A Six-Owl Weekend Up North

Next to Peregrines, owls are at the top of my list of favorite raptors. They're elusive birds though; hard to find and even harder to photograph. I've had some success in the past with both Snowys and Short-ears, and even a Northern Hawk Owl a few years back. But those sightings have generally been few and far between.
I went to High School with Brett Ewald, a research biologist and birder extraordinaire who, with his lovely wife Sheryl operates Lakeshore Nature Tours. One of their most popular annual tours is a weekend trip to Amherst Island in Ontario, Canada. Called "A Taste of the North Country", the three-day tour aims to satisfy the winter owl and raptor appetites of birders everywhere.

You might expect a birding tour to be a little short on the accommodations, but not so this one. Brett booked us into the historic Gananoque Inn where we enjoyed their well-appointed waterfront rooms that featured terrific views of Lake Ontario:
     

Dawn and I decided to get an early start on the weekend. I took a half-day's vacation and we left Friday afternoon. It took a hair under three hours to make the trip from Rochester, passing over the Thousand Islands Bridge into Canada. After dinner at Muskie Jake's Tap and Grill, one of two restaurants at the Inn, we enjoyed a restful night in preparation for our tripartite tour.

Day one was by far the coldest, with temperatures only in the teens as we made the short drive past Kingston to take the ferry ride to Amherst Island.


We spent most of the fifteen-minute ride on deck, watching the island grow closer as the fractured lake ice scraped against the vessel's steel hull:
          

Never one to let an opportunity go to waste, Brett had been pointing out birds of interest all along the drive. He kept it up on the water, scanning for gulls on the ice:


Our first birds of Amherst Island were this unassuming pair of Canada Geese sitting on the ice near the ferry landing:


After disembarking from the ferry we cut across the island, then drove along the coast where we spotted some waterfowl including Gadwalls and Common Goldeneyes:
          

The seasonal road that led to the Owl woods was full of ruts, and the five cars in our tour caravan kicked up a lot of dust, but we were fortunate to be able to drive in at all. Brett told us that in years past the road has been unpassable, adding a 45-minute hike through deep snow to the trek. After a few bumpy minutes we parked at the entrance to the woods, grabbed our gear, and headed in.

The Owl woods is filled mostly with Jack Pines and Cedars, sprinkled with Spruces and a few other tree varieties. Among the species known to spend time in the woods were Short and Long-eared, Northern Saw Whet, Boreal, and Barred Owls. The owl woods has become known the world over for its winter residents, and a review of some web postings indicated that it might be crowded. Indeed, there were a few other cars at the entrance, but we didn't see anyone else as our group of ten started in.

The outskirts of the woods is not dense. As this was our first time into the property we set a moderate pace. At the front Bret ranged from tree to tree, examining the trunks and branches for the telltale signs of owl occupancy. I was near the back of the line when the group stopped and the animated whispers began. Everyone was looking off the trail to the right, but try as I might I couldn't see the object of their attention. I thought someone whispered "boreal!", so I set about trying to locate a small owl. I was pleasantly surprised when Sheryl was able to direct my attention through a tangle of branches to this gorgeous Barred Owl (Strix varia):
     

     

With its back to us, the owl blended into its surroundings exceptionally well. My Canon 40D has an excellent autofocus system, but it was no match for the snafu of interposed branches, so I got to practice my manual focus skills. I was a little rusty and many of my shots aren't very sharp, but the beauty of a digital camera is that I can just discard the sub-par pictures and keep the good ones.

Brett and fellow tour member Mike had excellent scopes with which they quickly bullseyed the owl. When everyone had taken a good look we carried on farther back into the woods. Unfortunately our early success with the Barred Owl was the high-water mark for the rest of our time in the plantation. Despite a concentrated search over the next couple of hours we were unable to turn up any more owls. We encountered many other birders on the icy trails, but they had similar luck. As we became more comfortable with our surroundings the group spread out, checking every tree, but we came up empty. We still had other birding to do on the island, so as the afternoon wore on we headed out, on a different trail than we'd entered by. It led us back to the Barred, but this time we got a great look at it from the front:
     

     

Needless to say, we'd hoped for better luck with the owls, but that's how it goes sometimes. If we'd wanted certainty, we could have just gone to a zoo. Brett thought that perhaps the warmer winter and a smaller population of voles might have been responsible for the scarcity. He also noted that Long-eared Owls might have been driven away by the presence of the Barred.

