Birders, Through the 2017-2018 winter birding season, a period running from December 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018, a total of 199 species were reported in Ontario. This represents our fifth lowest total in the eleven years where a winter season list has been kept, and well below the average of 204 species. The high water mark remains 220 species during the winter of 2015-2016. Colder than expected weather across most of the province in December was the culprit, as it prevented unusual species from lingering until the winter birding season began.
Since my last update to Ontbirds on January 2, 2017, an additional five species have been added to this winter's total. They include Boreal Owl (Thunder Bay), Harris's Sparrow (North Bay), Willow Ptarmigan (north of Red Lake), American Bittern (Long Point) and Lesser Yellowlegs (Amherstburg). Despite the poor total number of species observed, there were still quite a few unusual species reported. The long-staying Townsend's Warbler near (and within) Rondeau Provincial Park was a definite highlight as it provided the first winter season record for the province. Some of the other highlights included Tufted Duck, Northern Gannet, American Bittern, early migrant Lesser Yellowlegs, Barn Owl, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Mountain Bluebirds, Ovenbird, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Nelson's Sparrow, Western Meadowlark and Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Some of the misses from this past winter included Pine Warbler (seen in 10 of the last 10 winters), California Gull (8 out of 10), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (8 out of 10), House Wren (8 out of 10), Slaty-backed Gull (7 out of 10), Blue-winged Teal (7 out of 10), Eared Grebe (6 out of 10), Yellow-throated Warbler (6 out of 10), Black-headed Gull (6 out of 10), Spotted Towhee (6 out of 10), Cape May Warbler (6 out of 10), Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (5 out of 10), Pomarine Jaeger (5 out of 10), White-eyed Vireo (5 out of 10) and Black-throated Blue Warbler (5 out of 10). 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 . As always, please send me an email if you know of a sighting of one of the missing species observed between December 1, 2017 and February 28, 2018, or if you see any errors in the spreadsheet either from this winter or from winters past. Good birding, Josh Vandermeulen Niagara Falls, Ontario joshvandermeulen.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ 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
