Ontario Ottawa/Gatineau 21 October 2008 Birds mentioned: GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE Cackling Goose Canada Goose TUNDRA SWAN Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Long-tailed Duck BARROW'S GOLDENEYE Gray Partridge Wild Turkey GREAT EGRET LITTLE BLUE HERON Northern Goshawk Rough-legged Hawk Golden Eagle Peregrine Falcon Sora Common Moorhen Sandhill Crane American Golden Plover Spotted Sandpiper LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER Carolina Wren MARSH WREN American Robin Gray Catbird Yellow-rumped Warbler American Tree Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Fox Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Pine Grosbeak White-winged Crossbill Pine Siskin Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Rare bird alerts are now included in the introductory message Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] At 7:00 am, Tuesday October 21, 2008 this is Chris Lewis reporting. The past week was a great one for pleasant weather, good birding, and even some exciting sightings. The annual Ottawa-Gatineau Fall Bird Count was held from the 18th to the 19th and a preliminary total of 125 species included some good records for this count. The final results will be available on the OFNC web site all the totals are in. The best bird of the month was found on the day after the count - a juvenile LITTLE BLUE HERON was spotted along the Quebec shoreline of the Ottawa River on the morning of the 20th and was relocated later in the marsh at the northeast end of Petite Baie Clement south of Angers. Interestingly, the discoverers of the heron were looking for 2 rare in Ottawa juvenile TUNDRA SWANS that were reported on the 18th. The swans were happily feeding in the river when the heron flew into view. Talk about serendipity! A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on the Ottawa River east of Andrew Haydon Park and a male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE were great finds on the 19th; the Barrow's was a very early arrival for Ottawa, and a 1st record for the fall count. A total of 8 Cackling Geese was a record high number for the count. Although waterfowl numbers (other than Canada Geese) remain generally low, a good diversity of both dabbling and diving ducks were seen since the 13th. A large raft of perhaps 200 mostly White-winged Scoters at Shirley's Bay on the 15th did not linger, but a smattering of Surf, White-winged and Black Scoters remained through the weekend, and up to 10 Long-tailed Ducks have been seen on the Ottawa River on Lac Deschenes since the 13th. Two Gray Partridge were seen at the Casselman lagoons on the 19th and a total of 87 Wild Turkeys was a record high for the fall count. The GREAT EGRET (still present at the pond along Earl Armstrong Rd. near High Rd. on the 20th) was a 2nd count record. Raptor reports on the weekend included 2 Northern Goshawks and 2 Golden Eagles on the Quebec side, 2 Peregrine Falcons on the R.H. Coats building at Tunney's Pasture on the Ontario side, and at least 20 Rough-legged Hawks throughout the count area. On the late side were 3 Common Moorhens at the Embrun lagoons and a Sora at Petrie Island on the 19th. Twenty-five Sandhill Cranes were counted southeast of Ottawa on the weekend. Nine species of shorebirds were highlighted by 17 American Golden Plovers at the quarry pond on Giroux Rd., a late Spotted Sandpiper in the Earl Armstrong/High Rd. pond and a lingering LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER at the Moodie Dr. quarry pond, all on the 19th. Rounding out the noteworty non-passerines was a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER found in the Marlborough forest along Flood Rd. on the 19th. Although the only warblers reported on the weekend were Yellow-rumpeds, there were still lots of songbirds around, and some were even singing, including a Carolina Wren on Lake Rd. in Aylmer, Quebec on the 17th and 2 MARSH WRENS at Petrie Island on the 19th. Four Gray Catbirds were still around on the weekend, and many areas were literally hopping with some of our common favourites such as American Robin, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird and a good variety of sparrows including American Tree, Vesper, Savannah, Fox, White-throated, White-crowned and Dark-eyed Junco. The St. Albert lagoons hosted 69 Lapland Longspurs on the 18th, and flocks of Snow Buntings are showing up in increasing numbers. Pine Siskins are now dominating the finch reports, and White-winged Crossbills and Pine Grosbeaks were both vocal and visible on the weekend in appropriate habitats. Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
