Jan 19, 2014
This trip was led by Roy John with help from Bev McBride,
Dave Moore and Bob Cermak.
(notes by Roy John)
"Thirty-eight resilient birders faced -5 C temperatures
with a really nasty wind that made it seem much colder, and many snow flurries
obscuring our view, to see 29 species of bird.
Ottawa has not been bird
friendly this winter so the going was tough, with even common birds hard to
find.
That said we had a good day with the highlights being
Barrow's Goldeneye (2 m 1 f), Snowy Owl (4), Glaucous Gull, Northern Shrike and
a flock of 30 Cedar Waxwings in a "cedar"! (Juniperus sp.,
ornamental). This species is usually scarce in Ottawa
in winter. We also saw two gatherings of wind-blown Snow Buntings, probably
about 100 in total.
We started off at Bate
Island where the Ottawa
River is open, and continued along the river to the Hilda
Ave. feeders near Shirley's Bay, then March
Valley Road
and then south along Moodie Dr.
to the Richmond area, visiting the Trail
Rd. landfill site en route."
