Ottawa/Gatineau: recent sightings to Aug 01, 2024 Ottawa Field Naturalists' Club (OFNC) Ottawa/Gatineau (50 Km radius from Parliament Hill) E. Ontario, W. Quebec Compiler: Derek Dunnett at sightings@ofnc.ca The warbler floodgates opened: Tennessee, Cape May and Bay-breasted went from rare to common this week as migrants flooded the region. The wave of Black-billed Cuckoos continues and these migrants are also suddenly everywhere. Solitary Sandpipers have returned too. Common Goldeneye (3), Andrew Haydon Park, Ottawa. Lesser Black-backed Gull (3) Moodie Drive Quarry, Ottawa. Red-headed Woodpecker (2) Constance Bay, Ottawa. (1) Jul 29, Ottawa Valley Rail Recreational Trail near Almonte., Lanark. Between Smart St. and CR #29. Sedge Wren (3) Stittsville--Trans Canada Trail, Ottawa. Yellow-throated Vireo (2) Sheila McKee park. (1) Jul 30, Ch. de la Sapinière, Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais. Not enough new birds this week? Take a drive outside the OFNC circle to the Alfred Lagoons where both a regionally rare Long-billed Dowitcher and a Red-necked Phalarope were photographed this week. Atlas notes: We request that anyone who documented the Common Goldeneye family when the young were small (at Mud Lake) please add them to the atlas. This is a very significant record and has not been recorded yet. Though peak bird breeding period in Southern Ontario is wrapping up for this year, there is still plenty of evidence to be seen – and heard – in support of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas. Please consider converting your eBird reports or those outings to capture incredible bird photographs into valuable data that will help shape conservation efforts for years to come. As the summer progresses, it doesn’t matter if you are walking the dog at home, visiting your friend’s cottage, or enjoying a break in a favourite Provincial Park: almost every bird you encounter can be easily added to the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, a once in a generation province-wide community-science effort. For more information on how to be a part of the community of more than 230 Ottawa Region observers who are contributing their observations to the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, please visit www.birdsontario.org or contact the Ottawa Regional Coordinator at Ottawa@birdsontario.org