The weekend before last I led about 25 members of the University of Guelph Wildlife Club to some areas north of Waterloo to look for Snowy Owls, and we found 9. With these birds and 3 more this weekend I've now had 32 Snowy Owl sightings of about 25 individuals this winter! It always feels great to show people amazing wildlife like this.
A few days later, Todd and I walked along the Speed River in search of ducks. We were very successful in that regard, with an amazing for Guelph total of 13 species of waterfowl, but the real highlight was this Cooper's Hawk with a freshly caught Starling.
This is certainly the best views I've had of a Cooper's. I didn't take photos, but we were able to watch it tear apart and eat the starling. I was surprised to see that it ate everything but the feathers - even the feet!
It's now been just over a year since I started this blog. I've really enjoyed having a place to share my sightings, although the long winter has made posting regularly difficult times. Things will hopefully pick up again soon!
So far, the only sign of spring I have seen are snowfleas. In North Bay, it may be a few weeks before we even get Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles. The lakes show no sign of melting yet, as the temperatures have just peeked a little over 0 two days this week. On the plus side I did see, at long last, my first Snowy Owl (in Powassan), after birding for over ten years and getting five other owl species beforehand.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the Snowy - that was actually one of the first owls I saw!
ReplyDeleteI saw black capped chickadees, juncos and a Rough legged Hawk at Exeter, Ontario.
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