Another Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owls Seen at Tantramar

Short-eared Owl [Jean-Guy Gallant Photo]

The Tantramar Marsh has been good habitat for Short-eared Owls Asio flammeus again this winter.  This species prefers open spaces such as grasslands, salt marshes, prairies, agricultural fields, estuaries and tundra so the Tantramar is ideal as long as there is a good rodent population to support them.  The Short-eared Owl species exists all over Canada except the high Arctic islands.  They are not abundant but can be seen in suitable habitat.  They are permanent residents around Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and down the St. Lawrence River to about the Quebec border.  One wonders if they are extending their range further eastward to include New Brunswick.

For much more information on this species, please see the post on April 12, 2016.  The birds shown in this post were photographed by Jean-Guy Gallant on January 3 on the Tantramar.  The flight shot is especially difficult to get and as you can see he did a good job.

Short-eared Owls are nocturnal but do show some activity early in the morning and late in the day.  During the day they are usually roosting on the ground in the tall grass so are difficult to see.  They are 38 cm (15 inches) long and their wing span is 99 cm (39 inches).  With that large wing span they look magnificent in flight.  They flutter and bounce around in flight resembling a huge butterfly!

Short-eared Owl [Jean-Guy Gallant Photo]

If you want to see this bird take some time to watch a large wet salt marsh or wet meadow or agricultural field some time just before dark.  You might be lucky to see some action by this interesting species as it searches for food.  They are not very vocal but they do make a "voo-hoo-hoo" sound.  The female often responds with a "ke-oow".

The Short-eared Owl was first described in 1763 by a Danish bishop named Erich Ludvigsen Pontoppidan.  Other names that have been used for this species are Evening Owl, Marsh Owl, Mouse-hawk and Flat-faced Owl.  Let's enjoy and protect another one of New Brunswick's great treasures!

White Morph Gyrfalcon

Gyrfalcon Seen in New Brunswick

Gyrfalcon [Jean-Guy Gallant Photo]

On December 18, 2017 a white morph Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) was seen and reported near Caissie Cape by Nora Hebert.  The Gyrfalcon is such a rare bird it has sparked a frenzy of birders travelling to the area in an attempt to see it.  It was seen sporadically there for 3 or 4 days and then seemed to disappear.  Fortunately it was seen again (or another individual) in the Buctouche area by the same birder on January 8.  There it has been spotted almost daily since.  

Referring to the photo above (thank you, Jean-Guy Gallant) this bird is a juvenile white morph.  The Gyrfalcon comes in three morphs (or plumage types), white, gray and dark.  The present bird is a typical white showing a very white white with spots and streaks in dark reddish brown and dark gray. It has dark wing tips with a smudging of colour on its head, nape, belly and tail.  The bill and feet are a light grayish colour, making it a juvenile.  If it were an adult these would be bright yellow.  Please see a previous post (February 24, 2017) for more detailed information on this species.

The Gyrfalcon is our largest falcon.  Our other falcons are the Peregrine, the Merlin and the Kestrel.  The Gyrfalcon is 51-64 cm long (20"-25").  It has more body than our other falcons.  Note the heavy body and broad wings.  That makes it a powerful predator which can take down flying prey easily.  It feeds mainly on waterfowl, pigeons, and rodents.  

We saw this bird on January 12 and it was chasing pigeons.  The area it is frequenting in Buctouche is ideal habitat.  There is a highway bridge and a walking bridge, 2 lagoons, a pond, a large bay and the ocean all close by.  That day the Gyrfalcon was making a pass at a large flock of about 50 pigeons.  When I saw it, it was in the middle of the flock, in the air.  The flock was flaring in all directions and the falcon was right in the middle trying to grab one of the pigeons.  It appeared fast and powerful!  Its pattern seems to be to make a couple of passes at the pigeons or ducks in the morning and sometimes again late in the day.  The window of opportunity (to see and photograph the bird) is very short and the weather is not conducive to standing out watching for long periods.  However, to see the bird makes the effort well worthwhile.  We saw the flock of pigeons in wild chaos again about an hour later that morning and suspect the Gyrfalcon was after them again but did not see it among the flock.  

The Gyrfalcon's range is all of Arctic Canada, Alaska, Greenland and the very northern part of the prairie provinces, Ontario, Quebec and Labrador.  It is a holarctic species so also occurs in the most northern part of Europe and Asia.  It rarely comes south but occasionally vagrants show up in Newfoundland or the Maritime provinces.  We are lucky this is one of those years!  To view this bird is a rare opportunity which may not come again for many years.  

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Our Smallest Owl

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Early Sunday morning my telephone rang and a neighbour told me that a small owl had just hit their window and it was on the ground 'shivering'.  I quickly made plans to go and rescue it but received another call soon afterwards telling me it had flown away.  That was good news.  That meant that the owl was probably just stunned and was recovering.

