Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
May 11, 2017 The highlight of the week was an IBIS (*plegadis sp.)*, seen flying towards Shirley’s Bay on the 4th. Unfortunately the species could not be identified and the bird was not relocated. Another good bird was a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD at Britannia on the 11th. May has been off to a poor start, with every day so far having below seasonal temperatures. Even worse, the weather highlight was the flooding of the Ottawa River, particularly in the east. While not quite of biblical proportions, it may be the worst ever. From our narrow birding perspective, the drenching rains, and at times hideously cool and blustery May weather, with light snow on the 8-9th, has put the brakes on migration, and the excessive water blocked access to many prime areas including parts of Britannia. Since last week, there have been only 8 new arrivals, and many of the previous arrivals are still rather scarce. Still, the worst of it may be over, and it was noticeably perkier on the 10-11th. The excessive rain caused a lot of water build up everywhere, including a noticeable re-flooding of Bearbrook Creek. About 3000 SNOW GEESE were east of Frank Kenny as late as the 6th, and a late GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was near Metcalfe on the 5th. The rain on the 6th may have triggered a mini-fallout of COMMON LOONS, RED-NECKED and HORNED GREBES, mostly on the swollen Ottawa River. There was a good variety of DUCKS around. Some of the less common WATERBIRDS were a BRANT at Andrew Haydon Park on the 10th, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER and LONG-TAILED DUCK, both on the Ottawa River. The first LEAST SANDPIPER was at the Moodie Drive Ponds on the 7th. An early AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER was also there for several days. 3 UPLAND SANDPIPER were on Franktown Road on the 7th. Other than that only the most common SHOREBIRDS have been around. 2 more marsh birds, however, have arrived. COMMON GALLINULE was in the Munster area on the 4th, and AMERICAN COOT was in the same area on the 7th. The arrival of the first RED-HEADED WOODPECKER at Crystal Beach on the 6th completes the suite of local WOODPECKERS. The first COMMON NIGHTHAWK of the season was at Britannia on the 11th. The first SWAINSON’S THRUSH was at Ferme Moore on the 8th, and a MARSH WREN was at Pine Grove Trail on the 10th. Despite poor conditions, 17 WARBLERS have been seen this week, with MAGNOLIA WARBLER being a new one on the 4th. The cold did not cause all of them to perish. OVENBIRDS, for example, were quite common and vocal on their nesting grounds on the Geomagnetic Trail on the 10th. There was a latish FOX SPARROW in Val Tétreau on the 10th, and two rather late sightings of LAPLAND LONGSPUR, one on the 6th near Metcalfe, and 8 near Dunrobin on the 10th. 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
