Hi Everyone, After the first week of December, the 2023-2024 Ontario winter bird list stands at 174 species. Last year at this time we had recorded 164 species. The most interesting bird seen to date by far is the Fieldfare. A Fieldfare has previously been seen in the winter in Ontario but not since the winter list started, which is 2007-08. Another interesting species added for the 2023-2024 year is Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is also new for the winter bird list. The details of this observation are private for now. Other interesting observations include the Pectoral Sandpiper (seen 4 out of the last 16 years) reported by Steve Charbonneau in Erieau Marsh Trail. Another rare winter bird is the Dickcissel seen at Don Valley Brick Works Park, Toronto (3/16). Some misses in the winter bird list for the year are Spruce Grouse, American Woodcock, Snowy Owl and Hoary Redpoll. With the Christmas Bird Counts starting soon we will hopefully be filling in these gaps. Winter Listers can also keep track of what's being seen in the Ontario Birds Discord Server which can be found here:(https://discord.gg/EhvgAc2fwb)) or the OFO discord server (https://discord.com/invite/npbCzXVhZ2). If you are interested in going out on an organized group trip, the OFO is running these winter trips: - Toronto Lakeshore - Dec. 10 and another on Dec. 16 2023 - Peterborough Area - Jan. 1 2024 - Understanding the Language of the Forest (online) - Jan. 3 2024 - Toronto Winter Birds: Tommy Thompson Park - Jan. 6 2024 - Winter Birds of the Detroit River: Windsor - Jan. 7 2024 A link to the OFO trip site is here <http://www.ofo.ca/site/tripsupcoming> (you will need to scroll down a bit to see the trips). The OFO also has tips on how to find winter birds here <http://www.ofo.ca/content/winter-birding/tips>. The winter list can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/myyulvs. I try to update the spreadsheet every couple of days or whenever I hear of a new addition. Please let me know if you hear of a new addition or any other correction to the spreadsheet. Have a nice weekend, Todd Hagedorn