The month of March is the mating month for most of our owls in the area. During this period depending on where you live, you may hear courting owls calling to each other in the night. These include the Barred Owl, Horned Owl, and even the Long-eared Owl. One of the more vocal is the whistling call of the little Northern Saw-whet Owl. The sound is like a truck backing up, and by early March, you should hear these owls calling.
The Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadieus) is one of our smaller resident Owls. This seven-inch owl likes to frequent cedar swamps, forests, conifers and groves such as in the Hazeley Bay area.
This Owl has a chestnut-coloured back with heavy or buff spotting and white underparts with reddish blotches and streaks. It has a black beak, yellow eyes, no ear tuffs, and white eyebrows above its pale buff-to-brownish facial disk. It is also easily identified by its distinctive spring call consisting of one note, repeated, often for hours.
These birds are often found alone but are occasionally located in pairs. It eats rodents, large insects, small birds, and bats. It usually hunts at night by perching on a low limb of a tree and flying down onto its prey, capturing it with its talons.
The Saw-whet Owl builds its nest in tree cavities, abandoned woodpecker holes, and sometimes in nesting boxes about 14-60 feet above the ground. It has only one brood per year. The female owl incubates the eggs for 26-29 days. The young remain in their nest for another 21-34 days and are fed by both parents.
The Northern Saw-whet Owl can be found in southeast Alaska, the woodlands of Canada, and the west and northeast of the United States. It can range as far south as Central Mexico.
Unfortunately, this bird is on the decline in many areas of its range, the result of habitat loss due to over-logging and air pollution. This is unfortunate as this is one of my favourite owls. I have certainly seen a decline in numbers of these owls in our area in the last 10 years, but was very pleased to see that a couple have already been spotted in Renfrew County this year.
Elsewhere on the local scene, with the unusual mild weather at the end of February, we should be getting some early first wave spring birds. Unless we get more snow or ice storms in early March, the spring migrants will slowly trickle back into our area from southern Ontario. These, of course, will include some early Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles. There should also be some Canada Geese flying over the area, and future flocks may have a few Cackling and Snow Geese among them.
Over the next few weeks, you can expect the arrival of Killdeer, American Woodcock, Eastern Bluebirds, Rusty Blackbirds and perhaps some Ring-billed Gulls. The number of Rough-legged Hawks has already increased in our area as they too make their way north. Expect these hawks to be replaced by American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers.
If the rivers start to open, you may find Mallards, Hooded Mergansers and perhaps some Great Blue Herons along the river edges.
At our feeders, several of the present winter migrants will slowly decline like Common Redpolls while others will leave the area like Pine Siskin and Pine Grosbeaks. However, you should also see the arrival of more Bohemian Waxwings, American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.
As this is still mating time for our owls, I expect the number of Barred Owl sightings will increase. It has been a good year for owl sightings!
Finally, I have had only two reports of overwintering birds. These included a Northern Flicker in the Westmeath area and a Merlin seen on Witt Road. Back at the end of February, I heard of two Redwing Blackbirds at a feeder on Green Lake Road; I am not sure if they are over-wintering birds or some of our first spring birds to return.
Back on Feb. 12, Nancy Armstrong of Pembroke spotted 60 Bohemian Waxwings on her fruit tree. There are a few of these large flocks in our area.
Between Feb. 13 and 18, Norm Jones took an excellent photo of a Northern Shrike in Petawawa. and a scarce Merlin near Witt Road. The Merlin must have been overwintering!
On Feb. 16, Ryan Hoelke photographed a Northern Goshawk eating a Mourning Dove in his yard.
On Feb. 19, Bernd Krueger and Liz Reeves located a Short-eared Owl. This same bird has been spotted at least three times this winter. Previous to this it had only been seen sporadically over a span of years.
The next day, Jean Marc Boulanger reported Evening Grosbeaks in his yard. We have had only a few reports of these birds, so hopefully more are on the way.
Finally, on March 1st, Bernd Krueger and Elizabeth Reeves spotted a Gray Jay on Achray Road. Nice find Bernd and Liz.
Please call me with your bird sightings and feeder reports at 613-735-4430 or email me at email@example.com . Unfortunately, activities with the Pembroke Area Field Naturalists are still on hold due to the COVID-19 epidemic; however, like us on Facebook for notices, updates and great photos of nature.