[Ontbirds] Ottawa/Gatineau 12May08... Arrivals, Ruff, Rusty Blackbird

[Gordon Pringle]

- RBA

* Ontario
* Ottawa/Gatineau
* 12 May 2008
* ONOT0805.12

- Birds mentioned

Snow Goose
Common Goldeneye
Red-throated Loon
RUFF
Common Tern
Barred Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Lincoln's Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
RUSTY BLACKBIRD
Baltimore Oriole
Evening Grosbeak

- Transcript

hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club
date: 12 May 2008
Number: 613-860-9000
For the status line PRESS * (star)
To report bird sightings, PRESS 1 (one)
Rare bird alerts are now included in the introductory message
coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Can. Nat. Capital Reg.), E.Ont., W.Que.
compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis  hagenius at primus.ca
internet: Gordon Pringle  parula at magma.ca

THE OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE @ 5:30 pm, MONDAY MAY 12, 2008.

This is Chris Lewis reporting.

The month of May is always a fantastic time to be out birding, and the past
week did not disappoint. The rare bird of the week was a male RUFF in
breeding plumage discovered on the 11th, on the Quebec side of the
Ottawa River in the Marais des Laiches east.  There have as yet been no
subsequent reports.

The ever-popular Britannia Conservation Area has been hopping with
activity, both the avian and human kinds.  Fifteen species of warblers have
been reported from Britannia and a total of 19 in the Ottawa-Gatineau area
to date.  The most recent arrivals, in various locations, were Northern Parula,
Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat and
Ovenbird. Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers were so abundant that we
were practically swatting them out of the way.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Wood
Thrush, Gray Catbird, Scarlet Tanager, Bobolink, Rose-breasted Grosbeak
and Baltimore Oriole are all back on schedule with some of these species
now in good numbers.  An odd combination on the 7th was an Indigo
Bunting among approx. 20 Evening Grosbeaks in a backyard in Chelsea,
Quebec.  A Barred Owl was spotted in the Stoney Swamp on the 10th.
Chimney Swifts have been back for about 2 weeks and 100's were seen on
the evening of the 7th at a traditional roosting site - the Dominican Fathers
College on Empress Ave. near downtown Ottawa. Eight species of sparrows
were found on the 11th including Eastern Towhee and a Lincoln's Sparrow
singing on the Thomas Dolan Parkway in the Carp Hills.

An unusual sight for May 7th was a flock of over 2,000 Snow Geese in a
quarry pond along Giroux Rd. north of Navan, and approx. 50 RUSTY
BLACKBIRDS were in the Mer Bleue Conservation Area the same day. A few
Common Goldeneye were still lingering on the Ottawa River below the
Deschenes rapids on the 10th along with a Red-throated Loon, and a pair of
Common Terns has been fishing and resting in Mud Lake, Britannia all week.
And last but not least, a very vocal Northern Mockingbird was seen and
heard in the woods south of the Hurdman bridge on the 11th.

Thank you - Good Birding!

- End transcript