Shaping up to be good year for owls on Amherst Island

I was there yesterday and I drove in from the South end no problems. My car is fairly low to the ground. 5 Species of Owls seen.

Hi Marie,
I haven't been there in a few years but I've walked in a couple of times when the road was not drivable and it's not bad. If you walk in from the south end there is nice habitat to walk through at points along the way. Good luck.

Jim Zipp wrote:Hi Marie,
I haven't been there in a few years but I've walked in a couple of times when the road was not drivable and it's not bad. If you walk in from the south end there is nice habitat to walk through at points along the way. Good luck.

As Jim stated, the walk in from the south end is not bad at all. Quite easy actually. I did it last time I was there a week ago (of course much of that snow has melted). Just look for the exposed grass area along the side of the road and was at the owl woods entrance in no time. Last year when the snow was really deep over the whole road to the owl woods, I used snowshoes and once again the walk in was easy (keep in mind, I wasn't lugging aroung a 500 f4 but my backpack probably weighs 3 times as much). But it's the north end that have the Short-Ear sightings and that's a longer hike in.

So are the short ears near the fields on the hike in from the north side, or are they also found elsewhere? I believe I heard they could be accessed in the field to the north of the owl woods? I was there Tuesday, unfortunately with limited time and came up short on the short ears and boreal.

Thanks, all, for the updates. I plan on being on the island several days to maximize my opportunities.

Marie

Greg Schneider wrote:So are the short ears near the fields on the hike in from the north side, or are they also found elsewhere? I believe I heard they could be accessed in the field to the north of the owl woods? I was there Tuesday, unfortunately with limited time and came up short on the short ears and boreal.

Short-ears can also be found regularly at the north east corner of the island, a large open field area. They usually are out from about 3 PM hunting. This is also good for Snowy and Northern Harrier, and the occasional Northern Shrike.

Harold Stiver wrote:

Greg Schneider wrote:So are the short ears near the fields on the hike in from the north side, or are they also found elsewhere? I believe I heard they could be accessed in the field to the north of the owl woods? I was there Tuesday, unfortunately with limited time and came up short on the short ears and boreal.

Short-ears can also be found regularly at the north east corner of the island, a large open field area. They usually are out from about 3 PM hunting. This is also good for Snowy and Northern Harrier, and the occasional Northern Shrike.

Thanks for the tip Harold. In December I was watching 2 Short-Ears perched on fence posts very close to the road at the north part of the owl woods road entrance. Around 3pm or later I saw someone take off and head eastward on that north road. How "regular" are the Short-Ears at that location? I'm trying to remember what that north-east section looks like.

PS. I have also seen 3 Short-Ears flying over the owl woods near the jack pines section but they were not close. Reading the latest reports, others have seen the same.

OntPhoto wrote: How "regular" are the Short-Ears at that location? I'm trying to remember what that north-east section looks like.

They are always at that location as they roost in the short pines and cedars across the road from the open field. However, there is no guarantee that they will be out hunting. The best chance, of course, is the 90 minutes to 2 hours before sunset.

Cheers, Harold

Appreciate the tip, Harold. I will check there when I head over next.

@Greg... if you're in Hamilton, you should be checking out Fisherville.

Kin Lau wrote:@Greg... if you're in Hamilton, you should be checking out Fisherville.

On my to-do list.

with 2 more boreal owls showing up = 3 now, I need to seriously consider a trip soon. Lodging suggestions?

I can only hope that no NSN members were involved today.

This is part of a report to ONTbirds today.

"Today was a disgusting example of total disregard for habitat and wildlife by many of those present. One gang of 4 or 5 photographers spent over an hour taking pictures of the first Boreal found today. Their loud talk could be heard hundreds of yards away. Apparently not satisfied with how many photos they must have obtained in that time period, they returned at least twice more during the day to the same owl to obtain even more. No matter where you were in the woods, you could hear these guys and others like them talking and laughing and crashing through the woods while they were on the move with their mount Palomar telescopes and equipment. When I left at 3 o'clock there were no less than 20 people with their scopes and cameras surrounding this owl. It was more like an astronomy convention than a group of birders. That owl did not enjoy a moments peace from 8am until at least 3pm and probably not until dark.

The vast majority (not all) of the people in the woods today, had absolutely no interest in the owls themselves, only in getting more and better pictures. I don't think there was more than a handful of people all day who had nothing more than binoculars and not a vast array of telescopes, cameras and backpacks. If you're coming to the woods to see owls, all you need is a pair of binoculars and a hand held camera if you want some pictures - you don't need to bring the Mount Palomar 200" telescope with you.

Now I don't mean to tar all photographers with the same brush - there are some who know how to behave and not stress the owls unnecessarily to get that 'great' shot. Nor am I necessarily against the large photographic equipment itself, but when virtually everyone you see is carrying huge telescopes, telescopic lenses and tripods, one has to ask oneself what are they there for.

