Hello Ontbirds people, The 18th annual Ottawa-Gatineau Fall Bird Count was held on the weekend (20 - 21 October). The count circle comprises the area within a 50 km radius of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. This is an "informal" count (i.e. the results do not go to Audubon or Bird Studies Canada, etc.) The count period is 3:00 PM Sat. - 3:00 PM Sun., and basically it's just a fun event for birders to get out & check the rich variety of habitats & bird life in the "50K" at this time of year.
While the mild temp's and lack of precipitation were pleasant compared to other years, the strong west wind made for challenging conditions especially along the Ottawa River and in rural fields. Nevertheless, a good weekend with several highlights (including 2 rarities) and 12 record highs! This year, 64 participants (plus casual observers) found 130 species (about avg. for this event) including: 30 spp. waterfowl -- highlights: 1 Ross's Goose, 14 Cackling Geese, 2 Eurasian Wigeon, 1 Barrow's Goldeneye, and an Aythya-type duck that has yet to be confirmed as a female TUFTED DUCK (the jury is still out re: possible hybrid). 3 spp. grebes -- including a record high number (for the Fall Count) of Horned Grebes, and a WESTERN GREBE (1st reported on 16 October) still on the Ottawa River below Deschenes rapids. 128 Sandhill Cranes in the Navan area -- not only the highest for the Fall Count, but for Ottawa-Gatineau! 5 spp. shorebirds -- lowest ever for the count....BUT..apart from 18 Greater Yellowlegs, 14 Lesser Yellowlegs, 5 Pectoral Sandpipers & 3 Dunlin, a 1st for the count was a very late lingering RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 3 Golden Eagles, 1 Black-backed Woodpecker, 1 Boreal Chickadee, 37 Bohemian Waxwings & 1 Red Crossbill, all found on the Quebec side....a taste of things to come? Record high #s / previous high #s: Gadwall - 149 / 82 Northern Shoveler - 192 / 118 Northern Pintail - 123 / 61 Horned Grebe - 18 / 12 Great Egret - 5 / 1 Bald Eagle - 12 / 6 Golden Eagle - 3 / 2 Peregrine Falcon -6 / 4 Sandhill Crane - 128 / 76 Common Raven - 214 / 137 Carolina Wren - 2 / 1 Eastern Bluebird - 57 / 45 Results of previous fall bird counts can be found on the birding page at www.ofnc.ca Sincere thanks to all the sector leaders & participants, Ken Allison for his great performance as emcee & number-cruncher, and the ever-cheerful set-up/clean up team at the Sunday evening dinner & compilation! Chris Lewis Ottawa, ON [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/
