Laurie Snider
Notes from the Nest
As far as dates go, I’m easy to please. A hot thermos of coffee, a couple of muffins, perhaps a bit of aged cheddar and an apple or two, packed in a knapsack and we’re onto something good.
Throw in two pairs of binoculars, a Peterson’s birding manual and of course my trusty, point and shoot camera and we’re ready to roll.
So, earlier in April when Randy and I found ourselves blithely bouncing across the steely, blue waters of Lake Ontario on board the Frontenac II, making our way across to Amherst Island, I was in my glory. Upon disembarking, we headed 8 km west, to Topsy Farms, on a cool, breezy, sunny day. The sky was a cloudless, brilliant, springtime blue, the colour of which announced the season itself. The air had a definite chill but we were prepared with toques, warm jackets and gloves.
The mornings event was a birdwatching tour of Amherst Island, organized by Topsy Farms and led by a very knowledgeable, lovely, local woman named Janet Scott. She’s lived on the island since the early 80s and boy she knows her birds. Amherst Island is renowned for the many snowy owls that like to spend the winters there and Janet was determined we’d see at least one before our adventure was through.
Janet was featured in a fascinating and uplifting, short documentary, from 2015, called ‘Secrets of the Snowy Owl.’ It was produced by Adam Cole of the National Public Radio, in the U.S. and is well worth checking out. It tells the story of a snowy owl, named Baltimore, that was fitted with a solar-powered GPS transmitter, which tracked him on his journey north.
He was first captured in Baltimore, Maryland — no surprise hence the name —and fitted with a tracker and released. He eventually made his way to Amherst Island, before heading back to his Arctic home. He returned to Amherst Island the following season, where Cole was fortunate enough to spot him.
He’d retraced his entire journey and interviewed those he encountered along the way, including the ferry captain, school children and of course, Janet Scott.
Just like us, Baltimore apparently rode the ferry, taking his post atop the mast.
What fun we had exploring the island with Janet as our driver, avian guide and specialist! While I’m quite adept now at identifying the marvelous array of birds that visit our feeders, it’s much more interesting to go scoping with a seasoned spotter, who’s easily able to help distinguish the less common varieties. She also knew all of the hot spots and we were rewarded with a real cornucopia of bird sightings.
Of course, being on an island, there was a plethora of water birds, specifically the quacking kind. Great groupings of buffleheads, mergansers, scaups, long-tails, mallards and even wood ducks. We also sighted many birds of prey. Differentiating the specific type is beyond me, save for the distinctive, effortless looking gliding of turkey vultures, I’m stumped. Janet was a well-spring of insight and information and thanks to her we catalogued northern harriers, red tails and totally new for us, ruff-legged hawks. It was thrilling and impressive.
True to her word, before our trip was completed, hunched down in a field near a boulder, she spotted a snowy. It wasn’t Baltimore but a real beauty nonetheless. They are truly breath-taking birds and we took our time taking him in. It’s difficult not to be in awe of the grace and majesty of this distinctive, striking bird.
Weighing in at only four or five pounds they have been spotted everywhere from Florida and California to Ellesmere Island, depending on availability of food. Luckily for us, we are somewhere in the middle and they are not uncommon to our area in winter. In the Arctic they prefer lemmings but they seem more than satisfied with our fine selection of voles, other rodents and even water birds.
Janet shared with us, that the previous day up to twenty of them were spotted but the whipping winds during our visit, kept many closer to the ground, instead of on their usual lofty posts, along fence rails and telephone poles. We did manage to spot another, on our way to catch the ferry but lingering to look wasn’t an option this time, as we didn’t wish to miss our ride.
On the boat ride back, my dapper date and fellow birdwatching enthusiast and I sipped coffee, munched muffins and cheese and peeked at the digital displays from our morning caper. Honestly, what could be better than spending time under an endless, azure sky, in the great outdoors, enjoying our feathery friends as they floated, flitted and flew, beside the one I love? Seems like a pretty great date to me!