ML631567561

Ажиглалтын дэлгэрэнгүй

This bird had first been reported and photographed on iNaturalist on Feb 22nd by Owen Clarkin. The next day (Feb 23) it was relocated by Vincent Fyson and viewed by a number of Ottawa area birdwatchers. A path had been beaten east from the parking lot downhill into part of the larger bog area. The trail was packed down by previous observers but one had to be careful to stay on the trail because with out snowshoes one could fall into much deeper snow. Dan Simpson, Aaron Hywarren and myself managed follow this path until we were to the west southwest of a line of stunted Spruce trees that ran more or less west northwest. After waiting about a 7-10 minutes, the bird flew in from the east southeast and landed briefly in the top of a Spruce tree. It give a couple of whistling notes and then moved to the top of another Spruce tree before disappearing to the north and out of sight. The views were very good in bright sunshine allowing excellent views of this classic bird of the boreal forest. We were standing at about 45.394347 N 75.502287 W when we saw the bird. Field marks: Dark gray/light blackish on the back, wings and tail; white on the throat, upper breast and front of the crown; the back of the crown and nape were dark gray; the lower breast sides and vent were light grayish. This is species has been seen before in this location historically. Whether this bird is a potential breeding bird or just a straggler stumbling into suitable habitat remains to be seen. This is one of my more southerly sightings of this species in Ontario.