A Varied Thrush with a striking bright, orange breast has been visiting a feeder at Big Cedar Estates just west of Orillia. A male Brown-headed Cowbird was also present at this feeder today when I photographed the thrush from the feeder owner's kitchen window. A Northern Hawk Owl at a feeder in Beaverton has not been seen for the last few days. And the update on the Great Gray Owls is that we are now tracking 143 in a database of over 200 entries. Reports of 12 to 15 in the same locations (Midland, Orillia, Innisfil) hunting between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. and also in the morning but very few seen during the day seems to be a good sign. No more reports of dead owls (11 to date) due to collisions with cars but still expecting a few more before the winter is out.
Bob Bowles
