Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at sighti...@ofnc.ca
April 12, 2018 There were no real highlights this week. April is off to its worst start in decades. This is now the 12th day in a row with temperatures below to a lot below seasonal, which means that there has been little bird movement at all. It is thus a bit surprising that there have actually been a few new arrivals for a year, although none have become widespread. The flooding in the east has mostly subsided, but the Cobb’s Lake Creek floodplain is still hosting a SNOW GOOSE flock of 5000+ as of the 10th. 1-2 ROSS’S GEESE are sometimes seen in this flock, and this species has also been seen in Carp as late as the 9th. 3 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were at the Moodie Drive ponds on the 11th. 2 TUNDRA SWANS were last seen on Milton Road on the 7th, and up to 4 TRUMPETER SWANS were seen again on the Rideau River near Kemptville as late as the 8th. In terms of other WATERBIRDS, the volume is still low, although a few GREATER SCAUP have been seen on the Ottawa River regularly since the 9th. Although there is quite a bit of open water on the Ottawa River, Shirley’s Bay from the boat launch is still frozen. Given the appalling weather, it is a bit surprising that there actually have been a few arrivals for the year: 1. A COMMON LOON near Kemptville on the 8th. 2. A WHITE-WINGED SCOTER at Shirley’s Bay on the 11th. 3. An OSPREY at Shirley’s Bay on the 4th (late report) 4. A SWAMP SPARROW at Mer Bleue on the 8th. 5. An AMERICAN BITTERN on Milton Road on the 8th. 6. A CAROLINA WREN in Kanata on the 8th (very surprisingly only the first sighting of the year). 7. A CHIPPING SPARROW in Manotick on the 7th. In other odds and ends, a GOLDEN EAGLE was at the Cobb’s Lake Creek Flood plain on the 10th. 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 birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
