It's on!

I know, its still only April 19 and we haven't hit the peak of migration and rarity season yet. But judging by what birds have been reported in Ontario the last 24 hours you might think its May already!

I have heard from several people that a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was banded by the crew at the tip of Long Point yesterday. I don't have any other details, but from what I've heard this would be the first one banded for Canada! Of course there is no way for me to get to the tip, Fork-tailed Flycatchers don't usually hang around very long, and there's always the question if you can count a bird which has been recently caught and banded. After seeing the Smew in December, Fork-tailed Flycatcher became one of my most wanted birds for Ontario.

A Whooping Crane was reported from Ingersoll (border of Oxford/Middlesex Counties) yesterday as well! This globally Endangered species has less than 500 individuals remaining in the wild. Occasionally the odd bird is seen in Ontario, but these aren't technically "countable"since they most likely come from a reintroduction program (birds breeding in Wisconsin and wintering in Florida).

taken from Wiki Commons

Finally, a Barnacle Goose was reported today from Peterborough! There is only 1 accepted Ontario record for this species - a bird that had been banded in Scotland. It was shot by a hunter in eastern Ontario. Several others have shown up around the province but since Barnacle Geese are regularly kept in captivity, the  origins of these birds are debatable. I wouldn't at all be surprised that this Peterborough bird is a wild one, especially considering the influx of Barnacle Geese into New England and eastern Canada this winter, but I doubt this one will be accepted by the OBRC. Pure speculation on my part since I don't know any details really about this Peterborough bird...for all I know it could have been banded in Scotland as well...If I go and see this bird, it will only count for my big year if it is accepted by the OBRC (them's the rules).

A few other things have been turning up as well, such as a Yellow-throated Warbler in Rondeau and a Dickcissel in Hamilton. Both of these I have classified as code 3.

I am spending the entire day today moving out of my house in Guelph, so no birding today. But tomorrow I start 6+ weeks of non-stop birding! I'll make a post soon about what my strategies for May are. In the meantime, I am probably going to check out the Peterborough Goose tomorrow if it is still around, then grab the Hamilton Dickcissel, and finally make my way to the south to hopefully see the Yellow-throated Warbler in Rondeau. I was originally going to go to Pelee Island for 4 or 5 days, but those plans are nixed since BOTH ferries are broken down. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise and a rarity will show up on the mainland. If I would be stuck on the island, it would take a considerable amount of time to make it to the mainland to check out a rarity, causing me to potentially miss it.

By the way, after finishing my exam yesterday, I did a bit of local birding....had some fun birds for Wellington, such as Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Vesper Sparrow, Caspian Terns, Pine Warblers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Broad-winged Hawk, etc. Picked up my first Winter Wren for the county too...
Caspian Tern and Broad-winged Hawk were both year birds, bringing me up to 183.

Things are a happening

Here are a few recent reports from around the Great Lakes....

Lesser Goldfinch in Pennsylvania (first state record)


Brown Pelican in Minnesota (third state record)


Eastern Kingbird  from Kitchener yesterday. They normally don't show up until the last couple days of April at the very earliest...this may be one of the earliest ever for Ontario?

Red-headed Woodpecker from Guelph...another super early migrant

Henslow's Sparrow from Point Pelee

Yellow-throated Vireo from Point Pelee

Magee Marsh, Ohio (April 15):
 -Hooded Warbler
-Ovenbird
-Yellow-throated Warbler
-White-eyed Vireo
-American White Pelican
-American Avocet

elsewhere in Ohio...
-9! Prothonotary Warblers on territory found by one observer in the middle of the state
-Cattle Egret in the northern third of the state
-Say's Phoebe present for several days now on Lake Erie
-White-winged Dove, same deal
-Black-necked Stilt, southwest Ohio
-Ibis sp., northern Ohio

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So yeah, things are really starting to happen, especially just across the lake in Ohio. Ohio starts getting the first wave of rarities usually a week or so before us, so expect a similar list of rarities in Ontario a week or so from now (hopefully)! 

Some predictions of mine between now and the end of April...

*disclaimer: I am in no way held responsible if none of these birds actually show up. It's a complete guess*

 

-Swallow-tailed Kite

-Townsend's Warbler

-Cinnamon Teal

-Ruff

-Snowy Egret

-Say's Phoebe

-Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

-Western Grebe

Hopefully we'll get a good dose of "lesser" rarities (most of these I have categorized as code 3).

-Yellow-throated and Worm-eating Warblers

-American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Willet

-Eared Grebe

-Le Conte's and Henslow's Sparrows

-Summer Tanager

-Glossy Ibis

-Laughing Gull

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It's been kind of frustrating so far while doing this big year because I have been stuck being a full-time student. While it hasn't really prevented me yet from chasing a rarity (you gotta have priorities), it has limited the amount of time I could be away. I would have loved to spend more days in the north for instance, but exams were calling me back! Additionally, I have been out of the province for 25 out of the 107 days this year. I've really lucked out that I haven't really missed anything while I have been gone! But, as of tomorrow morning, I will be done with school. That means that I can FINALLY go all out on this big year.

My last exam is tomorrow morning at 8:30. Hopefully by Friday I will be all moved out of my house in Guelph, all packed, and heading to Essex County. Unless there is a pressing rarity elsewhere, I will probably head to the island for a few days to find all the rarities before Kenny gets there ;).

Northern Trip by the numbers

I'm not back home in the south, so I figured I should put out a final wrap post about my whirlwind northern trip. Here are some numbers from the trip:

100: Total number of new "county ticks" I added. (For those who don't know, a county tick is a new bird seen in a county. For instance, I saw 27 new birds for my Thunder Bay District list on the trip, 2 new birds for my Haliburton County list, etc. I'm now up to 3243 county ticks for Ontario. Divided up by the 50 counties, that is an average of 65 species per county.)

