Greetings ONTBirders:
Supplemental to Marc's Amherst Island report for Thurs. Feb. 5 - after my lunch
break, I discovered two more NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS in the jack pine
plantation, bringing the day's tally to three. I did not have any luck
locating the BARRED OWL, but did locate a fresh kill (as mentioned in Marc's
report) and a scene of up to five partially eaten and apparently regurgitated
meadow voles near the eastern entrance to the plantation. Judging by the size
of the voles, they must have been killed by the barred owl, but that's just my
best guess. There were no signs of any long-eared or boreal owls either, and
thankfully no bodies of any saw-whet owls either.
At the feeder station the male RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER was still present, as
well as four COMMON REDPOLLS.
Missing the ferry by only a few minutes, I spent an hour driving the roads
looking for hawks. I tallied three SNOWY OWLS (including one almost pure white
male on Third Concession), four ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS, and three RED-TAILED HAWKS.
COMMON GOLDENEYES were in the ferry channel (the only open water anywhere
around the island), and the ferry was followed by a mixed flock of GREAT
BLACK-BACKED, RING-BILLED, and AM. HERRING GULLS.
Please note: Marshall 40-Foot Road, the entrance road to Owl Woods, is not
accessible to vehicle traffic at this time. You'll have to walk in on foot, so
adjust your schedule accordingly if you're trying to catch the ferry on time.
As always, good birding!
Pat
> Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 09:29:23 -0500> From: ston...@gmail.com> To:
> ontbirds@hwcn.org> Subject: [Ontbirds] Amherst Island birds> > 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>
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