Good afternoon, I ran into Rob Pinilla at the Varied Thrush site east of Ottawa and we wandered out to the Castleman area birding. The Lafleche LeBlanc Dump was excellent for gulls. The highlight was a near immaculate adult California Gull (nearly completely white head, clearly heading into breeding plumage; legs were not yet jazzed up as bright as they will get but a very nice bird). There were at least 27 Glaucous Gulls, 20+ Iceland Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 1 Ring-billed Gull, 200+ Great Black-backed Gulls and 1000 American Herring Gulls loafing in the field east of the dump from 10 to 11:30 am. To reach the dump take the 417 east of Ottawa to Hwy 138. Exit and go south to Allaire Road. Turn right (west) and follow your nose (~1km to the dump). We asked, and birders are not welcome on the dump property.
Also in the area were 3 Gray Partridge at the intersection of Concession 20 and St. Rose Roa and Lapland Longspurs at the dump and scattered around the local roadsides. This is a good area for Snowy Owls as well if you decide to visit. The Varied Thrush is also still present at 988 Calypso east of Limoges. Directions: exit the 417 at Limoges and go north, turn right on Concession 3 (=300 = Calypso), about 1/2kilometre from the 417, and drive about 8 kilometres East to 988. Good birding, Jeff -- Jeff Skevington, Research Scientist Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 960 Carling Avenue, K.W. Neatby Building Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada Phone: 613-759-1647 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] _______________________________________________ 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/
