This morning I led about 18 hardy birders on an OFO birding trip in the Ottawa area. On the upside, we had a crystal clear, sunny morning, with not a cloud in the sky. On the downside, the wind was howling out of the north and yielding windchills in the -35 degrees Celsius range! Nevertheless, we perservered and (with intermittent breaks in the cars to warm up) managed to find some good birds. We began the day along the Rideau River at the Ottawa Tennis Club. The recent cold temperatures have left very little open water, but eventually we tracked down the overwintering male Barrow's Goldeneye amongst several Common Goldeneyes in a small area of open water just north of the Hurdman Bridge (where Highway 417 passes over the Ottawa River). One of the trip participants also briefly saw the female Barrow's in an area of open water closer to the Tennis Club. Our next stop was at the end of Grandview Road. Unfortunately the long-staying Northern Hawk-Owl wasn't found, but given the temperature we didn't spend too much time looking. Instead we had great looks at a mixed flock of Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls that were at feeders near the intersection of Grandview Road and Hastings. A lingering Dark-eyed Junco was also present here. On Hastings Road we had great looks at a male White-winged Crossbill feeding in the top of a spruce tree. Some of the group also got a good look at a Northern Shrike here. We continued on to the Hilda Road feeders at Shirley's Bay. There were the usual Black-capped Chickadees and American Tree Sparrows around the feeders as well as a flock of about 15 Pine Siskins. With the siskins was a fairly pale redpoll, but detailed study showed that it was a Common at the frosty end of the spectrum for that species. On the way back to the cars we had about a dozen Bohemian Waxwings fly over. After a warm up at Tim Hortons we continued down March Valley Road. No raptors were visible in the wind-swept fields, so we finished up at the Duck Club Feeders near the corner of Riddell Drive with the usual assortment of feeder birds plus a flyby Common Raven. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold weather to join me on this trip. David Britton Ottawa_______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
