Lake Simcoe (Orillia) Birding Update: The first winter HARRIS'S SPARROW continues to visits the bird feeder at the home of Martha Sova at 4393 Fairgrounds Road just west of Orillia. It is best to park on the side of the road and walk up the right side of the lot along the line of spruce trees to the back of the house where you can view the feeder on the back deck. The bird does not always come to the feeder but can also be seen in and under the large White Pine trees in the front yard or in the line of White Spruce trees to the right of the yard. It is best seen in the morning and is usually with a small flock of American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. One of the juncos is a pink-sided Oregon type with pink sides and a brown back differing from the Slate-colored forms present. Fairground Road is north off of hwy 12 West just west of the City of Orillia.
The male VARIED THRUSH is still a regular visit to the backyard feeder of Gloria Braithwaite at 94 Tamarack Drive in Big Cedar Estates You can not see the feeder from the road so you will have to go to the front door and check with Gloria and Lorne to see if you can view the bird from their kitchen window. Gloria has been great welcoming birders so you may want to make a small contribution for all the seed that she goes through every winter feeding birds. She will ask you to sign her guest book. You can photograph this bird through her open kitchen window at a prefect distance and good light. Big Cedar Estates is at Line 12 of Oro-Medonte and Bass Lake Sideroad west of the City of Orillia. Mike Pidwerbecki at the Siberian Inn Bed and Breakfast has an elaborate system of bird feeders in his back yard and has been going through nyger seed by the truck load this winter with several American Goldfinches and now up to 500 COMMON REDPOLLS. We observed a HOARY REDPOLL in a small flock of Common Redpolls yesterday at this location and it would not surprise me if there were not more Hoary Redpolls in the total flock. Siberian Inn in one Line 10 of Oro-Medonte just north of Old Barrie Road near Orillia. You can view Mike's photo of the Hoary Redpoll along with Common Redpolls at my Simcoe County Nature Board. Best to find it by doing a goggle search on Simcoe County Nature Board. NORTHERN SHRIKES, PINE GROSBEAKS, and BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS can be seen on the back roads around Orillia but tend to move to different locations so it is not possible to give reliable locations. Flocks of SNOW BUNTINGS, HORNED LARKS, and a few LAPLAND LONGSPURS can be seen in the open fields where the Great Gray Owls are hunting at some locations like Muley Point. There is a large concentration of GREAT GRAY OWLS on the north and west shores of Lake Simcoe this winter in the area encompassing the cities and towns of Midland, Coldwater, Orillia, Sebright, Lake Dalrymple, Brechin, Barrie, Elmvale, and Bradford. From over 400 owl reports and four big owl days I would guess that a safe estimate of the total Great Gray Owls in this area this winter would be 220. The owls have arrived in waves in late December and early January with new arrivals joining the first to arrive in the same hunting fields. This has resulted in about 10 hot-spot locations to view owls (10-34) in the whole area with a few owls in 6-10 other locations and none in between these areas. One day counts are as follows: January 28th by myself (59), February 5 with four friends (35), February 11th with another friend (34), and February 20th with over 20 observers in ten teams at composite total of 82 but all reports are not in to date. Where and when to observe the greatest number of owls is not easy to predict. The numbers vary indirectly to the number of people present and the weather. The best time to view the highest number of owls is on bright sunny days. The owls feed in the early morning from 7-9 am then roost for the day. It is very difficult to find a roosting GGOW in a stand of grey trees since they sit back in from the tree line near the trunk and blend into the forest. They come back out to the open fields to hunt in the late afternoon from 4-6 pm. This time period usually has the most owls feeding at one time. However, if the day is overcast or if a storm is moving in then the owls extend their morning feeding to noon and you will view few if any owls that afternoon before sunset. Also the number of owls feeding in the evening decrease on weekends due to the number of people present. In an area like Muley Point where I estimate there is a total of 34 I have observed a few as 5-7 on a Friday or Saturday evening and then the following Sunday or Monday evening as many as 28. One evening in late January I observed 34 hunting in the fields one evening which is an impressive sight and hard to describe. Our local TV station ran a story in early February at a location near Midland where I estimate that there are 16 GGOWs this winter. They filmed 4-5 hunting in the field and then reported that there were over 100 owls in that field. It is easy to do since it appears that the owls are everywhere as they move through the fields hunting for voles. I would suggest that the best place to view the owls would be along Muley Point Road since there are twice as many owls as any other one hot-spot location. It is best to come on a bright, sunny day and visit the area both in the early morning and late afternoon since you can never predict when the peak hunting will occur. It is also best to come during the week if possible since there are many observers on weekends and the motels in Orillia have been fully booked for the last two weekends. Birders and nature photographers that I have talked to in the last two weeks from New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. have had to drive to Barrie to find a motel. You may want to stay with Mike at the Siberian Inn B&B close to Orillia and watch the feeders for redpolls. Stay well back from the owls if you come and allow them to hunt which really gives you better views and photos of owls in flight. I expect that the owls will be with us for another two weeks and then start to move north. There is speculation that a few may remain like some did last time on the Bruce and maybe even nest but I would guess you will see few owls by mid-March. Almost all the owls this winter have been adults with no after fledged year birds. Several BARRED OWLS have been observed in the area this winter in the same locations as the GGOWs. There have been reports of up to six a week seen during the day hunting along the sides of the roads. I have seen several sitting in the open on utility wires during mid day which is not usually the location that you expect this species. There are at least 3 in the Muley Point area with one yesterday on the telephone cable along hwy 12 at sideroad 15 in Ramara. This is part of the GGOW loop for Muley Point described below. A NORTHERN HAWK OWL reported last Thursday at Mt. St. Louis Road and hwy 400 sitting at the top of the tree was not found Friday when I checked the area and has not been reported since but there is a very cooperative hawk owl at Bracebridge (half hour drive north of here) at Robert Dollar Drive off hwy 118 at the south end of Bracebridge. This bird sat at the top of the trees in full view yesterday for most of the afternoon. A SNOWY OWL reported on Thursday behind the Home Depot in Orillia has not been seen again but there are two along Strongville Road near Edenvale west of Barrie that had been reported in this area on the weekend. The two BOREAL OWLS reported near Orillia in January have not been seen again but are probably still in the area. Bob Bowles Orillia, Ontario Directions to Muley Point from hwy 11 in Orillia. From the south on hwy 11 take the second exit (4th from the north) to Orillia (hwy 12 South) and follow hwy 12 through Atherley to Uptergrove. Continue along hwy 12 to the large Catholic Church on the left (St. Columbkille) and turn right onto Muley Point Road. Follow Muley Point Road south to the store at McRae Park Road/conc. 9 (good for owls) and then continue south to conc. 8. Muley Point Road goes right to Bonnie Beach Road (good for owls). Take conc 8 west to sideroad 20 (owls) and follow it around to conc. 7. Turn left on conc. 7 and follow it north (more owls) to sideroad 15. Turn left on sideroad 15 and follow it back to hwy 12. You should have seen at least two dozen owls on this loop. Fairgrounds Road is off hwy 12 West just west of Orillia and Big Cedar Estates is at the corner of Line 12 and Bass Lake Sideroad in Oro-Medonte just south of Bass Lake and west of Orillia.
