Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
October 5, 2017 The find of the week was a juvenile SABINE’S GULL, found on a birding outing at Shirley’s Bay on the morning of the 29th. Unfortunately, it proved to be a flash in the pan, and 20 minutes later it was gone for good. The PARASITIC JAEGER was last seen on the 3rd. The first 2 EURASIAN WIGEONS of the year were found at Baie Noire on the 3rd, in the same spot they have occurred for years, and will likely be around for a while. The only drawback is that a 5 Km round-trip walk is required to see them. Somewhat cooler weather prevailed this week, but it is still well above seasonal. It was dry except for the 4th, and river levels have dropped a bit. Generally the weather conditions were excellent for lingering birds and movement of PASSERINES but WATERBIRDS are just starting to build up. The 29-30th saw a bit of WATERBIRD activity. There was some noticeable movement of flocks of SCOTERS. SURF and WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS were in the west, and the first BLACK SCOTERS of the year were seen from the boat launch at the west end of Massey Lane in the east, along with some SURF SCOTERS, both on the 30th. On the 4th, there were considerable numbers of WATERFOWL at Shirley’s Bay, mostly hundreds of SCAUP, RING-NECKED DUCKS and GREEN-WINGED TEAL. The peak there is undoubtedly some weeks away. Baie Noire had about 300 AMERICAN WIGEON, but rather small numbers of other species. SNOW GEESE are being seen in a number of spots, but in very small numbers. GULL numbers are building up a bit, with up to 15 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at the Moodie Drive ponds. A CASPIAN TERN there on the 5th was rather late. Mostly just the regular SHOREBIRDS have been seen, and there are no places with very many. On the 5th, 17 birds of 7 species were at the Carp River Reclamation area, including the first DUNLIN of the season. One exception was 27 GOLDEN PLOVERS at the Moodie Drive Ponds on the 5th. On the 4th, slightly lower water levels meant, finally, a few SHOREBIRDS were at Shirley’s Bay, but so far they are just some common ones. 13 species of warbler have been seen since October 1st, but generally fewer than 5 species per trip are now being seen now. One notable rather late sighting was a MOURNING WARBLER at the Fletcher wildlife garden on the 4th. Some other interesting late sightings include: 1. EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE at Petrie Island as late as the 5th. 2. INDIGO BUNTINGS in Carp and at the Giroux Road Ponds on the 1st. 3. BOBOLINK at Shirley’s bay on the 29th. This week was quite notable for a huge movement of SPARROWS. The most sought after were NELSON’S SPARROWS, which were seen at the mouth of Constance Creek as late as the 1st. In the woods and fields, dozens to more than a hundred SPARROWS, mostly WHITE-THROATED, WHITE-CROWNED and SONG SPARROWS, have been seen on longer trips. Finally, a single RED CROSSBILL was seen on the Eardley Masham Road on the 4 th. 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. *Reminder regarding access to the Shirley’s Bay Causeway:* DND has 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. _______________________________________________ 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