The owl shown above was another individual which appeared around houses looking for something to eat.  There were bird feeders there and the owl was watching for rodents or small birds as prey.  Northern Saw-whet Owls are strictly nocturnal.  Their main diet is rodents, shrews, voles, birds and insects. They forage close to the ground and spend their days roosting in thick evergreens.  

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Shown above is the actual bird that sparked the phone call.  It is an adult Northern Saw-whet.  Notice the small size, the white 'V' between its eyes, the fine white streaks on the forehead, the reddish brown vertical streaks on its breast and the spots on the sides.  This cute little owl is only 20 cm (8") long!

The Northern Saw-whet Owl inhabits a large area of North America from Alaska across all of southern Canada southward to southern US.  In winter some individuals migrate a short distance to more southerly climates within its range.  It is a permanent resident of New Brunswick.  It nests in abandoned woodpecker holes or natural cavities in trees.  The female incubates the eggs for 26-28 days and the male brings her food.  They vocalize only during the breeding season making a monotonous short repeated sound that sounds like a saw being filed or 'whetted'.  

Northern Saw-whet Owl [Internet Photo]

The only other owl species that might be seen here that one would confuse with this species is the Boreal Owl.  That is a much more northern species which is very rare here.  It is slightly larger but has white spots on its forehead rather than the streaks of the Saw-whet.  The juvenile Northern Saw-whets are very different looking.  They are dark brown overall with an orange breast and belly.  They show the white 'V' between the eyes, the same as the adult.

Northern Saw-whet Owl [Internet Photo]

Sometimes the winter brings hard times for these owls.  That is often the reason they are seen near human habitation.  They are desperate for food and hope for rodents or other food.  That makes them prone to injury (as in this case) from window or automobile strikes, predators,  or interference with humans.  Some of them are so tame or so starved that they allow humans to approach too closely.  It is best to back off and protect these little creatures at these crucial times.  With deep snows finding food is difficult and they are stressed from weather, starvation and being in close proximity to human habitation.

Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count

Annual Christmas Bird Count

White-throated Sparrow

The Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count is an annual event taking place on January 1.  A team of hardy citizen scientists brave the cold weather and conduct a bird census in a large 24-km circle running from Keswick to Upper Prince William and Mazerolle Settlement to Springfield.  This count has been done for many years now and the data are collected and compiled by NatureNB, Bird Studies Canada and the Audubon Society.  

The weather was severe this year.  Participants braved extreme temperatures and a wind chill up to - 29ºC.  Being on the road for most of the day made conditions difficult.  Participants observe from their cars but frequently get out to look for birds and to walk through woods, roads and lanes.  Most groups consist of 2 people, a driver and a recorder, both watching carefully for birds.  

White-winged Crossbill

This year we counted 1697 birds representing 32 species.  Both total numbers and species numbers were below average.  This is probably for two main reasons.  Firstly, the weather was so severe many birds held tight in whatever hiding place they had chosen away from the wind and cold.  Secondly, so far this has not been a finch year.  Our fruit and cone crops are low and migrating flocks of finches are not coming into the area to feed.  Many of these flocks are staying well north of us.  That may change as the season progresses and they are forced to move into this area seeking food sources.  There was also less open water this year with the extreme cold so a lot of waterfowl have moved out of the area.  

We did however find a remnant of winter finches.  Note the White-winged Crossbill shown above.  We found only 6 of these.  And, only 1 of the White-throated Sparrow shown above.  We did, however, notice some trends.  The Blue Jay population is high, having seen 164.  We also noticed that the American Goldfinch population is rebounding.  In the last few years the goldfinch population has plummeted.  Not so anymore.  They are increasing now in this area.

Shown below are two charts, one showing a summary of the birds seen on this year's count.  Below that is a comparison of the last 7 years of counts comparing species numbers and total numbers of birds counted.  

Mactaquac CBC 2017
Jan. 1, 2018
Species	Total
Am Black Duck	80
Mallard	1
Common Goldeneye	84
Hooded Merganser	4
Common Merganser	41
Bald Eagle	9
Ruffed Grouse	3
Great Black-backed Gull	11
Rock Pigeon	231
Mourning Dove	35
Barred Owl	1
Downy Woodpecker	7
Hairy Woodpecker	18
Pileated Woodpecker	2
Blue Jay	164
American Crow	88
Common Raven	51
Black-capped Chickadee	223
Red-breasted Nuthatch	37
White-breasted Nuthatch	12
Brown Creeper	4
Golden-crowned Kinglet	8
European Starling	167
American Tree Sparrow	24
White-throated Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	29
Northern Cardinal	4
Snow Bunting	13
Purple Finch	58
White-winged Crossbill	6
Pine Siskin	51
American Goldfinch	229
Accipiter sp.	1
Total	1697
No. of Species	32

Mactaquac CBCs
	No. of Species	Total Birds
2011	38	2821
2012	40	2469
2013	32	1942
2014	39	1616
2015	38	1747
2016	36	1965
2017	32	1697
Average	36	2037