- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 23 May 2006 * ONOT0605.23
- Birds mentioned Common Loon GREAT EGRET White-winged Scoter Bufflehead Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Gray Partridge Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Spotted Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Veery Swainson's Thrush Wood Thrush Northern Mockingbird Philadelphia Vireo Yellow-rumped Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Mourning Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak Clay-colored Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH Evening Grosbeak - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 23 May 2006 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] THE OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE @ 7:00 pm, TUESDAY MAY 23, 2006. This is Chris Lewis reporting. Cool wet weather with northwest winds prevented much movement in terms of both bird migration and birder motivation. Nevertheless, several good sightings were reported. The Ottawa River continued to be productive for transient waterfowl, with several reports of Brant throughout the past week, and 8 pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers near the Champlain bridge on the 20th. An unusual sighting of 9 breeding-plumaged Common Loons on the river between Deschenes and Britannia was noteworthy on the 21st, and 3 Common Terns were seen again in this location on the 23rd. The GREAT EGRET on the Rideau River at Billings Bridge is evidently still present as of the 21st, and 3 GREAT EGRETS were present in the Marais des Laiches Ouest off Hwy 148 east of Gatineau, Quebec, from at least the 16th through the 21st. Two Gray Partridge were picking up grit along the shoulder of March Rd. between Carp Rd. and Hwy 417 near a small storage building on the 22nd, and a Northern Mockingbird was seen in the village of Deschenes, Quebec, at Rue Martel and Vanier Street on the same day. A soggy visit to the Embrun sewage lagoons on the 21st produced 3 late Bufflehead and a Ruddy Duck, a flock of 13 White-winged Scoters in transit, and a small number of shorebirds including Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted and Least Sandpipers and a Stilt Sandpiper in transitional plumage. A somewhat more comfortable visit to the Huron and Western trails in Gatineau Park on the 22nd revealed that many species are now on their breeding grounds, including at least 2 singing male Philadelphia Vireos at the Champlain Lookout parking lot, several Veery, Swainson's and Wood Thrush, many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and 14 species of warblers with most recent arrival being Mourning Warbler. In addition to other expected migrants and breeders, a single fly- over Evening Grosbeak was also noted here. The Britannia Conservation area has been quite static since the 19th, however unusually high numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers were here on the morning of the 23rd (another indication of delayed migration) along with a Blackpoll Warbler. Sparrows were well-represented, with a total of 11 species seen in a single morning (May 21) from 2 locations: At least 2 Clay- coloured Sparrows were again heard singing along Ridge Rd. on the way to the Mer Bleue boardwalk, and a least 2 territorial male Lincoln's Sparrow's were heard and seen along the boardwalk itself, near the "Hudson's Bay" interpretive sign. Several White- crowned Sparrows were also present here. In the fields south of the international airport along Leitrim and Bowesville Rds. an additional 8 species were found, all of which breed in this area, including several Grasshopper Sparrows. And finally, back on May 14th a EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH was a pleasant Mother's Day surprise at a feeder along Rte. 315 in Mayo Quebec. Thank you - Good Birding! - End transcript
