Merry Christmas everyone! Ever since Josh's big year, in 2012, at the end of each year I've liked to figure out how I could've theoretically done, had I done a big year over the course of past year.
To-date, I've seen 304 species in the province, one of my better totals, with several great overall rarities and self-found rares, including:
Pacific Loon (self-found)
Wood Stork (lifer!)
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (new county tick to my home county)
Mississippi Kite (self-found)
Swainson's Hawk (self-found)
King Rail (self-found)
Black-necked Stilt
White-winged Dove
Anna's Hummingbird (lifer!)
Black-billed Magpie
Violet-green Swallow (lifer!)
Rock Wren (lifer! and self-found!)
Mountain Bluebird (new county tick to my home county)
Smith's Longspur
Kirtland's Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler (new county tick to my home county)
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Henslow's Sparrow (self-found)
Lark Sparrow
Blue Grosbeak (self-found)
Western Meadowlark (self-found)
Brambling (lifer!)
Having listed the species I was fortunate enough to see, the following list is the species I could've/would've seen had I done a big year:
305. Bohemian Waxwing
306. Northern Saw-whet Owl
307. Red Knot
308. Hudsonian Godwit
309. Piping Plover
310. Parasitic Jaeger
311. Buff-breasted Sandpiper
312. Eurasian Wigeon
313. Harris's Sparrow
314. Yellow-headed Blackbird
315. Yellow Rail - James Bay July
316. Arctic Tern - James Bay July
317. Northern Hawk-Owl
318. Franklin's Gull - Rainy River
319. Willow Ptarmigan - Hudson Bay June
320. Gray Partridge - Ottawa
321. Worm-eating Warbler - late May Port Franks
322. Black-legged Kittiwake - October Van Wagner's
323. Snowy Egret - June Windermere
324. Boreal Owl
325. Western Grebe (Mississauga)
326. Townsend's Solitaire (several)
327. Red Phalarope
328. Pomarine Jager
329. Glossy Ibis (August., Mitchell)
330. Long-tailed Jaeger
331. Chuck-will's Widow - June PRince Edward County
332. Eurasian Collared-Dove (Sept., ROndeau)
333. Cave Swallow (Ocober, Pelee)
334. Black-headed Gull (Feb., Port Wellar)
335. Neotropic Cormorant (Sept., Whitby)
336. White-faced Ibis May, Lindsayu)
337. Ruff (April, Bruce)
338. Eurasian Tree-Sparrow (current, Wawa)
339. Northern Gannet (November, Hamilton)
340. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (June, Mississauga)
341. Tricolored Heron (June/July Toronto)
342. Tufted Duck (December Mississauga)
343. Razorbill (October Ottawa)
344. Western Tanager (May, Dwight)
345. Painted Bunting (April, Denbigh)
346. Magnificent Frigatebird (early July Pelee)
347. Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Sept. Toronto)
348. Little Blue Heron (April, St. Thomas)
349. Brown Pelican (early June, Niagara)
350. Slaty-backed Gull (January Niagara)
351. Black Guilletmot (October - Netit)
352. Barn Owl - Essex County December (sounds like a few ppl got to go...)
353. Varied Thrush (Feb., Thunder Bay)
354. Western Sandpiper (October, Hamilton)
Northern Bobwhite - are there any wild birds in Ontario anymore????
Western Kingbird - one in Pelee in October, and 1-2 in Rainy River
Laughing Gull - there was a few hanging around Toronto in early June
If you haven't come to the conclusion, 2017 was I believe THE best year ever, to-date in terms of species diversity in the province.
I think a realistic number for a big year this year, blitzing the province the entire year, would be 350-355. This number is pretty nuts, but after looking at the list of rarities, the list just seems to go on and on and seems to serve as a bit of a benchmark for species numbers in the province.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Best Places to Bird in Ontario
This past year has been an exciting one, no reason other than Mike and I are writing a book! Part of a Canadian series, we are writing the Ontario section to the Best Places to Bird [in Ontario]. Currently, only the British Columbia guide is out, however, next spring the next book within the series will be out, covering the Prairie Provinces. Our current date for publication is scheduled for spring 2019.
What essentially the guide covers is the authors pick of the best locations to bird in the province. The guidelines are fairly broad, with really only one caveat: narrow the list of top birding sites in the province and narrow it down to 30 locations (easier said than done).
We are currently half way done our first draft, and have a draft list of locations:
Which leaves us wondering, are there any areas that we're missing???? It's been pretty difficult to narrow it down this much, leaving several areas that aren't covered as much as we'd like (Sault Ste. Marie, Manitoulin, more within the GTA).
We also need to come up with 1-2 photos per chapter -- does anyone have any great photos of birds that they'd like included in the book???? Generally, we've been trying to pick appropriate species for specific areas (e.g., Loggerhead Shrike for Carden Alvar).
Let us know your thoughts!
What essentially the guide covers is the authors pick of the best locations to bird in the province. The guidelines are fairly broad, with really only one caveat: narrow the list of top birding sites in the province and narrow it down to 30 locations (easier said than done).
We are currently half way done our first draft, and have a draft list of locations:
| 1 | Holiday Beach and Windsor (lower Detroit River), Harrow |
| 2 | Pelee Island |
| 3 | Point Pelee NP |
| 4 | Hillman Marsh and Wheatley (harbour, PP) |
| 5 | Lake St. Clair NWR and Mitchell's Bay |
| 6 | Rondeau PP (Blenheim, Erieau) |
| 7 | Sarnia (Point Edward, waterfront, River) |
| 8 | Kettle Point, Ipperwash, Pinery |
| 9 | MacGregor Point PP and Sauble Beach/south Bruce |
| 10 | Port Stanley -- Port Burwell |
| 11 | Long Point |
| 12 | Niagara River |
| 13 | Hamilton (Van Wagners, Lift bridge, windermere, Red Hill Creek, Toll Gate, Edgelake, Stoney Creek shoreline, Fifty Point) |
| 14 | Hamilton Harbour (RBG, Princess Point, Lasalle, Bayfront Park) and Oakville/Burlington (Bronte Harbour, Sedgewick, Paletta, Spencer Smith) |
| 15 | Mississauga (Rattray Marsh, Port Credit, Lakefront Promenade Park, Col. Sam Smith) |
| 16 | Toronto waterfront (Leslie St. Spit, Toronto Islands, Humber Bay, Ashbridge's Bay) |
| 17 | Oshawa-Pickering waterfront (Frenchman's Bay, Whitby Harbour, Thickson's Woods, Oshawa 2nd Marsh) |
| 18 | Carden Alvar |
| 19 | Algonquin PP (Hwy. 60 corridor) |
| 20 | Presqu'ile PP |
| 21 | Prince Edward County |
| 22 | Napannee Plain IBA |
| 23 | Amherst Island |
| 24 | Wolfe Island and Kingston mainland |
| 25 | Opinicon Road and Canoe Lake Road |
| 26 | Ottawa (river and Rideau) |
| 27 | St. Lawrence (Morrsiburg to Quebec) |
| 28 | Moosonee and Southern James Bay |
| 29 | Thunder Bay waterfront |
| 30 | Rainy River and area |
Which leaves us wondering, are there any areas that we're missing???? It's been pretty difficult to narrow it down this much, leaving several areas that aren't covered as much as we'd like (Sault Ste. Marie, Manitoulin, more within the GTA).
We also need to come up with 1-2 photos per chapter -- does anyone have any great photos of birds that they'd like included in the book???? Generally, we've been trying to pick appropriate species for specific areas (e.g., Loggerhead Shrike for Carden Alvar).
Let us know your thoughts!
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