Owls!

 Owls are one of the most admired and sought after creatures for anyone even remotely interested in nature. As they are mainly active at night-time, finding and seeing them is not always easy, even though some of them are year-round residents. One of my first, quite rare owl species to see and photograph was this Great Gray Owl, which Keith B and I went to see in the GTA back in March, 1979.

 It is very much a northern resident, and a few years later, I got a quick glimpse of one while I was on the Polar Bear Express train on my way to Moosonee. However in January of 2012, one showed up in Essex County, of all places!

 

 It created quite a stir amongst birders and even curious onlookers. As a northern species, it probably didn't know what to make of all the people. It perched right out in the open at times, as the next photo shows. However it did perch in a more natural looking setting, as the previous photo illustrates.

Great Gray Owls are the largest owl species for Ontario, at least in overall dimensions. Snowy Owls and sometimes even Great Horned Owls are slightly smaller, but have more body mass, so can be a little heavier.

A much smaller, and perhaps even rarer owl for southern Ontario that I saw is this next one, a Boreal Owl, that again, Keith and I went looking for in March of 1977. It was tucked away in the branches of a pine tree, and with the bright sky background, made for a difficult photo. Hence this less than ideal photo, a scan from my film days, is just a record shot.

Winter time seems to be a good time for finding owls, especially some of the more northern residents that come a bit south for the winter. Barred Owls are more commonly found here in the south than the first two species shown. There have been a few records, including this next one which Josh P and I discovered on the Blenheim/Rondeau Christmas Bird Count in December of 2018. It was the first confirmed one for this count, although one had been reported a couple of decades earlier.

This one stayed in Rondeau until at least late February, although it moved around a bit and was not always easy to find. There were lots of squirrels to feed on! Plus since it had been seen regularly, the novelty had worn off, and fewer people were out looking for it as time went on. However it was likely gone to its more northern haunts by sometime in March.

 In early January of 2023, another one showed up in the village of Shrewsbury, and initially could be fairly easily seen right from the street in this birch tree.

Again, this one moved around the village a bit, but was seen in various places for at least a month.

Fast forward to late December 2023, and this next one was found in a small pine plantation of a local conservation area not far from Rondeau.

It has been seen fairly regularly, but not by all who have ventured out looking. It will often be fairly high up, and visible only from a certain angle. And getting a good photo isn't easy, as there are often branches in front of it partially obscuring the bird, as well as affecting the focus. It has been present up until at least early February, and could likely remain in the area for a few weeks yet, especially given the fairly intense winter that continues.

In the same general area is this next one: a Northern Saw-whet Owl, which I photographed on the same day as the Barred Owl above.

This one likes to stay well inside a fairly dense pine tree, making nice clear photos a bit of a challenge. Fortunately for birders and photographers, they are more frequently found than any of the ones above, and can sometimes be quite out in the open.

Here is one of the first ones I ever found, in a small pine plantation just west of Cedar Spring, back in February of 1978. This photo was featured on a Nature Canada calendar in 1988.

I've seen a few others over the years in both Chatham-Kent and Essex, with some photographic success.

November, 1987

November, 1990

November, 1987

 Another owl that I photographed on the same day as the Barred Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl of a few days ago, was this next one, a Long-eared Owl. It was one of two or three individuals, which have been roosting in a stand of White Cedars, but unfortunately are difficult to even see let alone photograph. They are often right up against the main trunk, with lots of cedar branches obscuring them.

 Another owl species that is primarily a winter visitor in recent decades, although there are historical records of them occasionally being present in suitable habitat during the breeding season, is this next one: a Short-eared Owl. They are most often seen in flight during later afternoon, or at least in more subdued light, and not always easy to photograph as they dip and dive in their search for something to feed on.....

...but on occasion, one will be perched out in the open, such as this next one, which I photographed along a pasture on this dull day in January of 2016.

Of course one of the owl highlights that many people look forward to, and have a relatively good success in seeing, is the Snowy Owl. They breed in the very far north, in the arctic lowlands, and every so often they have an eruption year when nesting success has been higher than average, so in the late autumn, they will migrate south where there is a better chance for food.

We usually get one or more on the St. Clair NWA Christmas Bird Count, but not always. A couple of years ago, we had an amazing all-time high of 23 of them! But during the last couple of years, we haven't had any. In fact there have only been a maximum of two reported in the count area this year, and then only for a couple of days before they moved to somewhere else. The dry autumn allowed many farmers to work up the corn stubble and other fields, making the habitat that the wintering owls often hung out in hard to find.

Birds that are almost pure white are adult males....

...whereas ones with a lot of spotting are usually immature birds, or sometimes a female.

Regardless, they are always fun to see, especially if they sit up on a perch with a nice background. This next one was perched on the roof of a small pump house along the roadside.

