Hi Everyone First and foremost I'd like to thank Burke Korol for finding the Thick-billed Murre and getting the word out. I was birding along the Ottawa River when the news hit. I headed straight to Cobden followed by Tate and company. Fortunately the murre was still present and we had good views and managed a couple of distant photos.
If you are considering venturing up to Renfrew County tomorrow Muskrat Lake is at Cobden. It’s a long somewhat narrow lake with only a few public access points. So far the murre has been staying at the south end of the lake which is where the town is located. The first location to check is the public boat launch which is signed off HWY 17. A scope is definitely helpful for viewing over the lake. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s flights of Thick-billed Murres appeared almost every few years along the Ottawa River and nearby inland lakes during mid-November to late December. Sometimes large numbers were sighted and occasionally hundreds were reported. Since the early 1950s there has been only a few documented records in Ontario including one along the Ottawa River at Deschenes Rapids, Ottawa on December 5-6, 1995, and another more recent record from the Kingston waterfront on December 3-4, 2013. Based on the recent records these birds did remain in the area overnight. Good luck, Bruce Directions: Muskrat Lake at Cobden is easy to find. If you are coming from southern Ontario you can either take Hwy 401 to Hwy 416 and west to Hwy 17 to Cobden. If you are more adventitious you can cut up from HWY 401 and work your way to Cobden overland. Bruce Di Labio P.O.Box 538 Carp,Ontario K0A 1L0 613-715-2571 _______________________________________________ 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
