The current ebird leader for Ontario is none other than Josh
Vandermulen, who we all know is making a superb run at the Ontario Big Year
record.... Currently sitting at 318 species (written Jul 8), I decided to use
his info (from his blog) and do a breakdown of my own...
He has broken down the Ontario checklist into “codes” – for
how rare each species is. Using his 6 month recap, he noted the following birds
he is still missing:
Code 1:
Stilt Sandpiper
--- needless to say, this one is a lock, so let’s give his 318 a +1 to a hypothetical
319
Code 2:
Red Knot
Purple Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope
Parasitic Jaeger
Arctic Tern
Nelson’s Sparrow
--- Josh made the code 2 group as a “harder to get” list –
but ones he fully expects to get. And let’s be honest here, if he misses any of
these species on a “big year” – we’re going to disown him...319 is now +7 to
326!
Code 3: this is where I think he expected to miss a few...
Pacific Loon
Glossy Ibis
Gyrfalcon
Red Phalarope
Long-tailed Jaeger
Black-legged Kittiwake
Sabine’s Gull
Black Guillemot
Western Kingbird
Cave Swallow
It’s a tough list to break down. I’m going to put a few species into a new
honorary “Code 2” category --- where if he misses them.... Well......
Gyrfalcon
Red Phalarope
Long-tailed Jaeger
Black-legged Kittiwake
Sabine’s Gull
Before we know it, we’ve got 5 more “locks” – racing upwards
to 331 ... And these are the “locks” people...
The remaining “code 3” birds –
Pacific Loon
Glossy Ibis
Black Guillemot
Western Kingbird
Cave Swallow
Now we enter the realm of guess work, but if he DOESN’T get
3 of these 5 species, I’m going to slap him... Can you say 334?
Code 4: we haven’t even started code 4 yet, and he’s 5
species shy of the Ontario record! Here’s some code 4 goodies I actually think
he has a solid chance of getting:
White-faced Ibis
Eurasian Collared Dove
Northern Fulmar
Rufous Hummingbird
Northern Wheatear
Northern Gannet
Swainson’s Hawk
Townsends Solitaire
Little Blue Heron
Ruff
Between birding your backside
off, and twitching, you could practically get 5 of these species sealed and in
the bag + tagged. WFIB, ECDO, NOWH are
the hardest of the bunch... But Gannet, Little Blue, Ruff, Solitaire,
Swainson’s Hawk ---- are all very very doo-able if you’ve got the spare time.
Heck, Netitishi owes me a friggin Fulmar.. and I’d gladly pass it along to Josh
for the big year list!
So there you have it. Done. New big year record... Pretty
much doesn’t even have to try anymore...
But just for fun, I’m going to delve a little deeper and see
where a few more species could come from:
Rare fall flycatcher: get one of Fork-tailed, Say’s,
Vermillion, Ash-throated, or a different “Yellow” Kingbird???
Ducks: still some ducks... Cinnamon Teal, Tufted, a whistler, Common
Eider...
A “western” Warbler? *cough* - Black-throated Gray, Hermit,
Virginia’s, Townsends?
Drought Season: how about an extra Heron like Tricoloured,
Yellow-crowned, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Spoonbill? It has been a good start so
far...
Pelagic species: Netitishi alone should be good for one of
these: Shearwater sp, Storm-Petrel, Alcid sp (Dovekie, Thick-billed Murre,
Puffin, Razorbill, Murrelett) , Great Skua, Albatross sp,
GULLS: god I love gulls... Ivory, Ross’s, Mew, Slaty-backed,
Black-tailed, Glaucous-winged, etc etc etc
Hurricane: -- wait... I’m not even going to go there.....
Rare shorebird: rare shorebirds are great.. So many species
I could pick here...
And those are the predictable ones! The recent Frigatebird
shows that crazy things can happen at crazy times... One epic storm in the fall
could really make something nutty happen......
So yeah! I guess all we can do is watch and see how it plays
out... But I’m going to make a mid-season prediction and say he at least hits
340!
(unpredictable goodies await... )
