After the first half of December the 2017-2018 Ontario winter bird list stands at 184 species, which is average or slightly below average for the date. One new species to the all time winter list has been added - the Townsend’s Warbler near Rondeau Provincial Park. Other rare species found so far include Nelson’s Sparrow at Kanata (observed in 1 out of last 10 winter periods), Northern Gannet at Hamilton/Burlington (1/10), Western Meadowlark at Dorion (1/10), Northern Rough-winged Swallow at Niagara Falls (1/10), Eurasian Tree Sparrow at Wawa (2/10), “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warbler at Oakville (3/10), Mountain Bluebird at Waterloo and Prince Edward Point (3/10) and Black-throated Gray Warbler at Ottawa (4/10).
As usual after only two weeks there are several holes to be filled in on this year's winter list. These include Boreal Owl, Fish Crow, Pine Warbler, Vesper Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Eastern Meadowlark. Other species missing from this winter's list that are more unusual but still observed most winters include Eared Grebe, Great Egret, Black-headed Gull, California Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, White-eyed Vireo, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Brewer’s Blackbird and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. The list can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/myyulvs . I have also provided a link on my blog, located at http://joshvandermeulen.blogspot.ca/p/ontario-winter-bird-list.html . I try to update the spreadsheet every couple of days or whenever I hear of a new addition. Please let me know if you hear of a new addition or any other correction to the spreadsheet. Good (winter) birding, Josh Vandermeulen _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
