A rarity in bird-watching circles of southern Ontario has photographers flocking to the Barrie area to capture a winter tourist — a northern hawk owl.
Perched atop a tree at an undisclosed location, wide-eyed and on the lookout for mice and voles, this large and mostly daytime-hunting owl is a treat for bird lovers.
At one point on Friday, this new celebrity had approximately 25 people as an audience as it preened itself in a tree at the edge of a farm field, occasionally spinning its head around, on alert when a crow cawed or flew nearby.
It paid no attention to the flock of fans gathered below as they gathered, almost dangerously at times, on the side of the road as vehicles passed by.
The owl didn’t even bat an eye when one particular motorist slowed enough as they passed by the crowd of photographers to shout out “leave the bird alone!”
Clearly, not everyone is on the same page when it comes to bird-watching.
The photographers paid no mind to the verbal outburst, and continued their silent observation from what seemed to be a respectful distance.
Standing across the road from the star of the show, Essa Township resident Mike Denyer and his wife, Miriam, are outliers in the crowd without professional-looking cameras with large lenses.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable. I love it. I love wildlife,” he said, with his only available camera in hand — a cellphone.
“We’ve never seen it before,” says Miriam. “I wish there was more habitat left for these guys. We live in the country and we get all kinds of animals and we do get owls, but nothing like that."
“This is special,” says Mike, as he readies his cellphone camera for another shot.
Meanwhile, Chris Alphonso, who travelled to the area all the way from Oshawa with a hefty camera in hand, is a seasoned bird photographer.
“It’s the first time seeing it for me — really excited,” he says, as he maintains a close eye on the owl for any interesting movements or new positions to be captured.
“I just hope a lot of photographers are keeping it ethical — not chasing them down and respecting the distance,” Alphonso adds.
It took him 80 minutes to get to the site from his home in Oshawa.
“Well worth the drive,” Alphonso says.
Northern hawk owls seem to have a complete lack of fear of humans, which is great for bird-watchers, but can be problematic, as some have been hit by cars and shot, according to one expert.
Keeping the location of rare birds under wraps is a good idea, and fighting the urge to broadcast its location to a wider audience on social media is preferred, “since that has led to some unfortunate outcomes in the past, both for birds and those looking to see them,” Kevin Hannah, a biologist with the Ottawa-based Canadian Wildlife Service, said.
“Northern hawk owls are fantastic birds and have captivated me, and most bird watchers, most of my life,” he says.
The Barrie area is just slightly south of the possible year-round range of this species, which is a typical resident of the Boreal forests of North America.
“Hawk owls occasionally ‘irrupt’ into areas south of their normal range in years when the access to, or availability of, prey is reduced,” Hannah explains.
The owl’s typical prey are rodents and in the Boreal forest rodent populations typically undergo periodic population cycles.
“During low cycles, food can be scarce enough to force owls to move to areas where food resources are more plentiful,” he says.
“Similarly, since they are not the biggest owl on the continent, in years with deep or hard-packed snow, hawk owls can similarly be forced to move if they are unable to access prey below the snow," Hannahg adds. "So, it's likely one or both of these factors that has pushed this owl south of its normal range this winter.
"I suspect that once spring advances, this particular bird will head back north when the snow disappears."
They are also somewhat flexible when it comes to food and have been known to prey on snowshoe hares, grouse and other birds, especially during periods of food scarcity.
Unlike most other owls, though, they are most active during the day and less so at night.
“They are compact birds, with relatively long tails, much like a hawk. Both of the attributes are likely the reason behind the name,” Hannah says.
The owls are not thought to be a species of conservation concern.
Hannah said they are attracted to recently burned forest, since post-fire habitats contain forest openings and often have increased rodent abundance, so they may be benefiting from the recent trends of larger and more frequent forest fires in Canada's Boreal forests.
The video below shows its preening efforts and the owl's head-turning abilities as it keeps a constant eye out for food and danger.