72: total hours away

31: total hours spent driving

2828: Total km driven

50: Number of times I questioned my sanity for doing this trip

1: Times I was pulled over for going 91 km/h in a 60 km/h zone

1: Times I was let off and not given a ticket for going 91 in a 60

3: Number of moose/truck collisions I saw near Marathon

1: Number of moose I saw standing on the shoulder of the road during the night

3: Number of year birds I saw

155.9: The highest price of gas (per litre) I saw up north

So there you have it. The drive home was fairly uneventful - a few birds here and there, but nothing really notable. I didn't really stop to go birding, as I was eager to get home! From a big year perspective, the trip was a definite success. While it was a lot of driving for only a few new species it was a trip that I needed to do or risk not seeing those species for the year (Boreal Owl in particular). I saw the main 3 species that I was going for, and the 2 misses (Western Meadowlark and Sharp-tailed Grouse) I will see when I go up to Rainy River later on in the spring. Logistically the trip worked out great as my car had absolutely no problems, I had no collisions with moose, and I had no huge unexpected expenses. Michael and Martha were extremely helpful in Marathon and I really appreciated having a place to stay.

For the next little bit I won't get out a whole lot as I have 3 exams in the next 10 days. After that, all hell will break loose :)

Leavin' this town for a little while...

Guelph may be fun and all, but it leaves a little something to be desired with its birdlife! I guess it is putting its name on the map with the Mountain Bluebird earlier this year, and now the Fish Crows that have been hanging around campus (which, I might add, I haven't run into yet). But I'm ready to head back up north to where the really cool birds are. 

My itinerary will be something like this. It is definitely not static because the birds, the weather, or even my car may not co-operate (though she's been great lately, knock on wood). 

Today: 

-leave Guelph in the evening, sleep in my car somewhere near Huntsville

Wednesday: 

-be at Spruce Bog by sunrise and hopefully get Spruce Grouse, my only target. The males should be displaying by this time of year, spectacle I've never seen.

-hopefully be out of Algonquin by 8:00 AM at the latest, but will hang around till at least 10:00 if I need to.

-drive to Sault Ste. Marie and be there by early afternoon

-spend a few hours in the Soo looking for anything of interest around town - namely, Sharp-tailed Grouse. Fortunately, several friends have given me some information on good STGR spots near the Soo. If I don't see these guys however, I will still have many chances at them later in the year and almost certainly will see them in Rainy River. This bird would be a "lifer".

-hopefully leave the Soo by late afternoon so that I can be in Marathon by 9:00 or 10:00 at night. Try for Boreal Owls at several reliable-ish spots

-stay at Michael Butler's place in Marathon that evening (thanks Michael)

Thursday

-spent the morning searching specifically for American Three-toed Woodpeckers, a species that I've never seen before

-if I get my woodpeckers, that allows me to spend the rest of the afternoon birding around town

-if I still need my Boreals, I will try again Thursday night, but otherwise, I'll head back down south

-may potentially do some owling in the Soo that evening

Friday

-leave the Soo (or Marathon, if I'm still up there at this point) and drive home!

So there you have it. If all goes to plan, I will add 4 new year birds, half of them "code 2" (the grouse), the other half "code 3" (Boreal Owl, A. Three-toed Woodpecker). More importantly, these are the last of the boreal/winter "specialties" I need for Ontario this year, with the exception of Northern Hawk-owl, the Hudson/James Bay birds, and the Rainy River birds.

Of course I could add a lot more than four new year birds if I did a 3 day trip to Point Pelee instead, but all those would most likely be birds I'll see regularly the rest of the year. I have to do this northern trip because I most likely won't see any of them in southern Ontario anytime soon.

Quarterly Review

The calendar says March 12, but since winter is nearly over I thought I would post a review on how my Big Year is going so far.

Warning - if you don't really care about the theory behind a big year and the numbers, look away now........

When doing a Big Year it is impossible to predict in March how you will stack up at the end of the year since you will have seen less than half of your final tally. As well, the early part of a Big Year (winter: part 1, if you will) should be focused on seeing rarities, first and foremost, as well as finding winter "specialties". I have been extremely successful with the rarities and moderately successful with the wintering birds.

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First, lets look at total numbers. If I was feeling ambitious I would turn some of these data into graphs, but I'm not that ambitious. 

So far, I have seen 153 species this year in Ontario, approximately 45.1% of the 339 total species I will need to see to break the record. In previous years I have seen, by March 12:
2009: 93 species out of a total of 286 (32.5%)
2010: 100 species out of a total of 304 (32.9%)
2011: 94 species out of a total of 289 (32.5%)

So I've seen way more this year compared to the last three, in which I've been eerily consistent.
These numbers only tell part of the story, however.

 First of all, Ontario has had better birding in total this year. The number of species reported to Ebird by March 12 are:
2009: 153
2010: 162
2011: 157
2012: 182

Look at that jump from the previous three years! Some of this is because the number of people submitting data to Ebird is increasing yearly, but that should only account for very minor increases (probably only 2-3 species). Mike Burrell did a really great post about the number of people using Ebird here. Since hundreds of thousands of Ontario sightings are submitted a year, very few species get "missed" being reported to Ebird annually - usually only a couple of single-observer sightings from someone not yet converted to the wonders of Ebird. Anyways, I digress.

The other reason for the huge jump this year is because of the winter that wasn't, allowing many birds to winter in Ontario that usually don't, as well as an early spring. There are a number of species that have already been reported in Ontario that normally don't for another week or two. Long Point had a Forster's Tern a few days ago, and I just saw a report of Barn Swallows! For a cool CBC news segment on the winter that wasn't, including some clips from Mike (you get around!), see here.

