Hi friends, If you are not yet aware, a Eurasian Tree Sparrow was photographed yesterday at the Port Elgin Harbour and posted to eBird (not by me - I only saw the checklist in the eBird alerts). Though very similar to House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow is a pretty incredibly rare species in Ontario and most of North America. Naturally, I headed up here this morning with Tim Arthur and we've been looking pretty hard in very difficult conditions: very rainy and slightly above zero degrees.
We did not refind the Eurasian Tree Sparrow today but I strongly correlate that outcome with the poor weather. We did not find any House Sparrows for that matter, but it was clear that most of the birds in the area were very inactive due to the weather. A couple of times we heard what sounded like a House/Tree Sparrow in the distance and once a bird flew by at close range that somewhat had the look of these old world sparrows. I think there is a very high chance that this rarity is still present and can be refound. Port Elgin is in Bruce County along the coast of Lake Huron between Goderich and Southampton. If heading north along Highway 21 (Goderich St.), turn left on Green St. and continue to the lake where you will see the harbour. There is a construction site in the harbour with a large Willow tree and some medium size maple-ish trees around the construction site, and from what I understand the Eurasian Tree Sparrow was seen yesterday in one of these trees before being flushed by sounds from the construction site. I wish anyone interested in looking for this bird good luck - I think it will be refound if people are looking for it! Jeremy Bensette Jeremy Bensette - Leamington, ON I'm doing an Ontario Big Year in 2017! Follow along at Jeremybirder.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - 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 Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
