- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 21 January 2007 * ONOT0701.21
- Birds mentioned Wood Duck Mallard BARROW'S GOLDENEYE Hooded Merganser Wild Turkey Double-crested Cormorant Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Snowy Owl NORTHERN HAWK OWL AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER Northern Shrike Horned Lark American Robin Brown Thrasher Cedar Waxwing Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 21 January 2007 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 & transcriber: Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] internet: Gordon Pringle [EMAIL PROTECTED] THE OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE @ 7:00 PM, SUNDAY JANUARY 21, 2007 This is Chris Lewis reporting. Winter finally arrived in earnest this week, there are now a few centimeters of snow on the ground and the ice has been forming rapidly on our local rivers. On the Rideau River at Bank St. by Billings Bridge on the 14th and 21st, 2 Wood Ducks and a male Hooded Merganser were among the many Mallards which hang out here for handouts. A male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE has been seen on the Ottawa River at the Remic Rapids lookout since the 18th. The Wild Turkey of Britannia was still skulking around the west side of the conservation area as of the 20th, and a Double-crested Cormorant was still on the Ottawa River at Britannia on the 18th - although this is the latest record for this species in Ottawa, unfortunately it seems that this individual might be injured as it reportedly appeared to have difficulty flying. A phenomenal count of 14 Bald Eagles on the Ottawa River between Shirley's Bay and the Champlain Bridge coincided with the beginning of the freeze-up of the river on the 14th, single adult birds were noted on the river throughout the week and 2 immature birds were feeding on a deer carcass along Riddell Rd. north of March Valley Rd. on the afternoon of the 21st. A very late male Northern Harrier was flying over the fields along Greenbank Rd. between Fallowfield and Hunt Club Rds. on the 19th, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks have been reported from both urban and rural locations throughout our area, a dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk was seen on Ch. Industriel by the Gatineau airport on the 16th (probably the same bird that has shown up in this location for at least the past 2 winters), an American Kestrel was again seen along March Rd. west of Klondike Rd. on the 17th, and a Peregrine Falcon was on the south side of the R.H. Coats building at Tunney's Pasture on the 21st. A Snowy Owl was on the ice of the Ottawa River off Innis Point on the 19th, and the NORTHERN HAWK OWL was still present along Ch. McDonald west of Brennan's Hill on the 19th along with a Northern Shrike. A northern woodpecker species that has not been reported in a while was seen again along the now infamously frustrating Kerwin Rd. trail - a female AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER was tracked down here on the 21st, and another was seen on the Quebec side off Pink Rd. in an extensive burn site north of house #664 the same day. Recent reports of unusual winter passerines have been sparse, but there have been a few of local interest....Small numbers of Horned Larks were reported from Shea Rd. in the west and Frank Kenny Rd. in the east on the 14th and 17th respectively. At least one brave American Robin was in the Larose forest on the 17th, and a Brown Thrasher continues to sporadically visit a feeder on Bramblegrove Ct. as of the 21st - this bird has been here since at least December 1st. A surprise on the 21st was a group of at least ½ dozen Cedar Waxwings feeding on Common Buckthorn berries near the Hilda Rd. feeders by Shirley's Bay. A couple of Chipping Sparrows continue to hang in at feeders in both Carleton Place and Rockcliffe Park as of at least the 19th, a bizarre congregation of approx. a dozen Song Sparrows were seen along O'Toole Rd. west of Frank Kenny Rd. on the 17th, and the most recent report of the White-crowned Sparrow at the Hilda Rd. feeders was on the 14th. Thank you - Good Birding! - End transcript