Secondly, I've done a ton of birding this year and have seen most of the common birds. Last year at this date I hadn't been farther north than Kingston, thus missing about 10-15 "northern" birds right there (which I ended up getting as the year went on). This year I have been to Pelee; Niagara 4 times; Long Point twice; Ottawa 3 times; Cochrane, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay (same trip); Bracebridge twice, North Bay, etc. I have seen birds in 31 of Ontario's 50 counties. You get the picture!


So basically, my total of 153 species is inflated somewhat because of Ontario's weird winter, early spring, and my numerous picking up of the common birds. Nonetheless, it is high for a reason - namely, rarities.

I have seen 9 species that I had coded as codes 4-6, meaning super duper rare in Ontario. They are:

Mountain Bluebird (4)
Black-headed Gull (4)
Fish Crow (4)
Gray-crowned Rosy-finch (5)
Spotted Towhee (4)
Band-tailed Pigeon (5)
Black Vulture (4)
White-winged Dove (4)
Smew (6)

I predicted I would need to see all of the code 1 and code 2 birds (piece of cake), nearly all of the code 3 birds, and at least 20 genuine rarities. And I'm almost halfway there with the rarities! We've had a really unprecedented year for rarities - normally late April to early June, and mid September to early December are rarity time, not January to March. Even if the rest of the year is relatively "normal" I should see (knock on wood) over 20, maybe even 30. If I end up seeing 30 mega rarities it gives me quite a bit of breathing room, in case I happen to not cross paths with a Worm-eating Warbler, or Glossy Ibis, or maybe even a Great Blue Heron ;)

 There have been a few that have gotten away - namely the Black-throated Gray Warbler that didn't hang around til I got back from Nova Scotia early in the year, and the Common Gull that decided to show up while I was in Scotland. I think I've seen every other code 4 to code 6 bird that has been seen in Ontario this year.

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Winter/boreal birds I have done fairly well on, with a few obvious holes. Some of the species listed are found throughout the year, I just listed them as winter specialties since they can be easily found in the winter.
Owls: 8 for 10
Finches: 11 for 10 (all the regulars plus the rosy-finch!)
Bohemian Waxwing: check
Geese: 6 for 6
 King Eider, Harlequin Duck, and Barrow's Goldeneye: check
Spruce and Sharp-tailed Grouse: 0 for 2
Three-toed and Black-backed WPs: 1 for 2
Gulls: I've seen all the gulls reported in Ontario this winter, except for Kittiwake and the aforementioned Common Gull.

Boreal Owl I will do my best to get calling on territory in April and the grouse/Three-toed Woodpecker I will get as the year goes on. I should have a good chance at Kittiwakes this fall. The one glaring hole is Northern Hawk-Owl. I really hope I can get one on territory this summer since they might not be around in December!

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But, not so fast! I may be on a really good pace so far, but there are other big year birders out there. I won't only be competing against Glenn's 1996 record of 338 but also the likes of some 2012 birders. Only a few days ago I was sitting in 5th place, according to the Ebird Top 100 (Ontario, 2012).
My excuse is that I have been focusing my energy on rarities (still missing birds like Winter Wren, Red-throated Loon, Great Blue Heron), I have been out of the province for 3 weeks so far and I am a full-time student. Once I graduate in April all hell will break loose! :)

Back to the Great White North

After a fantastic couple of weeks across the pond, I arrived last night in Toronto. While it sucks to be back home in a way, I am anxious to catch up on some homework as well as some birds.

In a previous post I mentioned why I had planned my trip for the last two weeks in February. Pertaining to doing a big year, that is traditionally one of the slowest time of the year for rarities. One particular individual predicted Ross's Gull, Brambling, and Fieldfare would show up while I was away, then disappear the day before I got back! Fortunately that didn't happen or I may have had an aneurysm. Despite some mega birds being seen while I was away, none were really chase-able so I lucked out by being gone for those two weeks. Here is a rundown of some of the species I missed, or that the other big year birders got, while I was gone:


Mew Gull (possible the European subspecies/species, Common Gull): One showed up for about half an hour at Cobourg harbour. If I was in Ontario, I probably would have left for Cobourg immediately after it was posted, but alas I would have arrived about an hour or more after it was last seen.

Slaty-backed Gull: one was reported near Owen Sound on February 28, though birders traveling up on March 1st were unsuccessful in relocating it. I saw some photos of the beast, and with no disrespect to the finder, it appears to be a hybrid Great Black-backed Gull x Herring Gull, which can look eerily similar. I had one such bird a year or two ago that just about made me cry wolf.


Heerman's Gull: This was the mega I was talking about! Heerman's Gull is a code-6 bird according to my rankings, the first code 6 to be reported in Ontario this year. It was found by Mark Gawn, of Ottawa Razorbill, Western Grebe, and Northern Gannet fame from last fall. Unfortunately for the crazed twitchers among us, it failed to hang around for more than the rest of the afternoon. If I was in the province at the time, I probably would have headed down that evening and searched for it (unsuccessfully) the following morning. Some very distant photos of the bird provide evidence that it may have been a Ring-billed Gull with some sort of weird staining of its plumage, making it appear dark. I am still holding out hope that it will be found and confirmed as a Heerman's.

Townsend's Solitaire: One was reported near Cobourg on February 24, though all subsequent searches have came up negative. I am still holding hope that it will be around and I may try my luck at this bird soon. Generally, solitaires hang around in the same area (or even the same tree) for months on end when they show up in the winter in Ontario.

