Ontario Ottawa/Gatineau 14 January 2009 Birds mentioned:
Barrow's Goldeneye GRAY PARTRIDGE Bald Eagle Golden Eagle Snowy Owl Northern Hawk Owl Northern Shrike American Robin Northern Mockingbird Bohemian Waxwing Song Sparrow LAPLAND LONGSPUR Snow Bunting Red-winged Blackbird White-winged Crossbill Common Redpoll HOARY REDPOLL Pine Siskin Evening Grosbeak Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Rare bird alerts are now included in the introductory message Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis hagen...@primus.ca At 4:00 pm Wednesday January 14, 2009 this is Chris Lewis reporting. Another week of winter is behind us without much change in the local birding scene. A few new reports for the new year included GRAY PARTRIDGE - a small covey of 5 was discovered on the 9th on Maple Grove Rd. in Kanata and 2 were seen here again on the 13th west of the Bell Sensplex arena. A Song Sparrow was a surprise on the 10th near the Hurdman bridge over the Rideau River. Single LAPLAND LONGSPURS were noted among flocks of Snow Buntings in the east near Ste-Rose on the 9th and in the west at Akins and Shea Rds. on the 11th. A HOARY REDPOLL was reported visiting a feeder in Merrickville on the 10th. A male and female Barrow's Goldeneye continue to linger on the Rideau River and have most frequently been seen south of the Hurdman bridge as of at least the 11th; a female was also reported farther north along the Rideau on the 12th. Three Bald Eagles were found near Pakenham on the 11th and an adult has been seen several times during the past week at points along the Rideau between Hurdman and Billings Bridge. A visit to the Eardley-Masham area in the Gatineau hills on the 6th again produced an immature Golden Eagle. Snowy Owls remain in well-known locations. A lingering Northern Hawk Owl and a Northern Mockingbird have attracted a lot of attention along Grandview Rd. in the Crystal Beach neighbourhood. Grandview is a quiet residential street and every effort should be made to be respectful; please avoid crowding, blocking traffic and unnecessarily loud human behaviour. While Northern Shrikes are still relatively scarce, a few were reported from widespread locations and one was calling and singing in the Britannia Conservation Area on the 11th. A few American Robins are apparently surviving the winter so far; a couple of recent reports came from Rockcliffe Park and Merivale Gardens. Another out-of-season survivor, an immature male Red-winged Blackbird, was spotted at a feeder on Cedar Hill Rd. in Pakenham on the 11th. Roving flocks of Bohemian Waxwings and White-winged Crossbills continue to grace the local landscape, Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls are being regularly reported as well, and the first substantial number of Evening Grosbeaks this season was reported on the 14th - approx. 60 descended on a feeder in Poland (that would be the village west of Lanark, not the country in Europe!) Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
