Moderator: E.J. Peiker

All times are UTC-05:00

  
« Previous topic | Next topic »  
Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 28 posts | 
by OntPhoto on Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:19 am
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Image
If you had any doubts about whether winter 2017-2018 will be a good year for snowy owls, this NOVEMBER eBird map should erase all doubt.  Snowy owls are showing up early at all the expected places including here in Ottawa.  We have at least 2 (including an almost all-white one) in that famous stretch of farm fields bordering Rushmore, along Eagleson to Brownlee Road in the Kanata/Stittsville area (west end of Ottawa).  Many photographers out on the weekend taking photos.  

Northern Hawk Owls (about the right time of year for them to show up) and Great Gray Owls (November is early) are also showing up.  I am waiting for some free time to go search for them.  The reported ones are not local but I hear that a few Northern Hawk Owls have shown up.

Each red mark represents a location where snowy owls has been reported (in some cases, people report the same owl but at a slightly different spot).  Still, this map was full of reports by mid-November.

Update:  December 23, 2017.  They reported 20+ snowy owls on Wolfe Island recently. You can bet they have good numbers on Amherst Island too.  A week ago they had 21 short-eared owls seen flying around all day on Amherst. This fall I had been noticing more than the usual number of short-eared owl sightings popping up here and there in eastern Ontario and in Quebec as well.  Locally in west end of Ottawa, I counted up to 5 different snowy owls at the same location over a 2 week period in the Eagleson, Fallowfield, Akins and Brownlee road area.  These roads surround large farm fields.  Rushmore Road off Eagleson is good too.  This morning I found 2 snowy owls along Eagleson near Brownlee.  However, snowy owls are showing up in various locations around the city and out, so wherever you've seen them in the past, expect to see them there again this winter.  One location that is still extremely popular and always has snowy owls is St-Isidore off exit 58 from Hwy 417 about 60 kilometers east of Ottawa. 
 

by OntPhoto on Sun Feb 25, 2018 4:24 am
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Last winter, winter 2016-2017 was an irruption winter for great gray owls, northern hawk owls and boreal owls.  And as stats have shown for the past several decades, the winter preceding or following an irruption winter tends to see a smaller incursion of such owls.  Winter 2017-2018 is no exception as we have seen reports of great gray owls and some northern hawk owls.  In our region, I am aware of 2 northern hawk owls.  There have been a couple of great gray owls but from what I hear most have been just moving through.  There are some good spots in Quebec for seeing the great gray owls including one location near Montreal.  The northern Minnesota and Sax-Zim bog area seems to have gotten a fair share of these owls this winter.  

This winter also saw quite a bit of short-eared owls on the move.  Indications were already evident during the fall as sightings were being reported in various locations where you would not expect to see them.  For the fourth winter in a row, snowy owls are plentiful here. However, I have not gone to photograph a snowy owl since December as I have had my hands full with the short-eared owls and a northern hawk owl.  Snowy owls are plentiful each winter so I can catch them anytime.

What the above shows is that stats don't lie which is what I rely on to see what an upcoming winter will be like for certain types of owls. :-)
 

by Mike in O on Sun Feb 25, 2018 6:44 pm
Mike in O
Forum Contributor
Posts: 2673
Joined: 22 Dec 2013
Come to Oregon all year to see GGO...they are common for an apex predator but nesting now.
 

by OntPhoto on Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:00 pm
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Mike in O wrote:Come to Oregon all year to see GGO...they are common for an apex predator but nesting now.
Hey, you're very fortunate Mike.  Although the GGO is not known to nest in our area, strange things have happened. A number of years ago, we had a pair nesting near Ottawa.  It had 3 young but none of them survived (hit by vehicles). Further north up in Algonquin Park, there is a small population of GGO and they are known to breed there. From time to time people see young GGO up there.

