With the winter period 2/3 of the way through, new additions to the list are few and far between. Since my last update on December 30, the following species have been added: Slaty-backed Gull, American Bittern, Osprey, "Hornemann's" Hoary Redpoll, Boreal Owl and Eared Grebe. The species total for this winter now stands at 212. It looks like the record of 224 species from 2011-2012 will stand, as will the second best winter list of 221 from 2015-2016. The third best mark, 216 species in 2012-2013, may yet be reachable.
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 every couple of days or whenever I hear of a new addition. There are few remaining expected species that haven't been reported yet this winter. Some of the more likely ones include Barn Owl, Varied Thrush, California Gull and Eurasian Collared-Dove. If you know of any errors or omissions to the list, please let me know. Good winter birding, Josh Vandermeulen joshvandermeulen.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca 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
