Went to Amherst Island yesterday (Feb 5, 2009) hoping to see some owls before they all got eaten.
Being first-timers, we really didn't know what exactly we were looking for, but managed to find the Barred Owl and the remnants of his breakfast, as well as some regurgitated whole rodents on the trail. Pat from Ottawa was the only other birder out there and he graciously showed us a Saw-Whet that he had seen earlier in the day. Driving around the island, we saw 5 Snowy Owls, numerous Rough-Legged Hawks, a Red-Tailed Hawk and a Northern Shrike. We think we saw a male Northern Harrier doing aerial acrobatics and flying west, but had trouble with the ID. We also caught a fleeting glimpse of what we think was a Kestrel, but no positive ID. Two biologists from MNR were driving the island doing a raptor survey. They reported a Short-Eared Owl, but we couldn't find it. Not a bad day overall... (Thanks Pat.) Marc ___________________________________________ my terrible but slowly improving bird photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/stongey _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
