Snowy Owl

I’ve been fortunate to observe many Snowy Owls through the years.

I’ve observed owls so dark that it’s hard to believe they are Snowies. And some of the purest white Snowies we’ve observed have also been some of the largest as well as the smallest.

Snowy Owl

 

A Snowy Owl may eat more than 1,600 lemmings in a single year.

Snowy Owl young may disperse remarkably far from their birthplace.

From a single Snowy Owl nest on Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic, one young bird went to Hudson Bay, one to southeastern Ontario, and one to the far eastern Russian coast. Cornell All About Birds

Snowy Owl

 

Snowy Owls spend summers far north of the Arctic Circle hunting lemmings, ptarmigan, and other prey in 24-hour daylight.

In years of lemming population booms they can raise double or triple the usual number of young. I’ve seen images with upwards of 80-90 lemmings encircling a nest. Each owlet consumes 4-5 lemming a day.

Unlike most owls, Snowy Owls are diurnal. They’ll hunt at all hours during the continuous daylight of an Arctic summer.

Snowy Owl

It was on this date four years ago that we observed our latest Snowy Owl in Lambton County. Although we were not actively searching for Snowy Owls it seemed like we spotted them quite often that summer.

Snowy Owls are the heaviest of the North American owls.

The thick feathers for insulation from Arctic cold make Snowy Owls North America’s heaviest owl, typically weighing about 4 pounds—one pound heavier than a Great Horned Owl and twice the weight of a Great Gray Owl which is North America’s tallest owl.

They show up in our area irregularly in winter to hunt in windswept fields.

The blog this week will feature images and info on Snowy Owls.

Eastern Kingbird

 

Eastern Kingbirds are also very common in Killbear especially around the beaver ponds and rookery.

During the summer the Eastern Kingbird eats mostly flying insects and maintains a breeding territory that it defends vigorously against all other kingbirds. 

In the winter along the Amazon, however, it has a completely different lifestyle: it travels in flocks and eats fruit. Cornell All About Birds

Scarlet Tanager

 

An early morning visit to the Great Blue Heron rookery at Killbear always proves very fruitful with a variety of flycatchers and woodpeckers but none more colourful than this male Scarlet Tanager.

Scarlet Tanagers visit many kinds of berry plants, including blackberries, raspberries, huckleberries, serviceberries, mulberries, strawberries, and chokeberries.

On the wintering grounds in South America the Scarlet Tanager joins mixed species foraging flocks with flycatchers, antbirds, woodcreepers, and resident tropical tanagers. Cornell All About Birds

Snapping Turtle

Snapping turtles are a very common sight at Killbear Provincial Park.

I observed this snapper for five early mornings in a row and watched her cross the roadway six times this morning before finding an appropriate place to dig a nest.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpeckers are quite a common sight at Killbear Provincial Park and often heard early in the morning. They are common visitors to the beaver pond area.

The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the Continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest.

Look for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. 

The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens. Cornell All About Birds

Killbear Warblers

Some of the other warblers observed at Killbear Provincial Park June 2022.

                                                            Canada Warbler

                                                              Yellow Warbler

                                                                Pine Warbler

                                                       Blue-winged Warbler

                                                     Common Yellowthroat

Black and White Warbler

 

Black and White Warblers are also fairly common in Killbear this time of year.

Years ago, before I became semi serious about birding, we would take the kids to the beaver pond at Killbear in the evenings to observe the beaver restoring their dam. In the mornings I would juice up and sit on an old milk crate very early in the mornings just listening to the pond come alive.

Now I find it fascinating to arrive at the pond early, turn on my Merlin app, and just watch it come alive with bird calls. Usually in the first minute you will have a couple dozen bird calls identified.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Killbear Provincial Park has one main road running basically north south. Many years ago, beaver created a rather large pond on the east side of the road and there was constant flooding of the road in that area. The beaver eventually moved to the west side of the road and the park created diversion channels to help maintain levels. As young trees and shrubs have grown roadside this created what I consider an excellent arrangement for photographers to basically stand in the middle of the beaver pond with bugs galore on these low shrub brush to attract the birds.   

Chestnut-sided Warblers could be found in decent numbers in Killbear Provincial Park this time of year especially near the beaver ponds.

Blackburnian Warbler

 

Blackburnian Warblers seemed to be everywhere at Killbear this time of year.

Every day I would observe at least a couple busy feeding on low shrubbery near the beaver ponds. A treat to see them so low as usually they are higher in the canopy.

They would already be singing right in our campsite when I left for birding at 5:30 every morning.

Blackburnian Warblers spend winters in South America in open forests including shade-coffee plantations.

Yellow-throated Vireo

 

Well, we have just returned from our annual trip to Killbear Provincial Park. This was our 41st year camping at Killbear and have seen a lot of changes. Most for the worse. However, it is still a nice place to camp and canoe/kayak and especially nice because the kids and grandkids attend too.

Birding wise, this is a great time of year to visit the park. Most days my ebird lists covered around 50 species and I was able to view 16 warbler species, usually in pretty good numbers. Killbear also has an active Great Blue Heron rookery and it proved pretty active this year with 15-16 birds present on most visits.

Barred Owls are also very common at Killbear and can be seen and heard early morning and evenings hooting.

I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to photograph this Yellow-throated Vireo down low at eye level as it walked the branches grabbing an assortment of insects. In fact, all the warblers could be seen low in the shrubbery busy hunting for food and this week’s blogs will feature some of the warblers I was able to capture images of.