[Ontbirds] OFO Member's Survey, OFO Trips and Workshops on Website, Young Birders Events, and Thank you for your feedback

[Lynne Freeman via ONTBIRDS]

*Sunday, January 5, 2020*

*OFO Member's Survey - Please give us your input (before January 11th)*

Please take a few minutes to complete a short, 16-question survey about OFO
and birding in Ontario. Your answers will help the OFO Board determine the
2020 priorities for OFO at the Board Retreat on Saturday, January 11th. The
survey will be available until Friday, January 11th at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PRT9Y3W

Thank you in advance!

*Field Trips and Workshops - Registration is open*

All field trips, workshops and young birder events are now up on our web
site (ofo.ca) under Field Trips and Workshop or
http://www.ofo.ca/site/Tripsupcoming and registration is open. The trip
brochure will be arriving with Ontario Birds soon. We have over 70 trips
and workshops this year, plus an exciting lineup of events for young
birders.

We have added two trips since our brochure went to press: September 12:
Hamilton, Burlington and Vicinity and November 1: Snow Geese in Eastern
Ontario.

*2020 Young Birder Events*

The Young Birders events are listed on the field trip page. In summary,
this is what we have planned. These events are open to all young birders.

January 19 (Sunday) Young Birders - A Day  at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Leader: Mark Peck

February 1 (Saturday) – Young Birders - Winter Bird Behaviour Workshop at
the Guelph Arboretum. Leader: Chris Earley.

April 3 (Friday Evening) - Young Birders - Canada Jay and Winter Birding
Weekend at Algonquin Park. Leader: Matthew Fuirst.

April 25 (Saturday) – Young Birders - Sparrow and Warbler ID Workshop.
Leader: Dan Chronowic.

May 9 (Saturday)  -Young Birders Big Weekend at Point Pelee

June 13 (Saturday) – Young Birders - Summer Birding at Tommy Thompson Park,
Toronto. Leader: Lynne Freeman.

August 15 (Saturday) - Alan Wormington Memorial Camp for Young
Birders. Leaders:
Jeff and Angela Skevington, Ian Shanahan, Lynne Freeman.

September 25 (Friday) - Young Birders Hikes at the OFO Convention in
Peterborough, September 25 – 27th

November 7 (Saturday) – Young Birders Choice

*Feedback about the Northern Hawk Owl and Reporting*

Many of you took the time to write heartfelt, thoughtful messages about the
owl, reporting and the pros and cons of sharing locations of sought-after
birds. I haven't had the time to respond to each of you personally, but I
did want to thank all of you for contributing to the conversation. The OFO
Board will be reviewing reporting policies and guidelines at our retreat
this Saturday and will take into account all of the input we've received.

Thank you and Good Birding,

Lynne Freeman

OFO President

-- 
Lynne Freeman
lynnef...@gmail.com

"Be bold, be brave, be amazing" Simon de Pury, Work of Art
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Re: [Ontbirds] Survey of Snowy Owls Jan.3-4/2020

[Siegmar Bodach via ONTBIRDS]

I did a survey of Snowy Owls in north York Region in 
the  afternoon of Jan.3rd and Jan.4th, 2020. Total kms covered was 
approx.40kms. Very little snow on ground making it very easy to pinpoint owls 
on the ground in fields. Weather was just above freezing and overcast.
Without getting into the specifics as to locations I was able to confirm in 
total 19 different individuals. Almost all individuals were heavily streaked 
adult females or juveniles. 2 were adult males.  
At 3 different locations/or occasions I was able to scope 4/5 Snowies from the 
same viewing point simultaneously. 
Review with a couple of other birders/photographers that I bumped into 
indicated the probability of at least 4 other different individuals. 

**Reminders to both Birders and Photographers to respect private property (stay 
off the fields) and avoid coming to close to the owls (to avoid putting  stress 
on them or causing them to be hit by a vehicle).
I say this because I had to ask a couple of Photographers to remove their 
vehicle that they parked on private property without permission. I spoke to the 
female land owner who was a little upset/concerned.

Thank you and good birding,
Sigi (Siegmar) Bodach,
Aurora, On. 
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[Ontbirds] Results of the 40th St. Clair NWA CBC

[Allen Woodliffe via ONTBIRDS]

Birders:

The 40th St. Clair NWA CBC was held on Jan 1, 2020. A significant part of the 
circle is comprised of agricultural land which is not all that productive for 
most bird species, or private wetlands which often are not accessible due to 
the club's activities of the day. Nonetheless, seventeen birders scoured the 
areas available and came up with a total of 83 species observed on the day. 
This is slightly higher than the most recent 20 year average of 78 species but 
well below our highest of 93 species, recorded a year ago. An additional three 
species were seen during the count week. The total number of individual birds 
was 198597, slightly below our all time high of over 202000.

The weather was fairly good, with temperatures starting off a bit below 
freezing, and got slightly above freezing by the afternoon, although the brisk 
westerly wind made it feel much colder, and kept smaller birds under cover. 
There was a slight bit of snow at the beginning of the day. Creeks, the Thames 
River and Lake St. Clair were all open, and the wetlands were mostly open.

Waterbirds are significant to the overall number of species, and this year did 
not disappoint, with 33 species. This included almost 62000 individuals of 23 
species of waterfowl and over 4800 individuals of six species of gulls.

There was only one new high for the count: Northern Pintail, which totalled 201 
individuals.

