We had to drop over to Bethany to see a friend, so decided to come down
Hwy 28 to Port Hope and go looking for the Short-Eared and GG Owls,
along with the now long-standing Northern Hawk Owl, in the vicinity.
On our way down 28, a few kilometers S of where hwy 7A intersects
heading E, there were 16 wild turkeys in a field alongside the hwy.
They were feeding actively, and their antics provided some
entertainment to go along with the good views. We sighted a flock (c
39) of snow-buntings flying around the same area. Hitting Hwy 2 and
proceeding W from Welcome, we saw a group of birders alongside the
road, and correctly assumed they had the NHOW. It turned out to be one
of Tom Hince's Owling groups, and the bird was certainly providing
great views from the phone lines. We chatted a bit with another
gentleman who had watched the bird that morning take a large dark
rodent (bigger than a vole) to the top of a telephone pole. (Field
rat???) The NHOW seemed to be circulating around the intersection of
Kellog Road and Hwy 2, as previously reported. At this time (c. 3pm) it
was actively hunting, in spite of the large morning meal.
We then headed down to Lakeshore Rd, as previous posts have advised,
and cruised slowly up the coast to Newcastle (where there was a group
of Common Goldeneyes right offshore, along with a couple of tagged
Trumpeter Swans), basically killing time until closer to dusk. We did
note many hundred mallards in a corn field, along with many many Canad
Geese. As we turned around to cruise the area where previous posts have
mentioned as many as 5 short-eared owls, we came across another birder
who had just spotted one on a post far from the road on the bluff over
the lake. (I give him full marks for detecting this bird!) It was
ambiguous in the bin's, but we dug the scope out and sure enough it was
a nice male SEOW, sitting there and doing slow scans of the nbhd. While
we were watching it, hoping it would fly before it got too dark, a
Great Gray Owl came up to perch on a stump along the hwy, and spent the
next while hunting along the ditch, apparently catching some prey.
While we were waiting several other birders came by, to enjoy the view
and regale us with tales of other birds seen recently nearby. One woman
had a picture of a (the same?) SEOW sitting on a post within 20 feet of
the road, giving her the evil eye for disturbing its rest. She
indicated that there were a number of GGOW's hanging around the area,
and that she was sure there were at least 2 of the SEOW's in residence.
We finally gave up on seeing the SEOW fly, and headed up Newtonville
road, which was only a few meters from where we had been watching the
SEOW. There was still enough light to nicely silhouette another 2
GGOW's on top of telephone poles as we went up along the road towards
the 401.
All in all, a very satisfying afternoon.
Directions: Probably the easiest is to exit the 401 at Newtonville
Road, and head S to the Lakeshore Road to hunt for the GGOW and SEOW.
Professor Gene Denzel
Information Technology Program
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
York University 416-736-5250
