The ROSS'S GOOSE reported by Tony Beck was on the north side of Snake Island Rd (#6), just east of the intersection with Manotick Station Rd, at around 3 PM today. We searched a good hour for it before it finally put in an appearance due to a lucky break. Apparently it was in the area back behind the short-grass field, a long way from the road, along with several hundred Canadas. But a pick-up truck driving through this area flushed up a huge number of the geese, which then came much closer to the road. Among them was the Ross's, but it initially landed in a depression and wasn't visible. For the second time, fortune smiled upon us: a tractor working the short-grass field pushed some of the geese in a little closer still, and the Ross's emerged to give us excellent (scope-aided) looks.
Also among the hundreds of Canadas here was a CACKLING GOOSE (perhaps there were more--this species wasn't the focus!) and a bizarre large goose with the pattern of a blue goose but which wasn't one. Presumably some domestic/hybrid weirdo. Paul Matthews, Ottawa Directions (from Tony Beck's original message): The location is South of Ottawa, along Hwy 6 (Snake Island Road), between the Rideau River (River Road/Hwy 19) and Bank Street (Hwy 31) It is immediately west of Prescott Road (Hwy 25) If you travel south on Bank Street, turn west (right) on Hwy 6 until you see the large sod field right after Prescott Road (Hwy 25). If you travel south on River Road (Hwy 19) turn east on Hwy 6 (two left turns). From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Apr 19 09:30:45 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from bay0-omc2-s28.bay0.hotmail.com (bay0-omc2-s28.bay0.hotmail.com [65.54.246.164]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 33FB0639F1 for <[email protected]>; Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:30:28 -0400 (EDT) Received: from BAY109-W7 ([65.54.246.190]) by bay0-omc2-s28.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.211); Wed, 19 Apr 2006 06:30:18 -0700 X-Originating-IP: [198.103.111.110] X-Originating-Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> MIME-Version: 1.0 From: "David Britton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:30:19 -0400 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 19 Apr 2006 13:30:18.0924 (UTC) FILETIME=[66A94EC0:01C663B5] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Ottawa Area Birds X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 13:30:45 -0000 Yesterday, April 18th, Jack Romanow and I birded in the Ottawa Area, under near perfect weather conditions, recording 85 species. While we managed to miss all three of the rarities previously reported, a number of good birds were seen: Redhead - male at the Shirley's Bay boat launch, two pairs in the wet area along Moodie Dr. south of Trail Rd. Red-breasted Merganser - male in the Lafarge Quarry on Giroux Rd. Ruddy Duck - 2 males and 1 female in the wet area along Moodie Dr. south of Trail Rd. Red-necked Grebe - Shirley's Bay boat launch Broad-winged Hawk - Britannia Conservation Area Lesser Black-backed Gull - in the wet area along Moodie Dr. south of Trail Rd. Barred Owl - 2 calling back and forth on Conley Rd. near Richmond Red-headed Woodpecker - 2 in the burn area at Constance Bay Brown Thrasher - Lois Avenue Feeders at Shirley's Bay Vesper Sparrow - Leitrim Road, along the Airport fenceline Evening Grosbeak - flock of at least 20 at the Kerwin Road trail Directions, courtesy of Larry Neilly's Birding Ottawa page (http://ca.geocities.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/birdguide.htm), or contact me for specifics. 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. You may wish to continue along Range Road another 0.3 km and leave your vehicle at the boat launch parking lot and do this site and Shirley's Bay Dyke on foot. Britannia - 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 0.8 km from here to Richmond Road. Turn right or northeast onto Richmond and go 0.5 km, crossing Carling Avenue, to Poulin Avenue. Turn left or north onto Poulin and go 0.6 km to where a right only turn puts you on Howe Street. Follow Howe west 0.2 km to Britannia Road. Turn right or north onto Britannia Road and proceed 0.8 km to Cassels Street. Turn right or east onto Cassels and go 0.4 km to a small parking area on the left at the Britannia Conservation Area. Constance Bay - From Highway 417 (The Queensway) take exit 138 (Eagleson/March Roads). If travelling west, the 0.6 km offramp sends you right or north onto March Road. If driving east, a 0.4 km offramp brings you to Eagleson Road, where you will turn left or north onto it and in 0.5 km join the westbound offramp traffic on March Road (it changed names as you went under the overpass). Both groups will now follow March Road northwest 8.0 km to Dunrobin Road. Turn right or north onto Dunrobin and go northwest 15.5 km to Constance Bay Road Wet Area on Moodie Road - 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 5.3 km, passing Cambrian Road to reach the quarries (second gate on the left). Park along the side of the road without blocking the access From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Apr 19 10:44:28 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from smtp1.ccra-adrc.gc.ca (smtp1.ccra-adrc.gc.ca [198.103.184.17]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 12198641EF for <[email protected]>; Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:44:13 -0400 (EDT) Received: from SD01ITMB02.PROD.NET ([7.32.10.168])k3JEi0Wo029707 for <[email protected]>; Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:44:08 -0400 (EDT) Content-class: urn:content-classes:message MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.5 Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 10:43:53 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: [Ontbirds]Ross's Goose south of Ottawa Thread-Index: AcZjJlYayTAZRJaLRrKhgDsMit0qvAAmE/QQ From: "Killeen, Richard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> X-Mailman-Approved-At: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 13:56:02 -0400 Subject: [Ontbirds]Ross's Goose south of Ottawa X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 14:44:28 -0000 The ROSS'S GOOSE was still present yesterday evening at 7:15 pm (March 18). The bird was near the intersection Of Snake Island Rd and Manotic Station Rd but could only be seen from Manotick Station Rd as it was feeding in one of the many rolling valleys. Richard Killeen, Ottawa Directions (from Tony Beck's original message): The location is South of Ottawa, along Hwy 6 (Snake Island Road), between the Rideau River (River Road/Hwy 19) and Bank Street (Hwy 31) It is immediately west of Prescott Road (Hwy 25) If you travel south on Bank Street, turn west (right) on Hwy 6 until you see the large sod field right after Prescott Road (Hwy 25). If you travel south on River Road (Hwy 19) turn east on Hwy 6 (two left turns). From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Apr 19 15:32:56 2006 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from S0-OTT-XSMTP3.nrn.nrcan.gc.ca (s0-ott-xsmtp3.nrcan.gc.ca [132.156.36.56]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 31D6A638A9 for <[email protected]>; Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:32:38 -0400 (EDT) Content-class: urn:content-classes:message MIME-Version: 1.0 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.5 Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:32:38 -0400 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: Possible LITTLE BLUE HERON - Ottawa Thread-Index: AcZj6AO8RtdqLcjSTCSF3ks20i36iA=From: "Pratt, John" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.1 Subject: [Ontbirds]Possible LITTLE BLUE HERON - Ottawa X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 19:32:56 -0000 On April 18 at approximately 1:45PM I watched a medium-sized all-dark heron with noticeably pale feet flying across Dow's Lake in central Ottawa. Unfortunately I didn't have binoculars with me. The bird flew up the lake towards Carleton University and disappeared from view. It was too small and dark to be a great blue heron, and I think it must have been an adult LITTLE BLUE HERON. I walked around the lake today (April 19) but saw no sign of the bird. Water level is extremely low at the moment. I did notice how easy it would be to overlook this bird amongst the many double-crested cormorants standing on barely submerged boulders well out in the lake. John Pratt, Counsel NRCan Legal Services 580 Booth Street Ottawa ON K1A 0E4 613-943-4236
