Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 15 February 2011 Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario,W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis hagen...@primus.ca, or sighti...@ofnc.ca
A generally static week, typical for this time of year. Seven CANADA GEESE continue to hang out at a a small patch of open water at the south end of Iber Rd. in Kanata. The wintering BARROW'S GOLDENEYES seem to have moved from downtown areas where the Rideau is now mostly frozen, to the more open water of the Ottawa River - a male and female were seen off Bate Island on the 12th and a male was also reported farther east at Remic rapids the same day. A male hybrid COMMON X BARROW'S was also seen again on the east side of Bate Island on the 14th. WILD TURKEYS were seen in the Carp and Dunrobin areas, and a GREAT BLUE HERON first reported on January 26th in a creek off Russell Rd. near Blake Rd. is still around as of the 14th. There were again several reports of BALD EAGLES, mostly of single adults, from locations such as Almonte, Carleton Place, and the Eardley escarpment of the Gatineau hills. An adult GOLDEN EAGLE was also seen on the escarpment on the 12th, and 6 RED-TAILED HAWKS were in the vicinity of the Trail Rd. landfill on the 14th. The resident pair of PEREGRINE FALCONS continue to frequent the R.H. Coats building at Tunney's Pasture. Single GLAUCOUS GULLS were noteworthy due to the overall lack of gulls this winter - a 1st winter bird was on the ice below the Deschenes rapids on the 6th, and an adult was the only gull at the Trail Rd. landfill on the 11th and 13th; on the 14th it was joined by 30 Great Black-backed Gulls. An open water ditch on Garvin Rd. near Joy's Side Rd. attracted a male BELTED KNIGFISHER on the 11th, but it was not seen the following day. A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen again in the Shirley's Bay area on the weekend, and the wintering HERMIT THRUSH is still in the area of the feeders south of the Hurdman (Hwy 417) bridge. On the 11th and 14th a small number of AMERICAN ROBINS were noted in Britannia, a flock of at least 200 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS were feeding along Rifle Rd. by Shirley's Bay on the weekend, and the first local report of a CEDAR WAXWING came from the Britannia woods on the 14th. A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW in Carleton Place has been a regular visitor to a property here for 8 consecutive months - it was most recently reported on the 8th - and the one in the Hurdman area is also likely still around. HORNED LARKS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS and SNOW BUNTINGS continue to be seen in several locations, and a smattering of LAPLAND LONGSPURS remain in the Casselman / Ste-Rose area as of the 12th. After a few weeks' absence, a female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD has returned to a feeder in the Meadowlands area of Nepean, and evidently brought a male with her on the 10th. A few PINE GROSBEAKS are still in the Eardley-Masham Rd. area, with 3 seen near the south end of the road on the 12th. On the 7th, 2 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS visited a feeder near Almonte. COMMON REDPOLLS continue to be common, and single HOARY REDPOLLS were among them in a few locations including Shirley's Bay and the Eardley-Masham Rd. Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