If all you want is pictures and you don't know enough or care enough not to be constantly harassing and stressing these owls, please find somewhere else to go and leave the enjoyment of the wildlife to those who do care about it.

I would also like to remind everyone that this is NOT public property. It is owned by at least 3 different landowners who have been gracious enough to allow us access to their properties. Breaking branches as you carelessly crash through the woods where there are no trails and breaking or cutting branches off trees to improve the camera angle can reasonably be construed as destruction of private property. It is not inconceivable that if this kind of disregard for the welfare of the birds and the habitat continues that the property will be closed to all.

Past experience has shown that these concerns will fall on deaf ears as far as the perpetrators are concerned. If they're not harassing the owls here they'll be chasing them somewhere else. It probably would be helpful however, if those of us who are birders primarily, whether or not they are photographers as well, could confront these morons and make them unwelcome unless they are prepared to respect both the birds and the habitat.

Sorry for the rant but this seems to happen every time we have a good owl year. These idiots appear out of nowhere all of a sudden and spoil it for the rest of us. One of the great enjoyments I get in all this is to be able to show visitors these sometimes difficult to find owls. Today, I don't think I pointed out a single owl to anyone for fear it would just result in another stampede to the next photo-op."

I'm glad you posted the email from Alex Scott today. I had initially planned to go visit Amherst Island Saturday but wasn't able to. After reading that, glad I didn't go.

Many may not know this but Alex Scott is a former resident of Amherst Island and also former part owner of the owl woods property. He knows the current owners of the owl woods property. I met one of the current owners of the owl woods property over a week ago on a visit there. He seems like a very nice guy.

http://www.virtualbirder.com/bmail/ontb ... st.html#10


There are a number of Great Gray Owls near our city and the above is one reason why their location is not revealed (except for the one that has already been reported). I'm no expert but think Great Grays are more affected by noise such as tromping through snow than say Hawk Owls which have good hearing but rely more on sight to hunt prey. They're likely less affected by having many people around than the Great Grays. The Great Grays can hunt even in the dark due to their exceptional hearing so will be more bothered by people walking around on the snow near them.

This is one reason why in some states the Rare Bird Alerts (RBA's) specifically do not allow the posting of winter owl roost locations similar to not reporting nesting raptor locations. While sharing locations on the internet is great for all of us, this is one example of one of possible negative affects.... too many people converging on relatively small spots and having a greater impact than in the past when things were mostly word of mouth etc. There are many examples of this including the snowy owl location in Ontario where I've heard rumor that most if not all the farmers in the area have now gotten together and posted no trespassing on virtually all the places that were open last year. I was there last year for 2 days and it was a great time and while everyone I saw was very well behaved, I was concerned that the numbers of people could possibly pose a problem in the future. Birders are not immune either even if they think it's just photographers. I remember at one point a LONG time ago, even birders were not welcome on Amhearst Island because of problems like locals missing the ferry after having to wait to get around groups of birders parked along some of the narrow roadways etc.

This isn't to say we shouldn't all share tips on good birding/photographing places.... just that we should keep in mind the shear number of people that will have access to that info on the internet and the possible impact when specific information is put on the web about relatively tiny sensitive locations if too many people show up. For nocternal birds like Saw-whets, Long-ears and Boreals, having a few photographers shoot it for a bit is no big deal. Having that same owl disturbed all day long because there are so many people trying to shoot it or say long-ears being flushed time and again all day and then having to spend the night hunting to survive can have an impact on the bird for sure. I've flushed plenty of owls myself but with our growing numbers I think we have to think more all the time about the impact on our subjects.

I consider myself a birder as well as a photographer but it's getting to the point where you almost feel like a criminal carrying a camera rig when in an area that is shared by birders. The comment about basically urging the harassment of photographers is disturbing.

Jim, I appreciate and agree with your response. Truth be told, I have been disappointed to see the Ontario owl updates posted here on Naturescapes because they would contribute to a flood of photographers at the owl sites, inevitably leading to issues with birders and landowners as are currently being observed. I know of several Ontario birders who will no longer report winter owls to the Ontbirds listserver because of photographers.

There is certainly some unjustified vilification of photographers by birders, but there are also valid concerns. As you mentioned, a couple photographers visiting an owl for a bit is one thing, but the cumulative impact of a crowd or an all day steady steam of photographers visiting the same owl is different. This applies to birders as well... presumably it is not good for - say Long-eareds - to be continually flushed from their roosts by subsequent groups of birders throughout the course of a day.

