Migratory Fowl Day: Fall migration brings a whole bunch of species to Ottawa shorelines Specific Occasions

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Dozens of bird-curious of us turned out to a park by the Rideau River on the weekend in hopes of recognizing and figuring out a number of the a whole bunch of species of birds that make pit stops within the Ottawa space throughout the fall migration.

As a part of the actions marking World Migratory Fowl Day, birders and chicken fanatics from Fowl Pleasant Ottawa and the Ottawa Area Naturalists Membership have been readily available at Adàwe Crossing — the pedestrian and biking bridge that hyperlinks the Overbrook and Sand Hill neighbourhoods — to share their information and reply questions on our feathered associates and the threats they face on their travels. A second occasion came about later within the day alongside the Ottawa River at Andrew Haydon Park. 

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The theme of this 12 months’s fall chicken day was water, and specialists have been eager to level out that Ottawa’s place on the Atlantic Flyway migration path makes it an necessary cease for a lot of species of waterfowl — not simply the number of noisy gulls and Canada geese that appear to take over each shoreline within the space. 

“There are numerous shore birds stopping over on their migration south so there are numerous birds in Ottawa this week that aren’t usually right here,” stated Deborah Doherty, a volunteer with Fowl Pleasant Ottawa. Among the species that have been sighted Saturday included the red-breasted merganser, lesser scaup, higher yellowlegs and a higher white-fronted goose. 

One little chicken she was thrilled to see in her yard this week was a hermit thrush. Though it doesn’t have as lengthy a migration as a shorebird, it faces related threats. A earlier go to by a hermit thrush to Doherty’s house ended badly, she stated, prompting her to get entangled with Nature Canada’s Fowl Pleasant Cities program. 

“I actually bought concerned with Fowl Pleasant Cities due to the threats to migratory birds from window collisions, cats, pesticides, lack of habitat,” she stated. “I had one thrush go to that died colliding with my home windows so I’ve now handled my home windows. I used to be excited as a result of this customer was a perky little dwell man.”

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By Saturday afternoon, the climate alongside the Ottawa River had turned cool and windy, situations that weren’t ideally suited for the day’s second bird-spotting occasion. However Derek Dunnett, a member of the Ottawa Area Naturalists Society, stated the wind would convey extra birds within the coming days. 

“You can simply assume there should not many birds in Ottawa throughout the 12 months however with migration, you may see 250 species of birds right here,” Dunnett stated. “They don’t breed right here. They breed within the Arctic and different locations, however days like right now spotlight for those that we’re all a part of this large interconnected net that’s all throughout the continent.”

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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