After the first half of December, the 2015-2016 Ontario winter bird list stands at an excellent 185 species. Quite a few noteworthy birds have already been reported this month. After striking a deal with the devil earlier this year (or so I've been told), the birders of southeastern Ontario continue to find rare bird after rare bird. Most of December's highlights so far have come from the east, including Smew, Bullock's Oriole, Northern Fulmar, Mountain Bluebird and of course the first Pink-footed Goose for Ontario, now providing the first December record for the province. Other unusual birds reported so far include Rufous Hummingbird (coming to a private address - no birders are welcome at this time), White-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, and this just in - Cave Swallow.
Some of the more regular species that have yet to be recorded so far include Brant, Gray Partridge, California Gull, Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl, A. Three-toed Woodpecker, Gyrfalcon, Townsend's Solitaire, Varied Thrush, Chipping Sparrow and Brewer's Blackbird. 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 at least every day or whenever I hear of a new addition. Good (winter) birding, Josh _______________________________________________ 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
