[Ontbirds]Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Ottawa

[Langis Sirois]

   Hi  Ontario  birders  and  others.  This is the 3rd time I try to send
   this  message,  first to  ontbirds on Dec 18.  For some reason, it did
   not  go through; Marc Cranford suggested that I send it again.  I have
   shortened it this time.

   A  Yellow-bellied  Sapsucker was present in the morning of Dec. 18, at
   the  Northern  end  of  the  Arboretum  section  of the Ottawa Central
   Experimental Farm.

   This bird was first seen by an observer from Longueuil Québec (Raymond
   Belhumeur)  on Dec. 11 and mentioned in a report to OrnithoQC the next
   day.   Belhumeur  had seen and photographed it feeding in a crab-apple
   bush  near  the top of the hill, in the area just north of the parking
   lot.

   I  was  able  to see it on Dec. 18 thanks to the help of a man who had
   seen  it  earlier while walking his dog and who kindlly pointed to the
   area where I should look for it.  He had seen it in the Magnolia trees
   section of the Arboretum, at the very bottom of the hill. 

   If  the man who helped me find this bird reads this message, could you
   let me know if you have seen it on Sunday Dec. 16 (that was the day of
   the  Ottawa-Gatineau Christmas Bird Count and observers looking for it
   could  not  find  it),  so  that  I could relay the information to the
   organizers;   or   you  could  send  a  message  to  Bruce  Di  Labio,
   [1]bruce.dilabio at sympatico.ca,  leader  of  that sector.  I understand
   that   this   would   be  the  first  time  ever  that  Yellow-bellied
   Sapsucker had been recorded on the Count.  Thanks!

   To  look for this bird, park in the parking area behind the Friends of
   the  Farm  building, and walk to the bottom of the hill, turn right at
   the end and walk towards the tall pine trees.  You will see a fence on
   your  left.  On Dec. 18,  at about 11:40 the bird flew across the path
   and  perched  in  a  small  black  berries tree along the fence, a few
   meters  from  the end of that fence.  It grabbed some berries and flew
   back  across  the  path to a large deciduous tree where it appeared to
   store  berries  in  the  bark about 7-8 meters from the ground.  A few
   minutes earlier, I had heard the soft tapping of a woodpecker.

   Langis Sirois, Ottawa

   Directions   to   Arboretum   courtesy   of  famous  NeilyWorld  site:
   [2]http://ca.geocities.com/larry.neily@rogers.com/rideauw7.htm

References

   1. http://by112fd.bay112.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/addresses?&curmbox=00000000%2d0000%2d0000%2d0000%2d000000000003&a=68dcd5db3dc9889f93a2e7dc3d4f4a09fa6a8250ee47141c85b008a3586616f1
   2. http://ca.geocities.com/larry.neily@rogers.com/rideauw7.htm