A Winter for Owls

Snowy Owl

If you have never seen a Snowy Owl, this is the winter to do so in the Northeast. Snowy Owls have irrupted into New England, and been commonly reported in the mid-Atlantic states. At least one even wandered as far south as Jacksonville, Florida. I have seen reports of seven Snowy Owls sighted in the Champlain Valley in one day, and eight on Plum Island near Newburyport, Massachusetts. To find out where the owls are being seen check the “Vermont & New England” links.

That’s the months-old news alert. Even the general media has picked up on the unusually large number of Snowy Owls in New England this winter. What really got their attention was the Snowy Owl that was seen looking out of a building window (!) in Portland, Maine. Yes, somehow she got inside the building, possibly in the course of seeking out the building’s roosting pigeons. She was rescued from the building, found to be in good health and with no injuries, and released.

The Snowy Owl is a circumpolar arctic bird. It breeds in open terrain north of the tree line and to the very edge of the polar seas. It is a big owl, with a length of 23" and a wingspan of 52." Only the Great Gray Owl exceeds the Snowy Owl in length (27").

With a 52" wingspan and weighing 4 pounds,
the Snowy Owl is a large & powerful predator

The Snowy Owl is by far the heaviest owl. It weighs on average 4 pounds, as compared to the Great Horned Owl which averages 3.1 pounds, and the Great Gray Owl which averages 2.7 pounds. For comparison, the most common owl in our New England woods is the Barred Owl: length = 21", wingspan = 42", weight = 1.6 pounds.

Snowy Owls are well adapted to the arctic environment. They are nocturnal in the endless night of winter, and diurnal in the endless light of summer. They literally hunt day and night; they do so regardless of weather.

Like most birds, their food habits are governed by opportunity. They take mammals (small rodents to large hares), birds (song birds to small geese), and occasionally fish or other aquatic animals.

In the arctic, their preferred prey is lemmings. They may consume over 1600 lemmings in one year. Lemmings are small rodents, 3-6" long and weighing 1 to 4 ounces. They are active all year, which means that they are a food source for the Snowy Owl all year. Like many other rodents, they can reproduce rapidly, so rapidly that their population in a particular area outstrips the resources causing them to disperse and their numbers to crash. When lemming populations crash, the Snowy Owl has to look elsewhere for food.

Snowy Owls move throughout the arctic depending upon the availability of food. In our temperate forests, birds of prey return to the same locality, often the same nest, to breed every year. Snowy Owls have also been documented using the same nest year after year. On the other hand,  territorial fidelity is quickly abandoned if food resources are not available.

Food availability also determines clutch size. Typically she lays 3-5 eggs. If food is abundant, she may lay 7-11 eggs. If food is scarce, nesting may be aborted.

Snowy Owls are not unexpected in New England during the winter. Almost every year there are a few reported along the New England coast. In December, 2011, one spent several days in the Brattleboro Area, delighting the local birders and thrilling many others fortunate enough to be in the right spot at the right time.

This year the number of Snowy Owls has been way more than usual. As you may gather from what was written above, food in the arctic was scarce, and the birds went in search of places where the pickings are better. The frozen tidal flats and farm lands of New England beckoned. We may be shivering in the sub-zero temperatures, but our harsh winter is no big deal to the Snowy Owl. It can handle it; this winter is just like home for this white owl.

Northern Hawk-Owl

A second owl has also made a Vermont appearance this winter. A Northern Hawk Owl has been wintering just north of Waterbury Center. A circumpolar species of the boreal forest, it makes rare and irregular visits to the northern states. What makes the Northern Hawk Owl a good bird to “chase” is that it is diurnal, actively hunting during the day. When not hunting it perches prominently on the top of tall trees. It stays in the same area, and it attracts birders from many miles away.

When I chased the Waterbury owl a few weeks ago, I spoke with another birder. He was local, and was out nearly every day looking for, and photographing, the bird. He told me where it liked to perch, and which fields it liked to hunt. There were a dozen other people looking for the bird as well. Lots of eyes and lots of help. When the bird perched at a distance, good spotting scopes were readily shared with those who had only binoculars, a common occurrence when a rare bird is found.

The Northern Hawk Owl is a medium-sized owl: Length = 16", wingspan = 28", weight = 11 oz. With a long tail and short wings, this owl resembles an accipiter (Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s Hawk), hence its name, “hawk owl.” It glides low over the ground at high speed or flaps with powerful, falcon-like strokes. Hawk-like, it often hunts with the “perch and pounce” technique, swooping from its high perch when it spots prey.

Rarities always attract lots of birders, with eyes & optics for spotting.

