Hello Ontario Birders, Hope everyone is enjoying the winter listing season. I wanted to give an update on the Ontario Winter List for 2022-2023. The current list total sits at 217. To give some perspective, the final 2021-2022 list was 229, 2020-2021 list was 218, and the 2019- 2020 list was 202. The average number of species for the last 15 years is 207. This year's list is currently above the average winter. We haven't added many birds since my last update. I feel we won't be adding many species to the list as we go into February. Additions since my last update on Dec. 31, 2022, included the Lewis's Woodpecker see on Manitoulin Island in mid-Janurary found by Phyllis Caccioti, Eastern Meadowlark in Elgin County found by Peter Stewart, Western Meadowlark found by Jean Iron near Port Hope, and a Gyrfalcon in Sault Ste. Marie, We are missing some of the uncommon winter birds seen in previous years. Some uncommon birds missing from the list include Brewer's Blackbird(12/15), Eurasian Wigeon (9/15), Willow Ptarmigan (7/15), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (11/14), Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (8/17). The list can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/myyulvs .
Check out the OFO website for winter bird trips http://www.ofo.ca/site/tripsupcoming. Winter bird trips include: - February 26, Amherst Island; and - February 26, Haldimand and Norfolk Counties. The OFO also has a discord group with a Winter bird channel. A link to the OFO discord group is here: https://discord.gg/npbCzXVhZ2. 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.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. Thank you to everyone who has notified me of omissions. Good birding, 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.
