Hi there, This afternoon Owen Yates and I saw the previously reported Eurasian Tree Sparrow in Wawa. It spent much of the late afternoon at and around the bird feeders and yard at 2 Caverhill St. in Wawa, Algoma District, which is across the street from the waterfront of Wawa Lake.
If you are considering chasing this bird, the homeowners (the lady's name is Gail, and they were the original finders of this bird) ask that if anyone wants to go into their yard to please knock on the door and ask permission first. Like I said, if they are not home or if you do not feel like asking to go into the garden, it should be readily viewable from the road, sitting in one of the many trees and bushes around the small residential yard. Big year update below for those who have been asking or wondering. Good birding! Jere Jeremy Bensette - Leamington, ON I'm doing an Ontario Big Year in 2017! This sideburned sparrow makes 340!! Here is a Big Year update (November 6, 2017): The last week or so of birding has been... magical!?! This is without doubt thanks especially to the constant outpouring of support by so many members of our great birding community. My Ontario year list is now 340 bird species! My recent additions to my year list are in the next paragraph. Tim and I found a Cave Swallow (#334) near The Tip of Point Pelee last Saturday October 28, Golden Eagle (#335) while driving toward Hawk Cliff on Sunday October 29, then I drove to Ottawa with Tim on Tuesday October 31 just in time to be the first birders on scene to see Bruce DiLabio's Razorbill (#336), which ended up being one of two different individual Razorbills on the Ottawa River last week (evident by comparing our photos of the first Razorbill with others' photos of the second). We quickly moved on to catch up with a Red Phalarope (#337) before sunset, then two days later on Thursday November 2 Bruce found a Black-throated Gray Warbler (#338) for us at Britannia Park Ridge while we were at... Britannia Park Pier! We arrived in about four minutes and with the help of a number of locals we got our eyes on this rarity in short order. Two days later, Saturday November 4, we were back in Hamilton looking at a Black-legged Kittiwake (#339)! This brings me to today's Eurasian Tree Sparrow (#340) sighting with Owen. Likely species still include Purple Sandpiper, Gyrfalcon, Spotted Towhee, Pink-footed Goose, Mountain Bluebird, Yellow-throated Warbler, among many other rarities that have potential of showing up in November or December. Please, if you hear of any hummingbirds repeatedly visiting feeders, any flycatcher besides Eastern Phoebe, any seabird other than jaegers or Razorbill, any one of California, Mew, Ivory, or Ross's Gull, Gray-crowned Rosy-finch, or anything else very rare, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. I want to send my sincerest thanks to so many great and generous friends for all of your support through this year. I am so proud to be part of such an amazing community of birders and naturalists here in Ontario. I apologize to anyone whose messages and emails I have not replied to promptly, and I hope it is understandable with the amount of time I spend driving and birding this year. The year may not be over yet but it is getting closer! All the best in your birding this fall and winter! Jere _______________________________________________ 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