There was more of the island left to explore though, and we were starting to lose the light, so back to our cars we went. Along the coast we found a small flotilla of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) with a lone Merganser for escort:


Onward we rode, and as the afternoon faded to twilight we came to some fields in search of Snowy Owls. Our first glimpse came apace, but it was a little obtructed:

You can just make out the white shape of the owl to the right of the Marten house, behind the field scrub. We had better luck a little further down the road, where we found another owl perched on the stub of an old tree:
          
Unfortunately neither of the owls wanted to get very close, and these long range shots were the best that I could manage. Just as the last of the light faded from the cloudy sky we got a glimpse of a Short-Eared owl in another field. We boarded the ferry for the ride back to the mainland having had a three-owl day. Not too bad. We arrived back in Gananoque under a steady snow and had a nice dinner at Anthony's (included in the tour package) just around the corner from the hotel. It was a great chance to unwind and get to know our fellow tour members, and a pleasant way end to the day.

Sunday took us to Ottowa and points east in search of a variety of birds. Our targets for the day included Gray Partridge, Evening Grosbeaks, the elusive Northern Hawk Owl and more Snowys(!). We started at 6AM, grabbed some coffee and breakfast at the local Tim Hortons (Canada's answer to Dunkin Donuts), and hit the road. Our sightings began with a Northern Shrike. Brett spotted it as we zipped along the highway, sitting at the apex of a denuded tree. The bird was several hundred yards away. How he saw it is beyond me, but I guess that's why he's the guide and I'm just the tourist. Anyway, we all had 2-way radios so it was an easy matter to pull to the side of the road for a nice look through the scopes. Too far away for pictures though.

Our first stop was a small parking lot just outside of Ottowa where, Brett had been informed, we should be able to find Gray Partridges. Alas for us, it was not to be. Despite a fresh covering of snow and a good half-hour search, there was not even a footprint to be found.

Next on the tour was a stop at a tennis club. Tennis in February? No, but it abutted a patch of parkland and the Rideau River. The highlight here was a male Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica). I got a shot of him coming in for a landing among a group of females:
     

A flock of Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) sat on the ice nearer at handm and there were a few Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) to be seen as well:
     

The folks at the tennis club graciously allowed us to use their bathroom facilities, then we were off again, headed for Moose Creek, where reports had placed a Northern Hawk Owl(Surnia ulula). We parked on the side of the hamlet's main road and spent some time walking up and down the railroad tracks, checking the trees and utility poles on either side, but after a half hour we came up empty. Not one to give in easily, Brett guided our little caravan to a woodland near on open field. We exited our vehicles, grabbed cameras, bins and scopes and stood in the field while Brett plunged into the woods. Another thirty minutes of searching resulted in... no Hawk Owl.

Downcast and hungry (it was nearl lunchtime) we took to our cars again. We had to turn around to get back to the main road. Just as we were making the turn, Brett called out over the radios. There, perched atop a telephone pole almost right under our cars, sat the target of our search!


We all grabbed looks at the owl from our cars just in case it proved to be the twitchy type, then got out for better looks through the scopes. Fellow photographer John and I crept forward beneath an overhanging porch roof and grabbed some shots at closer range. The owl was very accomodating. He (best gender guess- I'm 50% likely to get it right) certainly saw us, but didn't appear concerned at all by our presence. Here are a few more shots:
          

After getting our fill of the Hawk Owl my stomach was growling, but we had one more stop before lunch. Off we went to nearby Tayside in search of gulls. Our first catch there was a few Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestrisin the fields beside the road. I shot this one out of my window with the heater going full tilt, which accounts for the sub-par sharpness:


Then it was back to the gulls. The good news is that we found a whole bunch of them. The bad news is that they were at a noxious municipal dump:


Most of us gamely got out of our cars and walked back into the dumpsite (after receiving permission, of course) for a good look at Greater Black-Backed (Larus marinus), Iceland (Larus glaucoides) and Glaucous (Larus hyperboreus) gulls. I never did get a good look at the Iceland Gulls, but I did catch the others circling around the waste-strewn landscape:


Fortunately the drive to get lunch provided enough time for our stomachs to settle after the miasma of the dump. We ate and then headed for the town of Casselman, questing for Grossbeaks and Snowy Owls. Our search for the former took us to a long residential street near a forestry station. There were plenty of bird feeders in the yards and lots of trees along the roadside, but try as we might we found only some Black-capped Chickadees. The Grossbeaks, it seemed, wanted nothing to do with us; not even their song was to be heard on the road.

