On Friday the 13th, Ron and Karen Wagner and I headed for southern Ontario in Canada where an owl invasion had been reported.
January 14, 1984
The next morning, we took the ferry out through the ice to Amherst Island. Several Snowy Owls were spotted out on the ice during the ferry crossing. In the "Owl Woods", a small woodlot near some large fields, we saw a roosting Boreal Owl and several Northern Saw-whet Owls. The Boreal Owl was cleverly tucked away in a roost tree where a photo didn't do it justice.
An adult Snowy Owl was on a telephone pole along one of the island roads.
We returned to the mainland and drove north along Route 6. Near Colebrook, we spotted our first Great Gray Owl, which eventually perched right next to the road.
January 15, 1984
On the 15th, we took the ferry back out to Amherst Island for one last time before heading home. Several Rough-legged Hawks circled in a small kettle over one of the roads on the island.
Another Snowy Owl was perched on a nearby telephone pole.
Later, we watched a Northern Shrike impale a mouse on a thorn in one of the bushes in a hedgerow. A Barrow's Goldeneye was spotted near the Thousand Islands Bridge on the way back into the U.S.
