Ontbirders, My last winter list update was at the beginning of February, detailed the 215 bird species that had been recorded in Ontario this winter. In the past 2 weeks an additional 6 species were added, bring the total up to 221 species. This is easily the highest total we have had since the winter list has been officially compiled and possibly the highest total ever recorded by birders in Ontario. This will be my last update until the final results are tallied.
The new birds, with the first date listed in brackets, are: Blue-winged Teal (January 1): 2 birds seen with 320 Green-winged Teal on the St. Clair CBC Virginia Rail (January 18): a dead bird found dead on a road north of St. Williams Gyrfalcon (January 25): several birds seen. One in Sudbury and another in eastern Ontario. The E. Ontario bird was seen near Crysler, and possibly the same bird was seen several days later in Ottawa. Band-tailed Pigeon (February 4): Only the 3rd winter record that I am aware of. It came to a feeder for 3 days in Bracebridge. Many birders were able to see it thanks to the gracious homeowners. White-winged Dove (late January?): Still present in North Bay, has been coming to a feeder for several weeks. I'm still working on getting the first date. Yellow-throated Warbler (February 1): I don't have any details other than a photo of this bird, apparently taken at a feeder in Windsor. I have send the list to Blake Maybank and hopefully he will post the results on the website soon. A link to the webpage: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/other/onwinter.htm There are not very many possible species left, though we still are missing Eurasian Wigeon and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Perhaps an early Tree Swallow or Eared Grebe will be found at the end of the month? If anyone has heard of sightings of any missing species, just shoot me an email. ----------------------------------------------- Josh Vandermeulen Guelph, Ontario joshvandermeu...@live.ca 519-222-5420 (cell) joshvandermeulen.blogspot.com (blog) _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
