Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at sighti...@ofnc.ca
March 16, 2017 For the second week in a row, there were no highlights. The false spring of 3 weeks ago is now a distant memory. Unseasonable cold much of the week, and snow on the 14-15th, has made shared misery our only consolation. Real spring is at least a week away. The general situation is that there is really nothing new, the very hardiest arrivals like RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS have remained with many driven to feeders, and WATERBIRDS have retreated a bit. Still, WATERBIRDS have not been a complete washout. There was a CACKLING GOOSE at the Jock River by Eagleson on the 14th, and 2 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE in Almonte. SNOW GEESE are lurking not far southeast of Ottawa with a few to a few thousand occasionally checking things out to the north. 2 TRUMPETER SWANS were in Pakenham on the 13th. HARLEQUIN DUCK and BARROW’S GOLDENEYE are still on the Rideau River between Strathcona Park and Hurdman. 3 GOLDEN EAGLES were in Pakenham on the 13th, and a TURKEY VULTURE was in Richmond on the 12th. 2 GRAY PARTRIDGE were on Cope drive on the 12th, and the CAROLINA WREN was still in Carlington as of the 14th. 2 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS were in Kanata North on the 9th, and the TUFTED TITMOUSE continues near Quyon. Notable among the FINCHES was a RED CROSSBILL in Bell’s Corners on the 13th, but otherwise there were just a few scattered sightings of PINE SISKIN and EVENING GROSBEAK. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to sighti...@ofnc.ca for the purpose of maintaining local records. 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