So with the afternoon advancing we headed for Casselman's open fields on the lookout for Snowy Owls. This time, we didn't need to do any searching at all. As soon as we turned onto a country road bracketed by fields shorn of their crops we found our first Snowy ((Bubo scandiacus)):


We hardly had time to get our optics on the bird though, when a rude motorist rushed by, his car horn screaming. Of course, that set the bird to flight. It didn't stop until it landed on another pole, in a far-away field. My consolation prize were some halfway decent flight shots, though they're too far away for good detail:
          

While we waited to see if the owl might return our way, we spied a pair of red foxes in another field:


Then, as we were getting back in our cars, we got a wonderful surprise, as what seemed like hundreds of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) rose up from the fields and flew back and forth across the road, ripping through the airspace all around us:
     

     

Dawn commented that it was like being in a Snow Bunting globe, so thick were they all around us. The flock maintained their kinetic aerobatics for over a minute before heading back to the fields. I'd been hoping to see some Snow Buntings on the trip, so it was a real treat for me.

The fun wasn't over yet, though. We'd barely gotten back in our cars and moved down the road when Brett pulled us over for our second Snowy of the day. This one was on the ground, staring placidly at us staring at him:


The owner of the field in which he sat came out to greet us and gave us permission to enter the fields for a closer look. Off went John and I, alternately creeping up on the owl and shooting. Of course, there was absolutely no cover, so the big owl followed our every move. At about forty yards I guess it decided we were close enough, and into the clean blue air it went. We both got some nice wing shots as the Snowy flew away:
     

     

We got back to our cars and heard the report of yet another Snowy from a passing motorist, who showed off some terrific shots he'd taken with his long-lensed Nikon. We found the owl after a turn around the huge field, and this one too was perched on a pole, set back in the field. We grabbed some looks from the roadside before driving on:
          

It would have been hard to top that day, so we made set our course for the 90 minute trek back to Gananoque. Ensconced in our room, Dawn and I enjoyed a Valentine's Day dinner of Chinese take-out washed down by a nice bottle of wine.

For the final day of our tour we went back to Amherst Island to have a second go at the Owl Woods. It was another up-before-the-sun morning, and we got to the ferry in time for the 7:30AM run:


Despite it being Family Day (a federal holiday in Canada), ours were the only cars at the entrance to the Owl Woods. In we went, setting a quicker pace this time, since we were all a little more familiar with the place. We fanned out, searching all the trees as we went, but once again it seemed we were doomed to disappointment. At the back of the plantation yellow rope and bright "No Trespassing" signs had been thrown up around a thick stand of conifers. We didn't know why, but speculated that the owls were probably avoiding us by hiding in the off-limits section. We pushed on though, with most of the group heading off in one direction. I went the opposite way, pushing deeper into the woods and quickly losing sight of the others. I checked every tree I came upon, but after ten minutes of searching, I'd reached the farthest verges of the woodland. I thought about turning around and finding the rest of the group, but decided I might as well check out the last of the trees. I'm glad I did.

I've written before about the role that serendipity sometimes plays in my birding. This day, it seemed, was to be another serendipitous one. Creeping gently along, I peered into the tangled branches of a Jack Pine, and here's what I saw:


My heart froze and a thrill shot up my spine. I wasn't certain, but I was pretty sure this was the Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus) we'd all been looking for. It was hard to get a clear look at the little bird, but I managed to move around the tree a little more until I could make out the telltale speckling on the top of its head through gaps in the tree:


I drew back from the pine with care and headed toward where I thought the others had gone. John, my fellow photographer was the first person I saw. I waved him over and pointed back at the tree. He worked his way through the thicket got some good looks. I found Brett next and let him know what I'd found. As word spread the rest of the group made their way over, and we enjoyed a nice long look at this northern visitor.

