Saturday, December 08, 2007

Bird Protection Quebec's Field Trip Report - December 8th, 2007

Mild temperatures and short periods of blowing snow marked yesterday's outing in the Casselman area, east of Ottawa Ontario. I led our group to the following good habitats: open water and feeders in Casselman and open agricultural areas near Ste-Rose, and our eagle-eyed participants (11) did the rest , finding 30 species between 8:30 and noon. Species # 31 was a COMMON RAVEN seen enroute to Casselman by one party, and species # 32 was a BALD EAGLE I observed flying over St-Isidore as I was heading home after leaving the group.

Our species of the day was the EVENING GROSBEAK of which 24 were seen mainly at feeders. Runner up was the GRAY PARTRIDGE of which 10 were well observed in the Ste-Rose area. Other noteworthy birds (for this locality) included alone RING-BILLED GULL, a single SONG SPARROW and 5 LAPLAND LONGSPURS.

The Snowy Owl I found on Thursday could not be re-located on Saturday despite extra efforts by a few individuals after the main group had left. I could not even find it on Friday, the day before the trip, but it was there as this fine photo (http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/image/90057287/original ) by Wilson Hum of Ottawa attests.

Thanks to all participants for coming out on Saturday and for being so keen-eyed and enthusiatic, and to co-leader, Martin Bowman, who could not be present physically but was with us in spirit.

I managed to take a few photos of some participants in action but only one is good enough to publish on my blog; I hope to be able do this sometime tomorrow here: http://jacquesbouvier.blogspot.com

The list of the other species and their numbers follows: Canada Goose 4, American Black Duck 1, Mallard 3, Common Merganser 1, Red-tailed Hawk 1, Rough-legged Hawk 6 (5 light/1dark), Small falcon sp. 1, Rock Pigeon 100+, Mourning Dove 5, Downy Woodpecker 1, Hairy Woodpecker 2, Blue Jay 30, American Crow 12, Horned Lark 3, Black-capped Chickadee 15, White-breasted Nuthatch 3, European Starling 24, American Tree Sparrow 3, Dark-eyed Junco 5, Snow Bunting 100+, Northern Cardinal 2, House Finch 5, Common Redpoll 6, American Goldfinch 6, House Sparrow 30

Jacques

http://www.jacquesbouvier.ca

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