[NatureNS] Burrowing Owl in McNab Island

From: "Elizabeth Doull" <edoull@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
References: <20130308151618.2006689n7h1lcn40@wm2.dal.ca>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:53:53 -0400
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Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

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Found some info in CBC.  Thanks to the PEI birder who spotted/ identified a 
Burrowing Owl on a program called Land and Sea shown in February 2013.  The 
filming was in October 2012.  It would have been neat if the film people 
informed NSBS of the unusual sighting last fall!     There is a 2-minute 
clip of the owl.  Liz
...................

Rare Florida owl spotted on island in Halifax harbour
P.E.I. birder ID'd the burrowing owl, native to Florida
CBC News
Mar 8, 2013

Birders say a small owl, native to Florida, has been discovered in Nova 
Scotia for the first time.
The rare burrowing owl is listed as a species of special concern in Florida.

A shot of the bird with its piercing yellow eyes and spotted plumage 
recently appeared in the middle of a half-hour Land and Sea documentary 
about Nova Scotia islands that aired on CBC Television.

The owl may have hitched a ride to Halifax on a ship, but a more probable 
explanation is the critter was blown this way during a storm last fall. 
(Courtesy of Tell Tale Productions)

The footage was shot by Tell Tale Productions last October on McNabs Island 
at the mouth of Halifax Harbour.

An eagle-eyed birder from P.E.I. watching the February Land and Sea program 
recognized the owl as an unusual visitor.

The Nova Scotia Bird Society did some checking and it turned out that the 
owl was a long way from home.

"The colour of the bird is a darker brown, which indicates an eastern 
species and the only place [that they would breed] on the east coast of 
North America is Florida," said David Currie, president of the Nova Scotia 
Bird Society.

Currie said the feathers suggest the owl hatched last year.

It's not clear if it's male or female.

The owl may have hitched a ride to Halifax on a ship, but a more probable 
explanation is the critter was blown this way during a storm last fall.

No burrowing owl sightings have been reported since.

"We checked out all the bunkers that we could get into in Fort McNab and of 
course the bird wasn't there, not surprising. But we did check out and see 
what type of fence posts it may have been sitting on and we photographed a 
few of those so we know it was certainly here, there's no question about 
it," said Currie.

"He may not have found his way back and he may have met his demise over 
there, we really don't know. He could be in another bunker that I couldn't 
get into, who knows. We can always hope."
This would not be the first time a bird ended up off-course in the 
Maritimes. Last fall a wayward American white pelican was spotted on P.E.I. 
Then in December, a yellow-throated warbler was spotted on central P.E.I.

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