Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
August 24, 2017 The highlight of the week was a BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER seen in the Baie Simard area on the 19th. Also of interest, at Embrun, were continuing RED-NECKED PHALAROPES (as late as the 20th), WILSON’S PHALAROPE (23rd ), STILT SANDPIPER (20th and 23rd) and BAIRD’S SANDPIPER (23rd). The week was marked by damp conditions and seasonal temperatures. Migration of PASSERINES was in full swing this week, but mostly expected birds were seen. Migrant traps like Britannia have become choice areas to bird, but SHOREBIRD habitat continues to be poor. While we don’t want to say this too loudly, the next week is pretty much the last week of summer from a birding perspective. Soon after that, many species will quickly vacate the region. A few early WATERBIRDS added some birding variety. At Embrun, there was RING-NECKED DUCKS, LESSER SCAUP and COMMON GOLDENEYE. There were GREATER SCAUP and RED-NCEKD GREBE at Dick Bell Park on the 22nd. COMMON GOLDENEYE was at Britannia on the 19th. BUFFLEHEAD at Casselman on the 20th. A HORNED GREBE was in Russell on the 21st. There were also 4 REDHEAD at the Moodie Drive Ponds. Embrun is far and away the best spot for SHOREBIRDS in the region. Despite a rather restricted area of habitat, 13 species have been seen at various times this week. The mix varies, and there are at most about 30 birds at any given time. Other areas are more or less worthless, which includes Almonte and Casselman. The Carp River flood plain has become rather unproductive. The water purification plant at Masson has a handful of SHOREBIRDS, and this area is only mentioned because it is the only area in Quebec that has anything at all. A LEAST BITTERN continues off Rivington in Carp. The week was marked by scattered (and brief) reports of sought-after migrants like YELLOW-BELLIED and OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS, and more common ones like PHILADELPHIA VIREO. An early RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET was at Britannia. A good variety of WARBLERS has been seen. There were 10 species of warbler at the Moore farm in Gatineau on the 23rd, and a single trip’s tally gave 16 species in Britannia on the 21st. Finally, RED CROSSBILLS were seen near Carp and again near Lac McGregor. *Reminder regarding access to the Shirley’s Bay Causeway:* DND has also amended our access procedure. You must call Range Control (613-991-5740) for permission, state that you are an OFNC member and give your name. DND will be provided with the OFNC's membership list and they will check, so you need to keep your membership up to date. Finally, you must call again when you have left the area. DND would also like to be informed if you see anyone on the property who should not be there, such as boats in the bay or people fishing on the causeway. They are trespassing and DND will deal with the situation. 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. _______________________________________________ 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
