Hi Ontario birders and others. This is the 3rd time I try to send
this message, first to ontbirds on Dec 18. For some reason, it did
not go through; Marc Cranford suggested that I send it again. I have
shortened it this time.
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was present in the morning of Dec. 18, at
the Northern end of the Arboretum section of the Ottawa Central
Experimental Farm.
This bird was first seen by an observer from Longueuil Québec (Raymond
Belhumeur) on Dec. 11 and mentioned in a report to OrnithoQC the next
day. Belhumeur had seen and photographed it feeding in a crab-apple
bush near the top of the hill, in the area just north of the parking
lot.
I was able to see it on Dec. 18 thanks to the help of a man who had
seen it earlier while walking his dog and who kindlly pointed to the
area where I should look for it. He had seen it in the Magnolia trees
section of the Arboretum, at the very bottom of the hill.
If the man who helped me find this bird reads this message, could you
let me know if you have seen it on Sunday Dec. 16 (that was the day of
the Ottawa-Gatineau Christmas Bird Count and observers looking for it
could not find it), so that I could relay the information to the
organizers; or you could send a message to Bruce Di Labio,
[EMAIL PROTECTED], leader of that sector. I understand
that this would be the first time ever that Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker had been recorded on the Count. Thanks!
To look for this bird, park in the parking area behind the Friends of
the Farm building, and walk to the bottom of the hill, turn right at
the end and walk towards the tall pine trees. You will see a fence on
your left. On Dec. 18, at about 11:40 the bird flew across the path
and perched in a small black berries tree along the fence, a few
meters from the end of that fence. It grabbed some berries and flew
back across the path to a large deciduous tree where it appeared to
store berries in the bark about 7-8 meters from the ground. A few
minutes earlier, I had heard the soft tapping of a woodpecker.
Langis Sirois, Ottawa
Directions to Arboretum courtesy of famous NeilyWorld site:
[2]http://ca.geocities.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/rideauw7.htm
References
1.
http://by112fd.bay112.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/addresses?&curmbox=00000000%2d0000%2d0000%2d0000%2d000000000003&a=68dcd5db3dc9889f93a2e7dc3d4f4a09fa6a8250ee47141c85b008a3586616f1
2. http://ca.geocities.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/rideauw7.htm
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