- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 19 December 2004 * ONOT0412.19
- Birds mentioned Great Blue Heron Wood Duck Long-tailed Duck Common Goldeneye Barrow's Goldeneye Bufflehead Bald Eagle Red-tailed Hawk Rough-legged Hawk Merlin Wilson's Snipe Great Horned Owl Snowy Owl Northern Hawk Owl Barred Owl Great Gray Owl Short-eared Owl Red-headed Woodpecker American Crow Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Northern Mockingbird Bohemian Waxwing Cedar Waxwing Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee Pine Grosbeak Purple Finch Common Redpoll Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Evening Grosbeak - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 19 December 2004 number: 613-860-9000 for the status line : press 2 for rare bird alerts: press 1 to report a sighting: press # coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Can. Nat. Capital Reg.), E.Ont., W.Que. compiler : Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] transcriber: Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] internet : Gordon Pringle [EMAIL PROTECTED] OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE - DEC 20 2004 AT 8:00 PM This is Chris Lewis reporting. A wintery week in the Ottawa area culminated in a frigid weekend for both the Ottawa-Gatineau and Dunrobin-Breckenridge Christmas Bird Counts, with record low temperatures for this time of year, enhanced by strong northwest winds. Species numbers were on the low side as well, but there were several highlights. Great Gray Owls continue to appear, with several reported over the week. Up to 4 Great Gray's have now been seen in Gatineau Park, in the hydro field along Trail #5 off Trail #29 west of the Relais Plein Air along Boul. de la Cite des Jeunes. Please do not walk on the ski trails. Another has been at south end of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden near the bird feeder since the 17th, and 2 were in the area of March Valley and Riddell Rds. on the 18th. Other individuals were reported from Gloucester in Ottawa, and from Breckenridge and Val-des-Monts in Quebec. A Great Horned Owl has been in the area of the Fletcher Wildlife Garden and the Arboretum along Prince of Wales Dr. for over a week. A Snowy Owl was at Wall Rd. between Frank Kenny and Trim Rd. on the 15th, and up two have been regular at the "S-curve" of Earl Armstrong Rd. since at least the 18th. A Northern Hawk Owl continues to hunt in the previously mentioned hydro field in Gatineau Park, and another was discovered in the Mer Bleue area on the 19th. Five Barred Owls were found on the Dunrobin and Ottawa counts, including one in Vincent Massey Park near the Amphitheatre on the 19th. Two Short-eared Owls were reported on the 12th from Brophy Dr. between Twin Elm and 3rd Line Rd., and another was at the Earl Armstrong "S-curve", most recently reported on the 18th. Since at least December 12th, a rare dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk has been frequenting the Gatineau Airport and was still present on the 19th. This bird is an adult, and may very well be the same bird as the immature that spent most of last winter at this location. In other raptor reports, 3 Bald Eagles and 3 Merlins were found on the Ottawa-Gatineau Christmas Count, but Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawk numbers were very low. A Carolina Wren continues to visit a suet feeder in Chelsea, Quebec, as of the 19th. A Tufted Titmouse has been coming to a property east of Almonte, and a female Eastern Towhee in Carleton Place was most recently reported on the 17th. For information regarding access to these feeders on private properties, please go to option #1 on the Bird Status Line. Additional highlights from the Christmas Counts and other reports to the Status Line included small numbers of both Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings and a few late lingerers such as Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Wilson's Snipe, Red- headed Woodpecker, Northern Mockingbird and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Potential record high counts, once the "final accounting" has been done, may be Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, and American Crow. Low-lights were sparrows and finches, with hardly any sparrows and only a few Pine Grosbeaks, Purple Finches and Pine Siskins noted. Good numbers of Common Redpolls and American Goldfinches visited feeders throughout the area. The only report of Evening Grosbeaks this week came from the Almonte area. Thank you - Merry Christmas & Good Birding! - End transcript
