Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club (OFNC) Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Al Caughey at sightings@ofnc.ca Update for 2026.02.19 (season 1; episode 3) First of all, apologies for not including a reminder about the Great Backyard Bird Count last week. It completely slipped my mind. Full results for Ontario can be found here: https://ebird.org/gbbc/region/CA-ON/regions?yr=EBIRD_GBBC_2026&m= and Quebec, here: https://ebird.org/gbbc/region/CA-QC/regions?yr=EBIRD_GBBC_2026&m=. Spoiler: there were 75 species recorded in Ottawa County and 43 in Gatineau. Sorry for not including all of the other regions - you can find those totals at the links above. On the birding front, almost all of our long term visitors and `winter` birds are still here and nothing too exciting has arrived (yet). But it is beginning to get warmer so hopefully we'll see more returning birds in the coming weeks. Stay safe if you're venturing out onto the ice! I'm playing a bit with the format - please let me know what you think. Is there anything I should be adding or highlighting in these updates? `Notable` birds: Trumpeter Swan: several reports from several locations... even more just outside the 50km circle. - The dam in Burritt's Rapids is right at the 50km limit; depending on where people pinned their eBird reports, they may or may not appear as `Ottawa` birds. There's several on the Mississippi River between Carleton Place and Almonte. As well, there may have been a pair on the ice in Constance Bay on Feb 18 Northern Pintail: multiple reports from 4 locations - Etang Grimes in Gatineau - last reported on Feb 13 - Iber Storm Pond in Stittsville, Mud Lake CA & Billing Bridge in Ottawa - last reported Feb 18 Ring-necked Duck: 18 reports all basically at the bridge in Manotick - last reported on Feb 17 Lesser Scaup: 2 reports at Bate Island off the Champlain Bridge in Ottawa - last reported on Feb 16 - there are also small flocks of Buffleheads showing up in the open waters around the Champlain Bridge Hooded Merganser: 1 report on the Mississippi Riverwalk Trail - last reported on Feb 13 Red-tailed Hawk (borealis): 1 report on Cayer Rd, Winchester ON - last reported on Feb 14 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: 2 reports at the Oschmann Forest CA near Winchester ON- last reported on Feb 14 Red-bellied Woodpecker: multiple reports at several locations. - Just a few years ago, these guys caused quite a stir if they showed up in the area but as their territory has extended northwards, they're no long considered to be a rarity in most of the counties in the 50km circle Black-backed Woodpecker: 9 reports at 4 locations - Ottawa--Old Quarry Trail - multiple dates; most recently Feb 19 - Ottawa--Pine Grove Trailhead P19 - multiple dates; most recently Feb 18 - Ottawa--Stony Swamp (Jack Pine Trail) - last reported on Feb 17 - Ottawa—Fitzroy rail bed - last reported on Feb 14 Northern Flicker: 9 reports at 6 locations - ON-Ottawa-412 Sparks St - last reported on Feb 18 - Kanata - last reported on Feb 16 - Nepean - multiple dates; most recently Feb 16 - Richmond CA (formerly Richmond Sewage Lagoons) - last reported on Feb 15 - Britannia CA--Britannia Ridge - multiple dates; most recently Feb 14 - Pakenham CA - last reported on Feb 14 Tufted Titmouse: 10 reports at 5 locations basically all close to Lewis St in downtown Ottawa - last reported on Feb 15 - There's another one being reported just outside the 50km circle in White Lake ON Hermit Thrush: lots of reports at 2 locations - Fletcher Wildlife Gardens in Ottawa - multiple dates; most recently Feb 19 - Mud Lake Conservation Area also in Ottawa - multiple dates; most recently Feb 17 Evening Grosbeak: many reports at many locations - most recently Feb 19 - The majority of the sightings are to the southwest of a line drawn from Kemptville to Almonte Pine Grosbeak: many reports at many locations - most recently Feb 19 - The majority of these sightings are to the north of line drawn from Kemptville to Almonte White-winged Crossbill: reports at two locations - Old Quarry Trail in Kanata - last reported Feb 15 - Pine Grove Forestry Trail in Ottawa - last reported Feb 15 Lapland Longspur: multiple reports from 3 locations often hiding in flocks of tens to hundreds of Snow Buntings - Ch. Alary in Luskville PQ (1) - last reported Feb 13 - Kinburn Side Rd at Upper Dywer Hill Rd (1) - last reported Feb 15 - Akins Rd and Brownlee Rd in Richmond ON (1) - last reported Feb 19 Fox Sparrow: Most reports from the south west corner of the Mud Lake CA in Ottawa - last seen on Feb 19 - Another one was seen on Rosefire Dr in Metcalfe ON - last reported on Feb 14 White-crowned Sparrow: 9 reports at 4 locations - Fernbank Rd, Ottawa ON - multiple dates; most recently Feb 19 - Ottawa--Riverside South stormwater ponds - last reported on Feb 17 - Ottawa--Central Experimental Farm, Morningside Lane, Manure Pile - last reported on Feb 16 - Owl Valley Dr - multiple dates; most recently Feb 15 White-throated Sparrow: early returnees are beginning to show up all over the place (too many locations to list) - last reported Feb 19 Western Meadowlark: still on Panmure Rd. There were no reports for several days but it was seen again on Feb 18. Thanks - apologies for any errors and/or omissions! Al