Snowy Owls (Harfangs des neiges) in Wellington County

     We now have lots of snow and our landscape is being transformed from the drab colours of November to the sparkling crispness of an Ontario winter.

     Winter brings its challenges but its rewards are many, not the least of which is the arrival of iconic winter species into our area. Where else can you leave home for a couple of hours birding and be almost certain of finding Snowy Owls Bubo scandiacus, Rough-legged Buzzards Buteo lagopus, Snow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis and Horned Larks Eremophila alpestris? Maybe even a Lapland Longspur Calcarius lapponicus or two thrown in for good measure?
     Red-tailed Hawks Buteo jamaicensis are very common; this individual was advantageously perched to scan the snow for telltale signs of its rodent prey.

     I couldn't help but notice the profusion of Tamarack cones throughout the area. This is the favoured food of crossbills, but so far this winter there have been no reports of either species locally.

      The star of the show is unquestionably the magnificent Snowy Owl.
Miriam and I were able to find three but there are more around and there are other likely locations to check. On Tuesday our regular birding jaunt will feature a dedicated search for Snowy Owls and Snow Buntings...and whatever else we can find of course.
     Our first sighting was of a very distant male and female together. Miriam's picture is reproduced here merely to show the proximity of the two birds, which led us to wonder whether they were a mated couple that had retained the pair bond after the breeding season, uncommon though this may be. The male is on the fence post, smaller than the female (sexual dimorphism is pronounced in Snowy Owls).

      Some yahoo couldn't be content with observing the owls and trekked across a farmer's field to try to get closer for a photograph, flushing the birds. The female landed in a field some 500 metres or so away, and we took our pictures without disturbing her again. They are not the best, but they provide a record of what we saw that day.

     For anyone reading this blog, please adopt a good code of conduct when observing these owls and don't disturb them unnecessarily. They are concerned with daily survival and any disruption affects their ability to forage, sleep and conserve energy. We all like to get a good picture, but as my good friend Jan Windhouwer once reminded me, the best picture is the one stored in your memory.
     The third Snowy Owl we observed was a male resting on the ground. This image shows clearly how difficult it can be to spot a white bird, at some distance, in a white landscape. To make things even more problematic this individual is a male in pristine white plumage. Look at the centre of the picture about a third of the way up from the bottom and you will see the bird.

     But Snowy Owls at times can be very easy to photograph and I am showing some of the pictures from our archives to show you how close we have been to these birds from time to time. 

     I have no idea how many Snowy Owls I have seen but it is well into the hundreds, but there has never, and I mean never, been an occasion when the sight of one of these birds fails to fill me with awe, and the cold bite of a winter's wind suddenly doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Snow Bunting (Plectrophane des neiges)

Metz Area

Wellington County, ON

25 January 2015

     Surely one of the most delightful benefits of living in a climate where winter dominates for part of the year is the presence of Snow Buntings Plectrophenax nivalis.

     This morning Miriam and I spent a few hours in a corner of Wellington County where we have had great success in locating this species over a period of several years. Today proved to be no exception.

     One fellow, who we see almost every year, seems to be intent on banding as many Snow Buntings as he possibly can and he was again present plying his métier. 

     As you can see, he had three cages set up, all baited with corn, and the availability of food seems to be an attraction many of the birds simply cannot resist. At all times each of his cages contained several birds and even after emptying them there were other birds entering the trap in short order.

     It seemed to us that he did not empty the pens as often as might be hoped and when he did he placed eight or ten birds in a bag to carry them back to his truck from where he was applying the bands and recording the appropriate details.

     However, we are not privy to the protocols of banding Snow Buntings so perhaps this is accepted practice.

     The day was cold (around minus 13°C) and there was a strong wind, but these tiny birds face the conditions without any problem at all and are expert in exploiting every micro climate in their search for food.

     We were parked off to the side of the road ( a dirt road in this area) and the birds were often observed feeding on grit. They always seemed to park in front of our vehicle, however, never coming to the side to permit decent photographs.

     It was quite marvelous to spend a half hour with these little gems and we hope to repeat the experience a few times before the winter is over.

A Wintry Day in Southern Ontario

Afternoon Rambles Through

Waterloo and Wellington Counties

    Today was bitterly frigid as the coldest winter in  about twenty-five years still holds us in its grip. With the temperature right around minus 14° C and a fairly brisk wind to add even more to the chill, we didn't feel like walking but we wanted to get out and do a little birding so we set out by car to meander through some of our favourite sections of Waterloo and Wellington Counties.

    The following pictures of the snow banks at the side of the roads will give you an idea just how much snow has fallen this year. Not only do we have mountains of snow, the low temperatures mean that very little of it melts.

    Despite these awful conditions, with overnight temperatures dipping regularly to minus 25° C levels, birds survive.

    Two White-breasted Nuthatches Sitta carolinensis were seen hitching up and down a trunk, gleaning every morsel of food they could find beneath the bark.

    And this female Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus was doing pretty much the same thing. We also saw four Downy Woodpeckers Picoides pubescens, all appearing healthy and none the worse for the challenges posed by the weather.

    This year has seen an exceptional incursion of Snowy Owls Bubo scandiacus into southern Ontario and we spotted this distant individual perched high in a tree.

    Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus is a species that has expanded its range in recent years and is no longer the rarity it used to be.

Its principal range is farther south but it seems to have adapted well to Ontario winters - even this year's.

    Dark-eyed Juncos Junco hyemalis are well equipped to handle winter, as their scientific name implies, and it is always a pleasure to see this hardy little passerine.

    We enjoyed our drive through the countryside and know that Spring is truly just around the corner.

American Kestrel Falco sparverius

    This is the smallest of the falcons found in North America, but also the most colourful. At this time of the year it can often be found perched on wires at the roadside. This male was photographed in Wellington County yesterday.