Typically early spring migrants: Common Grackle, Rusty and Brewer's Blackbird, Great Blue Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Sandhill Crane, and Snow Goose are all early migrants that have been reported which would be year birds. I got the grack yesterday, and the other ones I will pick up easily as the year goes on.

So what it boils down too....There were no code 4+ birds that I would haveadded if I had hung around in the province instead of visiting Scotland. The only things I missed were birds that I'll pick up easily as spring moves along!

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What's next on the agenda? I have a ton of schoolwork to catch up on, but the Varied Thrush in the Soo is still calling my name. Maybe I'll do a Townsend's Solitaire search, and I'm sure I'll pick up a bunch of common spring migrants in the near future.

PS I'll try to get some Scotland/Spain pics up soon!!

Northern trip stuff and another owl for the list

I had a number of target species to get on the northern trip. The following is that list and how successful I was at seeing them.

Varied Thrush

Spotted Towhee

Harris’s Sparrow

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch

These were the four rarities that we hoped to see and the Gray-crowned Rosy-finch (code 5) and Spotted Towhee (code 4) were the main reason for this trip! Fortunately we saw both of them, immediately making the trip worthwhile. The Harris's Sparrow (code 3) was nice to get early on. I will probably see Harris's Sparrows when I go north in the fall (they migrate through in small numbers), but even still I don't want to have to worry about this bird later in the year! We missed the Varied Thrush (code 3) in Ottawa which was really depressing since it was my second unsuccessful try for that individual. Two days after passing through Sault Ste. Marie we heard about a Varied Thrush near the Soo that had been present for several weeks....that's how it goes I guess. 

Ruffed Grouse

Spruce Grouse

Sharp-tailed Grouse

The grouse weren't major targets on the trip, simply because I will pick them all up at various points throughout the year. We were hoping that we would stumble upon them at some point on the trip but didn't have really high expectations. We did see Ruffed Grouse (code 1) in a number of locations, but missed the other two species.

Great Gray Owl

Boreal Owl

Northern Hawk-Owl

Barred Owl

There were extremely few small mammals up north and that would explain the paucity of owls. We missed all three of the northern species! I already had seen Great Gray Owl (code 3) in Kingsville and was really hoping to get the other species. We tried several times for calling Boreal Owls (code 3) in suitable habitat, but it was perhaps too early in their breeding season and we were unsuccessful. Northern Hawk-owl (code 3) was one that I thought we would stumble across as we drove backroads in the north, but that was not to be. We had a probable Barred Owl fly over the road in the north but didn't get a great look. Fortunately, I picked up Barred Owl yesterday in Guelph (scroll down the post).

N. Three-toed Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker

We did get Black-backed Woodpecker in Sault Ste. Marie, but struck out on Three-toeds in several locations. Weather definitely played a factor. 

Gray Jay

Bohemian Waxwing

Boreal Chickadee

We got Gray Jays in several locations and a big flock of Bohemian Waxwings in Sault Ste. Marie. Surprisingly we didn't get any Boreal Chickadees in the boreal forest, but I did see a single bird in Algonquin on the way back. 

Pine Grosbeak

Hoary Redpoll

Evening Grosbeak

These were the remaining 3 regular finches I needed to see and we saw many individuals of all three species (all were code 2 birds). Getting the northern subspecies of Hoary Redpoll (Hornemann's Hoary Redpoll) was a great bird, even if it doesn't count as a year bird.

So when it all comes down to it, I got 3 of my 4 main targets, and 8 of my 15 secondary targets. Not great, but at least I saw the birds that mattered the most for my big year! I should get multiple opportunities to see all the secondary targets I missed.

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Yesterday I spend a couple hours in the morning doing some local birding around Guelph. The Barred Owl which had been hanging out at Guelph Lake all winter wasn't too hard to find and Matt Strimas-Mackey and I spent some time watching it hunt in the early morning sun. Very cool bird! 

Barred Owl - Guelph Lake

Barred Owl - Guelph Lake

I tried unsuccesfully for a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Guelph (not a bird I'll miss this year, but a cool bird to get in the winter), and successfully saw my first Northern Pintail of the year, a drake. Brings the list up to 127.

Northern Pintail - Guelph

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You may recall at the beginning of the year that I made a goal of seeing all 10 regular finches and 10 regular owls early in the year. I have now seen all the finches (plus the bonus rosy-finch) and 8 of the 10 owls. I'll probably head north in April to get Boreal Owls calling on territory as well as trying for Three-toed Woodpeckers again.

There are several other birds that I hope to see before I leave for Scotland on February 16. They are:

Northern Hawk-owl

Black-legged Kittiwake (Fort Erie bird still being seen)

California Gull (one was seen on the weekend at the Niagara River - could very well be around)

Varied Thrush (might have to drive to the Soo for this one)

Tufted Titmouse (not really rare, but I should get them in Niagara)

Harlequin Duck (female bird occasionally being seen in Niagara)

Snow Goose (several birds are in the province, hopefully I can see the one in Hamilton)

Sharp-tailed Grouse (would be a life bird for me. Will try for them when I am back in the Soo)

I have to keep forcing myself to stay focused and only look for winter specialties and rarities. I could easily go to Long Point and get 5 or more year birds, but they would be all common birds that I will pick up later. If I spend time doing that I may miss a great rarity because of that.

This post is getting fairly long-winded so I think I'll end it here.

Still counting down

I'm still in Nova Scotia! I have gotten out and done a bit of birding around here and have seen a few interesting things. A Dovekie, Northern Goshawk Harlequin Duck, and group of 6 Black-headed Gulls was nice on December 29. Today, while walking around the lake that Laura lives on, I found a Northern Saw-whet Owl, White-winged Crossbill and Boreal Chickadee.