We have a local northern hawk owl visiting this winter and it's known to call.  I heard it on several visits.  Doing a search on the web, I see the call is an advertising call.  I think it's going to have to head back north soon. 

This past winter several Great Gray Owls were being seen in Ottawa.  Both in the western end and in the eastern end or Orleans area.  I was told there was a great gray owl seen perched at the end of one road (B.C.) fairly often in March. I know the exact locations in the west end as well.

It was kept very quiet.  Can't blame anyone for doing that.  You pretty much have to these days or a location would be swamped with people (even if it is not published because people will talk).  And one Boreal Owl which many birders had no idea about was seen and photographed right here in Ottawa this winter.  I found out about it several weeks later when I bumped into the photographer.  The same photographer photographed a second northern hawk owl on the Quebec side past the Wakefield area.  Apparently it came back to the same spot second winter in a row.


Last edited by OntPhoto on Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
 

by OntPhoto on Fri May 18, 2018 8:22 am
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Don't want to start another thread on owls so latching onto this one.  The northern saw-whet owl is often viewed as a winter owl because that is when most people get to see one.  Saw-whet owls tend to be migratory in the fall flying southward in search of better hunting habitat and easier conditions to hunt in. Saw-whet owls can also be found year-round in some locations including the Ottawa area, especially the outskirts where habitat is more favourable.

Saw-whet owls are cavity nesters and will take to natural cavities left behind by woodpeckers or maybe even choose a man-made one such as a nest box.  From a photographic perspective, I much prefer to photograph an owl in a natural cavity. Nest boxes are ok if that's your only choice. But I've always thought about making nest boxes look more natural, like a surrounding tree or trees.  

That's why I thought it was so cool to see someone actually camouflage a nest box to look like a tree. At this particular location they found saw-whet owls took to nest boxes with a natural looking façade over an un-natural one.  

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundl ... -1.4211319


Last edited by OntPhoto on Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
 

by OntPhoto on Sat May 19, 2018 5:42 pm
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
With all the giant windmills (up to 26) that will eventually dot the Amherst Island landscape, here is a look back at one of the gems on the island, the Owl Woods.  During winter 1993-94 a couple counted 23 Great Gray Owls in one day on a walk from Stella Forty-foot to the Owl Woods. There have been sightings of the same species on the island since, mainly during irruption years.  Barn owls have also nested on the island in the past.

"The Owl Woods is the only place where it is possible to see ten species of owls in one day. There are 19 different species of Owls in North America."

http://www.protectamherstisland.ca/owl-woods/


I was recently informed that Kingston, Ontario is within the core of the Barn Owl's range in Ontario.  A recent birding report (it's legit and was told the person is an excellent birder, so it's not a misidentification) made me do more research on the species in Ontario but particularly eastern Ontario.  

One of the points in the following article.  "Develop public awareness and support for Barn Owls and grassland habitat."
https://www.ontario.ca/page/barn-owl-recovery-strategy
 

by OntPhoto on Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:32 pm
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Apparently up to 24 snowy owls are summering in eastern and southern Ontario.  From what I am reading, there are several in the Niagara region too. 

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/science-of-summer-snowy-owls-come-south-in-july
 

by OntPhoto on Mon Aug 27, 2018 4:21 am
User avatar
OntPhoto
Forum Contributor
Posts: 7039
Joined: 9 Dec 2006
Location: Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Ever see a snowy owl moult?  Most are long gone from eastern Ontario by spring.  Unless you're up in the Artic doing research, you simply do not get to see it.  Well, what if one stuck around here into late August?  This was a benefit I had not considered.  I read that snowy owls are asynchronous moulters (they replace their feathers at different times over a period of time).  

Head-on view.  It will be interesting to see how many of its head feathers will go in this moult.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/image/168032063/original

Slightly angled and head bowed view.
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/image/168032199/original


Big difference from a month ago.  Left (Early August).  Right (mid-September).  Photographed in Ottawa. 
Image
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
28 posts | 
  

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group