Happy New Year; I took my wife out today to see for herself the invasion of Boreal Owls. We started our day at Thicksons Woods, to her delight we observed 6 Great GRAY Owls & 1 Great Horned Owl. All were seen at very close range. We stayed at least 30 to 40 feet away and had great views with my 32 power Kowa scope!! Staying this distance away the birds were not stressed by our presence. Obviously many photographers also read the reports on Ont. Birds as many were present. Many of you have optical equipment with far more power than my scope. If I could get great close-up views why do you feel you must get within their stress range??? I watched along with many others how you continually flushed these rare migrants to our area of Ontario. Why do you feel you must intrude up to 5 to 10 feet from these magnificent Birds? Please in future try to give them space. They are stressed enough away from their natural habitat and on guard against Great Horned Owls, we don`t need to add further stress!! I read Jack and Frances Alvo`s report & could not agree more! Our day outing also included Hall`s Rd. where we encountered 1 Barred Owl, 2 Great Gray & 1 Great Horned Owl all 4 in hunting mode as it was now well past 5pm. I don`t want to discourage photographers just please be more sensitive and respect their space!!! All in all a great way to start off the year 2005! All the Very Best; Mike Williamson; [EMAIL PROTECTED] From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sat Jan 1 20:42:24 2005 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from mx1.magmacom.com (mx1.magmacom.com [206.191.0.217]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E65F49F403 for <[email protected]>; Sat, 1 Jan 2005 20:37:04 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail1.magma.ca (mail1.magma.ca [206.191.0.252]) by mx1.magmacom.com (8.13.0/8.13.0) with ESMTP id j021cKBi015786; Sat, 1 Jan 2005 20:38:21 -0500 Received: from oemcomputer.magma.ca (ottawa-hs-209-217-93-253.d-ip.magma.ca [209.217.93.253]) (authenticated bits=0) by mail1.magma.ca (8.13.0/8.13.0) with ESMTP id j021cHAn030697; Sat, 1 Jan 2005 20:38:18 -0500 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 20:37:36 -0500 To: [email protected] From: Gordon Pringle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [Ontbirds]Ottawa/Gatineau 31Dec04... Northern Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, No Boreal Owl X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 01:42:24 -0000
- RBA * Ontario * Ottawa/Gatineau * 31 December 2004 * ONOT0412.31 - Birds mentioned Barrow's Goldeneye Cooper's Hawk Wild Turkey Snowy Owl NORTHERN HAWK OWL Barred Owl GREAT GRAY OWL BOREAL OWL RED-HEADED WOODPECKER RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER THREE-TOED WOODPECKER Bohemian Waxwing Northern Shrike Common Redpoll Evening Grosbeak - Transcript hotline: Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club date: 31 December 2004 number: 613-860-9000 for the status line : press 2 for rare bird alerts: press 1 to report a sighting: press # coverage: Ottawa/Gatineau (Can. Nat. Capital Reg.), E.Ont., W.Que. compiler : Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] transcriber: Chris Lewis [EMAIL PROTECTED] internet : Gordon Pringle [EMAIL PROTECTED] OFNC BIRD STATUS LINE - DEC 31 2004 AT 6:30 PM This is Chris Lewis reporting. The last week of birding in 2004 in Ottawa ended with mild temperatures and rain...and a few good birds. GREAT GRAY OWLS continued to be seen in many locations, with multiple birds reported from the farm fields and wood-lots west of Dunrobin in the vicinity of Torbolton Ridge Rd, Kinburn Side Rd. and Kilmaurs Side Rd., as well as March Valley Rd. near Riddell Rd. in the Kanata area. A single Great Gray was also seen along Wilhaven Dr. in Cumberland east of Ottawa on the 27th, and another was near Mill Rd. in Chelsea, Quebec on the 26th. The NORTHERN HAWK OWL as well as 2 Great Grays were still in Gatineau Park in the hydro field along ski trail #5 as of the 30th. A Barred Owl was relocated in Vincent Massey Park on the 29th in the pines near the bandstand, and individual Snowy Owls were seen at Frank Kenny and French Hill Rds. north of Navan on the 27th, at the S-curve of Earl Armstrong Rd. south of the International Airport on the 28th, and along Concession #20 east of Casselman on the 30th. Back on the 26th, a BOREAL OWL was found at #4383 Ivy Acres Rd. north of Pakenham, but has not been reported since then. In the Larose Forest east of Ottawa on the 27th and 29th a male American THREE-TOED WOODPECKER was seen on the north side of the main road through the forest, near the snowmobile crossing and the St. Denis Army Surplus sign. This bird is evidently moving around a lot and there is no evidence of recent feeding on trees along the road. A Northern Shrike, a few Common Redpolls and a small number of Evening Grosbeaks were in the forest as well. As of the 28th, the adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was still coming to a feeder at 114 Goodin St. off Ritchie St. in Constance Bay, and the female RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER continues to visit the feeders at 6158 Rideau Valley Dr. south of Manotick on a daily basis. Other sightings of interest include a male Barrow's Goldeneye at Remic Rapids on the Ottawa River on the 30th, single Cooper's Hawks at the Central Experimental Farm and at Carling & Churchill Aves. on the 29th, at least 60 Wild Turkeys along Carp Rd. east of Kinburn Side Rd. on the 27th, and a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings at Kinburn Side Rd. and Woodkilton Rd. on the 29th. Thanks to all who kindly provided your reports in 2004 - and Good Birding in the New Year! - End transcript
