ONTARIO OWL TRIP REPORT ~ |
Day 1 : Kingston Hot Ponds; Amherst IslandNearing the town of Kingston several individual light morph Rough-legged Hawks were seen flying over the snow covered field. Then we had what we thought was another one, but upon further scrutiny this very black and white bird was a Canadian phase Red-tailed Hawk, similar to western red-tails - the lack of a white rump patch as well the patagial marks on the wings being the main difference. Visibility was excellent at the Hot Ponds with loads of Mallards and a scattering of American Ducks as well as Gadwall. Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser and a single American Coot and Lesser Scaup round out the ducks. Shortly after the ferry to Amherst left Millhaven a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle was seen flying near the Millhaven power plant. By the time we reached Amherst the snow showers had intensified and visibility was rather poor especially for scanning the fields for owls. A small flock of Snow Buntings was our first find -we would later find a large flock on the southern side of the island - a few Starlings and about two dozen Mourning Doves were all we could muster up. The road conditions were actually pretty good and the island had only a few inches of snow on the ground, making the road into Owl Woods assessable. Here, Black-capped Chickadees by the dozen greeted us and a few American Tree Sparrows played hide and seek. The chickadees as always were glad to see us and readily feed from Connie’s hand and Karl’s head. Eventually a female Hairy and male Downy made their way to the feeder and were joined by a White-throat Sparrow and White-breasted Nuthatch. Checking the cedars on either side of the path Bert soon located the Boreal Owl. A beast of a small owl! It struck us all odd that its bill was rather on the dark side as opposed to the light horned color one would expect for this species. It was a great start, however the rest of the woods were rather quiet, with only a Short-eared Owl being flushed as Bert walked the edge. By the time we left the woods we had an hour to work our round the eastern side of the island. By now at least the weather had improved a bit and we picked up American Kestrel on a wire above a horse paddock; large numbers of Common Goldeneye on the open water south of the island; a Snowy Owl on a fence post, which blended in very well against a white snow cover field in the background; and a Short-eared Owl quartering the eastern most field. Though individual numbers were low, we had 3 owl species – a wonderful start.
The steam off the hot ponds in the morning makes it tough to view all but a small section and the common species that we saw yesterday were still there. The one and half hour drive to Port Hope was punctuated when I notice a Great Gray Owl besides the road, but being unable to stop we continued on to the next exit and returned only to find it was gone. North east of Port Hope we worked the roads for the Hawk Owl but could not come up with it, despite coming across numerous people that had seen it, but just not today. Our consolation was a large group of hundreds of Snow Buntings and a small one of Horned Larks. Several miles north we had as much luck with a Harris’s Sparrow as we did with the Hawk Owl! From here we headed north into Peterborough County where there has been a large concentration of Great Grays. Arriving early afternoon we began working the roads, but without much success. A Northern Shrike was seen close to the road. Division Road had had good numbers reported so we worked our way along, stopping once for what turned out to be a large dark stump in a tree. Here we got more than we bargained for, as a speeding red pick up truck screamed passed us on the right (!), moreover it was the snow covered soft shoulder. Somehow he managed to miss us and keep his vehicle upright, but not before losing his passenger side mirror to a telegraph road and blowing a front tire. Luckily no one was hurt. While Bert sorted out his side of the story with the local constable, we continued down Division on foot, coming across our first Great Gray. It was in the distance, but clearly silhouetted three quarters of the way up a row of deciduous trees. Common Redpolls were at several feeders and a second Northern Shrike was spotted. Finally we came across a close owl as we watched it fly out of a tree, hover and drop, and then fly into a tree along the road. It was a Barred Owl hunting in the middle of the afternoon. On the other side of the road a Great Gray was spotted actively hunting at the far end of the field. By now it was gone 3PM and we decided to turn around and work the road in the other direction. Either it was the time of the day or the direction we were facing, but we came across about half a dozen more, some perched right besides the road. A Ruffed Grouse flew in front of the van a couple of feet off the road before landing just inside a section of mixed woods were it could be seen. Our best Great Owl came later when one was seen briefly atop a cedar before it came down after a rodent it must have sensed was under the snow. We watched it move about on the ground listening patiently for the slightest noise from beneath the snow for 10 minutes before it gave up and flew back on top of the cedars. There is nothing like a great start, especially when it is a Hawk Owl perched up giving us wonderful scope views. From here we headed into Algonquin Provincial Park which at this time of year is simply stunning with snow covered evergreens and lakes. The birds were few and far in between but we had some great ones. A small group of White-winged Crossbills feeding on salt besides the road and a lone female Pine Grosbeak on the road; a Ruffed Grouse taking a leisurely stroll across a snow covered side road; and at Mew Lake the hosts feeding station had an American Marten, dozens of Black-capped Chickadees which eagerly landed on Connie’s hand, head and anything else they could, along with a single Red-breasted Nuthatch; our second Pine Grosbeak and good numbers of both Blue and Gray Jays. The visitor’s center was rather uneventful other than a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, and loads of chickadees and Blue Jays. A final stop in the park at Opeongo Road produced a Boreal Chickadee, some very confiding Gray Jays and a few White-winged Crossbills. We returned late afternoon to Bracebridge easily finding the Hawk Owl and at one point having it cross the road above us calling and then finishing up with as good a view of a Great Gray as anyone could ask for. As we were leaving a local lady pulled up with a White-footed Deer Mouse she had finally trapped in of all things her Harley! She was fed up with it gnawing away at the bikes seat. We gladly let it go and watched with amazement as the owl came straight in and located it under the snow before returning to its perch. What a way to end the day.
We began by finding the Great Gray in Bracebridge in the same spot that we had left him yesterday, but this time we had the outline of the moon as a backdrop before the sun rose. The Hawk Owl was again located in the vicinity. What a wonderful way to start the day. From here we headed south to Orillia where we came across a Barred Owl with its feathers looking very frozen, sunning itself on the edge of the roadside. In a nearby development a Varied Thrush had taken up residence for several weeks, and it would be about half an hour before we were able to view it as it came down from its perch in a small spruce in the Braithwaite’s backyard, to feed. One of the major influxes of Great Grays has been around Orillia with close to 200 being monitored in Simco County by Bob Bowles. One of the better concentrations has been south east of Orillia, and by the time we had driven a dozen roads, we had seen no less than 20 Great Grays. Though some were perched a good distance from the road on the edge of fields, some were actively hunting; one was seen on a telegraph wire and others right along the road on this bright sunny morning. It was a long drive south west to Brantford, were a small population of Gray Partridge has given us a run for our money over the years, as we’ve only had a 50% success rate locating them. The snow here was at least a foot deep and Karl found a couple of small dark things protruding out of the snow in a field. Upon closer inspection they turned out to be orange partridge heads! Actually there were 4 of them, forming a circle as they kept look out for danger in all directions. Away from their little area the snow was unmarked, leading us to believe that they had flown in, dug themselves in and fed on seed below the snow. We had one more stop before dark, and that was along the Niagara River, before heading back to Philadelphia. It took an hour and a half to get there, but along the way we got to see a group of Wild Turkeys; a Northern Shrike near Hamilton and dozens and dozens of Red-tails around the Toronto perimeter road. At the mouth of the Niagara, good numbers of Long-tailed Ducks were flying down the river in groups of up 30, Buffleheads, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser were about in smaller numbers and a Lesser Scaup was spotted. At Sir Adam Beck, the base of the dam held several hundred gulls, the most interesting being half a dozen Icelands and 2 Glaucous.
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