Hi Ontbirders,
About 25 of us had a pleasant day birding in the west end of Ottawa. We started
at Mud Lake (Britannia) at 7:30 am and worked west to Andrew Hayden Park,
Shirley's Bay, Constance Creek and finally Carp Ridge. We recorded 85 species.
The highlight was our first stop at Mud Lake where we had an excellent warbler
flock (most of the 16 warbler species that we saw today were there). Estimated
warbler numbers for the day were: Tennessee Warbler 4, Nashville Warbler 3,
Northern Parula 7, Chestnut-sided Warbler 3, Magnolia Warbler 4, Yellow-rumped
Warbler 140, Black-throated Green Warbler 35, Blackburnian Warbler 2, Pine
Warbler 1, Palm Warbler 1,Bay-breasted Warbler 2, Blackpoll Warbler 30,
Black-and-white Warbler 4, American Redstart 1,Common Yellowthroat 1, and
Wilson's Warbler 1. Non-warbler highlights here included 2 Black-crowned Night
Herons and 1 Rusty Blackbird.
There were very few shorebirds around. 8 Sanderling at Andrew Hayden Park were
the only species of interest. The only other bird there of note was a single
Bonaparte's Gull.
Shirley's Bay was quiet with the only highlights being Scarlet Tanager and 15
Great Egrets. The melanistic chipmunk put on a show for everyone though.
Further west we saw 7 Eastern Bluebirds along 6th Line, 10 Common Moorhens at
Constance Creek (at Thomas Dolan Road) and 7 Purple Finches and 3 Field
Sparrows at Carp Ridge (off Thomas Dolan).
Good birding,
Jeff
Jeff Skevington, Research Scientist
Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
K.W. Neatby Building, C.E.F., 960 Carling Ave.
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada
email: jhskevington@gmail.com