Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club (OFNC) – Weekly Birding Report Sightings within a 50km radius of Parliament Hill - including eastern Ontario and western Quebec *Compiled by Al Caughey at sightings@ofnc.ca <sightings@ofnc.ca>* Update for the week ending on 2026.10.16 (season 1; episode 38) First of all, congratulations to everyone who participated in the eBird October Big Day on Sat Oct 10th. Worldwide, almost 8000 species were reported in more than 120,000 lists submitted by more than 51,000 eBirders; almost a million people used the Merlin app over the course of the day! Canada ranked #3 for the total number of checklists submitted and #30 for the number of species - see full results here: https://ebird.org/octoberbigday. <https://ebird.org/octoberbigday.> It's not possible to easily aggregate the Big Day results across the full 50km circle but Ottawa ranked #1 in Ontario for checklists (278) and #4 for species (121); Gatineau ranked #7 in Quebec for checklists (80) and #8 for species (96) - full results by region can be found here: Ontario ( https://ebird.org/region/CA-ON/subregions?yr=BIGDAY_2026b) & Quebec ( https://ebird.org/region/CA-QC/subregions?yr=BIGDAY_2026b) In terms of the rest of the week, there were about the same number of notable species reported (29 vs 28) but the total number of species reported dropped from 175 to 155. There was also a considerable turn-over in the list of notables - an increasing number of which are now late staying summer residents. Waterfowl movement has also increased - i.e., all 3 scoter species were reported this week; in addition to an increasing variety of ducks and geese. *9 arrivals since the last update (5 notables)*: - Black Scoter [Ottawa (Oct 15), Papineau (Oct 10)], Bufflehead [Ottawa (Oct 15), Lanark (Oct 15), Papineau (Oct 10)], Caspian Tern🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 12)], Osprey (American)🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 15)], White-eyed Vireo🔥 [Gatineau (Oct 14)], Lapland Longspur [Gatineau (Oct 14), Renfrew (Oct 12)], American Tree Sparrow [Ottawa (Oct 15), Gatineau (Oct 11), Renfrew (Oct 09), Prescott and Russell (Oct 10), Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais (Oct 15), Leeds and Grenville (Oct 13), Pontiac (Oct 11)], Northern Waterthrush🔥 [Papineau (Oct 10)], Nashville Warbler (ruficapilla)🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 14)] *27 species not reported since the last update (including 13 notables)*: - Solitary Sandpiper [Ottawa (Oct 03)], White-rumped Sandpiper [Ottawa (Oct 02), Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (Oct 03)], Semipalmated Sandpiper🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 04), Lanark (Oct 02), Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (Oct 03)], Little Gull🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 07)], Sabine's Gull🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 07)], Common Tern🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 07), Renfrew (Oct 02)], Little Blue Heron🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 05)], Broad-winged Hawk [Ottawa (Oct 01), Renfrew (Oct 04), Prescott and Russell (Oct 02)], Philadelphia Vireo [Ottawa (Oct 03)], Eastern Warbling Vireo🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 03)], Loggerhead Shrike [Lanark (Oct 03)], Wood Thrush🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 02)], Redpoll🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 05), Renfrew (Oct 04)], Eastern Towhee (Red-eyed)🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 03)], Ovenbird🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 07), Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais (Oct 02)], Cape May Warbler🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 03), Gatineau (Oct 01), Leeds and Grenville (Oct 04)], Magnolia Warbler [Ottawa (Oct 07), Gatineau (Oct 02), Lanark (Oct 01)], Chestnut-sided Warbler🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 01)], Blackpoll Warbler [Ottawa (Oct 04), Gatineau (Oct 03), Papineau (Oct 03), Leeds and Grenville (Oct 07)], Black-throated Blue Warbler [Ottawa (Oct 03)], Pine Warbler [Ottawa (Oct 03), Gatineau (Oct 01), Renfrew (Oct 01), Papineau (Oct 02), Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (Oct 07), Leeds and Grenville (Oct 04)], Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)🔥 [Gatineau (Oct 02)], Prairie Warbler🔥 [Gatineau (Oct 04)], Scarlet Tanager [Ottawa (Oct 02)], Rose-breasted Grosbeak🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 07), Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (Oct 02), Leeds and Grenville (Oct 05)], Indigo Bunting🔥 [Ottawa (Oct 03), Lanark (Oct 04)] The 5 most active hotspots within the circle: 1. Parc des Rapides Deschênes [Gatineau] - 43 2. Hwy 7 Storm Pond [Lanark] - 31 3. Shirley's Bay (boat launch) [Ottawa] - 30 4. Almonte Lagoons [Lanark] - 29 5. Vallée du ruisseau Meech (P16) [Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais] - 27 Expectations for the Coming Week: We're now into the late-fall migration window where remaining warblers and thrushes have largely left the area and movement is dominated by pushes of sparrows, hardy waterfowl & staging gulls. In terms of the weather forecast for the coming week: *Oct 15-16*: Rain & low overcast skies could ground incoming waterfowl, loons, and shorebirds along river shorelines and force songbirds into low vegetation. *Oct 17-18*: Crisp north winds and cooler temps followed by a shift tosouthwest winds and warming temps should encourage and then slow movement. Look for sparrows & kinglets in the morning and then focus along rivers for diving ducks, scoters & gulls. There could be good conditions for raptor migration on Sunday *Oct 19-21*: Mild & sunny with light breezes should encouraging active daytime foraging in thickets and create stable staging conditions for open-water waterfowl and gulls Current Notable Birds: *Greater White-fronted Goose*: 2 reports of 1 at Moodie Drive Quarry [Ottawa] on Oct 10 *Snow x Canada Goose (hybrid)*: 5 reports at 3 locations - 1 at Anderson Rd [Ottawa] (twice on Oct 14); 1 at Mer Bleue Bog [Ottawa] (on Oct 12); 1 at Central Park Boulevard, Russell ON [Prescott and Russell] (twice on Oct 10) *Common Gallinule*: 3 reports at 2 locations - 1 at Bruce Pit [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Carp River Watershed Reclamation Area/Didsbury Rd Scrape - Carp Watershed Restoration Area [Ottawa] (twice between Oct 12-14); plus at least 5 non-notable reports at locations in Papineau [2], Ottawa [2] & Gatineau [1] *Semipalmated Plover*: 2 reports of 1 at Andrew Haydon Park east [Ottawa] on Oct 15; plus 3 non-notable reports in Ottawa *Least Sandpiper*: 2 reports of 2 at Central Park Boulevard, Russell ON [Prescott and Russell] on Oct 10; plus a single non-notable report in Lanark *Caspian Tern*🆕: at least 7 reports of as many as 2 at Shirley's Bay (boat launch) [Ottawa] (6 times between Oct 11-12)) *Green Heron*: 12 reports of 1 at Andrew Haydon Park [Ottawa] between Oct 10-15; plus a single non-notable report in Gatineau *Great Egret*: 20 reports of 3 at Hwy 7 Storm Pond [Lanark] between Oct 9-13; plus at least 39 non-notable reports at locations in Gatineau [6], Ottawa [31] & Papineau [2] *Osprey (American)*🆕: a single report of 1 at Gordon Murdock Rd [Ottawa] on Oct 15 *Red-shouldered Hawk*: a single report of 1 at Indian creek & clarence-cambridge [Prescott and Russell] on Oct 10; plus at least 12 non-notable reports at locations in Ottawa [4], Gatineau [5], Lanark [1] & Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais [2] *Red-bellied Woodpecker*: a single report of 1 at Baie Noire (est et ouest) [Papineau] on Oct 10; plus 2 non-notable reports in Ottawa *White-eyed Vireo*🆕: 4 reports at 2 locations - 1 at Baie Simard [Gatineau] (twice on Oct 14); 1 at Parc des Rapides Deschênes [Gatineau] (twice on Oct 14) *Northern House Wren*: 2 reports at 2 locations - 1 at Dolman Ridge Rd [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Fillmore Cres [Ottawa] (on Oct 15) *Marsh Wren*: a single report of 1 at Hwy 7 Storm Pond [Lanark] on Oct 12; plus at least 3 non-notable reports at locations in Papineau [1] & Ottawa [2] *Gray Catbird*: 13 reports at 5 locations - 1 at Parkside Greenspace [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); as many as 2 at Fletcher Wildlife Garden [Ottawa] (6 times between Oct 14-15); as many as 2 at Bridlewood Hydro Spur Path/Old Quarry Trail [Ottawa] (3 times between Oct 14-15); 1 at Findlay Creek stormwater finishing ponds [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Almonte Lagoons [Lanark] (twice on Oct 14); plus at least 32 non-notable reports at locations in Ottawa [25], Gatineau [6] & Papineau [1] *Swainson's Thrush*: 4 reports at 3 locations - 1 at Clyde Woods [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Constance Creek Mouth [Ottawa] (twice on Oct 15); 1 at Rockcliffe Airport Woods [Ottawa] (on Oct 14); plus at least 17 non-notable reports at locations in Gatineau [4], Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais [1], Papineau [1], Ottawa [10] & Lanark [1] *Field Sparrow*: 2 reports at 2 locations - 1 at Jardin - mangeoires et alentours [Gatineau] (on Oct 12); 1 at Parc des Rapides Deschênes [Gatineau] (on Oct 9); plus at least 13 non-notable reports at locations in Ottawa [11] & Lanark [2] *Nelson's Sparrow*: 11 reports at 2 locations - as many as 3 at Constance Creek Mouth/Sandbay St to Constance Creek [Ottawa] (10 times between Oct 9-14); 2 at Hwy 7 Storm Pond [Lanark] (on Oct 11) *Northern Waterthrush*🆕: 2 reports of 1 at Baie Noire (est et ouest) [Papineau] on Oct 10 *Tennessee Warbler*: 9 reports at 7 locations - 1 at Pleasant Park Woods [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Central Park Boulevard, Russell ON [Prescott and Russell] (on Oct 14); 3 at Ottawa River Pathway (view of Britannia Bay) [Ottawa] (on Oct 13); 1 at Pioneer Plains Park [Ottawa] (twice between Oct 11-12); 1 at Richmond CA [Ottawa] (twice between Oct 10-12); 1 at Hurdman Bridge [Ottawa] (on Oct 11); 2 at Fletcher Wildlife Garden [Ottawa] (on Oct 9); plus at least 2 non-notable reports at locations in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais [1] & Gatineau [1] *Nashville Warbler*: 9 reports at 6 locations - 2 at Pleasant Park Woods [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); as many as 3 at Fletcher Wildlife Garden [Ottawa] (4 times on Oct 14-15); 1 at Pioneer Plains Park [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Remic Rapids Lookout [Ottawa] (on Oct 15); 1 at Almonte Lagoons [Lanark] (on Oct 14); 1 at Rockcliffe Airport Woods [Ottawa] (on Oct 14); plus at least 18 non-notable reports at locations in Gatineau [6], Ottawa [11] & Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais [1] *Common Yellowthroat*: 9 reports at 6 locations - 1 at Stanley Park [Ottawa] (on Oct 14); 1 at Central Experimental Farm Arboretum [Ottawa] (on Oct 12); as many as 3 at Shirley's Bay (boat launch) [Ottawa] (twice between Oct 10-11); 1 at Andrew Haydon Park [Ottawa] (on Oct 11); 1 at Richmond CA [Ottawa] (3 times on Oct 10); 1 at Shirley's Bay and path [Ottawa] (on Oct 10); plus at least 2 non-notable reports at locations in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais [1] & Ottawa [1] *American Redstart*: a single report of 1 at Britannia CA general [Ottawa] on Oct 10 *Bay-breasted Warbler*: a single report of 1 at Aylmer rural - secteur sud-ouest [Gatineau] on Oct 12 *Wilson's Warbler*: a single report of 1 at Rockcliffe Airport Woods [Ottawa] on Oct 10 *October 19-25 is Birdability Week* - a celebration of birders with disabilities and other health concerns, as well as an opportunity to share resources and ideas to help the birding community become accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to everybody. The theme this year is `bird where you are`. For more info, see https://www.birdability.org/birdability-week As always, send questions, comments or photos to sightings@ofnc.ca. Your feedback is appreciated. Good birding, Al