[NatureNS] re Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next?

From: Andrew Horn <aghorn@dal.ca>
To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Thread-Topic: [NatureNS] re Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next?
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Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:39:48 +0000
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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



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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:&nbsp;<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