A Great Day! No pun intended.

Okay well the pun was intended.. Today we went looking for Great Gray Owls which have been hanging around the Ottawa area for the last few weeks. We had already tried for the one near Constance Bay in the West end and this time hoped that the East side would bring us better luck.

A little perspective on the weather> It is -24 and feels like -36 degrees C. It's a deceivingly bright and sunny day which looks warm and gorgeous.  We are a little crazy and desperate to see this bird and driving about 40 minutes away to try and see it.

We get there and we know the general area but can't see any off the road. So we find a parking lot on the NCC property which they had been seen on and start walking back to the big curve on Rockcliff Parkway.  We walk through the woods and across the bridge at Green Creek. On the other side of the bridge is two men with large backpacks and tripods. Well we found one of the handiest things to find when looking for something > Someone who has already seen it!  They were going back to see the owls for the second time that day and were happy to lead us there with them.

Green creek has forest on either side and the forest borders on a large field. It was here where forest met field that I saw my first Great Gray Owl. A large birch tree across the field was pointed out to me as one of the places they had seen owls perching before. I take a look and say "It's there again" all the way across the field I spot my owl while one of the guys walking the edge closest to us finds two more! We walk to the closer ones that are more out in the open and start taking pictures. The one further away must have been a little curious because it actually flew in closer to us!

Great Gray Owl

 This is the largest owl in the world and despite the fact that each movement I made sent spikes of pain through whatever limb was attempting to move I was captivated. Their head swiveling from side to side. Looking for prey and watching us without a care in the world. I know an owls eyes take up most of the space in their head but I almost wonder what they could possibly think of us. Are they looking down at us from the tree and thinking "Well why would I care about you down there? You can't get me up here."  or "what is that odd creature? Don't see many of those back home."

Great Gray Owl

The facial disks of these owls is actually used to help focus sound. Owls don't have ears evenly placed on either side of their heads like we do, but rather pointed in different directions so that they can pinpoint exactly where a noise is coming from. That is how these nocturnal birds can find small mammals underneath 2 feet of snow when no human eye or ear could locate them. An owl could find a mouse while blindfolded (This has actually been tested). There were a lot of people visiting these owls in the last few days and we were careful to walk on the paths created by others and to keep quite. These birds aren't bothered by our presence as much as others are but it is still important to consider the impacts we can have on them.

Great Gray Owl

The fact we saw three Great Gray Owls at once makes up completely for the time that we struck out in the west end. It made up for the freezing cold and the long drive out here. We had met some very nice people and had found some cool creatures. I imagine I will be back to see them again (on a warmer day) before the season is over.