We are halfway through the month of January, meaning we are also more than
halfway through the winter birding period, running from December 1 to February
28. Since the last update (end of December), 5 more species have been added to
the cumulative total for this winter, and one species has been removed,
bringing the total winter list up to 209. We are still quite a ways away from
beating last year's mark of 224, but it is still within the realm of
possibility. I have sent the updated list to Blake Maybank and he will post it
on his web page soon. A link to the webpage:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/other/onwinter.htm
Since the last update, the new species are Boreal Owl (January 2), Brant
(January 3), Baltimore Oriole (was present for a few days in late November and
early December), and Laughing Gull (January 13). The bird identified as a
Blackpoll Warbler at Sedgewick Park in Oakville has been subsequently
photographed and seen by many and is a Bay-breasted Warbler. This is only the
3rd winter record, and is by far the latest record with the previous two
records being in early December. It is still present.
Some of the more notable misses so far include California Gull, Pomarine
Jaeger, Barn Owl, and Blue-headed Vireo. Send me an email if you know of any
species that would be new to the winter list.
Good birding, Josh
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Josh Vandermeulen
Guelph, Ontario
joshvandermeu...@live.ca
519-222-5420 (cell)
joshvandermeulen.blogspot.com (blog)
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