This post has been approved by Ontbird Moderators. Hi Everyone,
After the first week of December, the 2022-2023 Ontario winter bird list stands at 164 species. Last year at this time we had recorded 184 species. Interesting birds seen so far this year include: Yellow-breasted Chat (seen 2/15 previous winters), found by Cheryl Edgecombe at Crooks Hollow Conservation Area; LeContes's Sparrow, at Tahoe Blvd, I think it was found by Peter Landry (0/15); and Warbling Vireo (0/15), at Ashbridge's Bay Park, found by Laura Murray. As usual after one week there are several holes to be filled in this winter list. These include Brant, King Eider, Long-eared Owl, Spruce Grouse, House Wren, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and Gyrfalcon. With more time we will likely add these to the list. With the Christmas Bird Counts starting soon we will hopefully be filling in some of these gaps. Winter Listers can also keep track of what's being seen in the Ontario Birds Discord Server which can be found here:(https://discord.gg/EhvgAc2fwb) or the OFO discord server (https://discord.gg/npbCzXVhZ2). Northwestern Ontario has a winter bird list. The NW Ontario list is kept by Brian Ratcliff. You can find the NW Ontario list by subscribing to the NW Ontario Google group. If you are interested in going out on an organized group trip, the OFO is running several winter trips this year: - Peterborough Area trip on Jan. 1, 2023; - Toronto Winter Birds at Tommy Thompson Park on Jan. 7, 2023; - Winter birds on the Detroit River (Windsor) on Jan. 8, 2023; - and Amherst Island on Feb 26, 2023. There is a trip on the Toronto Lakeshore (Dec. 11, 2022) that is full. All the other trips have spaces available. A link to the OFO trip site is here <http://www.ofo.ca/site/tripsupcoming>. The OFO also has some tips on how to find winter birds here <http://www.ofo.ca/content/winter-birding/tips>. The winter list can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/myyulvs. I try to update the spreadsheet every couple of days or whenever I hear of a new addition. Please let me know if you hear of a new addition or any other correction to the spreadsheet. Hope everyone has a nice week, Todd Hagedorn -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Ontario birders should be taking extra precautions and following local, provincial, and federal regulations regarding physical distancing and non-essential travel. To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
