Barred Owl - Halls Rd, 11 January 2015
Photo: Jarmo Jalava
Hello Friends! Since late 2013 I'd hemmed and hawed about doing a Big Year of birding in celebration of Carolinian Canada's 30th anniversary. Well, in 2015 I finally took the plunge and made the pledge! What had held me back was that for the "30:30" campaign I thought it would be nice to try the extreme challenge of observing 300 species of birds within the Carolinian life zone of Ontario within one 12-month period. With no small amount of birder's luck and the willingness to be "on-call" whenever a rare bird is reported this might be doable, but would involve burning A LOT of carbon and sacrificing a bit too much family and work time. So, I set a more modest goal of trying to observe 270 (3 X 3 X 30) species in municipalities that overlap with the original Carolinian Canada boundaries (which meant including Perth County, where I live, and Ontario south of a line from Durham Region to Huron County). Even this wouldn't be a cinch. Anyway, the most important thing is that it's to support Carolinian Canada. Please consider matching my personal pledge of $1 per species towards this campaign, and/or becoming a member of our organisation.
I reached my goal of 270 species for the Carolinian Life Zone on September 3 at Van Wagner's Beach on the Hamilton-Burlington waterfront. It was a rare Sabine's Gull -- FOUR of them, actually! And on December 27 I saw my final addition the 2015 Carolinian zone list, a Thayer's Gull at the Wildwood Reservoir near St. Mary's, Ontario, which brought the year's total to 287.
But my Big Year wasn't over, since I was at 299 for Ontario, just one species shy of the magic 300. A Smew, a rare visitor from Eurasia that I had never seen in my life, had been reported near Upper Canada Village on the St. Lawrence River. It seemed like a ridiculous distance to drive to see a bird, but at the urging of family and friends, I went for it, heading off for the five-hour drive in the wee dark hours of the morning of December 30.
It was a grey, drizzly day, and the roads were slick. But I made it to Morrisburg. After searching the shores of Ault Island for many hours, I did not find the Smew, but thousands upon thousands of Snow Geese, which had delayed their migration south because of the slow onset of winter, were passing over. It was truly a soul-stirring spectacle -- and in and of itself made the trip worthwhile. And, not long after my arrival and much to my delight, a flock of 30 Bohemian Waxwings landed in a tree right next to the road along the St. Lawrence River shore where I was searching. Those beautiful berry-eating long-distance travelers from the boreal forest would raise my 2015 species total for Ontario to 300. Missions accomplished.
Well, almost accomplished. It's still not too late to help me reach my all-important fundraising goal of $3000. To make a flat donation, please click the link below. Consider making the number a multiple of 30! Huge thanks for your support!
Photo: Jarmo at the Pinery