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What was happening at the FWG in May 2006
19 May - Christine Hanrahan reports, "Fantastic birding day! Warblers were dripping from the trees. There were times when I literally did not know which way to look there was so much activity. I'd turn one way and out of the corner of my eye, see a number of birds swooping past the other way. Many of the birds were hard to see, and much of the ID was by sound, but with persistence I was able to track down some of them and get a good look. What was really nice was that there were quite a few of each species, not just one of each, and there were both males and females (and once again I realized how easy it is to mistake female warblers of a common species for another species altogether). "Two new species were added to the FWG list as well (see list below). Since most of the warblers don't nest at FWG, and several of the species rarely nest in the Ottawa region, it was a real treat to see them in full breeding plumage." | |
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Birds seen today Note: Photos, sound recordings and videos of many of these birds are available at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site Great Blue HeronGreen Heron Ring-billed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Ruby-throated Hummingbird Northern Flicker Least Flycatcher Blue-headed Vireo Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo American Crow Tree Swallow Black-capped Chickadee Ruby-crowned Kinglet Veery American Robin Gray Catbird European Starling |
Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler (new to the FWG) Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Common Yellowthroat Canada Warbler (new to the FWG) Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Baltimore Oriole House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow |
14 May - Focus on our hedgerow  | |
| Our hedgerow runs along the outside of the fence around the baseball diamond's outfield. A thick band of shrubs, long grasses, and small trees, it becomes truly spectacular in spring as one shrub after another bursts into bloom. Pictured here are Wayfaring Tree (right), Highbush Cranberry in bud (below left), and Serviceberry just finishing flowering. |  |
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 13 May 2006: Above - Many avid birders dropped by to help celebrate International Migratory Bird Day today. Peter Fuller led a walk around the garden and pointed out many resident species as well as a number of migrants. Warblers included Yellow, Black and White, Black-throated Blue, Nashville, and Magnolia. Left - A male Cardinal posed for the group in the Serviceberry tree in the Backyard Garden. | |
 | Female Red-winged Blackbirds have arrived at our pond. We are anxious to see how many will nest in the cattails this year, as we cut back quite a lot of dead material last fall. |
