It was windy. It was grey. And it was rainy. In late October this combination can mean good birds to be had, and it was for this reason that a small band of ten intrepid birders set out this afternoon to check out likely sites along the Ottawa River in west of Ottawa. The usual late October ducks were seen, including nice looks at all three scoter species, a flock of 23 Long-tailed Duck, and a baker's dozen Red-necked and Horned Grebe. The highlight for many was a large flock of Snow Buntings, which enveloped the group at Shirleys Bay, a veritable snow globe of buntings; although watching a Great Black-backed Gull mercilessly harass a White-winged Scoter (it got away) was pretty exciting too. It was a gratifying statement of the times that a close flyby Peregrine, and a perched Bald Eagle, went largely unremarked. We finished up at the ponds on Moodie Drive, where among the large numbers of geese coming in to roost we were able to pick out three Cackling and six Snows, in combination with two brant seen earlier making for a "4 Goose" day.