Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 28 December 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) Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario,W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis hagen...@primus.ca, or sighti...@ofnc.ca
As the year draws to a close, some good birding is still to be had in Ottawa-Gatineau and environs. Back on the 21st a few late waterfowl species on the Ottawa River included 3 CANADA GEESE near the Britannia filtration plant, and a male LESSER SCAUP and a female BUFFLEHEAD on the Quebec side near Deschenes; none of the above have been reported since then. The first winter report of GRAY PARTRIDGE came from a now-traditional wintering area in Kanata near Maple Grove and Silver Seven Rds. where at least 3 were seen on Christmas Day. WILD TURKEYS continue to abound in a wide variety of locations, and a late GREAT BLUE HERON was still actively hunting in a creek at Carling Ave. and Herzberg Rd. on the 23rd. Single adult and immature BALD EAGLES have been hanging around the Deschenes rapids, and one of each was seen together along Kerwin Rd. west of Dunrobin on the 27th with approx. a dozen COMMON RAVENS in attendance. A RED-SHOULDERED HAWK is still playing hide-and-seek in Aylmer, Quebec, with the most recent report on the 23rd from Rue du Golf. Three ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were in the Shirley's Bay area on the 24th, and an adult PEREGRINE FALCON seen cruising over Carling and Clyde Aves. on the 22nd may be the same bird that has been patrolling the Deschenes rapids. The only recent report of "white-winged" gulls was of 5 first-winter ICELAND GULLS in the vicinity of Carp Rd. and Richardson Side Rd. on the 25th. A female RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER was discovered on the 23rd in Deschenes, Quebec, in the woods below the rapids, and the female in Pakenham was still present as of at least the 26th. On the 27th a NORTHERN SHRIKE that has been fairly regular in the Shirley's Bay area was chasing BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS on Rifle Rd., and various-sized flocks of Bohemians continue to wander around the region. As of the 26th, 2 CAROLINA WRENS continue to haunt the streets of Aylmer in the Prom. Lakeview area, and the same day a male YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER was seen again near the river in Deschenes - this bird has been present for over a week. A WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was reported from the Wychwood area of Aylmer on the 23rd, and an impressive flock of at least 300 LAPLAND LONGSPURS in the Casselman / Ste-Rose area east of Ottawa on the 27th is likely an unprecedented number for winter in our region; 68 HORNED LARKS and approx. 150 SNOW BUNTINGS were in the same location. Lingering icterids included a RUSTY BLACKBIRD discovered on Rue Helene-Boulle on the 19th and still here on the 21st, a COMMON GRACKLE in Arnprior on the 26th, and a female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD at a feeder in Nepean on the 25th. The "winter finch" scene has become more interesting - a half-dozen RED CROSSBILLS were seen along Eardley-Masham Rd. in Gatineau Park on the 27th and a singelton was on Ch. Neely near Fieldville, Quebec the same day. Small groups of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were spotted again in Pakenham on the 26th. Many local feeders are now hosting numbers of COMMON REDPOLLS, 2 HOARY REDPOLLS were among a large flock of Common's along Huntmar Rd. south of Richardson Side Rd. in Kanata on the 25th, and PINE SISKINS are increasing in the local landscape as well. Thank you - and Good Birding to all in the New Year! _______________________________________________ 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/
