Birders, The Ontario Bird Records Committee (OBRC) held our annual meeting in late March, finishing third round deliberations for 187 different records. The OBRC is grateful to those who continue to support the documenting, archiving and publishing efforts for Ontario's most unusual bird occurrences. OFO members can look for our annual report in the August issue of Ontario Birds.
2014 members were myself, Mike Burrell (secretary), Barb Charlton (assistant to the secretary), Peter Burke, Mark Gawn, Bruce DiLabio, Ron Ridout, Bill Crins and Ross Wood. The three year terms of Peter Burke and Mark Gawn will conclude with the publication of the 2014 annual report, and on behalf of the committee I would like to thank them for their volunteer efforts over this past time. The OBRC considered nominations for new members from the committee members, as well as from the OFO membership and are excited to welcome Ken Burrell and Tim Lucas as voting members for 2015-2017. In recent years the OBRC membership has had lengthily discussions regarding reports of Fish Crows (Corvus ossifragus) in the province, as an increase in sightings has highlighted the difficulties in documenting the species with our most popular methods (written reports and photographs). We would like to encourage birders to consider documenting future rare bird sightings (Fish Crows or otherwise) by creating audio recordings of calls or songs. Many electronic devices like phones or cameras are now capable of recording audio and video, which could become valuable tools in the field! Of course, we are still hopeful for written reports and photographs... Birders can find information on the OBRC on the OFO website by following this link - http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/obrc.obrc . Present are the review lists for Ontario detailing the species in which documentation is requested when observed in our three review zones. All correspondence with the OBRC (submission of materials, questions etc) can be done by using the email: [email protected] .. With prime "birding season" on our doorstep, I would like to encourage birders to continue with their support of the OBRC as they find unusual species in the coming weeks and months. It is remarkable how fast we can forget fine details in our excitement. A quickly written report is best! Happy Birding! Brandon Holden OBRC Chair _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] 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
