Wow! We’ve been having some great weather in Ottawa lately and has it ever helped move our feathered friends through the national capital region.

We’ve been experiencing relatively consistent high-pressure systems (with the exception of today) and south winds, both of which have created good conditions for migration during the past few days.

To continue this week’s series of migratory bird traffic reports, started on Monday, I’m happy to post the following report for May 15th. And just to underscore the mass movement that’s underway in this region and others throughout the hemisphere, Nature Canada’s very own Ted Cheskey provided the following update this morning:

A log-jam of Red-eyedVireos in Ottawa has broken below the Deschênes Rapids and a flood of this species is spreading north across the Ottawa River and into Gatineau-Aylmer, accompanied by many Great Crested Flycatchers!

[separator headline=”h2″ title=”Migratory Bird Traffic Update – May 15th“]

There’s still lots of activity in the Britannia area near Lac Deschenes but many migrants are continuing to move northward – probably due to warmer weather and a change to south winds. ‘Pile-ups’ of Red-eyed Vireos have been noted in some parts of the capital, as individuals of this species continue to arrive in high numbers. The count of Warbler species in the capital seems to be stable at 22, adding to a caucophony of birdsong in the Britannia woods including everything from the meowing of Gray Catbirds tothe warbles of the Warbling Vireo, to the “sweet, sweet, sweet, Ca-na-da sweet” song of the Yellow Warbler. A Black-crowned Night-Heron seems to have settled around Mud Lake, and some Common Terns and an Osprey are patrolling the skies between Mud Lake and the Deschenes rapids. Unconfirmed reports are also coming in that a large group of birds is slowly headed to the University of Ottawa campus, ostensibly to take part in a international migratory bird day celebrations…

This morning the great folks at CBC Ottawa Morning (91.5 FM, 5:30-8:37am) did a ticket give-away for our screening of The Big Year tonight to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day. We congratulate Greg King on winning the tickets!

Happy Birding!