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Its now the evening of January 3. I'll be in the province late on January 6 and out birding the next day. Here are the statuses of the 4 "code 4 or higher" rarities that are in southern Ontario at the moment. If you can recall, in a previous post I mentioned that I would need to see at least 20 rarities (code 4 or higher) to break the record.

Mountain Bluebird (code 4) 
I had a bit of a "scare" this morning when I read an ONTbirds post stating the Mountain Bluebird didn't show. The nighttime low was WELL below freezing so perhaps the bird had succumbed. However, it has been reported all day today, so there is still hope it will hang around to the morning of January 7! This will likely be the first bird I chase.

Black-throated Gray Warbler (code 4)
I hadn't seen any reports of the Black-throated Gray today, but a quick check of ebird showed that there was a sighting today.

Black Vulture (code 4)
The Black Vultures were still being seen coming to the roost along the Niagara River (January 2 report).

Black-headed Gull (code 4)
The only recent report I've heard of from Buffalo did not mention whether the BHGU was there. The Kittiwake (code 3) was reported, however.

Several other birds I'm keeping an eye on and will likely chase once I get any of the previous rarities include Great Gray Owl, Spotted Towhee (way up north but I'll likely chase it later in the month), King Eider, Barrow's Goldeneye, Greater White-fronted Goose and Ross' Geese.

Some strategy to start the year.

Being New Years eve, I am pretty excited for my big year to start next year. However, I am currently many miles away at Laura's place just outside of Halifax and I don't enter the province until January 6. There are several rare birds that are around the province and if nothing else changes between now and then, here is a strategy of attack:

The only super rare birds still in the province are the 6 Black Vultures at Niagara and the Black-throated Gray Warbler in Hamilton, refound recently by the Hamilton crew. So on January 7I'll probably go to Niagara for first light, hope the vultures fly from their roosting tree over the Niagara River, then go upriver where the Black-headed Gull (code 4) and Black-legged Kittiwake (code 3) are being seen. Hopefully they will also fly over the border! I'll definitely keep an eye out for the Mew Gull that was seen (only once) at Adam Beck and the Slaty-backed Gull which may still be present along the Upper Falls.

The famous Bayfront Park Black-throated Gray Warbler

I'll then spend the rest of the day at Bayfront Park in Hamilton looking for the Black-throated Gray. If I have time, I might make a quick detour for the King Eider at Port Weller before getting to Hamilton.

The following day I might go back to Hamilton or Niagara to pick up whatever I missed the day before. If I did really well on the 7th, I'll probably do a day trip to the Pelee area to grab the Great Gray Owl (code 3). If I can get Great Gray early in the year it could definitely save some considerably effort later on as it can be a notoriously difficult species to find. Barb almost missed this species in her Big Year, and probably would have if this bird didn't show up near Kingsville!

Once I've seen the big rarities that are in the province, I'll spend the next few days/week trying to get the rest of the semi rare birds that are in southern Ontario at the moment - Barrow's Goldeneye, Harlequin Duck, Purple Sandpiper, some owls, finches, etc.


Of course, if the Smew is re-found or something else rare shows up, these plans may be completely dropped.

Happy new years everyone, and good birding!

Rules for my Big Year

With any game or sport, there has to be some groundrules so that everyone is on the same page. With my proposed big year, that is no different. These are some of the rules that I will follow next year. If anyone has any comments/suggestions, just let me know. If I think of any more rules that I have so far forgotten about, I will add them to this page.

- The period runs from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. Obviously.

- Taxonomic changes that happen in the future will not affect my big year total. For instance, say I see both subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler next year (Audobon's and Myrtle). Since they are not recognized by the OBRC as distinct species, they only count as 1 species for my total. However, say 5 years down the road the OBRC decided that the evidence is sufficient to "split" Yellow-rumped Warbler into 2 species. I will not go back and modify my totals to accommodate this change. I think of splitting and lumping as random error - splits and lumps will continue to occur, but this variation is roughly equal.  

- Species that are OBRC rarities and with potentially questionable provenance will only be counted if the OBRC accepts the record. For instance, say that I chase a European Goldfinch in May, but the OBRC decides that the evidence isn't enough to determine that it is a wild bird (as opposed to an escaped bird), and subsequently does not accept the record. Even if I think it is a countable bird, I will not count it.However if, in the future, the OBRC goes back and accepts the record, based on new evidence or whatever, then I will modify my Big Year totals depending on the OBRC's decision. This is the only case where I will go back and modify my big year totals.

- I will only count species that I see or hear sufficiently to ID independently. Let's say I go chase a Thick-billed Murre in Kingston. Just as I arrive, I see a flash of black and white as the bird flies away out of sight, never to be seen again. Even though dozens of good, reputable birders are on site and inform me that that was indeed the Thick-billed Murre, I will not count it because I didn't see it well enough to be 100% sure.

- I will count birds that are heard only, but only if I am 100% sure (or as close to 100% as one can be). There will probably only be a couple species that I will "hear only" next year and I'll have to look at them on a case by case basis. If I hear a Whip-poor-will calling in central Ontario in June, I can be reasonably sure in my identification to count it. However, if I hear the song of a Kirtland's Warbler at Point Pelee in May, I will probably not count it on that alone. It could have been another birder playing a tape, it could have been another species sounding similar, etc. Hopefully I will see every species next year so I don't have to rely on heard only birds!

-The birds have to be wild. I won't count the Ring-necked Pheasants I see on Pelee Island, since the island is regularly stocked with this species for hunting every year. I will have to count Ring-necked Pheasants that I see elsewhere, where I can be reasonably sure that there are from a wild, established breeding population.

T minus 22

In 22 days, the year 2012 begins and I start my big year, though I won't actually be in the province until January 6. With it being only 3 weeks away, I thought I would start to strategize on how I would spent the first month of the year.

