Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 13 January 2010 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 [email protected]
On Wednesday January 13, 2010 this is Chris Lewis reporting. An interesting assortment of species for this time of year was found over the past week. A few CANADA GEESE appear to be toughing out the season in locations such as the Ottawa River at Deschenes, the Rideau River at Manotick, and a stormwater pond in Kanata near the Goulbourn industrial park. A male WOOD DUCK was present at the latter location on the 10th, and a HOODED MERGANSER was also at Deschenes the same day. At least 2 male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE remain fixtures on the Rideau behind the tennis club as of the 11th. On the 9th at least 60 WILD TURKEYS were feeding in a field along Vances Side Rd. near Dunrobin and approx. 30 were seen at Bradley Rd. and Eardley-Masham Rd. in Quebec on the 10th. Twelve were also spotted on the Quebec side along the Low-Poltimore Rd. on the 8th. A couple of visits to the Eardley-Masham / Steele Rd. area in the Gatineau hills were productive for BALD EAGLES - at least 8 were spotted on the 10th. Reports of COOPER'S HAWKS came from several locations. The RED-SHOULDERED HAWK in Aylmer, Quebec, was still present in the Rue du Golf / Aylmer Rd. area as of the 11th, and a good number of RED-TAILED HAWKS were noted here and there on the weekend. Both a MERLIN and a PEREGRINE FALCON appeared in Britannia on the 10th; the Peregrine was seen again on the 12th on the same high-rise apartment building where it frequently roosted last fall. A grey morph GYRFALCON, very likely the same bird found near the Carlington quarry back on Dec. 20th, was spotted in the same general area on Jan. 10th. The gull gatherings on the Rideau River near the Hurdman bridge as well as the Trail Rd. landfill continue to be dominated by GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS, with a few HERRING and GLAUCOUS GULLS among them. There were several reports of NORTHERN SHRIKES over the weekend, with at least 5 different individuals seen in widespread locations on both the Ontario and Quebec sides. The Gatineau Hills are, as usual, a good area for wintering COMMON RAVENS, however a few were also seen in semi-urban areas such as Britannia, Carlington and Carlingwood. Britannia is evidently a haven for AMERICAN ROBINS this winter - up to a dozen have recently been found here. A SWAMP SPARROW was discovered in Hull on Jan. 7th and a couple of WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS were seen last weekend - one near the Aviation Parkway and Ogilvie Rd. and another on Millar Rd. in Gatineau. Flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS of various sizes are around in various locations; one group near St-Isidore on the 10th contained 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. In this nearly finchless winter, a nice surprise was a report of 8 PINE GROSBEAKS picking up grit along Swamp Rd. off Lac-des-Loups Rd. on the southwestern edge of Gatineau Park on the 12th. Otherwise the only finches apart from a few HOUSE FINCHES in suburban areas, were EVENING GROSBEAKS - 20 were found along Low-Poltimore Rd. on the 8th and approx. 15 were seen at a property between Eardley and Steele in Quebec on the 10th. Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
