Hi Everyone, Monday, December 1st is the first day of winter listing for the season, running until February 28th. There have been 360 species of birds recorded in Ontario during the winter period to date. Last winter, 208 species were recorded, which is precisely the average for the previous 18 years. Neat birds from last year's winter list included: - Common Eider (seen 3 out of the last 18 seasons); - Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (10/18) - Ancient Murrelet (2/18) - White-eyed Vireo (12/18) For more information on the Ontario Winter List, there is an article in the OFO News <http://www.ofo.ca/library/serve/on-39-1/index.html?page=9>. If you are looking for a way to give your birding hobby more purpose this winter, consider a winter list. This list could motivate you to get out more in the winter and enjoy nature. Post your sightings to Ontbirds (if sufficiently rare, ofobirds@gmail.com), ebird <http://ebird.org>, Ontario Bird Alert Discord group <https://discord.gg/kdYPQBdQgy>, or send me an email, and I will update the list accordingly and provide an update to Ontbirds and the discords every couple of weeks. When using the Ontario Bird Alert Discord group, use the Ontario-wide Rare Bird Alert (RBA) channel for all birds rare to Ontario and the Winter-listers RBA for birds that are common to Ontario but rare in the winter. The OFO also has a discord chat <https://discord.com/invite/npbCzXVhZ2> to discuss winter birding, which is another great spot to chat about your winter birding adventures and thoughts. The OFO is running several field trips and webinars over the winter months. OFO events include: - Consecutive Big Years: Big and Bigger! -Zoom meeting (online) - Dec. 3, 2025 - Niagara Gull Weekend: Explore Niagara - Dec. 6 and 7, 2025 (Some sessions are full, some are in person talks, and some are field) - Toronto Lakeshore (field) - the Dec. 13, 2025, session is full, but there is another Toronto Lakeshore event on Dec. 20, 2025 Make sure to register and note the dates on your calendars. You can register on the OFO website <http://www.ofo.ca/site/Tripsupcoming>. There are more events in 2026 that I have not listed above. After the first week of December, you can check the winter bird list and inform me of any species that have been seen but are not present on the list. This gives me time to start the list. The list can be viewed here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1umLIsr70JMC85hbAq82tryI1Jz55M8oRGxapWBr7dIc/edit?gid=0#gid=0>. I try to update the spreadsheet every week at the beginning of the season and increase the length between updates as the season progresses, as there are less species to add. I am hoping for a nice winter season, Todd