This winter, I set a new record. We drove for 7 hrs up to Trois-Rivieres, Canada - it's an hour north of Montreal - and spent the weekend there. The bird that caused this commotion is a Boreal Owl - one of the harder owls to see in North America. They are categorized as "ucommon and sparsely distributed in areas with little human population" - i.e. good luck finding them. But one of them came down to a forest preserve near Trois-Rivieres and stayed there for multiple weeks. After a few false starts, we decided to go chase it.
This was the first thing I saw on the trail into the forest. The owl has become very popular!
It took me two trips into the forest to find it. Here is the first glimpse I had of the owl:
It is not especially large, but it has a striking face. The black lines start at its eyebrows and converge on its beak, which, combined with yellow-and-black eyes, give it the classic Disney villain look:
The boreal owl also has a multitude of expressions, from dismissive...
... to playful ...
... to "I just don't want to talk to you anymore"
Here is a little secret for how to find an owl fast. Don't look for the owl - look for people looking for the owl. Much easier to find! In the picture below, the owl is the little dark spot on the third tree from the left, about a third of the way down - where all the cameras are pointing.
That owl is actually not the boreal owl, but another hard-to-find species called Northern Saw-Whet Owl:
They are small but ferocious, and they do occur as far south as the middle of the US (especially in the winter), but unlike many other owls, they do not roost at the same place during the day, so finding one is hard.
Did I mention they are ferocious?
But also cute:
Ice fishing on St Lawrence river:
Some interesting ice patterns in that forest. It must have flooded and frozen several times during this winter:
Another owl, this time in Nassau County in Long Island - an Eastern Screen Owl enjoying the sun. We found this one quite by luck:
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