Feeding time for water birds
Many species looking for food on shorelines,
After months of high water levels along the Ottawa River, there are finally signs of mudflats, sandbars and shoreline. Hopefully the water levels will continue to drop.
With the lower levels, many species of water birds including shorebirds, gulls, terns, herons and egret take advantage of these feeding opportunities. Also with the increase in bird activity, there will be an increase in the number of species of hawks and falcons.
Both the Peregrine Falcon and Merlin will be found along the shoreline searching for prey, mainly shorebirds for the Merlin and anything from gulls to ducks for Peregrine Falcons. Other species such as the Northern Harrier, formerly called Marsh Hawk, will also hunt along the shoreline or over the cattail marshes.
Watch for Osprey hovering over the water and Bald Eagles swooping as they search for fish. Lots of bird activity can be found early in the morning or late in the day.
On July 21 at Shirley’s Bay, numerous species took advantage of the lower water levels including five Great Egrets that were successfully feeding on small fish. On the recently exposed mudflat, 12 Lesser Yellowlegs, one Greater Yellowlegs, one Solitary Sandpiper and two Killdeer enjoyed the offerings.
Over the next few months, many species of shorebirds will stop and feed along the Ottawa River between Britannia Pier and Constance Bay. If low water levels prevail, these mudflats will attract many species of shorebirds that will feed or rest before continuing their flight south.
In the shorebird family, the adults migrate first, followed by the juveniles weeks later. With adult shorebirds already on the move south, it won’t be long before the first juveniles are spotted in the area. We should being seeing juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper and Solitary Sandpiper in the next week or so. Other species of young shorebirds including Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs will arrive in early to mid August. Lots of interesting shorebird watching on the way!
Over the past four decades, there have been a number of changes to the status of many species of birds that occur in eastern Ontario and the Outaouais region. We’ve had numerous new records, including Yellow-nosed Albatross, Whitefaced Ibis, Violet-green Swallow and Ivory Gull to name a few. Other species once extremely rare are now regularly found and even breeding in the region, including Carolina Wren, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Great Egret.
In spite of all these additions, there are many species that have declined over the past four decades. The Common Nighthawk is one such species. Once a common sight and sound in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, the Common Nighthawk has declined throughout much of its range. I grew up in the Tunney’s Pasture area around Holland and Wellington in Ottawa and, during the late 1960s and early ’70s, the Common Nighthawk was a regular sight and sound during the summer evenings. My dad called them Mosquito Hawks. You could hear their nasal “peent” call or the deep, booming sound produced by its wings as it pulled out of a steep dive overhead or watch their aerial acrobatics. Occasionally we’d find one roosting during the daytime on a neighbour’s roof. By the early 1990s, they had become very scarce in the area and were difficult to find in the downtown core of the city. A cousin of the Whip-Poor-Will, the Common Nighthawk is easily recognized by its long and pointed wings and slightly forked tail. It also has a distinctive white bar across its primaries.
In Ontario, the Common Nighthawk is considered a species of special concern and nationally are threatened.
The reason for the decline isn’t fully understood but likely to do with forests maturing, intensive agriculture, reduction in gravel roofs and predation by Ring-billed Gulls and American Crows in the city. Both species have increased tremendously over the past years. Another possibility for the nighthawk decline is the reduction of food sources, namely insects. Over the past decade I’ve occasionally observed large feeding flocks over Carp, including 100+ in late August 2004 and 250+ last year, also in late August. These are likely migrating flocks from northern Ontario. Let me know if you still have any in your area.
With the fall migration now underway, it’s important to review some of the best field guides available for all levels of birders. Remember that there is no shortage of field guides on the market but only a few are worth their weight. Still, the top three eastern guides are the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America, The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America and The Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America.
For those interested in North American birding, the most up-todate field guide for this region is the National Geographic sixth edition, 2011, Field Guide to the Birds of North America. I highly recommend this book, even for just eastern Ontario and the Outaouais region.