Last winter we had many daytime sightings of the Barred Owl. The summer before the rodent population was abundant and these owls had nesting success. With winter came a decline in the rodent numbers and these normally nocturnal owls needed to continue hunting during the day. Many of our neighbors had the opportunity to see the Barred Owl.

This year the rodent population crash occurred in the arctic, and Snowy Owls (along the occasional boreal Northern Hawk-Owl) have hurried to New England. Undetected by our poor senses, the frozen fields harbor food resources waiting to be exploited by these powerful predators from the north.

Good birding!

Snowy Owl & Northern Hawk-Owl

There has been lots of excitement in my neighborhoods about the presence of northern owls in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and elsewhere. Here are a few images of the birds that are creating all of the interest.

Snowy Owl ...

 Northern Hawk-Owl ...

Good birding!

Winter Irruptions

Watching birds can do lots of good things for you, including expanding your vocabulary. Or at least, it has expanded my vocabulary. Until I had the time to pay attention to seasonal changes and movements of birds, I did not have the word, “irruption,” in my working vocabulary. I knew “eruption,” which involves something bursting out, like lava from a volcano. Irruption refers to something bursting in, or surging up. It is the word used by ecologists to describe a sudden, rapid, and irregular increase in an animal population. It typically involves some kind of change in the natural ecological checks and balances.

In the bird watching world, irruptions are hoped for events, especially as winter imposes its grip. Winter birding can be rather monotonous - the same old, same old, unless one or more irruptions occur. “Bird Source,” the website of National Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, puts it this way: “Every winter, bird watchers across North America anxiously await the possible incursion of birds that don't normally winter in their areas. These periodic bird irruptions add a dramatic level of excitement to winter birding.”

Snowy Owl - Brattleboro, Dec, 2011

Last winter (2011-12) was an irruptive year for Snowy Owls. These large arctic predators were reported in record numbers across the northern states, often in places where they have rarely, or never, been reported. Sightings extended deep into the Great Plains and even as far south as Texas. The Snowy Owl irruption was driven by a crash in the lemming population in the Arctic; the lemming is the owls’ principal food source.

When a Snowy Owl was reported in mid-December, 2011, in the corn field behind the marina in Brattleboro, the word spread quickly through the birding community. Within an hour of the first report, a dozen birders were focusing their scopes on the white object among the corn stalks. More observers followed in a steady stream.

Finch species which inhabit the northern forests are the most common irruptive birds, and this winter has been a banner year in our area. During October, large flocks of Pine Siskins (closely related to the American Goldfinch) moved through New England and the mid-Atlantic states. The flocks which visited my bird feeders numbered 200+; they put a serious strain on my bird seed budget.

Common Redpoll have irrupted in New England this winter

The siskin flocks moved on, to be followed by the Common Redpolls (also closely related to goldfinches). Throughout December and January, and on into February, there have been breathless reports about the sudden appearance of these small finches.

What makes the winter irruptions both exciting, and frustrating, is their unpredictablility. As the birds irrupt into New England, they do so in flocks - often large and typically very nomadic. So you hear about all of these redpolls being seen, and you are frustrated, because you have not seen a single one. And then you are snowshoeing through an old hill farm, or walking along a frozen lane, or sitting in your kitchen watching your bird feeders, and suddenly you have a surfeit of redpolls, scratching the snow, squabbling over seed, and taking hurried flights into the hedges.

Winter finches are notorious for quickly exhausting a food source and then moving on. The epitome of this practice is the Evening Grosbeak. Long time bird feeders describe the Evening Grosbeaks’s winter presence with ambiguity. They are delighted to have these large, colorful, and handsome finches at their feeders, but they cannot avoid the additional use of adjectives such as voracious and greedy to describe their presence. This winter Evening Grosbeaks seem to have taken their blitzkrieg feeding habits further south; I have seen few winter reports from our area.

Evening Grosbeak flocks are notorious for emptying bird feeders & moving on during winter.

 The winter finches which are typically more common in our area have been hard to find this year. In addition to the siskins and grosbeaks which have moved on, Purple Finches and goldfinches are scarce.

Pine Grosbeak - Brattleboro, December, 2012

But then there are the frustrating reports of other winter finches - frustrating because you would love to see them, but they do not make it easy. For a couple of weeks in December, a flock of Pine Grosbeaks fed on the yew berries in front of Center Church in Brattleboro. There were females and young males. (The adult males apparently stayed home to defend their territory through the winter). When the berries were exhausted, the flock moved on. If you have not seen the Pine Grosbeaks, you may still have the opportunity. Be alert, because they could be anywhere. On the Christmas Count, we came across several getting grit and salt on a road in Dummerston. If you miss the Pine Grosbeak this winter, I am sorry to tell you that you may not have another opportunity for several years. But, that’s bird watching.

White-winged Crossbill (l) & Red Crossbill (r), December, 2012

On the New England coast, this has been a good winter for Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills. I made a trip to Salisbury Beach on the New Hampshire coast and had my best crossbill day ever.

Winter irruptions are driven by conditions in the northern forests. Scientists and naturalists in Ontario and the Maritime Provinces have been studying the preferred food sources of various species for years. Based on their collected data, fairly accurate predictions are possible about which species will irrupt. When they document the shortage of a food that a particular species prefers, they predict an irruption. Winter survival depends upon getting enough food. When local food sources are scarce, the birds go elsewhere.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Finches are the most common irruptive species during winter, but not the only ones. It is easy for us to miss an irruption of the Red-breasted Nuthatch, since this species also nests in the higher elevations of our area and may be seen year-round. Harder to miss when you come across them are the Bohemian Waxwings. When you find Bohemians among the flock of their cousins, the Cedar Waxwings, then you have counted a coup among bird watchers. And when you meet a waxwing flock dominated by Bohemians, you have certainly encountered evidence of an irruption. And, you will be breathless.

Bohemian Waxwing, Putney, 2011

For any of these winter irruptions, I have two pieces of advice if you are not a hard core birder: First, I am sorry to say, don’t hold your breath. The winter flocks are nomadic and erratic. Hard core birders sometimes spend days trying to chase them down, not always successfully. Second, when you do stumble on one of these flocks, or when one of these flocks stumble on you, don’t forget to breathe!

Good birding!

Favorite Photos of 2011 - 2

Just one more installment of favorite photos from 2011, then I will return to the dabblers ...

Blackburnian Warbler - June, Green Mountain NF, Somerset, VT

Lark Sparrow - June, Badlands NP, South Dakota

Mourning Warbler - late May, Putney Mountain Road, Brookline, VT

Painted Bunting - late February, Okeeheelee Park Nature Center, Florida

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - late October, Cape May Point State Park, New Jersey

Snowy Owl - December, Brattleboro, VT

Western Meadowlark - late June, Badlands NP, South Dakota

Good Birding!!

Snowy Owl - Brattleboro

Hector Galbraith posted his sighting of a Snowy Owl in the Retreat Meadows' cornfield behind the marina this morning. It provided a marvelous show for the local birders who showed up within an hour of the posting.

Initially it was seen roosting in the middle of the field about 50 yards from the parking area at the trail head. It flew to the far end of the field, then to the slope at the east side of the cornfield.


Parking near CAP, I began to cross the service road behind the stores when I saw the owl perched about 50 feet in front of me. I alerted others by cell.

When a delivery truck came along the service road, the owl flew and then perched in a tree in the wetlands and stayed there while others joined me for the viewing.

No idea how long it will be around, but if it stays for at least two weeks, we will have a first record for our Christmas count.

Good Birding!!

Raptors Highlight Coastal Birding

On a coastal birding trip during the winter, I expect to see a few unusual gulls. I expect to see many sea ducks, like the three scoters and Common Eiders, and maybe (very maybe) if I am very lucky, a King Eider. I expect to see diving ducks, like the Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead, and especially the wonderfully patterned Harlequin Duck whose plumage is rivaled only by the Wood Duck. I expect to see Red-breasted Mergansers with their wild crests blowing in the wind. I was not disappointed in these expectations.

On a winter coastal birding trip, I also expect to see Horned Grebe. On a really good day the single wintering Eared Grebe in the Gloucester harbor might seen, and in the ocean off of Cape Ann I might see a Red-necked Grebe. The Eared Grebe was missed but I did see the Horned and Red-necked Grebes.

On a winter birding trip around Cape Ann, I expect to see the Black Guillemot. An alcid that is black with big white wing patches in summer, in the winter is it a gray and white bird which disappears against the gray and white winter ocean. When it is seen, it dives, because that is what it does, but it often feels as though the bird is deliberately teasing. I also hope to see other Atlantic alcids, those ocean birds that come ashore only to breed - like the Common or Thick-billed Murre, the Razorbill, and the Dovekie. I saw the Dovekie in early January, only the second time in my bird watching chronicles that I have recorded it. All of these alcids have been reported, and were probably present at various places off shore, but I did not find them on this trip.

Birding around Cape Ann in the winter, I know where to look for the Great Cormorant, cousin of the very common Double-crested Cormorant which often occurs up in our area. The Great Cormorant winters along the New England and mid-Atlantic coast, then returns north to the Canadian maritime provinces to breed.

I expect to see Common Loons at many places along the coast and in the harbors; its plain gray and white winter plumage is a striking contrast to the handsome breeding plumage of the loons we may see on some of our lakes and ponds in the summer. From time to time, I even see a Red-throated Loon, though in the winter its red throat is just a memory.

