Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at [email protected]
April 5, 2018 The bird of the week was a TUFTED TITMOUSE, seen on the 31st at a feeder south of the airport but not relocated. Spring migration continued for most of the week until Ottawa was slapped in the face with snow and cold starting on the 4th. There were a number of firsts of the year, and the numbers of the very earliest arrivals have risen greatly, but the focus of this week’s birding was the WATERFOWL migration. Contrary to appearances last week, the eastern floods did arrive, peaking probably on the 1st, but there was still quite a bit at least on the 3rd. At least 10,000 SNOW GEESE were in the Cobb’s Lake Creek floodplain, and much farther east outside of the region, there were up to 125,000. Few SNOW GEESE have been seen farther west, though. There were scattered sightings of ROSS’S GOOSE, mostly near Carp with one on the Cobb’s lake Creek floodplain, one on Frank Kenny on the 2nd and one on Wall Road on the 4th. GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE had some scattered appearances in the west end and up to 2 on Milton Road as late as the 4th. The TUNDRA SWANS continued on Milton Road as of the 4th, but there were not as many. The number of DUCKS has picked up in the flooded areas, by far the most common being NORTHERN PINTAIL. 15 species of DUCKS have been seen in the region in the last week. Deschenes has been another good spot for DUCKS, with the first recent sighting of GADWALL there. There is a lot of open water on the rivers, but the main bays in the Ottawa River have not yet opened up, nor have the inland ponds. There were also a number of firsts for the year. 1. TREE SWALLOW at Carleton University on the 3rd. 2. EASTERN PHOEBE at Britannia on the 30th. 3. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT at Deschenes on the 31st. 4. GREAT EGRET at Deschenes on the 31st. 5. GREATER YELLOWLEGS in the Carp River reclamation area on the 1st. 6. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER at the Britannia Yacht Club on the 2nd. 7. RED-NECKED GREBE at Deschenes on the 3rd. 8. PIED-BILLED GREBE at Deschenes on the 31st. 9. WINTER WREN in Richmond on the 1st. 10. A FOX SPARROW at the Hilda Road feeders on the 2nd. In other odds and ends: BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS have returned to their nesting grounds on Lemieux Island as of the 31st. The Greenland Road Hawkwatch on the 31st had GOLDEN EAGLE and RED-SHOULDERED HAWK among the regulars. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. We encourage everyone to report their bird sightings on eBird for the benefit of the entire birding community. Good birding. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
