ONTBIRDS for Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   [Ontbirds]Ottawa - yet another Gyrfalcon   Christina Lewis   8:05pm

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Subject: [Ontbirds]Ottawa - yet another Gyrfalcon
From: "Christina Lewis" <hagenius(AT)primus.ca>
Date: 12 Mar 2008 8:05pm

Hello Ontbirds people,

Received a message this afternoon on the OFNC Bird Status Line from Mike Runtz
re: a JUVENILE DARK MORPH GYRFALCON, seen today (March 12) @ 4:30 pm by Mike and
 his ornithology class at the Trail Rd. Landfill (Trail Rd. at Moodie Dr.).  The
 bird went after the gulls & crows at the landfill, then perched on the snow
during which time Mike states that it was well-studied through scopes for ~ 5
minutes.

The previously reported DARK morph Gyr (25 February and 01 March) at the Ottawa
River and Rideau Canal was definitely an ADULT (photo by Richard Waters).  Then
a GREY morph bird was seen by Dave Moore on 03 March, also along the Ottawa
River. Another (perhaps the same?) light -coloured bird (originally reported by
Don Wigle on 07 March as a "white morph" Gyr but in subsequent communication
with Don, he thought it "could have been a grey morph") was seen in the Kanata
/Dunrobin area........and now we're back to the DARK morph, but a JUVENILE this
time!

So....the $64,000 questions in Ottawa are:

How many Gyrfalcons are actually around the city?
....and....
Will we beat our previous (1971) winter snowfall record? (only about 30 cm to
go!)

Thanks to Mike Runtz for calling this in. 

DIRECTIONS TO THE TRAIL RD. LANDFILL:  From downtown Ottawa, take Hwy 417 west
to the Hwy 416 exit, go south on the 416 to exit 66 (Fallowfield Rd.) Right
(west) on Fallowfield to Moodie Dr.  Turn left (south) on Moodie and look for
the sign to the landfill, just before the intersection with Cambrian Rd. (which
becomes Trail Rd. on the east side).  There is no public access to the landfill;
 however the snowbanks are high enough for a high-altitude raptor to sit on &
have a good look around!

Good birding
Chris Lewis
Ottawa, ON
hagenius(AT)primus.ca
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