With permit in pocket, I walked around the Port Perry lagoons this morning, April 21st. Water levels are high in nearly all the lagoons with just a small amount of shorebird habitat at the south end of the second lagoon from the entrance. 18 Greater Yellowlegs 4 Lesser Yellowlegs 3 Dunlin - still in basic plumage 2 Killdeer There were fairly good waterfowl numbers but there might have been more if a Works Department motorboat hadn't been roaring around the south pond apparently aerating the water! There were 12 species of common ducks plus Canada Geese - over 200 Bufflehead the most numerous and a surprising 4 Mallards the least. About 40 Boneys and 3 Caspian Terns loafed on a sandbar and Tree Swallows with an occasional Barn Swallow foraged low over the water. Woods to the north of the lagoon were full of singing Yellow-rumped Warblers but I didn't hear any waterthrushes or other warbler species. A large Cooper's Hawk was heckled by smaller birds. An Osprey flew to its mate with a trailing load of wet cattails to add to a new nest unfortunately situated on the top of a set of lights around the baseball diamond just south of the lagoons. When the lights first get turned on there may be fried Osprey eggs in the nest - local birders plan to talk to the town to see if a solution can be found.
You must have a $5 permit to enter the lagoons. Go in person (no proxies) to the Port Perry Waste Transfer Station, 1623 Reach Road, Port Perry. >From the 401, go north on Hwy 12 to Regional Rd 8, Reach Road, and turn right >(east) to the Transfer Station on the north side of Reach Road. Stop at the >gatehouse for directions. You can buy a permit Tuesday through Saturday, >8:00a.m. - 4p.m. only. 905-985-7973. To reach the lagoons from here, go east on Reach Road to the nearby traffic lights, turn left (north) to the next intersection, then left again (west) on Conc.8 to the lagoon gates. You will be given the combination to the lock when you buy your permit. Margaret Bain, Cobourg [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Apr 21 17:44:48 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from smtp-07.primus.ca (mail.tor.primus.ca [216.254.136.21]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0D27C64AEF for <[email protected]>; Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:44:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: from dialin-208-70.ottawa.primus.ca ([216.254.208.70] helo=chrispc) by smtp-07.primus.ca with smtp (Exim 3.36 #1) id 1DOjf2-0006VY-0A for [email protected]; Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:56:36 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Christina Lewis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "OFO Sightings" <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:54:50 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.3018.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.3018.1300 Subject: [Ontbirds]Snowy Egret at Dow's Lake, Ottawa X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 21:44:48 -0000 Hello Ontbirds people, The Snowy Egret was still present on Dow's Lake on the Rideau Canal today April 21 at 5:00 PM, in the same general location as where it was 1st reported on April 19. Thanks to Wilson Hum and Chris Rimmer for providing updates to the Ottawa Bird Status Line today! DIRECTIONS: From Hwy 417 in Ottawa, take the Parkdale exit and go south to Carling Ave., then left (east) on Carling and right (south again) at the bottom of the hill onto Prince of Wales Dr. Proceed past the Dow's Lake pavilion and go around the small traffic circle, keeping left, and then immediately right into the parking lot at the national Arboretum. Park in the public parking lot (90 minutes free parking) at the Agriculture Canada buildings, and walk down to the lake. Over the past 2 1/2 days the bird has been seen standing, flying and actively feeding in a very shallow area of the currently partially-drained canal/lake near the small "point" immediately east of the brown brick power/ventilation building on the shore. It also has occasionally moved south towards the Hartwell Locks opposite Carleton University, but seems inclined to return to Dow's Lake...lots of fish here now (Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Bluegill and Smallmouth Bass observed in the canal since April 15). Good spring birding to all, Chris Lewis & Bob Bracken Ottawa [EMAIL PROTECTED]