While everyone took turns at Brett's scope, John and I jockeyed for better photos, even lying on the snowy ground at one point to try aiming up through the branches for a cleaner shot. There weren't any clear angles since the owl was tucked in tight against the trunk of the pine, but I did the best I could:
          

I'll admit it was pretty cool being the one who "discovered" the little Boreal, especially since I'm not always the sharpest observer (just ask my wife!). We encountered a few more visitors to the woods and gave them the owl's location as we made our way back toward the entrance. Of course we were still on the lookout for more owls, so we took our time. A half hour later there were lots of excited whispers. I was near the back of the group and when I made my way forward I learned that Todd, another member of our tour, had located a Northern Saw Whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus). Like the Boreal, it was tucked well inside the tree, and it's easy to understand how it could be missed:


Of course, that made for another challenging round of pictures. I did my best though, and managed to shoot a few keepers:
          

Again, Brett deployed his scope so everyone could get "eye to eye" with the adorable Saw Whet. After ten minutes or so, we left the owl to its torpid perching and continued toward the entrance.

Somewhere about the midpoint of the woods is an open area with hanging feeders. It's visited by a variety of songbirds and woodpeckers. We encountered a number of birds there including a pair of Hairy WPs, some Downys, White Breasted Nuthatches, Purple Finches (and at least one Goldfinch) and lots of Black-capped Chickadees. There was a box of loose sunflower seeds available for feeding, and some of our tour members took a handful, hoping to attract the birds for a close encounter. Dawn got lucky when a Chickdee landed on her gloved hand:
          

So there we were, all eyes on the Chickadees, when the Barred Owl decided to make another appearance. Of all our group, only John saw it fly in and land in a nearby tree. I'd like to have taken some landing shots, but my attention was focused on the Chickadees too. Still, the Barred was right in the open, so we had more excellent viewing:
     

     

When the owl turned its intense gaze toward the ground, I figured it had found some prey:


Sure enough, it dropped to the ground as we watched, wings outstretched. I took a few shots but the relatively poor light and distance resulted in unusable blur. I did a little better when it flew again, presumably with its prey, to another tree farther away:


The owl disappeared into the trees, so we made our way out of the woods, still looking for more owls, particularly the Long-eared, but coming up empty. Down the road we stopped for a look at this (possibly juvenile) Northern Shrike, which lacked the dark band across the eyes:

It didn't hang around for long, and I was only able to get a shot through my windshield before it took off.

We spent the rest of the morning circling around the island, looking for raptors. Along the way I got a shot of the shore ice, which looked like piles of shattered window glass:


We passed by more Tundra Swans, so I grabbed some photos as we went:


Our target raptor was the Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus). We encountered a number of Red-tails before finally spotting a pair of Roughies far away in a field. One of them put on quite a show, hovering in the air for twenty seconds at a time before diving away and returning again. Unfortunately it was too far away for any decent pictures, though.

Not so with this male American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), which I spied perched atop a telephone pole, a vole clutched in its talons:
     

The little rodent looked like it would make for a big lunch, and before long the Kestrel decided to take his meal elsewhere:
     

We finished our circuit of Amherst Island and got back on the ferry, arriving in Gananoque for a final lunch at Muskie Jakes before heading home in the afternoon. It was a great tour, one that we're definitely looking forward to repeating. In past years Brett has encountered as many as eight owl species, plus rare visitors like Northern Goshawk and Gyrfalcon. Though we missed a few birds we'd hoped to see, six species of owl is nothing to sneeze at. After a final tally of species at Jakes we said goodbye to our tour companions and set off for home. Crossing the Thousand Islands bridge on our way back to the USA, we saw a few immature Bald Eagles flying by:
     

Of course, getting home is always nice, especially when you have this to greet you:


It was an outstanding weekend, with many life birds for me. Brett is an excellent tour guide who knows his subject well, and is both passionate and patient enough for birders of all experience levels. You can't go wrong with a Lakeshore Nature Tour. Go back to the top of this post (my longest to date) to check out some of Brett's offerings. I'll bet you'll find a tour to suit your interest!