Another trip to the island

This past week I was down on Amherst Island for a couple of days and had the pleasure of searching the island for birds!

The island is locked in the icy grip of winter and there is no open water present, except within the narrow strip between the island and the mainland traversed by the ferry. 

Unlike my trip in December, I didn't observe a single snowy owl on the island, although I did see one out on the ice while on he ferry.  A far cry from the 35 I saw the last time I was here just a few months ago!  Nonetheless there were other gems to be discovered.

Northern Harriers and other raptors were still present in good abundance, feasting on meadow voles.

Short-eared Owls are present on the island, and are easiest to spot if you wait until dusk!

Northern Saw-whet Owls are also popping up in many locations throughout southern Ontario!

Bald Eagles were also present in high numbers on the island.  I counted at least 20 each day I was there.  Are they eating the voles too?  There is no open water around the island.  I spotted ravens catching and eating voles too!

This Coyote seemed to be enjoying the late afternoon sun.

A meadow vole scrounges for food at the entrance to a snow tunnel. Note how they have stripped the bark off the trees.

White-tailed Deer are always abundant on the island.  Probably part of the reason why there is very little understorey vegetation in many of the small woodlots on the island.

Speckle Bellies!

Today I was in Niagara for some field work with Dan Riley and stopped by Thorold to see the reported Great White-fronted Geese, affectionately known as "speckle bellies" for the black markings on their underparts.

We managed to track down 3 of the birds, but they were a bit far for good shots.  It was nice to meet Ryan Griffiths while looking for these birds!

They seem to be popping up around Ontario so keep an eye out!

Hamilton Beauties!

I was in Hamilton for work and snapped a few pictures of the local avifauna.  Ducks in particular are quite striking when seen up close!

White-winged Scoter

Hooded Merganser

Long-tailed Duck

 The Peregrine Falcon at the Burlington lift bridge kept a close eye on the ducks from on high.

Pine Grosbeaks in Guelph!

I finally caught up with some Pine Grosbeaks, in Guelph on the campus.  It was great to see these wonderful birds again.  Unfortunately there were no adult males, which would show that beautiful reddish-pink colouration, but beggars can't be choosers!  I counted 20 individuals, all stuffing themselves on the crabapples.

Merry Christmas!

Have yourself a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

One of my Christmas gifts today was this little Screech Owl sleeping away the day from his own cozy house.

The Owl Island Delivers Again!

I was out on Amherst Island this past week and had a chance to view the incredible abundance of raptors wintering on this island!  Snowy Owls were in abundances that I have never seen before (despite growing up in Kingston and birding the island often).  I counted 35 Snowy Owls in a single day, and this was likely a conservative estimate.  If I had to guess I would say there are likely between 50-75 Snowy Owls on the island.

The owls were everywhere, sitting in fields, perched on telephone poles and construction equipment and hunting voles.

It was also obvious what is attracting and keeping these birds on the island.  Vole populations are amazingly high.  Walking around the island it is hard to avoid stepping on them at times as they scatter from clumps of grass, running along their narrow tunnels.

I was able to get a lot of decent pictures with my super telephoto P900, allowing the birds to remain undisturbed.

In addition to Snowy Owls, I also had the great fortune of finding other species including a few Barred Owls and a single tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl!

Saw-whet Owls can be difficult to find due to their tiny size and habit of perching in dense clumps of cedars and other conifers.  This little guy looked me over for a few seconds before going back to sleep.

I found this Saw-whet a few hundred metres from a pair of Barred Owls.  Hopefully it doesn't end up a meal!

What a wonderful chance to view these birds on one of my favourite birding locations!

A Dump Bird but not a Dirt Bird! Slaty-backed Gull

Today was the day I finally caught up with a Slaty-backed Gull!  A species I have tried for a few times now, but always came up short. Amazingly, two Slaty-backed Gulls have been down near the Brantford dump for a few days, so I decided to make the trip down today to try my luck.  I signed in at the weigh scales and drove to the designated viewing area.  I ran into Dan Riley and Josh Vandermeulen as I was pulling in and we went looking for the birds together.  We quickly picked one out among the hundreds of other gulls.

This is a very rare (but increasingly more regular) vagrant from northeastern Asia! 

I snapped a few photos.

bird on the left is Slaty-backed, bird on the right is a Great Black-backed

In addition to the star attraction, there were a few other interesting species including several Glaucous, Iceland and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.