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--Apple-Mail-15--365292994 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes; format=flowed My experience from Alberta in the 1960s & '70s was much like Lance =20 just discussed re Montreal area, that snowy owls came south every =20 year, but the numbers vary greatly from year to year. And, as Lance =20 says, it is assumed that those overwintered owls that survive and are =20= capable of heading back toward the north do so. Their northward =20 destinations would be unknown perhaps for the immatures, but definite =20= for those that had previously nested at least once. I disagree with Jamie Simpson that because the southward irruptors =20 have no definite destination, other than some place with food, that =20 they would have no instinct or desire to head back to the north after =20= winter. I do recall one example of a snowy owl that stayed in Nova Scotia for =20= the summer. It was very surprising one year in The Brothers Islands =20 off the Pubnico communities, and caused a lot of problems for the =20 roseate terns that were trying to raise young there. Consult Ted =20 d'Eon/D'Eon? on when that happened, in the 1970s? or early 1980s? Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. Begin forwarded message: > From: "Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com> > Date: March 11, 2014 12:04:15 PM ADT > To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next? > Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > > Hi Jamie, > > My take on this is that while this may be a food/territory driven =20 > phenomena it is not simply a case of Snowy Owls, mostly young, =20 > being driven south to never return. =46rom my experience in the =20 > Montreal Region, many owls make the trip south each year and have =20 > done so for a number of years. This has been confirmed through =20 > individuals with unique physical characteristics that could be used =20= > to identify them. They stay for the winter months and then head =20 > back north. At least I believe they head back north. They certainly =20= > leave southern Quebec. > > Whether some of these birds remain through the summer or not is =20 > another matter. There are a number of bird families that irrupt =20 > south. Along these lines, every year Ron Pittaway publishes the =20 > winter finch forecast which predicts which finch species will =20 > irrupt south in the coming winter. In most cases the birds that =20 > irrupt south and survive head back north. However there are a =20 > number of cases where northern species have bred in the south. In =20 > Nova Scotia I would bet that a lot/most of the mainland Evening =20 > Grosbeaks that are still breeding are a result of a huge irruption =20 > that took place throughout eastern Canada in the 1970s (I think =20 > that=92s the time frame). > > So I=92d say that irruptions serve both an immediate survival role, =20= > sending excess population to other areas in search of food, and a =20 > mechanism that may result in an expansion of the species=92 range. =20 > Some of Nova Scotia=92s Snowy Owls may stay through the summer and =20 > 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-=20 > 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 =20 > different behaviors, and that irruption is a diaspora - the animal =20 > leaves because it is forced to, with no predefined destination as =20 > exists in a migration, and thus no instinct to return to it's point =20= > of origin. > > > On 10 March 2014 14:24, Paul Ruggles <cpruggles@eastlink.ca> wrote: > Jamie, > I have been videoing two snowys for over a month at Lawrencetown =20 > beach. They seem to have moved away in the past 2 weeks. I thought =20 > they might have begun their migration back to the tundra? Have any =20 > 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 =20 > Owls in NS from the irruption of Dec 2013; that these birds are =20 > not migratory in the normal sense; that an irruption is not a =20 > predictable, repeatable migratory event; and that, having survived =20 > a winter that I believe was fatal to a higher than normal =20 > percentage of our resident bird predators, the surviving Snowys =20 > have proven adaptive and survival skills in NS. > > > > So I'm wondering what becomes of these birds. Will they become =20 > residents like our other Owl species, perhaps establishing =20 > territory and reproducing? Will they return from whence they came =20 > even if they are not possessed of migratory instinct? Or are they =20 > doomed to wander in exile alone forever? > > > > Regards > > > > -- > > Jamie Simpson > > Hantsport, NS > > > > > -- > Jamie Simpson > Hantsport, NS --Apple-Mail-15--365292994 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252 <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> My experience from Alberta in the 1960s & '70s was much like Lance = just discussed re Montreal area, that snowy owls came south every year, = but the numbers vary greatly from year to year. And, as Lance = says, it is assumed that those overwintered owls that survive and are = capable of heading back toward the north do so. Their northward = destinations would be unknown perhaps for the immatures, but definite = for those that had previously nested at least once.<div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>I do recall one example of a snowy owl = that stayed in Nova Scotia for the summer. It was very surprising = one year in The Brothers Islands off the Pubnico communities, and caused = a lot of problems for the roseate terns that were trying to raise young = there. Consult Ted d'Eon/D'Eon? on when that happened, in the = 1970s? or early 1980s?</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers from Jim in = Wolfville.<br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newli