flocks of scoters and Oldquaw invariably consist of males. 
Common and Barrow's Goldeneyes really started to move 
through in late October as the following chart will demonstrate. 
Date 
Common Goldeneye 
Barrow's Goldeneye 
October 25 
195 
4 (adult males!) 
26 
750 
1 
27 
1,110 
1 
28 
420 
1 
Are Barrow's Goldeneyes becoming more common in our region? 
They appear to be. This winter we have three or four resident 
between Remic Rapids and Britannia. 
The best day of the autumn was probably October 30th. (Of 
course, there was a weather front!) Early that morning, there 
was an exceptional number of 1,800 (male) Black Scoters, as well 
as 500 Brant and 500 (male) Oldsquaw. As if these weren't 
enough, there was yet another Pomarine Jaeger at Shirleys Bay, 
this time an adult, dark-phase bird. 
Later that morning, after everything had disappeared, an 
immature Bald Eagle was seen flying up the Ottawa River. 
On November 1st, a Snow ("Blue") Goose appeared. The next 
day, there were still 250 Brant as well as two Snowy Owls at 
Stillwater, and a Varied Thrush was found on the dyke at Shir¬ 
leys Bay. 
A King Eider made a brief appearance at Shirleys Bay on the 
morning of November 4th. On November 5th, there were still 75 
Northern Shovelers at Shirleys Bay. (Numbers had dropped consi¬ 
derable a few days later.) A Golden Eagle was seen migrating at 
3:30 p.m. over Shirleys Bay the same day. 
There were a few first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gulls 
seen the first week of November at Nepean Dump. These birds 
would have roosted with the rest of the gulls on the Ottawa 
River. 
November 7th saw the last of the Brant. After a number of 
single observations, five Red-throated Loons were seen flying 
through on November 9th. 
Then came the big day that wasn't. On the evening of 
November 12st, conditions for the morning of November 13th were 
forecast to be cloudy with a cold front moving through and a 
frigid Arctic high pressure system to follow. But when we woke 
before dawn on November 13th, what did we see? Stars! 
The cold front had already moved through and with it per¬ 
haps thousands of birds. It was very cold that morning, and 
95 