Several people have offered advice so far. For instance, Russell Cannings advised me to clean up on any rarities that are in the province before trying for any winter specialties. Alan Wormington mentioned that I should clean up on all of the owls, finches, and other winter specialties before the end of February/March, so I don't have to worry about them the following winter. This would enable me to spend all of November and December chasing rarities, instead of getting caught up on trying to find a Boreal Owl or Red Crossbill or something.

And so that's exactly what I am planning on doing! There are several species of birds in the province right now that would great birds to start off the year. Several are even code 4 birds (remember the codes?). Unfortunately the Razorbill didn't make it. However, Niagara is still hopping with a Slaty-backed Gull, Kittiwake, Franklin's Gull, and the Black Vultures. The Franklin's Gull I'm not too worried about. However, I plan on being in Rainy River in late May when Franklin's may not have arrived yet. The birds that end up in Ontario usually breed across the border, and spend the summer in Rainy River and area. So if I can grab the bird in Niagara, it might save me the hassle of trying to wrangle one up later in the year, especially if I can't turn any up in Rainy River in late May.

Black-legged Kittiwake is the other one which I'm not too worried about, since I should pick this species up in the late fall doing a lakewatch somewhere. However, if I could get it at Niagara, where it currently is super easy at the whirlpool, it would save me a bit of effort later on in the fall.I have a feeling that both the Kittiwake and Franklin's will leave before the new year, as they usually travel with Bonaparte's Gulls (numbers of bonies at the Niagara River will drop off substantially by the new year).

juv Black-legged Kittiwake at Niagara Falls

The Slaty-backed Gull, originally found my Kevin McLaughlin on December 3, is one that I really am crossing my fingers for. In 2008, a Slaty-backed Gull was found at the same location on December 13. It hung around until late January at least, and I managed to see it on January 24, 2009. I am hoping this one follows a similar pattern!

And finally, the Black Vultures. They are seen sporadically at best, but  there are up to 5 birds which roost near the Niagara River and travel to a landfill on the American side. This landfill is really interesting - a landfill is one of the things which can entice vultures to overwinter!  I'm willing to put in a day or two at least searching for just this species in January if they are still being sporadically seen.

There are other good birds that have been seen recently in Ontario, birds that I am very interested in. Varied Thrush and Spotted Towhee near Thunder Bay, Pacific Loon in eastern Ontario, Barrow's Goldeneye and King Eider in several spots, etc. The Christmas Bird Counts usually turn up a few rarities as well.

Owls are starting to worry me a bit - while Snowy's are clearly having an erruption year, everything else seems very quiet....I haven't heard of any reports of Great Gray Owl, Boreal Owl, or Northern Hawk Owl from any location south of Attawapiskat! As well, I have only heard of 1 report of Northern Saw-whet Owl this month, and 0 reports of Long-eared Owl. Maybe it just means that owls are late this year, possibly due to the warm November and 1st week of December we had. At any rate, between rarities I hope to do some traveling to pick up all the winter specialties, even if I have to go nearly to James Bay to search.

It will be very interesting to see how the next few weeks play out.

Why do a Big Year?

Why do a big year? That's a question that I've asked myself numerous times ever since I starting tossing the idea back and forth in my head. And to be honest, I still don't really have a straightforward answer!

For one, I want to explore my home province a lot better. While I am pretty familiar with the southern 1/4 of the province, I haven't really made it up north yet! I've never visited Ontario's ocean coast of James and Hudson's Bay. I've never visited the prairies in the Rainy River region, or even the Boreal forest in northern Ontario! I think the farthest north that I have explored/birded in Ontario is probably the Algonquin area.
Meeting other birders is another reason I want to do this big year. Since I've only been in the "Ontario birding scene" (its actually bigger than people might think!) for a few years, I haven't even met a large percentage of birders. It will be cool and a lot of fun to put faces to names and to meet birders in far off areas of the province I haven't really explored. My knowledge of birds is far lower than many other birders in the province so it will be a great learning opportunity as well.

Like I mentioned before, the logistics of doing a big year seem to be in my favor this year, so if I ever was to do one, this would be the year. I'll be graduating with an Ecology degree in the spring, and I don't have a full time job to tie me down yet. So far, my girlfriend Laura, my family, and my friends have been really supporting of the idea of me spending an entire year driving around the province and looking at birds (hopefully they are not only supportive of the idea because it means that they won't have to put with me as much :P ). Obviously money will be an issue next year, and I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do about that. I'd like to pick up some consulting work for a few months sometime from mid June to mid August - if you hear of anything, by all means let me know. ;)

Obviously doing a big year isn't all fun and games, especially since I plan on going virtually "all out" next year. There will definitely be a lot of times when I will miss friends or family. I'm sure I'll question my decision to spend a year screwing around looking at birds instead of pursuing career opportunities with my brand spanking new Ecology degree. And of course, I'll smack myself in the head and mutter, "What the hell are you thinking?" to myself after driving all night to chase a rare bird, only to discover that it is not longer around.

While it will be cool to beat the record, I'm not sure if that's the sole reason why I'm going to do a big year. If anything, having a numeric goal will give me the excuse to go on an adventure, explore some cool areas, see some amazing birds, and meet more individuals in the birding community. I can hardly wait for it to begin :)

A numbers game (Big Year)

As I mentioned before, the Ontario Big Year record is 338 species, set by Glenn Coady in 1996. In preparing for my Big Year, I have categorized every Ontario species based on how likely I think I am to see it. 

