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class=3D"Apple-interchange-newli --_000_C3316293074D412BB1388F4C3F3CE257dalca_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi all, We=92ll know a bit more about these winter irruptions thanks to Project Sno= wstorm, whose website is full of useful info and very cool maps of the move= ments of several individual owls: http://www.projectsnowstorm.org The project has tagged snowy owls from Minnesota to Massachusetts with tran= smitters that track their winter movements. It=92s a crowdfunded project (t= hus the site's many pleas for funds) that was started to take advantage of = this winter=92s big irruption, since so little is known about where winteri= ng snowy owls go and why. Cheers, Andy On Mar 11, 2014, at 1:02 PM, James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca<mailt= o:jimwolford@eastlink.ca>> wrote: My experience from Alberta in the 1960s & '70s was much like Lance just dis= cussed re Montreal area, that snowy owls came south every year, but the num= bers vary greatly from year to year. And, as Lance says, it is assumed tha= t those overwintered owls that survive and are capable of heading back towa= rd the north do so. Their northward destinations would be unknown perhaps = for the immatures, but definite for those that had previously nested at lea= st once. I disagree with Jamie Simpson that because the southward irruptors have no = definite destination, other than some place with food, that they would have= no instinct or desire to head back to the north after winter. I do recall one example of a snowy owl that stayed in Nova Scotia for the s= ummer. It was very surprising one year in The Brothers Islands off the Pub= nico communities, and caused a lot of problems for the roseate terns that w= ere trying to raise young there. Consult Ted d'Eon/D'Eon? on when that hap= pened, in the 1970s? or early 1980s? Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. Begin forwarded message: From: "Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com<mailto:lance.lav= iolette@lmco.com>> Date: March 11, 2014 12:04:15 PM ADT To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>" <naturens@che= bucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next? Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Hi Jamie, My take on this is that while this may be a food/territory driven phenomena= it is not simply a case of Snowy Owls, mostly young, being driven south to= never return. From my experience in the Montreal Region, many owls make th= e trip south each year and have done so for a number of years. This has bee= n confirmed through individuals with unique physical characteristics that c= ould be used to identify them. They stay for the winter months and then hea= d back north. At least I believe they head back north. They certainly leave= southern Quebec. Whether some of these birds remain through the summer or not is another mat= ter. There are a number of bird families that irrupt south. Along these lin= es, every year Ron Pittaway publishes the winter finch forecast which predi= cts which finch species will irrupt south in the coming winter. In most cas= es the birds that irrupt south and survive head back north. However there a= re a number of cases where northern species have bred in the south. In Nova= Scotia I would bet that a lot/most of the mainland Evening Grosbeaks that = are still breeding are a result of a huge irruption that took place through= out eastern Canada in the 1970s (I think that=92s the time frame). So I=92d say that irruptions serve both an immediate survival role, sending= excess population to other areas in search of food, and a mechanism that m= ay result in an expansion of the species=92 range. Some of Nova Scotia=92s = Snowy Owls may stay through the summer and perhaps survive. Some may leave = and return again next year. All the best, Lance Lance Laviolette Glen Robertson, Ontario From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca> [= mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Shouty McShoutsalot Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 8:43 AM To: naturens Subject: EXTERNAL: Re: [NatureNS] Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next? My understanding is that irruption and migration are two very different beh= aviors, and that irruption is a diaspora - the animal leaves because it is = forced to, with no predefined destination as exists in a migration, and thu= s no instinct to return to it's point of origin. On 10 March 2014 14:24, Paul Ruggles <cpruggles@eastlink.ca<mailto:cpruggle= s@eastlink.ca>> wrote: Jamie, I have been videoing two snowys for over a month at Lawrencetown beach. The= y seem to have moved away in the past 2 weeks. I thought they might have be= gun their migration back to the tundra? Have any of you seen any lately? Paul. On 2014-03-10, at 11:30 AM, Shouty McShoutsalot wrote: > My understanding is that there are surviving overwintered Snowy Owls in N= S from the irruption of Dec 2013; that these birds are not migratory in th= e normal sense; that an irruption is not a predictable, repeatable migrator= y event; and that, having survived a winter that I believe was fatal to a h= igher than normal percentage of our resident bird predators, the surviving = Snowys have proven adaptive and survival skills in NS. > > So I'm wondering what becomes of these birds. Will they become residents= like our other Owl species, perhaps establishing territory and reproducing= ? Will they return from whence they came even if they are not possessed of= migratory instinct? Or are they doomed to wander in exile alone forever? > > Regards > > -- > Jamie Simpson > Hantsport, NS -- Jamie Simpson Hantsport, NS --_000_C3316293074D412BB1388F4C3F3CE257dalca_ Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-ID: <BF5B95C091D2204C902421CEE4D5B6FD@namprd03.prod.outlook.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html> <head> <meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3DWindows-1= 252"> </head> <body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-lin= e-break: after-white-space;"> Hi all, <div><br> </div> <div>We=92ll know a bit more about these winter irruptions thanks to Projec= t Snowstorm, whose website is full of useful info and very cool maps of the= movements of several individual owls: <a href=3D"http://www.projectsn= owstorm.org">http://www.projectsnowstorm.org</a></div> <div><br> </div> <div>The project has tagged snowy owls from Minnesota to Massachusetts w