Ontario/Quebec Ottawa/Gatineau 26 October 2010 Hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club Phone number: 613-860-9000 For the Bird Status Line PRESS * (star) To report bird sightings PRESS 1 (one) Coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada National Capital Region) E. Ontario,W.Quebec Compiler & transcriber: Chris Lewis hagenius@primus.ca, or sightings@ofnc.ca Tuesday Oct. 26 2010 this is Chris Lewis reporting The 16th annual Ottawa-Gatineau Fall Bird Count was held Oct 23rd - 24th. Participants covered a lot of ground in the 50 KM circle around the Peace Tower, and came up with some great birds despite the inclement weather. Preliminary results indicate that 127 species were found. The finals will be posted on the the birding page of the OFNC web site at www.ofnc.ca Among the 27 species of waterfowl were impressive record highs of 1755 BRANT and 18 CACKLING GEESE. Approx. 2500 SNOW GEESE along Hwy 138 east of Casselman were unfortunately "out" of the count circle, however a EURASIAN WIGEON near Thurso, Quebec, was "in". All of the expected puddle ducks and bay ducks were found in most of the count sectors. All 3 species of SCOTERS as well as LONG-TAILED DUCKS, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, and all 3 species of MERGANSERS were found in good numbers for our region. WILD TURKEYS blew up previous records big-time, with most of the 323 birds counted on the Quebec side. The first local report of a RED-THROATED LOON on the Ottawa River was on the Ontario side. PIED-BILLED, HORNED and RED-NECKED GREBES were present in good numbers, and a late BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was found in the southwest sector. Although the weather was not friendly for raptors, 3 BALD EAGLES, 2 RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, 6 MERLINS and 3 PEREGRINE FALCONS were noteworthy. A good number of 76 AMERICAN COOTS were all found in the southeast sector, and 76 SANDHILL CRANES in the fields along Smith Rd. west of Milton Rd. were also a record high for the Fall Count. Poor habitat and viewing conditions dampened prospects for a good shorebirding - a PURPLE SANDPIPER reported from the Casselman sewage lagoons on the 22nd was not seen again, and all of the 10 species seen in this and other locations were in very low numbers and included 1 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, 9 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS and 27 DUNLIN. An AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER in the northwest sector was a nice discovery, but a BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER that has been in the Mer Bleue conservation area since the 12th remains elusive, and was last reported on the 21st. Four NORTHERN SHRIKES and 129 COMMON RAVENS were tallied among most of the count sectors. A GRAY JAY was seen again along the trail off Kerwin Rd. east of Dunrobin on the 23rd and 3 were spotted in the northwest corner near Low, Quebec. A BOREAL CHICKADEE was found along the Eardley-Masham Rd. in Gatineau Park, and 131 BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS rounded out this small "northern invasion". Not at all "northern" but another sort of "invasion" was an amazing record high count of 28,215 AMERICAN CROWS. The only warblers found on the weekend were 38 YELLOW-RUMPED and 1 COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. An extremely late CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER was spotted on the 25th along the Rideau River at Strathcona Park . Sparrows were generally scarce except for AMERICAN TREE, FOX, and DARK-EYED JUNCOS. Somewhat late for our region were 6 CHIPPING, 1 VESPER, 2 SAVANNAH and 1 LINCOLN'S SPARROW. Reports of SNOW BUNTINGS have begun to come in (right on time) and "winter finches" on the weekend included 97 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, 77 PINE SISKINS and 58 EVENING GROSBEAKS....... Let's hope that "winter weather" is still a long way off! Thank you - Good Birding!