As the popularity of bird photography has grown explosively in recent years, we need to be extra vigilant to maintain good relations and minimize conflict. I go out of my way to be respectful to birders (I am one too) - even if it means leaving a site so they can have a quality experience without a paparazzi crowd. Or better yet, I prefer to find my own birds in remote areas and have them virtually to myself (far more satisfying, anyway).

Being respectful of birders (and owls) also means knowing when not to share location information. Most of these spots have been discovered by birders who have generously shared their sightings over the years. Knowing that the owl locations are hugely appealing to photographers, we need to be extremely cautious about broadcasting this information widely. It is ultimately in our best interests.

I was on Amherst Island today. One Boreal owl was found along with a number of Saw-whets. The owls on Amherst Island are well known as they have been reported via Ontbirds a number of times this Fall and Winter....by birders. So, is Ethan suggesting that birders who respect other birders and owls should not make reports of owl sightings on Amherst Island? I suppose you can let them know that by sending those offending birders an email. Four years ago, it was the same thing on Amherst Island. Once again, anyone who wanted to know what was going on just had to subscribe to Ontbirds or read Ontbirds postings on the web. Photographers of today are smart enough to search Ontbirds reports for sightings. I know a number of photographers were waiting for the next Ontbirds report on Amherst before making it down there and what do you know.....a couple of Amherst Island reports were posted in recent days...one of which was by that Alex Scott.

A number of photographers and birders were there today. A great day was had by all. The weather was sunny and imagine most got to see what they came for. I even met a sweet lady who happened to be married to Alex Scott many years ago. Even better than the owls was the background and history I learned about the owl woods. Fascinating. And J. Scott was very friendly and nice. I had no idea who she was until she mentioned her name and one thing led to another.

I asked one of the photographers what happened yesterday and particularly about the reported loud talking. He said there were people and kids around and kids may have been kids and people were also chatting about various things, etc. Whether he was downplaying it, I have no idea as I wasn't there on Saturday. On Sunday I was walking in the Jack Pines and you know what? You can sometimes barely move or walk around in there without at one point running into a branch or two in there.

As for the Snowy Owls east of Casselman, it is starting to appear, if this farmer is to be believed, it apparently has little to do with the number of people photographing there last Winter. Others may have had different reasons for the putting up of signs. But this farmer (this guy has a farm there with lots of land and it's not that Pilon fella who doesn't have that many acres relative to some of the other farmers there) has relayed the reason to 2 different people that I know. These peole ran into him while visiting the area. These are photographers who actually asked him how this all came about and he was willing to share. According to the farmer and the people who have spoken to him, allegedly said he found out a commercial venture was about to be embarked upon land in the area (and therefore perhaps his as well) but he only found out about it later through other sources. The signs started to go up in various fields early on (when I read about it on another photo forum is when I first found out about all this happening) and by the end of December, pretty much most of the fields at that place had a sign up on it. Now that doesn't mean some other factors may not have played a part but this is what the farmer allegedly said was the reason the signs went up when asked, at least according to the people who said that they had spoken to him.

What I am suggesting is that the additional exposure here on NSN can contribute to making the situation worse. Selfishly, as a bird photographer in Ontario, I think this hurts our future. Will we have continued access to lands, and will birders continue to report sightings?

Amherst Island is an issue between birders and photographers. If birders want to broadcast their postings via Ontbirds that is great. But should it be done here on NSN, with its exceptionally large community of bird photographers - knowing that it will likely result in conflict? I bet that many, and perhaps even most of the bird photographers here on NSN are not Ontbirds subscribers. Sure they could find the postings online, but many would not bother. While I typically share location information generously with other photographers, I think that doing so for these owls may not be in our long-term best interest.

NSN isn't the only website frequented by bird and owl photographers. Owl photos from Amherst Island and other locations are posted on various photo sharing forums with large audiences.

I think the average NSN visitor is smart enough, especially in this day and age to know the various places to search for posted owl sightings. Even 4 years ago nature photographers knew where to go to photograph Great Gray Owls by reading either Ontbirds postings or other places on the web where they can look up Ontbird reports.

From what I can make out of the people who went there on Saturday, some were there both days, many do know of or read Ontbird reports themselves or have friends who do and relay it to them. Once a report is posted to the web (such as Ontbirds) it is not hard to search for the specific species of bird you're interested in. Doesn't really require too much effort.

In the end, birders will have to decide if they should post such sightings or not. I hope they don't think a small select group of birders are the only ones reading such reports because based on the photographers I have spoken to, most of them read it too.

I think the vast majority of visitors to the owl woods are people from Ontario and Quebec who are within a 2 to 3 hours driving distance. Occasionally during a good owl year I'll see a few cars from south of the border. And once it's reported and on the world wide web, pretty much anyone with an interest and internet connection can then find it. Have a problem with that? Then they shouldn't post to Ontbirds in the first place.

edited