Great Horned Owl

JAn.26 2009

After work I went out just as it was getting dark, I had the massive female snowy owl in mind at the Lindsay airport. I setup my pigeon and pole net and she came in hard and fast and went completely through my net. No luck!

I took everything down and headed for home when I noticed this Great Horned owl hunting from the same spot the snowy used to hunt. This bird must have pushed her out of her hunting area. I tossed down my balchatri and before i could get back into the truck this owl was caught! This owl was an SY (second year) bird and it weighed in at 1520 grms and it's wing chord was 400mm. These horned owls are almost black compared to the ones back in Saskatchewan. My total now for snowy owls observed in the Lindsay area is 10, they seem to be on the move now.

Snowy Owls

November 25th 2008

Since moving to the City Of Kawartha Lakes 3 years ago I haven't yet managed to come across a single snowy owl until today. I found this HY (hatch-year) male sitting up on one of the poles at the Lindsay airport. I have been banding snowy owls since 2005 back in Saskatchewan, where i'm originally from and have been searching for these beautiful birds since I received my Ontario banding permits in 2006. This young male was in excellent condition weighing in at 1460 grms.

I am partnered up with a fellow bander doing a winter study on these owls for the remainder of the winter here within the City of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough County and Simcoe County, if anyone has any sightings, I would really appreciate times and locations of SNOW's.

Thank you very much!