This post has been approved by Ontbird Moderators. Hi, The 2021-2022 Winter Listing season finished on February 28, 2022. This year there was a total of 229 species reported in Ontario. This sets a new record high species count for the Ontario winter bird list. This species total is much higher than the 15 year average of 205. The median value is 202 for those 15 years. The first and second highest years were 2011-2012 with 223, and 2015-2016 with 220. The lowest was 2009-2010 with 189 species.
Since my last update to Ontbirds on February 2, new species added are Great Cormorant, Barn Owl, Willow Ptarmington, and Euragion Wigeon. The Great Cormorant was seen by Marcie Jacklin on February 5. The Willow Ptarmigan was seen by Jeff Skevington, Kiah Jasper, Nathan Hood, and Ezra Campanelli near the mouth of the Attawapiskat River. The Eurasian Wigeon was seen by Lance Allin on February 23. A roll call of rare birds seen this year include: - Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (1/15 - seen once in the last 15 winters); - Tufted Duck (2/15); - Rufous Hummingbird (2/15); - Least Sandpiper (2/15); - Razorbill (2/15); - Arctic Loon (1/15); - Burrowing Owl (1/15); - Prairie Falcon (1/15); - Say's Phoebe (1/15); - Blackpoll Warbler (2/15); - Painted Bunting (2/15); and - Glacuous-winged Gull (2/15). The list can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/myyulvs. As always, please send me an email if you know of a sighting of a missing species observed between December 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022, or if you see any errors in the spreadsheet either from this winter or from winter's past. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to help correct the list. Looking forward to spring, Todd -- 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.
