[Ontbirds]Gulls, Ottawa

[Paul.Matthews at statcan.ca]

Hello Ontbirders

The past three afternoons I've observed good numbers of gulls (a few
hundred) on the ice of the Ottawa River. On Friday and Saturday they
were near Remic Rapids, but yesterday Sunday they were at Kitchissippi
(Westboro beach area). I'm assuming that essentially the same group was
involved, as there were no gulls at Remic yesterday (note that the
"roundup" posting for the Ottawa area was in error as to the location of
the gulls yesterday). This morning I noticed several dozen gulls still
near Kitchissippi as I went to work by bus. The gulls tend to disperse
during the day, but may come back to roost at Kitchissippi this
afternoon.

I was able to identify 5 species, mostly Herring and Great Black-backed.
There are, however, good numbers of Glaucous and, to a lesser extent,
Iceland. Also a few lingering Ring-billeds. Better gull watchers than I
may be able to pick out rarer species, though I wasn't able to. The
birds tend to be a bit distant--you'll need a good scope--but they were
closer than they usually are at Britannia and the Moodie ponds.

Note: Both Kitchissippi and Remic parking lots are now closed for the
winter. For the former, I suggest parking at the west end of Lanark Ave
on the west side of Churchill north of Richmond. You can then go under
the Ottawa River Parkway overpass to Westboro beach. For Remic, you
could park at the north end of Carleton Ave and head north to the river
under another parkway overpass. If I didn't have to work, I'd try to
arrive at around 3PM, maybe earlier. It gets dark early these days! No
guarantees, unfortunately--these gulls seem to frequently change the
location where they roost.

Paul Matthews, Ottawa