Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (National Capital Region) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Greg Zbitnew at [email protected] or [email protected]
Recent sightings to May 28, 2015 The best bird of the week was a YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON seen on the 23rd-25th at a residence southwest of Carp. Unfortunately it was only seen by the homeowners and one other person. This very rare bird has not been seen in Ottawa in many years. The second best bird was a SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER (very rare) seen at the Innis point bird observatory on the 28th, but not seen again. The third best bird was a MARBLED GODWIT (annual but rare) seen in a small pond on Greenbank north of Barnsdale on the 25th-28th, continually but not continuously. Poor birding conditions persisted to the 23rd, including a very late frost on the 23rd. Heavy and badly needed rain on the 25th did not produce any fallouts, but the unsettled conditions and south winds during the rest of the week may have been a factor in some of the better birds that did show up. Songbird migration will continue for 1-2 weeks longer, but the pace is declining rapidly. While the main interest now is shorebirds and late migrants or vagrants using the Ottawa River corridor, rarities of other sorts and in other places may certainly show up. Of the 9 arrivals this week, 5 were shorebirds. To date, only 3-4 of the regular spring arrivals have not been seen in the region. There were few notable waterbird sightings. There have been flocks of up to 400 BRANT passing through, and a few lingering SNOW GEESE at the Winchester and Russell lagoons. There are still a few REDHEAD here and there on the Ottawa River, and there was a somewhat late sighting of RED-NECKED GREBE. LEAST BITTERN was at the “Nortel” marsh northwest of Moodie and Corkstown. Additional shorebird arrivals included BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (Innis Point), RED-NECKED PHALAROPE (Winchester), WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER (Winchester), RUDDY TURNSTONE (Winchester and St. Albert Lagoons, and Remic Rapids). Shorebirds will peak in 1-2 weeks. 19 of the 22 regular shorebirds have now been seen in the region. There have now been some reports from the eastern lagoons. Casselman and Embrun had some habitat but only a few of the more common species. St Albert had one good cell that had about 400 shorebirds on the 25th but only common species. Winchester had over 400 birds of 10 species on the 24th, but the number had drastically declined by the next day. The Russell lagoons had a small numbers of common species plus SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER on the 25th. The Giroux pond had upwards of 40 birds some days (including SHORT BILLED DOWITCHER and WILSON’S PHALAROPE), and the Bruce Pit has had some shorebird as well but only common species. The former Richmond Sewage lagoons had a WILSON’S PHALAROPE on the 25-26th, but very little else. Lastly, UPLAND SANDPIPER were seen on the 24th northeast of the corner of Dunrobin Road and Constance Bay Road, as well as near the Russell lagoons. Numbers of shorebirds in these spots are very variable from day to day, and they merit regular checking for the next week or two. While there are lots of shorebirds passing through the area now, whether and where they come down depends on weather conditions and the available habitat. The arrival of CASPIAN TERN (two sightings) and ARCTIC TERN (multiple sightings) completes the expected TERN list. This latter species is often flying well offshore and sometimes does not stop to feed. Britannia Point is one of the best spots to see this bird. There has been a significant increase in the number of BONAPARTE’S GULLS with the emergence of insects from the Ottawa River. There is an enhanced probability of seeing rare GULLS and TERNS in the next few weeks. There were two sightings of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL (late) at the Trail Road landfill. A single RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was still at Constance Bay but there are now up to 3 on Chemin du Fer à Cheval in Gatineau. Meanwhile, a very late AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER was at the Eagle Creek Golf Course in Dunrobin. A YELLOW-THROATED VIREO was seen at the Rivermead Golf club in Gatineau on the 23rd. The SEDGE WREN continues on Conley Road, south of Mansfield, but has not been a persistent singer. Another sighting of this species was from Bowesville Road south of the Ottawa Airport. Meanwhile, a CAROLINA WREN was seen and heard in Kanata. NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was seen again this week in Vincent Massey Park. There was a movement of thrushes on the 25th after the rain let up, with a number of GREY-CHEEKED THRUSHES heard calling overhead. There was nothing notable in WARBLERS this week. There were some late migrants, but otherwise all the warblers are on territory now. Likewise there was nothing notable with the SPARROWS, FINCHES or BLACKBIRDS. The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to [email protected] for the purpose of maintaining local records. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. Good birding. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide
