Every now and then it is good to get away from the Inn and do something totally unrelated to the inner city poor. We have been happily surprised by the large birding community in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and even joined a birding club. The Delaware Valley Ornithological Society (DVOC) has numerous field trips as well as two meetings each month. We decided to join a group heading to Canada over the President's Day weekend, despite weather forecasts of snow and temperatures near zero.
We left our house at 3 am Saturday morning and went to a Park and Ride Lot on the west side of Philly. From there it was a straight shot up the Pennsylvania Turnpike, through New York and across the border to Ontario. By 11 am we were in Ottawa, where we were met by a local birder. Mark and I had two birds we were "chasing": a duck called Barrow's Goldeneye, and an owl called the Northern Hawk Owl. Both had been seen frequently in the Ottawa area. The owl has been the #1 bird on Mark's "GO" list for some time, so seeing it would be very exciting.
Despite the best efforts of our local guide, neither bird appeared in Ottawa. At dusk we left the area, and headed farther south along Lake Ontario.
At 6:30 am Sunday we were out of the hotel and heading for a car ferry to take us to Amherst Island. Mark and I had visited there in 1984, and had an incredible experience viewing northern owls that had invaded the island due to a population explosion of voles (small rodents). However, this year there were no voles, and no owls either. The other 6 birders with us were very disappointed.
Our leader was still optimistic that we could find some other rarities. We visited a provincial park about an hour away and scanned hundreds of ducks sitting out in the water. After about an hour we were rewarded with a single male Barrow's Goldeneye. Mark and I were elated, as were most of the other birders--a new bird for the life list.
At dark we headed west to Gravenhurst and a hotel on the shore of a huge frozen lake. The hotel was full of Canadians on holiday with their snowmobiles. We also saw people ice sailing (the boat has sails but glides on the ice) and ice surfing. These Canadians are hardy souls.
At dinner we took a census of who had to go to work on Tuesday and who did not. One of the drivers, like us, had Tuesday off. Two other birders were unemployed. Mark suggested that we try again for the Hawk Owl at another location. It would add about two hours to the trip, but the owl had been seen reliably in a tree near a farm since November, and I had the directions. So after birding in Algonquin Provincial Park, half of the group headed for home and half went to find the owl, armed with our trusty GPS. Only Dennis had seen the owl before; it would be new for Dan, our driver, Mark and I.
We arrived at the location, and after about 10 minutes, Dennis saw the bird in a tree about 400 yards away. We got it in our spotting scope, and indeed it was the bird. However, it was backlit and one could not really make out the characteristics. We decided to get closer and drove up a side road. We relocated the bird, who kept flying off to find food and returning to its perch. Our second look was much better and we could see all the field marks. After about 30 minutes, we got back into the car and started our drive back to Philly. Mark and I got in at 1 am Tuesday, tired but fulfilled, and ready to meet the needs of the urban poor.
No comments:
Post a Comment