Highlights included:
Yellow-headed Blackbird, a single bird and only the 3rd time recorded;
Northern Saw-whet Owl, a single bird and only the 2nd time recorded;
Bald Eagle totalled 39 individuals, our second highest total;
Great Blue Heron, which totalled 36 individuals and is our third highest total;
Red-headed Woodpecker, a single bird and the sixth time recorded.
Snowy Owl, where 7 birds were recorded.

Count Week species included Killdeer, Sandhill Crane and Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Species which have been recorded at least 50% of previous counts but were 
missed on this one were: Ring-necked Pheasant, Red-shouldered Hawk, Brewer's 
Blackbird and American Robin. It was the first time in 18 years that no Am 
Robin were observed.

American Crows took home the prize of being the most abundant species, which 
has been the case for many years. Our estimate of crows was 126000, although 
with the periodic disruption of birds coming and going to their roost, it is 
difficult to get accurate numbers. For anyone interested in background 
information on the huge crow roost in Chatham, check out a blog post which I 
wrote a few years ago, at:
https://pawsnaturenuggets.blogspot.com/2014/11/tis-season-for-crows-and-lots-of-them.html


Good birding!

Allen Woodliffe, compiler
Chatham
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[Ontbirds] Niagara River - Sunday - Kittiwake, Black-headed, others

[Willie D'Anna via ONTBIRDS]

The gulls on the Niagara River continue to impress. It is the best that I
have seen it in a few years. The adult BLACK-HEADED GULL continues at the
Whirlpool and, although the BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKEs were not seen there when
we were there in the morning, Tom Kerr reported one there at 4:00, quite
late! We also did the flypast at Nelson Park at Niagara-on-the-Lake and had
the KITTIWAKE at 4:30 and the BLACK-HEADED GULL some time before that. We
also had an impressive 16 LITTLE GULLS at the flypast and about 5300
Bonaparte's Gulls. Interestingly, the Little Gulls all came early, before
4:00. One was in first-winter plumage, the rest adults. The lighting at the
flypast from 3:30 to 4:45 or so was ideal - bright overcast. Plus, the
Bonaparte's Gulls came early enough that there was still plenty of light to
appreciate their beauty and pick out the rarities. Most also came through
low over the water, which is the ideal way to see them. Certainly, one of
the nicest flypasts that I have ever experienced, though I have had much
higher numbers. I wish I could say it was always like this but it is quite
changeable, due to unknown factors.

 

Large gull-watching on the river has also been a lot of fun lately with
numerous ICELAND GULLS at several spots, four GLAUCOUS GULLS above the
falls, and a handful of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS above the falls, including
two in first-winter plumage (perhaps still with a juvenile scapular or two).
We also had the Thayer's form of Iceland Gull above the falls. Ten species
of gulls plus Thayer's - not bad! There were few Bonaparte's Gulls above the
falls and we did not make it to the gorge below the falls but the Whirlpool
and lower Lewiston-Queenston were absolutely loaded with Bonies. We were
unsure of how many Little Gulls we had at Queenston and recorded what we
felt was a fairly accurate and perhaps slightly conservative seven. We did
not see any Little Gulls at the Whirlpool. We did not see the Harlequin Duck
today.

 

Our group of eight were Jean Iron, Ron Pittaway, Kevin McLaughlin, Declan
Troy, Ross Harris, Celeste Morien, Betsy Potter, and myself.

 

Good birding!

Willie

--

Willie D'Anna

Wilson, NY

dannapotterATroadrunnerDOTcom

 

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[Ontbirds] OFO Outing Jan. 4th The Leslie Street Spit

[Garth Riley via ONTBIRDS]

Hello Ontbirders,
Saturday proved to be a very nice and mild day for birding Toronto's "Urban 
Wilderness" The Leslie Street Spit.
Fifty-five participants took advantage of the spring like conditions and joined 
me for a nice long walk and a rewarding outing.
The total number of species seen by the group was 36. Additionally two 
individuals separately observed an American Kestrel and a Northern Flicker. 
Passerines were scarce but their was an excellent variety of waterfowl, 
including Canvasback, Tundra Swan, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveller and 
Surf Scoter. 
The highlight and a lifer for several participants was a very co-operative but 
distant Red-shouldered Hawk. The group was able to have excellent scope views 
of this lovely adult bird. 
Here is a link to the entire ebird checklist 
:https://ebird.org/checklist/S63011087Much thanks to Nancy McPherson for 
compiling the list.
Good Birding,Garth
Garth Riley Etobicoke, Ontario rile...@yahoo.com
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[Ontbirds] Gyrfalcon on Wolfe Island

[Mark D. Read via ONTBIRDS]

A grey Gyrfalcon was seen from my property (337 Button Bay Road) on Wolfe
Island at 3pm today. It flew north after a couple of minutes. Never easy to
track down of course but worth looking out for. Birders have tried for the
White-fronted Goose today but so far without success.

 

Mark.

 

Mark D. Read

337 Button Bay Road,

Wolfe Island,

Kingston, Ontario

K0H 2Y0

Canada

 

Mobile: +1 (613) 217-1246

Email:   markdr...@gmail.com

Blog: "Confessions of a Global Birder" http://markdread.blogspot.com
 

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdread/

 

eBird Guidelines for Reporting Sensitive Species
 

 

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[Ontbirds] SpottedTowhee

[rpope--- via ONTBIRDS]

Spotted Towhee showing well today at the same spot. Lots of birdseed there
already. Also 7 rusty blackbirds in immediate area. RP

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[Ontbirds] Black-headed Gull at Whirlpool

[Jean Iron via ONTBIRDS]

We have the adult Black-headed Gull at Whirlpool Aerocar lookout, Niagara River.

Jean Iron, Marcie Jacklin and Gull Watchers

Sent from my iPhone
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