There have been at least 10 Great Gray Owls every evening this week at Muley Point and today several in full view along hwy 12 and Simcoe Road 46 in full view at mid day. The owls may start moving out soon since the temperature is to go to double digits this week. There are few owls in Muskoka just north of us so we should be able to predict when they start to move when the observations in Muskoka increase. There have been 300 around Lake Simcoe this winter from Midland to Lake Dalrymple south to Elmvale and Bradford. Sadly, the dead Great Gray Owl count is now up to 53 (not included in the total number above) with two recent reports and all seem to be from vehicle impacts. The Varied Thrush and Harris's Sparrow are still present at Orillia feeders but the number of Common Redpolls have decreased to 700 at Mike's (Siberian Inn) feeder on Line 10 of Oro-Medonte. There are still one or two Hoary Redpolls in this flock. Flocks of American Robins, Common Grackles, American Crows (harassing the owls), Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Canada Geese, several Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels in the owl fields for the last two days and increasing daily but still the owls have not moved.
Bob Bowles