There are some owl species that are permanent residents of southern Ontario, such as these next two. An Eastern Screech Owl shows up fairly regularly in the cavity of an American Beech tree at Rondeau, providing good looks even from one of the main roads.

And elsewhere, where Wood Duck boxes have been erected, during the winter season, they may be occupied by a Screech Owl.
 

Great Horned Owls, another resident, are quite large, and can be fairly vocal. They can be found in woodlots throughout the southwest and beyond, and sometimes even within urban areas such as this next one, which has occupied a wooded area within the city limits of Chatham.

 They will sometimes nest where a large tree limb has broken off, such as in the crotch of this Willow tree, shown next.

...or sometimes where an entire tree trunk has snapped off, leaving a slight hollow to build their nest in.

This next photo was where a hollow was present in a Black Cherry Tree. The owlets were fairly visible in this setting, as the nest wasn't very deep down.

 After a few weeks, the young will venture out, testing their wings, and eventually trying to make it on their own.

I'm not sure whether the local owls are nesting yet here in Chatham, but if not, it won't be long. Stay tuned!

 

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Winter owls and fungi

 Okay, owls and fungi aren't a normal mix of topics I cover. But it works for the moment. Owls have become more visible at this time of year, and are always highly sought after by keen birders and even casual ones. Some are year-round residents, such as this Eastern Screech Owl.

It shows up regularly in the cavity of this American Beech tree at Rondeau, although it can be frustratingly absent for long periods. I managed to photograph this on the day of the Christmas Bird Count, as well as a day or so afterwards. Speaking of the CBC, this count totaled 102 species! Considering the windy, cool and rainy weather, that was quite remarkable, but with a good number of excellent birders out to cover their territories, it turned out quite well. This count regularly ends up in the top one or two counts in Ontario.

Continuing with the owl theme, a Barred Owl, usually a resident of much more northern areas, showed up at a small conservation area within the count circle, where a good stand of pine trees were established a number of years ago. It was only seen on one day, and fortunately it was within the CBC count period although not on the count day, so it gets to be added to this year's overall count. I went out to look for it the following day, but was unsuccessful in finding it. Another keen birder had been out slightly earlier in the day, and also did not see it. I know when a Barred Owl showed up in Rondeau on our CBC several years ago, which my birding partner and I discovered, although it remained in the park for several weeks, it moved around quite a bit, so one was never sure where to find it. This next photo is of the one we discovered on that CBC in 2018.

A few years later, in January of 2023, I photographed this next one, in the village of Shrewsbury.

It was sometimes quite visible from one of the streets, and there were many people who got to see it. Again, it moved around so wasn't always found at the same spot, but a little bit of perseverance often paid off. It remained in the area for several weeks. Hopefully the one that was seen just a few days ago in the local conservation area will show up again!

Another even more northern owl species that may show up in southwestern Ontario in winter is the Snowy Owl. It isn't a guarantee every year, but some years there can be quite an influx. A couple of years ago, on the St. Clair NWA CBC, there was a total of 23 Snowies observed! But the following year, there were none. It has been mostly absent this late autumn, but one has shown up intermittently in the area not far from Mitchell's Bay. Sometimes they are sitting on a pole and quite photographic, but more often than not, they are well out in a field, and even with a high powered lens and lots of cropping, the photo is a good record shot only, such as this next one.

Moving on from owls, the late autumn is a good time to look for the fruiting bodies of lingering fungi. Here are some of the ones I have found.

Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus

A type of Inkap

Not sure about this next one, but it could be a Honeycomb Coral Slime Mould.

Aspen Oyster Mushroom

These next two are in the Bonnets (Mycena) group.

A Common Gilled Mushroom

Rosy Crust

Milk-white Toothed Polypore

Pear-shaped Puffball

These next two show different angles of the fairly common Turkey Tail.

A few birds were willing to be photographed on some of my travels.

Hairy Woodpecker

Horned Grebes are in their winter plumage, and scattered here and there, but are typically quite shy for photographers as they dive under and pop back up a little way from where they went down. I managed to get these next two photos in the marina at Erieau.

There were about 20 Killdeer seen on the above mentioned Christmas Bird Count. I photographed one of the 4 I found a day or two later, along the marsh trail of Erieau.

And while Rondeau Bay is mostly unfrozen, it means most waterfowl are well out from shore, probably with the lingering effects of the recent hunting season causing them to be cautious. However some birds, such as this male Redhead, lingered also in the marina at Erieau.

Not something I would usually find while out exploring, but this kayaker chose a day when Lake Erie was quite calm, and paddled quite a way along the east beach of Rondeau, heading to some unknown destination. Perhaps Erieau?

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