[mou] Rare owls are on the wing this winter

[Stan Merrill]

Greetings:

Thought you'd be interested in this information shared by a
New York friend, close to the "Pale Male & Lola" scenario
and her friend, Gerry Rising.

Enjoy!  Happy Birding!

Stan Merrill
Apple Valley, Dakota Co.

*****************
--- KimMarie Markel <auroramn@verizon.net> wrote:

> From: "KimMarie Markel" <auroramn@verizon.net>
> To: "Stan" <stan_1ch@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Rare owls are on the wing this winter 
> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 17:50:51 -0500
> 
> Hi Stan,
> thought you might find this interesting - or a good
> column to share with your Minnesota birders.
> 
> One of my favorite local weekly columnists wrote a nice
> piece about owls traveling southward this winter - 
> http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050116/3016036.asp
> I'm including it in full because he is very generous
> about allowing his work to be shared. If you want to read
past columns by Mr. Rising he has his own 
> website: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/ -
> lots of interesting nature topics are covered in the
archives.
> 
> kimmarie :]
************************* 
> NATURE WATCH
> Rare owls are on the wing this winter
> By GERRY RISING
> 
> 1/16/2005
> 
> The large owls most often seen on the Niagara Frontier in
> winter are the great horned owl, short-eared owl and
long-eared owl.
> This year, however, may prove quite different.
> Occasionally conditions in the boreal forests and tundra
> of northern Canada cause other owls to move south, and we
have rare opportunities to see them. 
> These uncommon large owl species are snowy owl, hawk owl
> and great gray owl.
> 
> The specific conditions that initiate these incursions
> are not well known. 
> They may in fact be different in different years. In one
> recent year, for example, apparently a lack of food
caused the movement, because many starving owls were
brought to rehabilitators. Because the diet of these 
> birds is largely voles - those little mammals that most
> of us call field mice - the cyclically changing
populations of the tiny rodents probably have 
> much to do with these owl incursions.
> 
> Something like the following scenario may occur: In one
> winter the mouse population peaks and well-fed owls
respond by raising large broods of young 
> that year. By the following winter, the resulting
> overpopulation of owls has 
> caused the mouse population to crash and available
> hunting grounds to be depleted. Excess birds have to seek
new territories, and the fortunate ones move south.
> 
> Early evidence this year, however, suggests that the
> cause may be something else, because many birds that have
already appeared have been in good condition.
> 
> Whatever the cause, hundreds of rare owls are moving into
> southern Canada and the northern United States this
winter. In Minnesota, for example, by 
> the end of 2004, over 200 hawk owls had been reported, as
> were more than 1,300 of the still rarer great gray owls.
The situation in Canada north of Lake Ontario is similar.
> 
> What is best for those who enjoy observing unusual birds
> is the fact that these owls are unaccustomed to humans
and are little bothered by us. They 
> usually simply sit and peer at you as you approach.
> Because of this and their large size, they are often
photographed. You can see many of them, 
> like the superb ones by Canadians Judy Eberspaecher and
> Dave Mills appearing  here, on the Ontario Field
Naturalists' Web site,
> http://www.ofo.ca/photos/.
> 
> The most common of these three owls and the easiest to
> identify is the snowy owl, our only largely white owl. It
is often seen sitting on the ground 
> around airports or on perches along the Niagara River and
> the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. Sometimes, however,
they visit the city or suburbs, 
> where they pose majestically on building roofs.
> 
> Like the snowy owl, the hawk owl is active in daytime. As
> the name suggests, it is hawk-like and thus unlikely to
be confused with other owls. It is 
> usually seen scanning for prey from atop a tree or
> telephone pole. Its relatively long tail, whitish facial
disk outlined with black and falcon 
> shape further identify it. The smallest of these three
> species, its  fluffed-out feathers make it appear much
larger than a crow.
> 
> By far the biggest-appearing of all North American owls
> is the great gray  owl. In bulk it is almost eagle-sized;
however, this appearance, like that 
> of all owls, is deceptive. The great gray owl weighs only
> two to three pounds, its thick, deep feathering giving it
both insulation and its larger 
> profile. In fact, less bulky snowy owls and great horned
> owls weigh more. 
> This large woodland owl shows a distinctive white
> mustache spreading from just below its bill.
> 
> As these and other boreal species move south from
> northern Ontario, they meet the Great Lakes and tend to
accumulate north of them. For that reason 
> we don't usually see them in this region. This year,
> however, with so many on the move, the chances are
greater that some will make it to the Niagara Frontier. 



		
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