Ontario Birders: It is with great sadness that I send this post tonight after hearing reports from two different sources. A male Northern Hawk Owl first appeared in a field along the Monck Road, a very busy road east of Orillia, in mid-November and was first reported to OntBirds on December 10th. I posted it again since he seemed to be doing well in the field with hunting and finding prey, mostly meadow voles. Then more and more people came after more postings from others and he was photographed many times by many people. Before I posted it we had checked with the landowner, a farmer, and he had no concerns about people visiting his land but the hawl owl could been seen well from the road without going on private property. My concern was for the owl after this but he seemed to handle the people standing in the field well and ignoring them while hunting. I was out yesterday afternoon after buidling winter bird feeders for Kids For Turtles Environmental Education at Home Depot in the morning and could not find the owl all afternoon. Today, I visited the area again and talked to the landowner but could not find the hawk owl. We had someone who could see the hawk owl from her kitchen window watching and noting the many people that were coming to see the bird. She told me that many people were there Friday morning and in the field baiting the hawk owl with mice to get it to come down perhaps for better photos. She told me that the bird was hunting in her yard late Friday afternoon but that she had not seen the bird since that time. There was a post on Ontbirds on Friday from a local person who visited the area on Friday but had not checked with the landowner. She ordered two people off the land then called the police on the third person who refused to leave. I started to become concern when I could not find the hawk owl Saturday afternoon or all day Sunday. I usally found him within minutes by scanning the perches from my car while driving slowly down the road. I have received unconfirmed reports that people visiting the site Saturday morning had photos of the hawk owl dead on the side of the road after being hit by a car with a mouse still clutched in its talons. My guess, which is unconfirmed, is that after being ordered off the property on Friday people baited for the owl with mice from the side of Monck Road instead of in the field where they were baiting on Friday. I know that banders and photographers bait for owls with mice which has always concerned me but if the owls were given the mice and the baiting was in a safe area for the owls then some argued that it did not hurt the owls. I can not prove that people were baiting from the road Saturday morning but I have reports they were from the field on Friday and the hawk owl was reported to have a mouse in its talons on Saturday morning. It appears that something has brought him close to the road. He had been hunting on both sides of the road since he first appeared and had not been hit in almost two months and never hunted near the road since most of the voles were in the field eating the second cut under the snow which the farmer did not remove last fall from these fields. If anyone can provide more information please email me. I have been trying to decide if I should post about the five Great Gray Owls we have had in our area for the last few weeks but I don't think I will be doing this now. Bob Bowles Orillia, Ontario _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list ONTBIRDS@hwcn.org For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
