Canada Big Year 2022: Holy-Cow it’s a Boreal Owl

Finally, after five or six expeditions,(okay, a little hyperbole there), I was able to see this rare visitor to Southern Ontario. Boreal Owls are rarely seen this far south in Ontario and the only other one I have seen was in Hilardton Marsh in the fall of 2012 while doing my North American Big Year.

In the days preceding the Boreal Owl sighting, I had visited the conservation area a number of times without any luck. I had seen Long-eared and Northern Saw-whet Owls but the boreal had eluded me. I’ve also been out and about birding in other parts of Ontario and added a Fish Crow at Lake Promenade Park in Mississauga, also after several attempts. I had seen some crows around there on previous voyages, but hadn’t heard the distinctive nasal “Ca-Ha” call. When I arrived this time, a crow was hanging out with the some gulls and was none too happy about the harassment it was falling victim to and was very vocal about it, thus confirming the Fish Crow ID.

On another of my unsuccessful Boreal Owl Quests, where I also temporarily lost my camera in the snow, I saw my first Golden-crowned Kinglet of the year. I had been walking in fresh, un-trampled snow when I saw the kinglet, perfectly perched for a photo, and reached down for my camera only to see that there was only a lens hanging from the strap. I panicked, just a little, but my mother’s words came back to me from childhood whenever I lost something, “Just retrace your steps.” Usually, for me anyways, it’s easer said than done. However, since my tracks were the only ones in the once pristine snow, I was able to retrace my steps and found my camera, undamaged, face up in the snow. My Apple Watch actually recorded my elevated heart rate for the journey back to my camera.

Yesterday, my last day in Ontario for a week or so, I stayed close to home to rest up for the travel, and took my walk at Gilkison Flats, where I spent a lot of time last year. This time I was looking for, and found, a Brown Creeper. These cute birds, who easily blend into the bark of the tree they “creep” on, are famously known for slowly climbing trees, often spiraling around the trunk, eating bugs. When they reach the top they just drop down to the ground and begin again, sometimes in the same tree, but often jumping over to the next tree once they have exhausted the food supply of the one they were on.

Today I sit at Billy Bishop Airport on my way to Halifax to try and pick up a few more winter birds on the east coast before the spring weather kicks in. I look forward to not having to carry my heavy winter boots and clothing for a long while. And, who knows, perhaps that Stellar’s Sea Eagle I missed in the summer of 2021 will start moving north from Maine and appear somewhere in the east. Birding hope always springs eternal.