was at Shirley’s Bay on the 17th. Several hundred TREE SWALLOWS were swirling over the waters of Shirley’s Bay, and other river areas, a common occurrence during the cool days of early spring. The first BANK SWALLOWS were seen there and at the Richmond Conservation area on the 19th. Other SWALLOWS are still only being seen in rather small numbers. The first BLUE-HEADED VIREO was in Aylmer on the 19th. Generally, many of the last week’s passerine arrivals have become common. RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and DARK-EYED JUNCOS are some species which seem to be everywhere this week. However, generally the variety and numbers are normal. Among the finches, PURPLE FINCH appears to have arrived in numbers. EASTERN TOWHEE arrived back on the Carp Ridge on the 16th, and it has also been seen at the Richmond Conservation area on the 19th. For those looking for this local species, VESPER SPARROW has been fairly gettable on Vance’s Sideroad just west of Dunrobin Road. Finally, late SNOW BUNTING and LAPLAND LONGSPUR were southeast of Carp on the 15th. 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
