Hello ONTBirders: I attended the OFNC's outing today. Despite the overcast skies and occasional flurries, the birding was good for this time of year. At Britannia Beach we found a single female BLACK SCOTER amidst large flocks of Canada geese. Approximately 6-10 COMMON GOLDENEYE were also visable from Britannia Pier. At Andrew Haydon Park we searched a large congregation of gulls for the winter specialties, but came up empty. Large numbers of HERRING GULLS and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS were present as well as many Canada geese. A single female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER could be seen mingling with the Canadas. From the lighthouse area at the adjacent Dick Bell Park we spotted a second BLACK SCOTER with a group of LESSER SCAUP (5+). Shirley's Bay produced six female COMMON MERGANSERS, another 20+ COMMON GOLDENEYE, and two female RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. The Hilda Road feeders sported six AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS and a male PILEATED WOODPECKER. At the Trail Road Landfill in Nepean we spotted up to 10+ ICELAND GULLS, mostly juveniles, 1 adult and 1 juvenile GLAUCOUS GULL, and up to three RED-TAILED HAWKS that kindly flushed the gulls periodically so that we could look for more rarities. Three of us returned to Andrew Haydon at around 4pm to check again for gull rarities, and came up with 15+ ICELAND GULLS, about 4 GLAUCOUS GULLS, and a single LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, along with the typical multitudes of HERRING and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS. A special thanks to our fearless leader Jeff Skevington for making the start of the winter bird listing season a good one! Good birding! Pat DIRECTIONS (courtesy NeilyWorld): Britannia Beach - From Highway 417 (The Queensway) take exit 129 (Greenbank & Pinecrest Roads). If travelling west, the 0.3 km offramp dumps you right or north onto Pinecrest Road. If driving east, a 0.3 km offramp brings you to Pinecrest/Greenbank Road, where you will turn left or north onto Pinecrest Road and in 0.4 km join the westbound offramp traffic. Both groups will now follow Pinecrest Road north 1.0 km from here to Carling Avenue. Continue straight through onto Greenview Avenue (the continuation of Pinecrest to the north) and follow it for 1.2 km to the parking lot at Britannia Beach. Britannia Pier is adjacent the beach. Andrew Haydon / Dick Bell Parks - From Highway 417 (The Queensway) take exit 129 (Greenbank & Pinecrest Roads). If travelling west, the 0.3 km offramp dumps you right or north onto Pinecrest Road. If driving east, a 0.3 km offramp brings you to Pinecrest/Greenbank Road, where you will turn left or north onto Pinecrest Road and in 0.4 km join the westbound offramp traffic. Both groups will now follow Pinecrest Road north 1.0 km from here to Carling Avenue. Turn left or west on Carling and go 2.0 km to the turnoff for the parking lot for Andrew Haydon Park on the right or north. Turn right into the lot. Dick Bell Park is adjacent to Andrew Haydon (follow the trails to the yacht club). Shirley's Bay - From Highway 417 (The Queensway) take exit 134 (Moodie Drive). If travelling west, the 0.4 km offramp dumps you right or north onto Moodie. If driving east, a 0.3 km offramp brings you to Moodie Drive, where you will turn left or north onto it and in 0.5 km join the westbound offramp traffic. Both groups will now follow Moodie Drive north 1.3 km from here to Carling Avenue. Turn left or northwest on Carling and go 2.2 km to Rifle (Range) Road. Turn right or north onto Rifle Road and travel 1.7 km to Lois Avenue (should have been Lane). Turn right or east and enter the Shirleys Bay Cottage Area. Trail Road Landfill - From Highway 416 take exit 66 (Fallowfield Road). If southbound, a 0.4 km offramp dumps onto Fallowfield, where you will turn right or west. If northbound, the 0.4 km offramp brings you to Fallowfield, where you will turn left or west onto it and in 0.5 km join the southbound offramp traffic. Both groups will now follow Fallowfield Road west for an additional 0.4 km to reach Moodie Drive. Turn left or southeast onto Moodie Drive and go 4.0 km to Cambrian Road. Turn left or ENE on Cambrian and almost immediately veer right or southeast on Trail Road the site of the Nepean Dump. The entrance is 1.0 km east on Trail, on the left. PLEASE NOTE: The landfill is private property and access for birders is prohibited (only recently). You can still see quite a lot of the gulls from the road running along the fencing around the landfill, but a scope will be required for the best viewing. High-powered binoculars are also very useful. _________________________________________________________________
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