[Ontbirds] Ottawa/Gatineau - 01 Feb 11 - weekly summary
Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 25 January 2011 Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario,W. Quebec Compiler transcriber: Chris Lewis hagen...@primus.ca, or sighti...@ofnc.ca Another month of winter is behind us, and all is pretty much status quo on the local birding scene. An AMERICAN WIGEON was seen again in a small open area of Brewery Creek at the west end of Rue Papineau in Hull, Quebec on the 28th, and a male RING-NECKED DUCK was reported from Deschenes on the 29th. A female HOODED MERGANSER is still occasionally present on the Rideau River near the Hurdman (Hwy 417) bridge. Another GREAT BLUE HERON was discovered on the 26th at McEwan Creek off Russell Rd. Recent ventures up to the Eardley-Masham and Steele Rd. area of Gatineau have been quiet, however 3 BALD EAGLES were seen on the 31st. The wintering RED-SHOULDERED HAWK in Aylmer, Quebec was seen again on the 28th in the as yet undeveloped area at the north end of Rue du Golf, and on the 24th an imm. GOLDEN EAGLE flew over the Orleans area of Ottawa. A couple of MERLIN sightings also came from the near east end of the city. On the 30th a BELTED KINGFISHER was spotted at Burritt's Rapids on the Rideau south of Ottawa. A RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER in Constance Bay was still present last week, and a female BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER discovered near the Pine Grove Trail parking lot off Davidson Rd. on the 29th was searched for but not seen the following day. HORNED LARKS remain in rural areas east and west of the city, with approx. 100 along Richmond Rd. south of Fallowfield Rd. on the 27th. A HERMIT THRUSH is still holding its own at the feeders near the Hurdman bridge as of the 31st. Approx. 40 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were near the intersection of Carling and Woodroffe Aves. on the 27th. AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS appear to be around in good numbers in several locations, a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was at the Hurdman feeders on the 31st, and SNOW BUNTINGS were again noted in agricultural areas. What is likely the same group of 8 PINE GROSBEAKS first reported back on January 9th was seen again along the Eardley-Masham Rd. near the entrance to Gatineau Park on the 24th, and a feeder in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa hosted a single male WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL on the morning of the 29th. Several feeders continue to host COMMON REDPOLLS and at least 1 HOARY REDPOLL was among a large flock of Common's at the east end of Politmore, Quebec, on the 31st. The Politmore area, and the Pakenham area west of Ottawa seem to be the best areas to find good numbers of EVENING GROSBEAKS, and a handful is still around at the east end of the Larose forest. Thank you - Good Birding! ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
[Ontbirds] Winter Finches in the Kendal Area
Took the dog up to the Kendal area for a morning of Snowshoeing. It was a very productive Finch morning. Village of Kendal 210+ Pine Siskins 4 Common Redpolls Siskins were foraging at what looked like every niger feeder in the village. Thompson Road (just 100m east of the ganaraska/newtonville road intersection.) Evening Grosbeaks reported at a large feeder setup on the west side of the road last week. Today only more siskins, redpolls and goldfinches. PINE GROSBEAK 1 The end of maintained section of concession 8 just west of white road (Thompson road ends at conc. 8 turn left onto conc. 8) EVENING GROSBEAKS (53 birds) Turn right onto concession 8 from thompson road. It turns into The Dell road. Follow it north to the intersection with Thertell road. The house on the se corner of the insection has feeders in the back yard visible from Thertell Road. There were 39 EVENING GROSBEAKS present The Dell road ends just north of Thertell road and there is an elaborate feeder set up on the right hand side just 200m north of Thertell road. Another 14 EVENING GROSBEAKS were present here at the same time the 39 were 200m south. The distance between these Thertell/The Dell road feeders and the village of Kendal is only 3km. So these birds can easily move between locations. Also seen today in the general area were 150+ Bluejays, Common Ravens, Barred Owl, Wild Turkeys, Snow Buntings, and Horned Larks Directions to Kendal From Hwy 401 take Hwy 115/35 north to Kirby exiting onto the Ganaraska Road (Cty road 9). Follow it east 6km to the village of Kendal. Turn right(south) on to Newtonville road. The feeders are located on the corner of Old mill road and newtonville road, Just north of the general store and 400m south of Ganaraska Road. Kendal can also be reached by taking the Newtonville road exit of Hwy 401 and traveling 12km north to the village Tyler Hoar Oshawa ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
[Ontbirds] VARIED THRUSH, WATERLOO REGION- YES
Ontbirders, Ben Vaughan and I took the trip from London today to look for the recently reported VARIED THRUSH, at the home of Elmer and Bev Ewert, at 3218 Weimar Line. We arrived on scene at approximately 1:30 PM, and the bird showed at around 2:05 PM, giving great views. It is coming to the feeding station about once an hour or so. Thanks so much to the Ewerts for allowing us to view this bird. Directions for the Varied Thrush: exit the 401 at Hwy 8 north, take Hwy 85 north, towards Waterloo about 12km. Exit Northfield Road, and go west. Following Northfield, turn right (north) onto Weber street. Take Weber st. about a km and turn left onto Benjamin Road. Take Benjamin all the way to Kressler Road (~5km). At Kressler, turn left and take this to the first road (about 2km), which is Weimar Line. Turn right onto Weimar and the house is the 3rd on the left #3218. The bird is coming mostly out front of the house, to scattered seed and berries under a stunted spruce. View the bird from the driveway. Cheers Leonard Manning London, Ontario ___ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
