Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Gregory Zbitnew at sightings@ofnc.ca August 10, 2017 There were no real highlights this week, although there was a lowlight. Access to the Shirley’s Bay causeway is gone pending repair of damage due to the spring’s flood. This is a real disappointment given that this is the best area in Ottawa for SHOREBIRDS and WATERBIRDS. The only consolation to this bad news is that it has been a dry week so water levels on the Ottawa River have dropped, which is starting to expose some shoreline, so that there are other places to look. Other than that, there have just been a few more signs of migration, and nothing worth chasing. A LESSER SCAUP was at Embrun, along with a good variety of other common DUCKS and a family of AMERICAN COOT. Here is the latest SHOREBIRD update: Embrun: 40 birds of 10 species were seen on the 5th, in the usual limited habitat. A WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER was the least common species seen. Andrew Haydon Park: A modest amount of habitat is showing, with small numbers of common species. The rest of the Ottawa River has only habitat on the extreme edges of the river. Almonte: Very limited habitat and only common species. Carp River Floodplain: An area in Carp seen from Rivington, and a more extensive area near Terry Fox and Richardson have some good habitat and a modest number of birds, but so far only common species have been seen. Petrie Island: Some habitat is getting exposed near the edge of the marsh west of the causeway, but only KILLDEER and YELLOWLEGS have been seen recently. Up to 4 LEAST BITTERN have been seen regularly in Carp on the Carp River. Britannia, along with other migrant traps, are starting to perk up a bit. This week, some trips there have had up to 8 species of WARBLER, including BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. The last bit of news is of a CAROLINA WREN singing on Fisher Avenue on the 8th, The OFNC's Birds Committee no longer reports owl sightings on the Internet. We will continue to encourage the reporting of owls to sightings@ofnc.ca for the purpose of maintaining local records. Thanks to everyone who contributed bird observations. We encourage everyone to report their bird sightings on eBird for the benefit of the entire birding community. Good birding.