Ontbirders,
Since the last update to the 2012-2013 Ontario winter list on February
6, 4 new species have been added, giving us a total of 217 species. This is the
second highest total in the 6 years that we have been keeping track of
Ontario's annual winter list (a period running from December 1 to February
28/29). The highest total occurred last year with 224
species recorded. Over the 6 years, the new average is now 204 species. The new
species added include Willow Ptarmigan (according to a hunter on Ontario's
north coast, Willow Ptarmigans are around, as usual), Dickcissel reported on
February
25 near Long Point, a Yellow-headed Blackbird north of Port Hope up until
January 1, 2013, and an Osprey seen near Kingston on February 25. The list can
be viewed at http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/other/onwinter.htm.
Some of the highlights from this past winter are as follows. My
apologies if I have forgotten any of the most notable records. Thanks to Alan
Wormington for providing me with some information regarding previous winter
records of some of these species.
Pacific Loon – seen at the west end of Lake Ontario along the Hamilton
and Burlington lakeshore, Hamilton and
Halton, by several independent parties
on December 26, 2012 (Brandon R. Holden, Neil Taylor, et. al). There are 5
previous accepted records by the OBRC for the winter birding period.
Western Grebe – seen along the St. Clair River, Lambton from January 16-17,
2012 (G. Tom Hince). An additional Western Grebe was found along the Toronto
lakefront, Toronto from January 26, 2013 to present (H. Heerklotz et. al).
Additionally, an unidentified Clark's/Western Grebe was reported from the
Hamilton lakefront, Hamilton on December 15, 2012 (Brandon R. Holden). There is
only one
previously accepted record of Western Grebe for the winter birding period.
White-rumped Sandpiper – seen by a large group of birders at Presqu’ile
Provincial Park, Northumberland on December
2, 2012, and last seen on December 4, 2012 (multiple finders). There are around
5 records for the
winter birding period in Ontario.
Baird’s Sandpiper – seen at Hillman Marsh, Essex on December 14, 2012 (Alan
Wormington). I am aware of only 2
previous winter records for Ontario.
Ivory Gull – seen at Arnprior, Renfrew
on December 15, 2012 (Michael W. P. Runtz). While 24 of the 30 accepted records
for
this species come during the winter period, I included it due to its rarity
status across the continent.
Laughing Gull – one seen briefly above the Niagara Falls, Niagara on January
13, 2013 (Richard
Pope, Margaret J. C. Bain, Hugh G. Currie, and Andrew Don). There are less than
10
winter records of this species in Ontario.
Slaty-backed Gull – at least 4 different Slaty-backed Gulls were
reported along the Niagara River, Niagara
between December 30, 2012 and February 17, 2013 (multiple finders). There are 7
previous winter
records (out of 8 total records) that have been accepted by the OBRC.
White-winged Dove – one was found at Rondeau Provincial Park, Chatham-Kent on
January 26 and continued
until February 6, 2013 (James T. Burk). There are only 2 previous winter
records in
Ontario.
Fish Crow – the Fish Crows found last winter at Fort Erie, Niagara (Andrew
Keaveney, Joshua D. Vandermeulen)
that were the first winter record for Ontario were found again this winter in
the same area on December 30, 2012 (Gavin C. Platt). It appears likely that they
may continue to expand their range into Ontario.
Cave Swallow – a Cave Swallow was seen on December 5, 2012 at Bronte
harbour, Halton (Sue Edmondstone,
Gavin R. Edmondstone). There was only 1
accepted winter Cave Swallow by the OBRC before it was removed from the review
list in 2010.
Barn Swallow – two Barn Swallows continued throughout the fall and into
January in Burlington, Halton,
lingering until January 19th, 2013 (multiple finders). There are around
5 winter records of Barn Swallow in Ontario.
Bay-breasted Warbler – the highlight of the warbler extravaganza at
Sedgewick Park in Oakville, Halton
was the Bay-breasted Warbler that was present from December 16, 2012 to January
19, 2013 (David M. Bell, Jesse Pakkala). There are only 2 previous winter
records
that I am aware of.
Chestnut-sided Warbler - Possibly the highlight of the winter birding
period was a Chestnut-sided Warbler, seen at Erieau, Chatham-Kent on December
7, 2012 (Stephen R. Charbonneau). This is the
first winter record for Ontario.
Scarlet Tanager – Another great record was a Scarlet Tanager, coming to
a feeder near Brighton, Northumberland from
December 11-15, 2012 (Barbara Stevenson). There are about 3 previous winter
records in Ontario.
Western Tanager – A Western Tanager was found in Oshawa, Durham on December 16
(Otto Peter, Jim
McKnight). Unfortunately it was found deceased on January 2, 2013. There are 3
previously accepted winter records for the province.
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Josh Vandermeulen
Guelph, Ontario
joshvandermeu...@live.ca
519-222-5420 (cell)
joshvandermeulen.blogspot.com (blog)
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