Nasty forecast blamed for keeping folks away from excursion
COLUMN
Posted By KEN HOOLES
Posted 3 months ago
It seems that almost every year the Pembroke Area Field Naturalists' Lake Dore excursion is plagued by poor, early morning weather. This year, the event was held on Saturday, Oct. 24, and it was no different. The participants experienced fog, mist, and a bitter wind. The good news was that the forecasted heavy rains did not occur.
The weather forecast of heavy rains did have its toll on the number of participants in this year's event. Unfortunately, only four persons participated in the outing, and were only able to locate 26 species of birds. This number was nine fewer species than the previous year on the walk with similar conditions.
As this trip primarily concentrates on waterfowl, and those birds that can be found along the edges of the lake, the group was able to identify 13 species of waterfowl and three species of gulls.
The waterfowl species included Pied-billed, Horned, and Red-necked Grebes, Mallard and Black Ducks, Common Loons, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye Ducks, Bufflehead Ducks, both Greater and Lesser Scaup, two Surf Scoters, and Wood Ducks. The three gull species were Ring-billed, Herring, and Bonaparte Gulls.
The main highlights of the excursion were the sighting of the Surf Scoters, Pied-billed Grebe, two Ruffed Grouse, and a Grey Jay.
Other notable findings included Dark-eyed Juncos, a late Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a fairly large flock of migrating Robins.
What was notably absent this year was more late warblers, Snow Buntings, members of the Sparrow family, and either Pine Siskin or Common Redpoll.
Despite the weather, The Lake Dore excursion was a successful event and remains one of the club's more challenging outings. Hopefully, the weather and birds will be more co-operative next year. The Pembroke Area Field Naturalists would like to thank Chris Michener for leading the event this year.
On the local scene, the fall migration is slowly winding down. The main activity is now solely on our lakes with the final arrival of more ducks, grebes, and gulls. The activity is also picking up at our feeders and fields with the arrival of more Canada and Snow Geese, Rough-legged Hawks and Darkeyed Juncos.
We still await the arrival of Common Redpolls, possible Bohemian Waxwings from the west, and Pine Siskins. The northern gulls should also be arriving at the dump soon, including Black-backed, Icelandic, and Glaucous Gulls. With the recent arrival of cold weather, this is the crucial time to start feeding your birds and putting out your suet.
On October 24, Gary Moore of Laurentian Drive updated me with his bird feeder activity. He has Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, Black-capped Chickadees, a variety of Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Dark-eyed Juncos, and the first fall report of Common Redpolls.
On this same date, Gord Purvis of B-Line Road was surprised to spot a large flock of Snow Geese flying low over his neighbour's home. Nice find, Gord!
On October 25, Chris Michener of Golden Lake located several American Pipits, Horned Larks and three Lapland Longspurs on the Barr Line. He also reports that there was a large flock of Long-tailed Ducks on the Ottawa River near Riverside Beach and a Great Blackbacked Gull on a rock south of Morrison Island.
Finally, on October 26, Vic Harmer of Pembroke informed me that he has several birds at his feeder. These include several Dark-eyed Juncos, three types of Woodpeckers, Starlings. Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, both White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, a Fox Sparrow, a few Purple Finches and at least 25-30 Evening Grosbeaks. This is quite a variety of birds!
Later, Vic observed a Northern Shrike at the top of a tree in his yard. I am not surprised; Vic's feeders would be prime hunting areas for this bird.
Please call me with your bird sightings and feeder reports at 613-735-4430 or e-mail me at: hooles@nrtco.net.
