Ontbirds subscribers,
Saturday evening, after attending the excellent and incredibly well-attended
book launch for Niagara Birds by John Black and Kayo Roy at the Lookout Point
Country Club in Fonthill, I visited the nearby home of birding friends Wilf and
Irene Podolak. Leaving their home just before sunset, I got a little bit lost
on the way back north to the QEW. This came to be the best part of my evening!
Travelling north from Regional Rd. 20 on Effingham St. through the scenic
hamlet of Effingham and passing by just to the west of Short Hills Provincial
Park, I turned north onto Oille Street and followed it north and then west to
where Oille Street forms a junction with Wessel Drive in the hamlet of Rockway
about 0.9 km west of Lipa Park.
At 6:41 p.m., with dusk quickly approaching, I was about to turn right and
travel northwest on Wessel Drive toward Pelham Road, when I noticed what I
presumed to be a Short-eared Owl hunting about 400 metres away over the large
field to the west of the corner of Oille St. and Wessel Drive. I pulled over to
take a look at the bird after pulling my binoculars from the glove compartment.
Viewing the bird with binoculars, it was immediately apparent that the bird, in
fact, was actually a Barn Owl hunting over this field from north to south.
After watching the bird for about 5 minutes, I lost it when it flew well off to
the southwest and went down behind a distant ditch.
It was an exhilarating way to end the day. I haven't seen a Barn Owl in Ontario
since 1996.
Glenn Coady
Whitby
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