Friday, October 4, 2013

October 4,2013 Ottawa: Brant and scoters on Lake Deschenes

Hi Ontbirders
Today, October 4th, I spent 3 hours birding from Shirley's Bay to Britannia Pier along the Ottawa River at Lake Deschenes. There appeared to have been a small fallout of waterfowl with a number of flocks resting on the river. I counted a total of 146 Brant (4 flocks) , 138 White-winged Scoter (3 flocks) 5 Surf Scoter and 1 male Black Scoter. Other species noted included 27 Red-breasted Merganser, 62 Greater Scaup, 38 Lesser Scaup, 4 Common Goldeneye, 18 American Black Duck, 12 Mallard, 14 Northern Pintail and 7 Green-winged Teal. Also counted 3 Red-necked Grebe, 2 Horned Grebe and 2 Common Loon. I checked later in the afternoon and all the Brant had left along with most of the puddle ducks.
Good birding,
Bruce

Directions: There are a number of viewing point between Shirley's Bay and Britannia Point. All areas are accessible off Carling Ave.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

October 3,2013 Birding Lake Deschenes

I spent a couple of hours this morning birding Lake Deschenes from Dick Bell Park. I stationed myself down towards the mouth of the harbour and scanned the lake with my scope. The overall viewing conditions were good  at first but as the winds pick up and the temperature rose it became more difficult to identify water birds at a distance due to the choppy waters and distortion. There had been an obvious increase in northern diving ducks with a flock of 16 White-winged Scoter,  mainly adult males, 22 Greater Scaup, 28 Lesser Scaup, 1 Bufflehead, 3 Common Goldeneye, and 1 Red-breasted Merganser. I  also observed, 1 Common Merganser, 2 American Wigeon, 6 American Black Duck, 2 Mallards and 6 Horned Grebe all out on the lake. Few gulls flew by mainly ring-billed Gull but did record 2 Great Black-backed Gulls. Not much else except for a couple of flocks of Canada Geese. 
Good birding, 
Bruce

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

October 1, 2013 Eurasian Wigeon in Ottawa. .

 A male Eurasian Wigeon in eclipse plumage put in a brief appearance along the Ottawa River between Andrew Haydon Park and Britannia Pier. The wigeon was first observed off the east end of the main park. It was present for a short period of time before disappearing. It was finally observed at 12:00 noon as it fly by and landed off Scriven's Road area. It appeared very wary-nervous and didn't associate with any of the other water fowl that were present. It finally took flight at around 12:30 p.m. and was last seen flying east. A good location to look is Mud Lake at the Britannia Conservation Area.  

Good birding,
Bruce



A male Eurasian Wigeon  in eclipse plumage.