Disappearing act

On 10 January 2014, I had to remove my vehicle from the parking lot for the whole day, so that snow removal people could remove some of the snow and ice. I decided that if I drove over to the west of the city and went for a walk, that would kill a few hours. A Great Gray Owl had recently been reported, so I knew I needed to keep my eyes open. Normally, we don't get Great Grays within the city, so this was an exciting find. Shortly after I started walking, I passed someone who had just seen the owl about 20 minutes earlier, so I felt hopeful that it was still there. Further into the park, several other people gradually appeared, and it's always useful to have extra pairs of eyes. Eventually, it was spotted, hidden just within the trees - well hidden! While I was there, it flew along the outer edge of the trees and then in among the trees, giving us some good views each time. When the owl is perched next to a tree trunk, the camouflage is quite amazing. If the owl's eyes are closed or if the head is turned away, they are very difficult to see! When it turns its head, the movement of the white "moustache" can catch ones attention.

It's always fascinating to watch how focused these owls are when hunting - it did catch a Meadow Vole and flew up to a broken tree stump to feed on it. A few other attempts were made, but when it landed, it was out of sight, so I don't know if it caught some other prey or not. I was exhausted and in agony by the time I got home, mainly from walking through the deep snow. So glad I was "forced" out of my home, though, otherwise I wouldn't have made the effort to drive across the city.

Yesterday, a friend sent me the following information that she had received from Gus Yaki, a well-known Naturalist in the city. This owl hasn't been seen the last three days, so maybe it has moved on. When asked about the possibility of the food supply having run out, he did not think the owl was feeding well because it was hunting during mid-day. It should have been hunting at dawn and dusk and sleeping during the day. He said they have excellent hearing. Also, he said he has not seen many small mammal tracks at this location and apparently the Meadow Voles have to surface to allow carbon dioxide to exit from their tunnels. He also said the owls see in ultraviolet which causes mouse urine to shine so they would see that." Thank you for passing on this interesting information, Bonnie - I hope you don't mind my adding it here.

I use Google Chrome - and the scrolling up and down arrows have been removed, making it more difficult to scroll - really annoying. Anyone else having this problem?