Grasshopper Sparrow? Toronto Islands 10/2009

[GBLangley]

Hi everyone

I hope you can help me.

I visited Toronto on one of my irregular sojourns to the city back in Oct 20th 2009 and went to Hanlan point on the islands for the morning. I met another birder, a local, and we found a few birds including a male Goshawk and a bird that popped into the diamond-shaped holes in the souther perimeter fence of the airfield for a couple of seconds before diving into cover.

He ID-ed it as a Grasshopper Sparrow, a bird I've not seen before or since. I'm not entering my 2009 records onto eBird and it suggests that Grasshopper Sparrow has never been recorded in the Toronto Area.

At the time I was convinced of his ID although I would not have trusted  myself to get it right alone. I am heartened to see no less an authority than Norm Murr (even I know, as a visiting UK birder that he knows his stuff) lists them as present on the island in migration in a post 3 weeks before, ie late Sept 2009.

Can anyone tell me if my record is likely to be a mis-ID or can I submit it?

If its easier please feel free to reply via private email to grahamlangley@yahoo.co.uk

Hoping winter brings you all the owls and finches you could wish for  

Graham

[Reuven_M]

Grasshopper sparrow has been recorded around Toronto (on ebird I see reports from Leslie Street Spit, Colonel Sam Smith Park and Rhododendron Gardens in Mississauga). However, all of these reports are from May, and there are only a few reports in October anywhere in Ontario. Unless you are totally sure, I wouldn't enter it.

[cloaca]

He ID-ed it as a Grasshopper Sparrow, a bird I've not seen before or since... At the time I was convinced of his ID although I would not have trusted  myself to get it right alone.

I think the fact that you didn't confidently identify the bird is a good enough reason to not enter it.

[cloaca]

Keep in mind that you can submit your observation as "sparrow sp." and then click the Add Details button to describe what you saw.

[GBLangley]

Wise replies actually.

Will do just that.

Thank you.