- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 18 May 2005 * ONOT0505.18
- Birds mentioned Brant Solitary Sandpiper Least Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Dunlin Wilson's Phalarope Glaucous Gull Black-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Alder Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird Marsh Wren Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush Cedar Waxwing Golden-winged Warbler BREWSTER'S WARBLER Blackpoll Warbler Cerulean Warbler Mourning Warbler Scarlet Tanager Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Purple Finch Pine Siskin Evening Grosbeak - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 18 May 2005 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 - MAY 18 2005 AT 7:30 PM This is Chris Lewis reporting. Another excellent week in Ottawa, with lots of bird song and activity at the "migrant traps" as well as the breeding grounds. The 1st report of Brant came from Russell east of Ottawa on May 15, where a flock was seen flying northwest. A very late 3rd- summer Glaucous Gull was on the Ottawa River at the east end of Andrew Haydon Park on the 16th, and an early Indigo Bunting was at Britannia on the 14th. At last we have a few new shorebirds to report: From the 12th - 14th at the Embrun sewage lagoons, at least 100 Least Sandpipers, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper and 4 Dunlin were seen along with the now-established Wilson's Phalaropes, and a Solitary Sandpiper was on Mud Lake in Britannia on the 15th. A Black-billed Cuckoo was seen at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden on the 15th. Chimney Swifts are back in good numbers, as are Least and Great Crested Flycatchers and Eastern Kingbirds, and the 1st report of an Alder Flycatcher came from Britannia the next day. A Marsh Wren was back on territory in the marsh north of the Nepean Equestrian Park on the 17th. Migrating thrushes included a Gray- cheeked Thrush in the Britannia woods on the 17th, and Swainson's Thrushes were reported both here and in Riverside Park North on the 13th and 15th. On territory now are Veery, Hermit Thrush and Wood Thrush. An impressive wave of Cedar Waxwings arrived on the weekend, with many courtship displays observed. Of the 24 species of warblers that have been reported to date, the following were new since the 13th: Golden-winged Warblers are now singing at the railroad tracks east of Huntmar Dr., a Blackpoll Warbler was banded at the Innis Point Bird Observatory on the 15th, 2 Cerulean Warblers passed through Britannia on the 13th heading north, likely to their breeding grounds in Gatineau Park, and a Mourning Warbler was reported from Britannia on the 15th. A highlight was a BREWSTER'S WARBLER backcross, a male singing a Blue-winged song-type, along the railroad tracks 1.5 km east of Huntmar Dr. on the 15th and again in the same location on the 17th. Other expected returnees were Scarlet Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and 9 species of sparrows can now be found in the fields south of the international airport, including Clay-coloured, Field, Vesper and Grasshopper. A Lincoln's Sparrow appeared briefly at Britannia on the 15th. Purple Finch and Pine Siskin were heard near Carp on the 15th as well, and a late Evening Grosbeak was at Green's Creek in Blackburn Hamlet on the 14th. Thank you - Good Birding! - End transcript

