- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 05 January 2005 * ONOT0501.05
- Birds mentioned Wood Duck American Black Duck Mallard Barrow's Goldeneye Bufflehead Merlin Peregrine Falcon Wild Turkey Herring Gull Iceland Gull Glaucous Gull Great Black-backed Gull Snowy Owl NORTHERN HAWK OWL Barred Owl GREAT GRAY OWL Belted Kingfisher Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing Northern Shrike Song Sparrow Brown-headed Cowbird Common Redpoll Evening Grosbeak - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 05 January 2005 number: 613-860-9000 for the status line : press 2 for rare bird alerts: press 1 to report a sighting: press # coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Can. Nat. Capital Reg.), E.Ont., W.Que. compiler : Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] transcriber: Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] internet : Gordon Pringle [EMAIL PROTECTED] OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE - JAN 05 2005 AT 9:30 PM This is Chris Lewis reporting. GREAT GRAY OWLS continue to be the stars of the show in the New Year. Sightings from the 1st through the 5th continue to come in almost daily, from the now-familiar locations such as March Valley Rd. in Kanata, the Torbolton Ridge and Kinburn Side Rd. area west of Dunrobin, the hydro field along ski trail #5 at the southeast end of Gatineau Park, and more recently from suburban areas such as Rifle Rd. between Carling Ave. and Shirley Blvd. at Shirley's Bay, Billings Ave. and Pleasant Park Ave. in Alta Vista, and the Manor Park area. Another was found on the Quebec side at Concession #6 at Hammond Rd. near Steel Line west of Eardley- Masham Rd. on the 3rd. Other owls that continue to persist as of at least January 3rd are a NORTHERN HAWK OWL in the aforementioned hydro field in Gatineau Park, a Barred Owl near the bandstand in Vincent Massey Park, and a Snowy Owl along Earl Armstrong Rd. between Limebank and Bowesville Rds. Another Snowy was found along Brownlee Rd. west of Eagleson Rd. on the 2nd. Two male Barrow's Goldeneyes, one on the Rideau River behind the Tennis Club and another on the Ottawa River at Remic rapids, are also still around as of the 4th. A male Bufflehead was on the Ottawa River above the Deschenes rapids on the 3rd, and a male Wood Duck is wintering with the American Black Ducks and Mallards on the Rideau near the Tennis Club. An adult Peregrine Falcon was on the south side of the R.H. Coats building at Tunney's Pasture on the 1st, and a Merlin was at Andrew Haydon Park on the 3rd. Approximately 50 Glaucous Gulls along with 3 Iceland Gulls were noted from the Ottawa River on the 3rd - most of these birds were coming in to roost with a large number of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, on the ice above the Deschenes rapids. Also noteworthy were the following: 9 Wild Turkeys literally on March Valley Dr. on the 1st and a flock of 24 on Earl Armstrong Rd. on the 5th.; a Belted Kingfisher on March Rd. at Carling Ave. on the 1st; approx. 30 Bohemian Waxwings on Kinburn Side Rd. near Carp Rd. as well as at Diamondview Rd. on the 1st and 5th respectively, the latter sighting also included 2 Cedar Waxwings; a wintering Song Sparrow in the ditch between the NRC and CSIS buildings at Montreal and Blair Rds. on the 2nd; and approx. 8 Brown-headed Cowbirds at a couple of feeders along St. Guillaume Rd. south of Rte. 200 between Vars and Embrun on the 3rd. Northern Shrikes were again reported from various locations, but Common Redpoll numbers remain low, and the only other "winter finches" reported were a small number of Evening Grosbeaks at a feeder at the east end of Clarence-Cambridge Rd. in the Larose forest on the 3rd and 4th. Thank you - Good Birding! - End transcript
