Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler and transcriber: Greg Zbitnew at [email protected] or [email protected]
Recent sightings to April 23, 2015 The best bird of the week was a pair of GLOSSY IBIS at the Marais aux Laîches in Gatineau, seen by many observers on the 19th. Aside from that, there was a steady stream of arrivals but not a great push of migrants this week. There were at least 18 arrivals this week, to be discussed below, but generally the new ones were not seen in any numbers. While the weather was mostly seasonal, resulting in continued plant growth and the elimination of the remaining ice and snow, the last few days have been much cooler, rainy, and unfavourable for migration. The Ottawa birding community is waiting for the next wave which, we hope, will happen next week. On the 16th-17th Shirley’s bay and other enclosed bays on the Ottawa river opened up. All the inland ponds and wetlands are open as well. These areas now merit regular checking as the season progresses. Among the waterbirds that arrived were BLUE-WINGED TEAL, RUDDY DUCK, LONG-TAILED DUCK, and HORNED GREBE, but quantities of all species were limited. A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in Constance Bay was late. Both species of YELLOWLEGS, PECTORAL SANDPIPER and COMMON GALLINULE arrived this week. BONAPARTE’S GULL (early) was seen a number of times on the Ottawa River west of Britannia. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, CLIFF SWALLOW and PURPLE MARTIN were new in the insectivore department, but these were isolated observations. Both GRAY CATBIRD (Mer Bleue, early) and BROWN THRASHER (including one vocal male on Britannia Ridge on the 23rd) were new mimids. New warblers were OVENBIRD, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, but only YELLOW-RUMPED and PINE WARBLER are here in any numbers. Finally, while there were no new sparrows this week, FOX SPARROW was notable for the large numbers of sightings in woodlots all over the area. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to [email protected] for the purpose of maintaining local records. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. Good birding. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] 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
