[mou] FW: (Ontario Great Gray Owls) [mou]State of the state of MN Owl Irruption 2-21-05

[Alt, Mark]

FYI. Southern Ontario may have greater densities of Great Gray Owls than
even we do this winter, here is an interesting account.

Mark Alt
Brooklyn Center, MN
Hennepin County


Hi Mark,

You're welcome to repost messages about Great Gray Owls from Ontbirds
the=20
MOU net. I'm sure that many Minnesota birders are signed on Ontbirds or
you=20
can get it off Jack Siller's site=20
http://birdingonthe.net/birdmail.html  I've pasted in below a recent
report=20
(in part) from an area about 75 miles north of Toronto. Also, see bottom
of=20
this message for joining Ontbirds.

Happy owling,

Ron (Jean's away leading a nature tour)


Subject: Lake Simcoe Bird Report
From: "Bob Bowles" <rbowles AT rogers.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 09:12:53 -0500

Lake Simcoe (Orillia) Birding Update:


There is a large concentration of GREAT GRAY OWLS on the north and west
shores
of Lake Simcoe this winter in the area encompassing the cities and towns
of
Midland, Coldwater, Orillia, Sebright, Lake Dalrymple, Brechin, Barrie,
Elmvale, and Bradford. From over 400 owl reports and four big owl days I
would
guess that a safe estimate of the total Great Gray Owls in this area
this
winter would be 220. The owls have arrived in waves in late December and
early
January with new arrivals joining the first to arrive in the same
hunting
fields. This has resulted in about 10 hot-spot locations to view owls
(10-34)
in the whole area with a few owls in 6-10 other locations and none in
between
these areas. One day counts are as follows: January 28th by myself (59),
February 5 with four friends (35), February 11th with another friend
(34), and
February 20th with over 20 observers in ten teams at composite total of
82 but
all reports are not in to date. Where and when to observe the greatest
number
of owls is not easy to predict. The numbers vary indirectly to the
number of
people present and the weather. The best time to view the highest number
of
owls is on bright sunny days. The owls feed in the early morning from
7-9 am
then roost for the day. It is very difficult to find a roosting GGOW in
a=20
stand
of grey trees since they sit back in from the tree line near the trunk
and
blend into the forest. They come back out to the open fields to hunt in
the
late afternoon from 4-6 pm. This time period usually has the most owls
feeding
at one time. However, if the day is overcast or if a storm is moving in
then
the owls extend their morning feeding to noon and you will view few if
any=20
owls
that afternoon before sunset. Also the number of owls feeding in the
evening
decrease on weekends due to the number of people present. In an area
like=20
Muley
Point where I estimate there is a total of 34 I have observed a few as
5-7=20
on a
Friday or Saturday evening and then the following Sunday or Monday
evening as
many as 28. One evenin

January I observed 34 hunting in the fields one evening which is an
impressive
sight and hard to describe. Our local TV station ran a story in early
February
at a location near Midland where I estimate that there are 16 GGOWs this
winter. They filmed 4-5 hunting in the field and then reported that
there were
over 100 owls in that field. It is easy to do since it appears that the
owls
are everywhere as they move through the fields hunting for voles. I
would
suggest that the best place to view the owls would be along Muley Point
Road
since there are twice as many owls as any other one hot-spot location.
It is
best to come on a bright, sunny day and visit the area both in the early
morning and late afternoon since you can never predict when the peak
hunting
will occur. It is also best to come during the week if possible since
there=20
are
many observers on weekends and the motels in Orillia have been fully
booked=20
for
the last two weekends. Birders and nature photographers that I have
talked to
in the last two weeks from New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
and
Washington, D.C. have had to drive to Barrie to find a motel. You may
want to
stay with Mike at the Siberian Inn B&B close to Orillia and watch the
feeders
for redpolls. Stay well back from the owls if you come and allow them to
hunt
which really gives you better views and photos of owls in flight. I
expect=20
that
the owls will be with us for another two weeks and then start to move
north.
There is speculation that a few may remain like some did last time on
the=20
Bruce
and maybe even nest but I would guess you will see few owls by
mid-March.
Almost all the owls this winter have been adults with no after fledged
year
birds.


Several BARRED OWLS have been observed in the area this winter in the
same
locations as the GGOWs. There have been reports of up to six a week seen

during
the day hunting along the sides of the roads. I have seen several
sitting in
the open on utility wires during mid day which is not usually the
location=20
that
you expect this species. There are at least 3 in the Muley Point area
with one
yesterday on the telephone cable along hwy 12 at sideroad 15 in Ramara.=20
This is
part of the GGOW loop for Muley Point described below.


A NORTHERN HAWK OWL reported last Thursday at Mt. St. Louis Road and hwy
400
sitting at the top of the tree was not found Friday when I checked the
area=20
and
has not been reported since but there is a very cooperative hawk owl at
Bracebridge (half hour drive north of here) at Robert Dollar Drive off
hwy 118
at the south end of Bracebridge. This bird sat at the top of the trees
in full
view yesterday for most of the afternoon.


A SNOWY OWL reported on Thursday behind the Home Depot in Orillia has
not been
seen again but there are two along Strongville Road near Edenvale west
of
Barrie that had been reported in this area on the weekend. The two
BOREAL OWLS
reported near Orillia in January have not been seen again but are
probably
still in the area.


Bob Bowles
Orillia, Ontario

Directions to Muley Point from hwy 11 in Orillia. From the south on hwy
11=20
take
the second exit (4th from the north) to Orillia (hwy 12 South) and
follow hwy
12 through Atherley to Uptergrove. Continue along hwy 12 to the large
Catholic
Church on the left (St. Columbkille) and turn right onto Muley Point
Road.
Follow Muley Point Road south to the store at McRae Park Road/conc. 9
(good=20
for
owls) and then continue south to conc. 8. Muley Point Road goes right to

Bonnie
Beach Road (good for owls). Take conc 8 west to sideroad 20 (owls) and
follow
it around to conc. 7. Turn left on conc. 7 and follow it north (more
owls) to
sideroad 15. Turn left on sideroad 15 and follow it back to hwy 12. You
should
have seen at least two dozen owls on this loop.

Fairgrounds Road is off hwy 12 West just west of Orillia and Big Cedar
Estates
is at the corner of Line 12 and Bass Lake Sideroad in Oro-Medonte just=20
south of
Bass Lake and west of Orillia.


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At 08:40 AM 2/24/2005 -0600, you wrote:
>If you would be able to summarize what you are seeing over there, it
>would be great to post to the Mou net, please consider this.
>
>Mark Alt
>MOU President
>mark.alt@bestbuy.com
>C/O J. F. Bell Museum of Natural History
>University of Minnesota
>10 Church Street SE
>Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104
>MOU.mn.org
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jean Iron [mailto:jeaniron@sympatico.ca]
>Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 6:11 PM
>To: Alt, Mark
>Subject: Re: [mou]State of the state of MN Owl Irruption 2-21-05
>
>Hi Mark,
>
>Thanks for sending these updates on Great Gray Owls. Here in southern
>Ontario, we're doing regular surveys and a major article on the
>irruption
>is planned for the December 2005 issue of Ontario Birds. As you may
>know,
>the Ontario Field Ornithologists and the MOU have had a journal
exchange
>in
>place for many years.
>
>Happy owling,
>
>Ron Pittaway
>Co-editor, Ontario Birds
>and
>Jean Iron
>Editor, OFO News
>
>
>At 11:45 AM 2/23/2005 -0600, you wrote: