While doing a Snowy Owl count today I had a very brief view of a distant falcon harassing a Snowy. The sighting was only a few seconds as I jumped out of the car to check. They were far out, closer to Fourth and Baseline so I couldn't accurately determine size but it may have been the Gyrfalcon. I lost them after the initial view and only refound the owl, which made it, a little ruffled. At the very least it was a Peregrine but it seemed paler. This action is also consistent with what the Gyrfalcon was doing this winter with the owls and the area chosen was also its regular route. It will remain a mystery.
There are still a large number of Snowies on Wolfe Island (I had 42 today and 4 on the mainland west of Kingston) but if you were to make an afternoon run for a few hours you'd probably see perhaps a dozen at best with almost all on the ground. The majority start to come up about 90 minutes before sunset to 30 mintes after sunset. Almost a third were noted under darkening conditions. Many of the winter territories are still occupied with probably over a dozen new birds. I also watched an interaction between an adult Bald Eagle and an Osprey. The Osprey had a pike and the eagle intercepted it just before it reached its mate at the nest. The Osprey lost the fish but the eagle didn't get it. Brian Morin _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
