Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 09 March 2011 Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario,W. Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis [email protected], or [email protected]
March came in neither like a lion nor like a lamb, but the recent tospy-turvy weather is par for the course, as are a few new spring arrivals - some even a bit on the early side. Two early LONG-TAILED DUCKS on the Ottawa River above the Deschenes rapids on the 3rd were evidently in this location back on Feb. 26th. RING-BILLED GULLS began to appear as of March 1st. Numbers of HORNED LARKS have been increasing in recent days, and the first local report of a singing immature male RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD came from the Shirley's Bay area on the 7th. The resident pair of PEREGRINE FALCONS was again noted on the R.H. Coats building in Tunney's Pasture, and a single bird was seen in the west end of Ottawa in the Bayshore area on the 8th. Finally, good numbers of gulls were noted at the Trail Rd. landfill on the 4th, predominantly HERRING and GREAT BLACK-BACKED, with at least 2 GLAUCOUS GULLS among them. Wintering lingerers included a male BARROW'S GOLDENEYE above the Deschenes rapids on the 3rd, a RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER still present in Constance Bay as of at least February 27th, and a HERMIT THRUSH by Lac Leamy in Hull, QC on the 5th. BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS are still around in flocks of 100 or more, a few transient WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were reported on both the Ontario and Quebec sides of the district on the 3rd, and COMMON REDPOLLS continue to visit many local feeders with some observers reporting their first redpolls of the season just this past week. Thank you - Good Birding! _______________________________________________ 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/
