Today my wife, Mussart, and I travelled to Amherst Island with the hope of seeing the Boreal Owl which has been "in residence" there for the past 2 or 3 weeks. We were successful in our quest, finding the bird ( a life bird for Mussart and only my second one ever) in the south-east section of the Pine Woods about 8 feet up almost directly over the trail at the edge of the woods. This seems to be a favoured spot for this bird if it is not in the cedars. We also saw the Great Gray Owl in the Cedar Woods on the west side of the path just past the largest clump of cedars. We saw no other owls in the woods but didn't venture any further into the Pines after finding the Boreal. We did not try for Snowy or Short-eared Owls as we were too euphoric after finding the Boreal Owl and wanted to end the day on such a "high".!
Directions: Amherst Island: Hwy. 401 exit 593 and go south on County Road 4 about 10 Km to Milhaven. Turn right onto Hwy. 34 and the ferry dock is on the left. The ferry leaves every hour on the half-hour and leaves Amherst every hour on the hour. $5.00 ticket price. To get to the Owl Woods: After getting off the ferry go left (east) for 3.4 Km and then take the road on the right almost opposite house #2350 for 1.3 Km to the S curve. Park here and follow the well worn trail into the woods. Regards, Brendan O'Sullivan Mississauga.
