Pelicans and Owls and Misery!

It is mid-November isn’t it? So why did 9 pelicans just fly by the window? And yesterday a Snowy Owl showed up for the night. Is there something going on with the weather or climate that is encouraging this? We live in interesting times… and speaking of interesting, Misery returned the day before yesterday. I noticed him down at the boat-ramp and we had a little chat! I felt he recognized me! Later he lumbered up onto the lawn looking very fat and sleek, well-prepared for his 2-3 month fast ahead while he stakes his territory, fights off potential challengers, and “courts” any females that might around.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

 

Lastly the other day I heard a commotion in the kitchen and upon investigation I discovered a bird in the oven vent. I removed the cowling and this European Starling appeared and flew around the house for a while. Starlings are a species introduced from Europe (Sturnus vulgaris)in 1890. About 60 were released into New York’s Central Park in an effort to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. By 1945 they were appearing in the Pacific Northwest. About 200 million are thought to exist in North America presently.

European Starling – Good owl food?

 

Bubo scandiacus: Snowy owl–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Pam was interviewed recently about her wildlife viewing on racerocks.com ref: Anderson, Charlie, “Live Wildlife for your Living Room “,The Province (newspaper) , Vancouver, B.C. ( Sunday, Nov.21, 2004)

A comment from David Allinson of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory:
Pam Birley captured the pictures of this rare sighting at Race Rocks remotely on robotic camera 5.
“This is the second sighting of snowy owls at Race Rocks.The last historical record was almost exactly 40years ago when 7 birds were present on December 3, 1966 at Race Rocks.
I suspect there have been other records since, but they can easily be overlooked out there. We have no records for Rocky Point proper, but Race Rocks is in the checklist area. The bird appears to be an immature due to heavy barring. It is hard to be certain of its age/sex.
….. Note also that the AOU in 2003 announced a taxonomic change to Snowy Owl –it is now ‘Bubo scandiacus’ (was ‘Nyctea scandiaca’) as it is more closely related genetically to other owls in the ‘Bubo’ genus (e.g. Great Horned). The specific name is an adjective and changes to agree with the gender of the generic name.”

Pam Birley captured the pictures of this rare sighting at Race Rocks remotely on robotic camera 5.
Other Owl sightings at Race Rocks

Below are some of the images taken by ecoguardians in other years:

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

 

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 name –year (PC)