I arbitrarily ranked the birds as either Code 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, based on what I think my relative chances are of seeing each species. Code 1 birds are guaranteed, and code 6 birds are highly unlikely. This categorization is fairly arbitrary – for instance, California Gull is an OBRC bird – meaning that it is rare enough in the province that documentation needs to be sent in to the Ontario Bird Records Committee if one sees the bird. Ruff, a Eurasian species of shorebird, is not an OBRC bird – meaning that it occurs regularly enough in the province, so there is no need to send in documentation if you see one. However, I have given Ruff “Code 4 status”, and California Gull “Code 3 status”, since California Gull observations have been increasing in frequency every since the first provincial record in the early 1980s. Now there seems to be one (or multiple) birds spending a few months on the Niagara River every winter, plus a few other individuals are seen through fall, winter, and spring migration. Ruff on the other hand is a tough species to nail down and rarely do more than 1 or 2 show up a year. I haven’t even seen one yet in Ontario. I think my chances of seeing California Gull (of which I’ve found 2, and seen ~4 others) are much higher than are my chances of seeing Ruff!

Note: I wrote this post before the last one on my big year (see: ). Since then I’ve tweaked the numbers a little bit (changed Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Townsend’s Solitaire from code 3 to code 4, among other things). The numbers don’t really line up with the other post because of this.

Code 1 birds include everything from exceedingly abundant (like European Starling) to common (like Stilt Sandpiper, Snow Bunting, or Chestnut-sided Warbler). These birds I am absolutely guaranteed to see on my Big Year – I cannot afford to miss a single one! I have 219 species ranked as Code 1 birds.

White-breasted Nuthatch (code 1) - going way back into the archives for this one!

 Code 2 birds are also very common, though they may be a little tough to get. This includes everything from annual winter specialties (like Pine Grosbeak and Snowy Owl) to uncommon breeding birds (like Sedge Wren, Acadian Flycatcher, and Prairie Warbler), to uncommon migrants (Red-necked Phalarope).  I listed 62 birds as Code 2. This makes a total of 281 birds which are Code 1 or 2. I cannot afford to miss a single one of these species.

Red-necked Phalarope (code 2)

 Code 3 is when it starts to get a little tricky. None of these birds are guaranteed on a big year, though if one is persistent enough one should get nearly all of these species. These include regular spring overshoots (Worm-eating Warbler, Summer Tanager), rare breeding birds (King Rail), some of the owls (Boreal Owl), some of the rare gulls (Black-legged Kittiwake, Pomarine Jaeger), etc. Some species on this list, like Cave Swallows, are common some years but absent other years. It will take a lot of luck to get all the species on this list! Out of the 38 species listed, I will only be doing well if I get AT LEAST 33 of them. To break the record I will probably need to get all 38. 

Boreal Owl - perhaps my favorite Code 3 bird

Code 4 birds are generally OBRC birds, usually birds that show up 1-5 times annually (like Western Grebe). Some on this list however (like Black-throated Gray Warbler, or Mountain Bluebird) occur less than annually. Basically, all the Code 4 birds are genuine rarities and I can’t count on any of them to show up.  There are 40 species which I’ve categorized as Code 4. The “easiest” Code 4 species are probably Laughing Gull, Black Vulture,  Townsend’s Solitaire, Black-headed Gull, and Kirtland’s Warbler. 

Black-headed Gull - an "easy" Code 4 (this one's from Nova Scotia though)

As expected, Code 5 and 6 birds are the rarest of the rare. Most Code 5 birds on my list have shown up between 5 and 20 times EVER in Ontario (like Gray Kingbird, or Slaty-backed Gull), while others (like Ivory Gull with 29 accepted records) have shown up more often. I placed Ivory Gull as a Code 5 as opposed to Code 4 because if one shows up, the chances of it hanging around long enough for me to see are very small! I have listed 65 species as Code 5.

Finally, Code 6 birds. These ones have usually been seen less than 10 times in Ontario. Out of the 59 species listed, I’ll be doing really well if I see more than 3 in this category! These include extinct species like Eskimo Curlew, crazy vagrants (Bachman’s Sparrow, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher), and one-hit wonders (Variegated Flycatcher, Black-capped Vireo, Audubon’s Shearwater, etc).  I don’t think I’ll be seeing any Passenger Pigeons or Eskimo Curlews next year.

Neotropic Cormie - one of the few "Code 6" birds I've seen

So, to recap: There are 281 Code 1 and 2 birds which I am sure to get. There are 38 Code 3 birds, and if I get them all, it would bring me to 319 species for the year. To beat the record, I would need an additional 20 genuine rarities on top of that. For every Code 1, 2, or 3 bird I miss, I’ll need to see an extra rarity on top of the 20!

There is also one more thing: these rankings are based on my abilities to travel to all 4 (5?) corners of the province to search for birds. Smith’s Longspur and Willow Ptarmigan are both Code 2 birds, since if I make it up to the coast of Hudson’s Bay during the breeding season I will be (nearly) sure to get them. That is a big IF though, since I haven’t really figured out how I am going to be able to make it up there without having to sell all of my possessions, and possibly one or both kidneys, to afford it! Without that trip, Smith's Longspur drops to Code 4, and Willow Ptarmigan to Code 6. This is true with several other species.

I will have an extremely narrow margin of error next year to say the least! If any of my big trips (Pelee area from late April to late May, Rainy River in late May and early June, Hudson’s Bay in June or July, north shore of Lake Superior for a week or two around Oct. 1, James Bay in the mid/late autumn, etc) fall through, it will be nearly impossible to beat the record. 

Note: I will eventually make a spreadsheet available to download right off of this blog, much the way that John Vanderpoel does on his big year blog. This spreadsheet will contain the big list (chronologically and taxonomically), the status of each species (codes 1-6), remaining target birds, etc.