On a winter coastal birding trip, these are the birds which I expect to see. What I do not expect, is to have a winter coastal birding trip that is an outstanding day of hawk watching - or more precisely - raptor watching.

It started late Friday afternoon with a quick trip to Salisbury Beach. Even in winter, I expect to see Northern Harriers hunting over the frozen marsh. This one was a male. The male harrier is one of the most beautiful hawks in flight - gray above, white below, with contrasting black primaries and a trailing black edge on its long wings. The harrier’s hunting style is a dipsy-doodle, rocking and rising on long wings, then dipping low across the marsh grasses, tipping left and right.

But the harrier was unable to mind his own dipsy-doodle flight. A dark bird with pointed wings swooped at him, sped upward, circled rapidly, dove at the harrier again in a deliberate near miss. Merlin.

On Putney mountain, a streaking hawk that brings a breathless what-was-that? - is a Merlin. Coastal hawk watchers know the Merlin as a bird with attitude, the falcon that will harass anything flying, often for what appears to be sheer fun. But this Merlin seemed to have a dual purpose. She was defending her hunting territory, while also hunting opportunistically. The harrier dipped toward the top of pine trees, flushing song birds into the air. With precise timing, the Merlin dove at the harrier, turning the much larger bird away from the trees, then instantly veering to make a grab at a flushed songbird. The Merlin came out of her dive with empty talons - this time. The flight display we watched made it clear that the Merlin would dine soon.

The next morning on the Jodfrey Fish Pier in Gloucester harbor, I turned my scope to the Gloucester town hall. A Peregrine Falcon was wintering in the bell tower. Before I could find the falcon’s perch, someone in the group was pointing overhead. The Peregrine was on the wing. Effortlessly it circled over the piers, the warehouses, the harbor, patrolling hundreds of yards in seconds. Sea ducks were nervous; even gulls were uneasy, milling aimlessly. At first, the Peregrine’s flight did not seem all that impressive as it flew above us, until we timed the passage from the pier to the warehouse a quarter mile away where pigeons scattered to safety at the last fraction of a second. The Peregrine’s flight demonstration, by itself, defined good birding for the day.

Mid-afternoon, we drove north from Cape Ann for a return visit to Salisbury Beach. A large bird with v-shaped wings flew above the state highway. As it came low over the roadway, the back-lighted wing pattern was not that of a Turkey Vulture. Rough-legged Hawk. A wide berm allowed us to pull over, and spill out without the risk that our binoculars would get run over by a passing car. Two dark morph Rough-legged Hawks hunted over the open fields, and chased off a pair of Red-tailed Hawks. Hawks of the tundra, Rough-legged Hawks often winter in coastal marshes and open farm lands. This pair seemed unwilling to share the fields with the resident Red-tails.

At Salisbury Beach, our target was the wintering Snowy Owl. We were looking for a bulky white bird, probably perched somewhere in the snow covered marsh or nearby dunes. Simple to sight, right?

Inside the state reservation, cars lined the road. On the cold, windswept marsh, there could be only one reason for those parked vehicles. A couple of hundred yards from the roadway, tens of thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment was lined up, pointed at the top of a dune. We joined the line-up that was ogling the handsome male Snowy Owl.

As for the Snowy Owl - well, this powerful Arctic predator regarded the lined up bird watchers and photographers with imperious detachment. He knew that he was lord of his realm and assumed that these strange creatures would keep their distance. And they did.

Eventually we moved on to the frozen and unoccupied campground - unoccupied except for the day-visiting winter birders. We did not find the White-winged Crossbills which we had seen the previous afternoon, but the Merlin was there. This time, she was perched atop a leafless tree, surveying her realm. Her feathers ruffled slightly in the wind, but otherwise she was the unruffled guardian of her realm.

The winter coastal birding yielded what was expected and was a day of good birding. But the unexpected show from the hawks and the owl made it a day of great birding!

Coastal Birding

At Salisbury Beach on Friday afternoon, White-winged Crossbills were busy in the pines ...

Around Cape Ann on Saturday, Iceland Gulls were found in several locations, this one at Lighthouse Point ...

Back at Salisbury Beach, the female Merlin which put on a show for us Friday afternoon, simply watched over her domain on Saturday, and again on Sunday morning ...

A clear highlight of the trip was the Snowy Owl seen Saturday afternoon on a dune at Salisbury Beach ...


The owl, of course, attracted the bird watchers and photographers. Here are just a few of those who gathered to observe the owl atop a dune about thirty yards away ...

A day of good birding. I will have more about the day anon.