Ignoring frostbite warnings, more than 30 hardy souls gathered Saturday for a
winter's day sub-zero birding in the Ottawa area. On the itinerary: fields and
feeders. With few birds in the bush most activity is strongly concentrated
around bird feeders, so a route was plotted to visit feeders that could
conveniently be viewed from the roadside. The usual assortment of winter birds
were apparent, including good numbers of redpolls. At one feeder, several
participants were able to get good enough views to confirm an arboreal
"exilipes" Hoary Redpoll. Roadside stops in the South March area yielded two
adult Bald Eagles, an amusing flock of Bohemian Waxwings, and Northern Shrike.
A hoped for Red-bellied Woodpecker, one of several wintering in the Ottawa area
this winter, eluded the group, but a flyby Pileated was well seen by many. Open
fields in the Kinburn and Richmond area yielded Horned Lark, Snow Bunting and
cracking views of Lapland Longspur, the latter locally more common than usual
this winter. A covey of Grey Partridge staked out the day before had left the
area, a tell tale set of (human) tracks in the snow suggesting that they had
been flushed by a thoughtless observer/photographer. The final stop of the day,
the Trail Road dump, produced, wait for, two (two!) gulls, both adult Great
Black-backed. It's been a cold winter. Somewhat unexpectedly the group totalled
eight Red-tailed Hawks, seen in ones and twos throughout the day. In total 27
species were seen, less than one species per participant! Thank you to Bob
Cermak and Jen Spallin for their assistance and to Jeff Skivington for putting
up with a host of birders peering into his front yard!
Mark GawnOttawa, Ontario, Canada
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ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