Breaking the Big Year record

I've spent some time recently, WAY too much time actually, comparing previous years of birding in Ontario to see if it was possible to break the record in those years (the record = 338 species).

Last year was a good year for birding in Ontario, and 350 species were reported to ebird. There may have been a few other species that didn't make ebird since only a handful of Ontario's birders, perhaps half of the serious ones, post their sightings to this program. However I don't have access to last year's OBRC report, and ebird data are generally accurate, so I'll use that.

I had a particularly good year of birding in 2010, personally seeing 304 species in Ontario. As I mentioned in a previous post, I figure that I will have to see at least 16 genuine rarities (which I have labeled as codes 4-6), but probably 20 or more to break the record. Of the 304 species I saw, 14 of them were category 4-6 birds. They were:

Western Grebe - Point Pelee tip, May 13
White-faced Ibis - Amherstburg, May 1 and Windsor, May 6
Black Vulture - Dundas, March 20
Black-bellied Whistling Duck - Milford, July 25

Mississippi Kite - Point Pelee, May 15
Laughing Gull - Point Pelee, May 8 and May 10
Mew Gull - Niagara Falls, December 27
Chuck-wills-widow - Carden Plains, June 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Luther Marsh, August 7

Kirtland's Warbler - Point Pelee, May 22
Spotted Towhee - Long Point, December 3
Golden-crowned Sparrow - Ottawa, October 15
Blue Grosbeak - Rondeau, May 11
Painted Bunting - Kincardine, November 26

So basically, I could have broken the record IF I saw another couple of rarities, plus got all the category 1-3 birds. The reason why I only saw 304 species was because I never made it farther north than Algonquin, thus missing all the Rainy River specialties (Franklin's Gull, Yellow Rail, Le Conte's Sparrow, Black-billed Magpie, Western Meadowlark, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Western Kingbird), the Hudson Bay specialties (Arctic Tern, Smith's Longspur, Willow Ptarmigan, Common Eider), the stuff that Alan and Brandon saw at Netitishi (Black Guillemot, Dovekie, Sooty Shearwater, Gyrfalcon, A. Three-toed Woodpecker etc) plus some other odds and ends (Eurasian Wigeon, Barrow's Goldeneye, Gray Partridge, King Rail, A. Avocet, Red Knot, Western Sandpiper, Red Phalarope, Boreal Owl, N. Hawk Owl, Bohemian Waxwing, White-winged Crossbill). All the rarities I saw wouldn't have been missed if I have gone to Rainy River in early June, Netitishi for 2 weeks in early November, and Hudson's Bay in July. Both the Chuck and the Whistling-duck were long staying so I would have gotten them regardless.

There were a number of chaseable rarities which I could have easily gotten if I was trying to do a big year, such as:
Little Blue Heron - one present at Oshawa's Second Marsh May 9-13, also one present in Cornwall September 15-21

Glossy Ibis - one present at Hullett WMA from August 26-August 31
Lark Sparrow - several seen on Pelee Island - April 30 and May 19, plus some years one (or more) are on territory near Long Point
Gray-crowned Rosy-finch - one present in Marathon from February 12 - March 13 (quite the drive but definitely chaseable!)

I'm sure I am missing a few too. So basically, last year if I had gone all out, including trips to James Bay, Hudson's Bay, Rainy River, plus chased a bunch of rarities, I could have seen around 340 species of birds. It would have been a ton of effort, and there are a LOT of Ifs there. Just goes to show that it is possible!

An Ontario Big Year

Its official - I am going to do a big year next year. For those who don't know, a big year is an attempt to see as many species as possible in a given geographic area over a one year period. In the last few years, I've become interested in this concept, and I regularly followed Russell Cannings (http://bcbigyear.blogspot.com/) last year as he set the BC record, seeing an astonishing 373 species in his home province. This year, John Vanderpoel is attempting this on a much bigger scale - the ABA area (North America north of Mexico, essentially). He is currently sitting at 733 species, not far from the record set by Sandy Komito and made popular by the movie The Big Year (which I still have not seen, though I own the book). John's blog is http://www.bigyear2011.com/.

In Ontario, the Big Year record is an astonishing 338 species, set by Glenn Coady in 1996 as far as I am aware. This is a huge number, one that many believe won't be broken. Most years, about 350 species are seen in Ontario, including all the mega rarities. So to beat the record, I will need a ton of time, help, and luck! A few hurricanes certainly would help too. While I don't think I will break Glenn's record, I am certainly going to do my best. I haven't even seen 338 species of birds in Ontario in my life, let alone in one year so a huge effort will be required to even come close to his record!

Between now and the end of this year I will make a series of posts regarding my Big Year, including strategies, the pros and cons of doing a big year, breakdowns of possible species, etc.

Why am I doing a Big Year this year? First of all, I will be graduating from the University of Guelph in April and I plan on working as little as possible during the year. I have arranged my schedule next semester so that I am taking easy courses and have only a few classes a week. This will enable me to chase birds virtually anytime. I will need funds at some point, so hopefully I can get some contract work for a few months during the summer! Also, with no school to tie me up in the fall, I will be able to do some big trips and some serious chasing of rarities. I would love to make it up to Netitishi Point on James bay for a few weeks. Also, my girlfriend, Laura, is away in Scotland for school. It sucks that she's not around, but at the same time I will be able to devote more time to birds when she is away. It seems like this would be an ideal year for me to attempt a Big Year, so I'm gonna do my best!

I will be in Nova Scotia visiting Laura until January 6, so that will delay the beginning of the Big Year. I also am heading to Scotland for a couple weeks in February (generally a slow time for birding here, anyways), Baja California for a week or so in August, and possibly Nova Scotia for a bit in the summer. Other than that I should be around for the whole year.