Sunday, December 13, 2009

Decemeber 11-13, 2009 Local birding

With colder weather on the way, the past week has seen a decrease in the numbers of waterfowl along the Ottawa River as well as gulls and other water birds. On Friday, December 11th, Ben and I birded Dick Bell Park till dusk and counted the gulls as they arrived to roost on the river. The most interresting gull was a first winter hybrid Glaucous X Herring Gull, known as a Nelson's Gull. Also observed 14 Iceland Gull, 9 Glaucous Gull , 1 Lesser Blacked-backed , 250+ Great Black-backed Gull, 250+ Ring-billed Gull and 2000+ Herring Gull.
On Saturday, Decemeber 12th I observed 220+ Bohemian Waxwings feeding near the corner of Carling Ave. and Hertzberg Road. There has been a sudden influx of Bohemian Waxwings over the past week as they search for berries.


With the change in weather, most ring-billed Gull will be leaving the Ottawa area for warmer climates.


A couple of White-tailed Deer at Shirley's Bay.


Ice forming along the Ottawa River.


Shirley's Bay, west of the causeway is now frozen and it won't be long before the Ottawa River freezes over.


An erratic wanderer, the Bohemian Waxwing travels across eastern Canada during the winter months in search of food.



Occasionally the Ottawa area can have 1000's feeding on Buckthorn, Crabapple, or Mountain Ash berries.



With the onset of winter keep your feeders full!



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