Date: 1/13/13 4:45 am
From: Jim Wilson <wlsngang...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Way out of area Snowy Owl report


I found this report at the Bird Studies Canada website.
Jim Wilson
Queenstown

9 January 2013 � Last winter (2011-12), Snowy Owls swept south across Canada, with sightings throughout the country. This year there has been an echo of that irruption (in British Columbia, at least). Up to 29 birds have been seen from one spot along the Boundary Bay dykes, the traditional site of Snowy Owl concentrations in the past. There, the owls are hunting ducks among the large flocks of wigeon and pintail that winter on the Fraser Delta. Bird Studies Canada Board Member Anne Murray has been interviewed by CTV and CBC about these birds.
The real surprise for birders was in BC�s Interior, a region that usually misses out on Snowy Owl irruptions. In comparison with BC�s Lower Mainland, fewer owls have been seen from Prince George to Penticton, but regionally the numbers are unprecedented. For instance, four Snowys were seen on the Prince George Christmas Bird Count (CBC) � the first since 1973! Numbers were also good east of the Rockies. The Horseshoe Canyon CBC in south-central Alberta reported 10 Snowy Owls; their previous record high was four, seen last season. Numbers in Saskatchewan were similar to the previous year�s impressive highs � the Regina CBC reported 33! Select this link to explore the full extent of this year�s irruption.

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